CCW class and then the weapon

[Don P]

In this realm, I'm a little confused whether to go 9 millimeter or .40. I think the
.40 is the one for the ultimate stopping power and has been recommended to me by any police officers I've spoken to, but on a smaller gun it's going to be much harder to practice with. The 9 millimeter can have very good stopping power, is cheaper to shoot, and the recoil is much more manageable. And then you look at ALL the choices, Ruger LC9, Kahrs, Glocks, Springfields...I could name many more, but you see the point.

Like I have stated before 95+% of the replies are opinions.
In my opinion there is NO ULTIMATE caliber in a handgun for stopping power. How many people have been killed by the meek 22lr round????
If you do your job with regards to hitting COM the center fire round will do its job and stop the threat. Again remember its 95+% opinions

 

[Sevens]

If you think about the folks who change their EDC depending on how many clothes they are wearing (related to the time of year, the temperature or season) you see that most guys carry puny stuff in the hot summer and as they put on longer pants, long shirts, coats and such, they start loading up for bear and carrying larger guns.

Obviously, your need for a defensive handgun could come at any time and any place, but realistically and statistically, street crime is much, MUCH higher during warm weather and that same crime drops right off the face of the Earth when it gets really cold out.

I remember back in '94 around here when we had like 2-3 weeks of sub-zero temps. In the middle of Ohio, 10-15 degrees below zero is WAY out of the ordinary. In addition to all the cars and batteries that died, and all the furnaces that went to hell, the other easily observed quirk of the frozen couple of weeks was that street crime of almost every measurable type STOPPED and almost ceased to exist.

Muggings, beatings, rape, car jackings, property crime and car break-ins dropped to a jaw-drop low for the duration of the 15-below temps.

My buddy was in the bail bonds and recovery business for many years and when the temperature went over 90, you could count (like clockwork) that his business went up. It's hot, people are uncomfortable and angry and they go out and the worst of them get to work... robbing people, stealing and mugging.

I'll never subscribe to changing my EDC to something smaller than a 9mm simply because I'm just running out to ______ or because the weather is warm and I'm not wearing a sweatshirt and a coat to cover it up.

 

[peacefulgary]

Yeah the .40 is a bit more powerful than the 9mm, but the 9mm is still plenty good enough to stop a man....much better than the .380 which is too weak IMO.

As for what handgun....

I recommend a nice mid-sized pistol like the Glock 19.
Like Goldilocks said "Not too big, not too small, but just right".

 

[pgdion]

My class also did not really cover firearms or calibers much (even though it was an item on the agenda). They cover it just enough so that someone who knows nothing,ends up knowing something and can at least ask the right questions. I had my gun ling before taking the CCW class. I like you started out shooting .22's and moved up to a larger caliber. I had been target shooting the larger caliber long before taking the class so there is no need to take the class before buying the gun and I don't think the class will help you that much with making a good choice. On the other hand, having the gun first certainly helps you on qualifying. Many are nervous over that part of the course (and several in my class failed, the instructors did work with them 1 on 1 afterwords and gave them a second chance to qualify). For me it was the part to look forward too, couldn't wait to get in there and shoot some targets (scored 95% ). For caliber choose what you feel comfortable with. I always thought .40 was the ultimate cartridge before I started shooting centerfire. Now I'm not sure I'll ever get one. If I do it will just be to round out the collection (why leave out 1 of the top 3 calibers?). Just too many advantages to the 9mm. If you can get some guns to try that are on your 'interested in' list, that would be great, if you can get some in 9mm and .40, that would be even better.