As embarrasing as this may sound, my wifey (actually fiancee, status continually in doubt) is a much better shot with a handgun than I am. She knows how to send a full clip of 9mm rounds into a foot-wide circle 20 yars away faster than I can dial pick up the phone and dial 911 ... no joke. She also boxes better than me. No joke. And what hurts most of all is that she can cook better too. No joke. Damn, that last one hurt so much.
Seriously, we both don't carry when we're together (which isn't often.) Being an retired slanger queen, she leaves her firepower (assorted illegal weapons belonging to her dad and other relatives) at home. I don't walk with guns; I carry knives. What I do, however, is have her walk out with two concealed weapons I picked up in Japan before I left, which I gave to her.
One is a clutch-knife with a one-inch blade that comes out under 2 seconds. Another is an F - shaped piece of black metal that serves as a knuckleduster, 2 points forward, one point down ... hits pressure points much better and won't break your fingers in grooves if you lose grip. They used to make this out of bamboo, I think.
I'm pretty confident that wifey can disengage herself if the BG is clumsy or drops his guard too much. She doesn't have much fear of death (to my eternal worry) and has access to both the weapons I mentioned inside 3 seconds. In any case, it's a two-way street ... even if I stopped carrying knives and other small things and packed something substantial like a .45, she's got to be calm and collected enough for me to have that opening, or make it. And she is
But to keep it totally relevant to the original post, I have thought about a CCW, to protect us. Throwing knives/stakes are for the movies, and eventually the need will come to the fore. I can't possibly close distance meaningfully with handheld weapons in time, and I can't rely on her 100% to make the first break (maybe she's pregnant, or sick.) So I'd go with a P7M8, or a Glock 26, in a cross-draw holster. I customarily wear long T-shirts or Aloha shirts, so I don't tuck them in. I want something light and simple enough ... squeeze-cocker or trigger-safety, is alright by me. And yes I know how many problems both guns have, but all I need is one shot with factory hardball, not 3000 shots of +P+ sub-nuclear ammunition.
Peers, enlighten me here ... would love to read about your preparations.