Narrowed down the search for my CCW

If you have kids the gun needs to be on you or locked up. I wouldn't let children sway me from a revolver.



From your list I own the LCR, Storm, and the Thunder. Can't go wrong with any. Get the one you shoot the best
 
I agree with what others have said: Carrying a gun without a round in the chamber is a terrible idea. When you're in public, how often is one hand occupied? Carrying a purse, carrying a shopping bag, opening a door, walking your dog, or fighting off an attacker; there are so many times when you may not have that extra hand free to rack the slide.

It goes without saying: If the firearm is not on you then it should be secured. If you're relying on having the chamber empty to keep your kids safe then you're doing it all wrong. And me, I prefer to carry a loaded gun.
 
Yes, small children can be taught (by idiots seeking glory on Youtube) to work a slide in an unconventional manner, but ordinarily children do not even know that a slide slides, much less how to use a table to rack it.

Suit yourself, but remember, you doze off and a child takes the opportunity to get your gun out of your purse beside you and kills himself, you are going to prison. Here is one where dad thought putting the gun on top of the refrigerator would keep it away from his 4-yr old son: http://www.wral.com/child-accidentally-shoots-kills-self-inside-fayetteville-home/13119888/

Wrong! And he's going to prison for his mistake, not to mention what he has to live with for the rest of his life.

Obviously you cannot be careless with your pistol just because you keep it in Condition 3, but not everyone is as PERFECT as the people posting in the Internet forums. :confused: I suggest that anyone who has small children around weigh the very, very small likelihood that you will ever need to shoot someone in defense, and compare that to the dozens of children shooting themselves or others every year, and ask, is it really that important that I have a round in the barrel when it means a 2-yr old can make my gun go off?
 
Securing a pistol doesn't require unloading. Carrying it on your body would prevent the scenario you mentioned, as would having a quick-access safe in your home where you keep your gun when you don't have it on you. Remember....having an unloaded gun that can't be used to protect yourself and your family is more dangerous than not having one at all.

I strongly suggest you read Kathy Jackson' CORNERED CAT book. And look at the products offered by Flashbang Holsters. Both offer information that will address your concerns.
 
I'd not recommend using anything .22 as CCW weapon

While dangerous and lethal it's not the most effective fight stopper.

If you semi autos then the Glock is the cream of the crop.
 
Eight_is_enough said:
Obviously you cannot be careless with your pistol just because you keep it in Condition 3, but not everyone is as PERFECT as the people posting in the Internet forums. I suggest that anyone who has small children around weigh the very, very small likelihood that you will ever need to shoot someone in defense, and compare that to the dozens of children shooting themselves or others every year, and ask, is it really that important that I have a round in the barrel when it means a 2-yr old can make my gun go off?
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If someone thinks their only option is to carry their gun without a round in the chamber, then they're probably not responsible enough to carry a gun in the first place. If you think you need to weigh the safety of your children against the small possibility of needing your gun in self-defense, then you shouldn't have a gun at all.

Eight_is_enough said:
Obviously you cannot be careless with your pistol just because you keep it in Condition 3, but not everyone is as PERFECT as the people posting in the Internet forums.
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It's not that hard. I've always made sure that any unsecured firearm in my house had no round in the chamber. In all my years of owning firearms I've never left any firearm unsecured with a round in the chamber. And now that my wife and I have kids those unsecured firearms are locked up. But the gun I carry (currently a Glock 19) has a round in the chamber because it's on my body. Why would I carry it unloaded?

To me, it's like a seatbelt. How often do you forget to wear your seatbelt? I'm guessing never. It's the same with me: Ever since my parents taught me to wear a seatbelt when I was little I've never forgotten to put it on when in a car. Gun safety is the same way; it's not hard to get the point where you just do it naturally. For me, I never leave a firearm lying around with a round in the chamber. Ever.

I'll say it again, carrying a gun without a round in the chamber is a terrible idea; if you think you need to do that in order to keep your kids safe then you shouldn't even have a gun in the house to begin with.
 
If there are small kids in your life and there is ANY possibility one will get his/her hands on your gun unsupervised, then I would avoid any revolver -- a 2-yr old can and will pull the trigger and make a revolver fire. There are dozens of small children killed and gravely injured in the U.S. every year because they somehow got hold of mom's or dad's gun. You don't want to be one of them.
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Really??? And your telling me revolvers are the problem??? I've heard a lot of reasons for why the semi auto is superior to the "outdated revolver" before, but never this one. Some guys just don't like revolvers.
 
If the OP has questions about whether to carry a round in the chamber, she's perfectly capable of asking them. Unless and until she does, let's get back to simply helping her with the questions she's asked, please.
 
The OP has answered her own question. She should get the one of the Bersas because they are the most comfortable and most accurate in her hands.

The only question is .380 or 9mm.

I agree with the suggestion to get the .22 as well as the centerfire.

Owning one handgun is never as satisfying as owning two, and so on.
 
Compromise---

My advice is simply to determine which of your choices your most comfortable shooting. And, which you will be most comfortable carrying. All the guns you listed are different in function and operation. Some people feel fine carrying a gun that doesn't have a manual safety ( like the G26) while others wouldn't want to carry it concealed because it lacks a manual safety. Really its just a matter of YOUR preference. We can't really answer that for you.

Try to determine how you will most often carry (purse, waistband, ankle, etc) and how your choice of gun will affect this.
 
Eight is Enough,

You are offering a heap of wrong thinking. First, there can be NO "if" when kids are involved. Period. The firearm must be under your direct control all of the time if kids are ever present in the environment, which means it must be either on your person or locked up, each and every time, without fail, no exceptions. Relying on ANY mechanical component of the firearm for accident discouragement is an invitation for disaster.
 
Well said. We are off topic from the OP. Let's return to that.

Let me repeat as Rbid said - you cannot trust young children around guns and ammunition - that's it.
 
If you like its funky grip --> go LCR, otherwise, go with the Glock 26.

However!! You might want to wait out the Glock 380 that is about to come to market. (see sentence below)

As far as Bersa, every time I look at something in 380 I decide its just, "too small for me to shoot." (ymmv - see sentence above) Also, "wouldn't carry 22 for SD." If you are getting a Bersa in 9mm might as well go Glock. Finally, "the PX4 is awesome, just awesome, but I'm not sure if they are a first gun."

Glock/Ruger LCR.. "safe bets."
 
Congrats on your progress in choosing a weapon. It may not however be your last purchase. Once the gun bug bites, I think it almost incurable. Don't ask me how I know, but I have about a dozen of them now.

As far as what type of gun is kid friendly, you could argue that hand grenades are safe for kids because the pin is hard to pull. Semi or revolver, makes no difference. If you are not in complete control of your weapons at all times, sell them to someone else.

A child racking the slide is a moot point if you keep one in the chamber with the safety on like I do. A lot of loading failures happen putting the first round in. Your grip slipping or not pulling back far enough, or what not.
 
I found out that my 3 year old can rack my Walther p22 at the range. I am a revolver guy but my advise is pick what you like. I think not only format but power, recoil, concealability and "coolness" all play a role.

However!! You might want to wait out the Glock 380 that is about to come to market
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can you provide a link to that news? Glock would have to change a few things to make a 380 version legal for import.
 
Well said. We are off topic from the OP. Let's return to that.

Let me repeat as Rbid said - you cannot trust young children around guns and ammunition - that's it.
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Airport scanners and guns don't mix, either, but look how many people accidentally put a handgun in one, like Ted Nugent's wife last month, of all people.

This discussion is precisely on the topic of whether the OP should get a pistol or a revolver. She is obviously new to carrying. All the suggestions to "keep it on your person" are fine for men but many, if not most, women are more comfortable carrying in their purse.

She has kids and runs a day care. Of course you should never let a child get hold of your firearm (without your supervision for older children, and never for the youngest) but all it takes is one mistake, one moment of distraction or absent-mindedness. I've seen women faint to the floor out cold because they cut their finger slicing vegetables. There are a million ways a person can become incapacitated through no fault of their own and expose their weapon, if not send it bouncing across the floor.

You have a revolver, you have to completely unload it to make it child-proof. You have a semi-auto, you have made it child-proof (except for those few who have been taught to rack slides for Youtube videos) by simply leaving the round out of the barrel, yet if you need to shoot you can have it ready in less than one second.

The OP is around kids day and night. Of course you try to make sure no kid gets hold of your gun but only a fool thinks, not only that they are perfect and will never make a mistake, but that they also will never have an accident.

I'm done. The OP can decide for herself which risk she wants to take.
 
THose a good links. Especially the last one. I hope its true. While I wont get one (read my sig) I think Glock makes fine guns. I wonder what they changed to make it legal to import to the USA?
 
We are safe with our guns. Our children aren't exposed to them directly. They are in a key locked safe behind 2 key locked doors for all but one. The other one is in a safe with a number pad entry. That one is installed into my cabinet/pantry and we change the code every couple of weeks. Hubby says thats so that the numbers don't end up showing a "wear" pattern from being pressed and rubbed a lot. Neither of us carry in the home. I don't know how he stores them usually, but when he is offshore he makes sure that one in each cabinet has a round in chamber if I ever need.

I am completely new to alllllll of this. I shot a shotgun when i was 13 that was too big for me and the kick back dislocated my shoulder, was I partially at fault for that, definately, I had no clue anything about guns and the person letting me shoot didnt tell me a damn thing on how to hold it or anything.. just handed it to me and said "when your ready pull the trigger" about 7 months later, I was outside playing football with the neighborhood boys and we all witnessed a neighbor across the street "cleaning" his gun, shoot himself in the face, altho he survived he completely mangled his face and has undergone numerous surgeried. When I was 9 my uncle shot and killed My aunt and shot at their 4 children who escaped physically unharmed.

So you could say that until I met my husband I have been deathly afraid of guns. However, he has taught me that PEOPLE kill, guns don't. And that people intent on causing harm often use guns as a tool to do so. I have come around a lot.

As for which one I will carry, I don't have a clue, honestly since the last incident at 13, I have only shot a gun a couple of times, and that is my hubbys Sig 9mm and I was nervous, tense and shaky the first few times. Tim Oliver and Mike O'dell (our areas lead CCW instructors) have helped a lot in getting me used to them as well as my hubby and his family. I can now hold and shoot no problems! I do need a lot of practice and practical training before I ever carry on person. I still have to learn to clean one! which I feel if I can't clean or care for it I shouldn't carry it yet.

Shooting at a still or hanging target I'm good with! I have a lot of practice needed on moving targets. luckily My hubby and his dad are the owners of D.T. Systems who makes the R.A.T. so I will have plenty of practice in the months to come.


ANyhow..I just wanted to thank ALL of you for your insights. I have read each and every comment and if I didnt understand something I asked the hubby to explain it to me! If I wasnt familiar with something said I looked it up, which usually made me look up something else in the process! lol.


THank you all!

Kelli
 
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