Constitutional Carry - 20 States! And That Makes 29

Of these United States, 27 have officially enacted laws that remove the requirement to have a permit to actively carry a firearm in public.

2021 has seen advancement of constitutional carry laws in several states with Iowa and Tennessee being successful in passing the laws off to their governors who signed them. They join the ranks of the several States such as Alaska, Kentucky and my home state of West Virginia who have chosen to return the power and control back to the people at large. These states still maintain permit systems so that residents may apply for a permit that is recognized by external states giving legal recognition to the People that travel outside of their resident state and exercise their natural right to self defense. I'll explain why this setup is important and a huge benefit to the free People at large. 

The process of applying for a permit can be time consuming and expensive. In Georgia, our carry permit application costs around $70 to $80 and takes several weeks (my original application took about 3 weeks before I had my permit). You are required to have a permit for both open and concealed carry. While the application in Georgia isn't difficult, you are still subordinate to the bureaucracy before you can defend yourself with a firearm in public legally. If you are one of the people who don't have a permit and your life is in danger, you probably want the permit NOW and not 3 weeks from now. Dying because you had to wait around is not ideal. With COVID creating havoc in 2020, it took my resident county 2 months to renew my permit and it technically expired even though I had applied weeks before the expiration date. I have friends whos process took longer. Do your rights end just because a printed date on a plastic card has passed? No. No they do not. 

The above is why I have and will always advocate for a system that, if you need the gun now to defend yourself, you have an option or method of carrying that gun that is legally recognized while you wait for your permit application to get through the system. Most people who get a permit don't do so preemptively. There is usually a trigger in their life that says "maybe I should do this." Thankfully for many people, they are able to get one before something bad happens. When I talk to new shooters who start down this path, I explain that they need to start the permit process right now before they even choose the gun because of the time involved. 

If you have ever thought about buying a gun for personal defense, you need to go apply RIGHT NOW for concealed carry permit because the time it takes you can take longer than you may have.

Even if you never buy a gun, you'll at least have the carry permit so that SHOULD you purchase the gun, you'll be able to carry it. In a constitutional carry state, you'll be able to carry your newly purchased gun immediately. You've already done a background check to buy the gun and the likely chance is that, the background check system used to buy the gun is the same system used to run your information for the carry permit. Why not just run them at the same time or just use the original check for your authorization.

BUT ISN'T THAT DANGEROUS?

Not really. Most people's idea of a carry permit is based on the idea that maybe you shouldn't be allowed to do so as if you are a dangerous person. If that's the case, you shouldn't have the gun in the first place. If you are barred from a carry permit for criminal reasons, then you're barred from ownership. 

Simply put, if you can own the gun, you can carry the gun. 

I know that many people like the idea of requiring a demonstration of competency before authorizing carry, however, learning to use a pistol correctly is time consuming and could take longer than the process of the application. Not every person has the time to go to the range every week for the next 2 months and take classes to learn. It also interferes with the concept of immediate need. If you are in danger now, NOW is the time to carry the gun. You can learn as you go. It's why I advocate constitutional carry for domestic violence victims. If someone finally breaks away from a bad relationship, I don't want that victim to have to wait for the State or county to give them a permit. Go buy the gun, ammo and a holster then immediately go into the range and start learning. 

So in short, I am very excited to see that two fifths of our Free Nation have removed the control of the People's rights from the State's regulation under the control of bureaucrats and restored the power of choice back to the People. 

UPDATE June 2021 - 21 States thanks to Texas! 

UPDATE March 2022 - Several states are moving toward constitutional carry. Ohio just sent theirs to the Governor after clearing both chambers. Georgia's passed the Senate and has gone to the House committee for review and I'm hoping they get it done soon. Alabama just sent one to the Senate floor and Indiana has one but I haven't done any research about it. 

15 MAR 2022 Update: Ohio makes 23! On 14 March, the governor of Ohio signed their bill removing the need for a permit! Georgia has two competing bills currently. I'm hoping the Senate one gets passed by the House. 

24 MAR 2022 Update: Indiana signed theirs into law on the 21st which makes 24! 

01 APR 2022 Update: The Georgia House had been playing games with the SB 319 but the two chambers got a neutered-but-still-good bill passed and Georgia will send a Constitutional Carry bill to Governor Kemp soon.

08 APR 2022 Update: Kemp is expected to sign SB 319 into law as of next week. Additionally, Nebraska has sent their permitless carry bill to the Senate. If it clears, it'll go to their governor for signing which, if passed, would make it so more than half of the US states you can carry a pistol concealed with out permission from the State first. Huge retaking of freedoms going on!

18 APR 2022 Update: Louisiana is trying again and moved a bill out of their House committee. Here's hoping LA can get it done. I hear Florida is trying again as well. 

22 APR 2022 Update: Louisiana's attempt passed the House and it off to the Senate. The Senate tried in 2021 but their Governor doesn't like freedom so he vetoed it. The Senate didn't override. Here's hoping they get it right this time. No update on Florida. Mini update. I was wrong, the FL bill died in committee. Lame.

04 MAR 2023 Update: Florida is back at it along with Nebraska, South Carolina and North Dakota. So far, those states have active bills in play to make Constitutional Carry a thing. If all 4 get it this year, that would make 29 states where you don't need to ask permission to carry a pistol.

1 APR 2023 - This isn't an April Fools Day joke, Florida finally passed a bill out of their Congress and sent Constitutional Carry to the Governor. As it sits now, DeSantis will likely sign it making Florida number 26.

03 APR 2023 - DeSantis signed permitless carry. 

07 APR 2023 Update: Looks like South Carolina is getting a bill in the mix with S109. It has to be passed and go to their House for passage before it can go to their Governor. 

20 APR 2023 - Nebraska is poised to become number 27 as their permitless carry bill has left their unicameral (one Chamber instead of a House and Senate) after being passed and is on it's way to the Governor who says he'd sign it. Once completed, Nebraska will become the 27th state in this Union to return to the traditional ways of firearms. Remember that permits weren't really a thing until the early 1900's. That statement is ignoring the restriction of concealed carry and preference of open carry in the mid 1800's. Which still highlights that both options were available at founding in the late 1790's.

12 SEPT 2023 - Nebraska did sign that bill and it has gone into effect on 02 SEPT. 

24 JAN 2024 - South Carolina introduced a bill and will start debating it soon. Here's hoping SC gets permitless carry soon as the last one didn't get out of their Senate. HB3594 is this year's bill. 

MAR 2024: Louisiana has completed the process to get constitutional carry out of their Congress and off to the Governor to sign. I don't know when he will sign it but the current expectation is that he will. Number 28, folks. Praise the Lord, We the People are clawing back our Rights. SC is making some amendments to their bill HB3594. We will see how this goes.

MAR 05 2024: Louisiana has officially restored completely, the Rights of the People to Keep and Bear Arms. Permitless carry goes into effect on July 4th, 2024. That makes 28 folks. God bless these United States. 

MAR 07 2024: South Carolina also passed and signed constitutional carry. I honestly hadn't expected it but they got it.

357 Magnum - My New Love Affair and a Cartridge for Many Guns

 Previously, I had settled on a revolver cartridge for a sort of do-it-all cartridge that could be reloaded with a focus on black powder but could also be reloaded hot for much more powerful loads. The idea was you could have one cartridge that was fairly common but that you could use in both types of firearms and make powerful enough ammo from scratch and scavenged materials. I had settled on 45 Colt for its use in not just pistols but rifles, it's large case capacity which is an advantage in black powder and that many guns are chambered in it. At one point, I ended up with a Cabela's special 45 Colt Single Action Army clone and a case hardened Winchester 94 AE Trapper that was beautiful. Which the Winchester was able to handle the real heavy loads of the 45 Colt +P-esque loading from Buffalo Bore, they are not recommended for SAA clones since they'd explode. Too high of a pressure for the old 1870's designed frame.

I had those guns for quite a while but over the years, I acquired several other similar guns. The project dubbed ArgentVaquero, or Silver Cowboy, chambered in 357 Magnum offers better smokeless powder performance without the need to use boutique ammunition. Though those Buffalo Bore 45 Colt are more powerful from the rifle. I settled on the Remington HTP load in the semi-jacketed hollow point at a standard 158 grains. The folks at the Chopping Block on YouTube (might be under ARFCOM now) tested that load in ballistic gelatin from both a 16 inch rifle and a revolver. It was found to perform to acceptable standards from both guns. Since I have a 4 inch barrel revolver and a 16 inch rifle and was trying to standardize my ammunition choices, the Remington was a clear winner. I stocked up on it a while back and continue to do so. I've since then also replaced my Taurus model 85 in 38 Special with a model 605 in 357 Magnum. Both are 5 shots but the 605 is able to handle the full pressure of the 357 while I would have to settle for lesser power 38 Special. This stable of bulls gives me a concealed carry gun, a larger gun for other work where open carry is permitted (such as on the family's farm) and a rifle for defense and hunting applications. 

To further the concept, I picked up reloading dies a while back in 38 Special / 357 Mag from Lee that I've been using to load for some time now. Most of the time, I'm loading heavy weight 200 gr 38 Special for the Marlin 1894 CST as a subsonic round for plinking. I started loading full power 357 Magnum with 160 grain cast hollow points for use in the revolvers. I'm still working on an accurate load. 

My recent intrigue with 357 Magnum came after I started working more with 38 Special and trying to find a good load for my Taurus 85. Once I started looking into good finding that the best loads for 38 Special, I learned that they are usually in the +P range and can be a big tricky to make up. If you want to make your own ammo, you need to run a very soft lead bullet at low velocity or a harder lead at higher pressures. Since 357 Magnum has a far higher chamber pressure rating, loading 357 Magnum to those +P 38 Special range gives you a pressure rating well below the max 357 pressure. If those 38 Special +P rounds are 19,000 PSI and with peak 357 Mag being around 35000 PSI. Plenty of room to work with. As I got more in depth with those 38 Special rounds and cast bullets, I also started to learn about the exploits of men like Elmer Keith. He's a very storied man to say the least. He's also part of the reason we have the Magnum cartridges in the first place. He had a hand in the development of 357 Magnum, he pretty much created 44 Magnum with his friends and later created the 41 Magnum. 

For a while, I had considered that a 44 Magnum setup was a better choice and that I had screwed up going for 45 Colt instead of 44 Mag. While that may be true, I'm not sure that I would have been better suited in the end. Maybe for black powder that will be true given the case capacities but from a modern perspective, the 44 Mag is a better choice for factory loaded rounds. It also turns out the the 44 Mag is a good round to load for as Elmer Keith found out. 

That said, I settled on 357 Magnum for the time being. Folks such as Dan Wesson and Skeeter Skelton championed the 357 Magnum and spent a ton of time getting it right. Dan Wesson used it during his hunts around the US to promote the capability of the cartridge and Mr. Skelton found great use in Lyman cast bullets for taking of jack rabbits and other game animals. While the 44 Magnum may be better for larger game such as elk, here in the middle parts of Georgia, I am unlikely to stumble across anything so large. Deer and feral hogs, coyotes and armadillos are the most likely of critters for hunting and a 357 Magnum can take such critters based on the experiences written by these men and many of handgun hunters on the Internets. 

For defense, 357 Magnum has been used by police departments long before I came along, to put down bad guys. Many outdoorsman have deployed successfully the 357 Magnum in the woods, mountains and plains of the US as bear defense and populates many of the stories of defensive tools cataloged by various states in their reports. I feel, to say that the 357 Magnum is capable for defense, would be a true statement. 

The hunting and defensive capabilities of the 357 Magnum merit a well-reasoned do-it-all cartridge when coupled with the correct firearms and ammunition choices. If it came down to a single decision, my stable of 357 Magnum weapons and the reloading equipment plus the various factory offerings makes the 357 Magnum cartridge a stellar choice in my opinion. It may not be as elegant as the basic 4 inch barrel 44 Mag revolver that Elmer Keith championed but it does offer options based on one cartridge. 

I look forward to learning how to cast my own bullets and load my own ammunition over the next few years with the 357 Magnum. I think a good Ruger Blackhawk should be in my future. 

The Indiana Defender - Teaching Us How to Do the Job aka We need to Talk About Terminal Ballistics (Commentary)

**Warning: Don't read if you don't want to hear about bad things**

I've been combing over the Googles and I haven't been able to find anything more substantial about what handgun the Defender in the Indiana mall mass shooting attempt had used to save lives. So far, all the sources are saying a Glock 9mm but I want to know which one. It matters because of capacity and barrel length.

Either way, there are three components in this incident I very much appreciate. Firstly, our Defender took shots at what people are saying was around a 40 yard shot. Secondly, our Defender fired 10 rounds and lands 8 of them. Thirdly, our Defender did it in less than 20 seconds with people saying around 15 seconds. That's fast, accurate and meaningful shooting. I still have concerns and questions I want answered.

**Gruesome description below**

A picture that leaked onto the Internet of the body of the supposed attacker appears to show that around 4 to 5 rounds landed in the attacker's elbow and center and left-side chest area. I can't tell where the other 3 to 4 rounds impacted. If they are to be believed, despite the several hits, the attacker walked off according to Open Source Intelligence sources (The Internet). If the OSINT data is accurate, this demonstrates a few things but mainly that handgun rounds are still capable of incapacitating a person but that the impacts may not be immediately incapacitating. The attacker took 8 rounds reportedly. It appears that maybe two were in the right elbow, one in the upper right lung and maybe two in the center area around the chest below the heart and one around the left collar bone area. I don't have the autopsy report so I can't confirm any of this. It sounds like the incapacitation was due to blood loss as opposed to a nervous system shutdown. 

**End gruesome description**

The question becomes this. What took so long? Why were 8 rounds of 9mm with several in the hits in the vital zone not immediately incapacitating? Part of that is due to handguns just aren't that greatly effective according to a study. The best information I think I can provide you can be found in a study done and published. That pertinent information can be found in the video below. 

My Questions

How can we improve this situation? My concerns can be summarized by several questions. What ammo did our Defender have? What barrel length did he have? What was the capacity of the magazine? Did the Defender's bullets expand?

The ammo selection matters significantly if we believe that a reliably expanding hollow point design is more effective at stopping an attack than that of an FMJ or something else. This is called terminal ballistics. If that statement is true, then we want to make sure that the hollow point designs we are using in our carry guns are good and that those designs will work from our handgun's barrel length. You need both. 

Hollow point bullets only expand when they impact the target as long as they do so within what I will call the velocity envelope. If the bullet impacts at too fast a velocity, the bullet will open up but may break apart and might not penetrate deep enough. If too slow, the bullet won't expand making it no more effective than an FMJ. A good design is one that meets the the FBI's testing requirement. Note there is another standard called IWBA which is the International Wound Ballistics Association. They have different testing than the FBI for the layers testing. On impact of ballistic gelatin, the bullet will pass through through 4 layers of denim or clothe to simulate clothing and expand quickly then penetrate between 12 inches and 18 inches. Usually testing should use at least 5 bullets to confirm reliable expansion and penetration. You can find great examples of testing at the Lucky Gunner Lab. They provide great information. There are others that you can find on YouTube such as ShootingTheBull410's incredible saga of 9mm and 380 ACP ammo testing. There are many folks who test this stuff so take advantage of the free data and cross reference your questions and choices with that OSINT data.

Barrel length is important in this topic because many people prefer to carry a smaller gun with shorter barrel but with the shorter the barrel, the less velocity you generate. A good design may work well in guns with a 5 inch or 4 inch barrel but by putting that round though a 3.1 inch barrel, the design may not expand reliably. For example, in the STB410 Ammo Quest, the Speer Gold Dot 124 grain load (3618) did not expand reliably in the test pistol with 3in barrel. However, that same load in the +P variant (3617) DID work correctly. By increasing the velocity, the design worked well. If the standard pressure round had been fired from a 4 inch or maybe a 3.5 inch barrel, the design may work just fine. See TNOutdoors9 video for comparison. 

By confirming our ammo choice with good testing practices, we can find if we need to keep looking or start stocking up. 

Back to our Indiana incident, if the Defender had used a good design and fired those rounds from a 4 inch barrel then it's possible that those bullets did expand as desired. That said, at 40 yards, they may not have had enough velocity to expand. 

Most of the gel testing done is at shorter distances. By shooting with shorter barrels, we can see where performance starts to taper off. This demonstrates how a bullet will perform after it's travelled some distance. Say 40 yards.

For example, if STB410's 124 gr Gold Dot (23618) test is accurate, then the average velocity of the 5 shots was 1030 FPS. With a poor success rate at those speeds, it would seem that the Speer Gold Dot 124 gr bullet produced back then has a minimum velocity of around 1030 FPS to get some kind of expansion. Lucky Gunner, however, got around 1067 FPS with reliable expansion from a 3.5 inch barrel. If we split the difference, then somewhere around 1050 FPS is the lowest at-target velocity we would want to run these bullets. We would not want to start our muzzle velocity that low. I assume that Speer didn't make any changes to the bullets used in the 23618 loading but I could be wrong. It's possible they updated the design/manufacturing. I do know they have a +P variant and a Short Barrel version of the 124 gr load with both standard pressure and +P variants. If I was going with anything less than 3 inch barrel and chose to run Gold Dot 124 gr bullets, then I would go +P or either Short Barrel variants.

At 1050 FPS, those bullets may only work reliably at shorter distances but if we run a longer barrel, than we can increase those velocities. TNOutdoors9 used a 4 inch barrel Glock 19 and got around 1141 FPS. That's a 74 FPS increase compared to Lucky Gunner's 3.5 inch barrel. 

If we run the velocity from TNOutdoors9's test through a ballistic calculator, we can see that around 40 yards, the Speed Gold Dot 124 gr from a 4 inch Glock 19 will hit around 1050 FPS. This means that our Defender in Indiana may have had reliable expansion IF he had carried a Glock 19 with Speed Gold 124 gr (23618) loaded. I used GunData's default ballistic coefficient data for those numbers if you're interested. 

Many people had operated under the pretense that the FBI previously stated the average distance of engagement was around 7 yards. I have no idea if that's true but clearly this incident happened well outside that distance. I had been mulling over the idea for a while but the Indiana incident brings up that we should be concerned that we may ACTUALLY have to take a long range shot. I know I can take a 50 yard head shot if need be but it's not easy. I have a red dot on my carry gun. Yes I've tried shooting a 6 inch target at 50 yards. It's how I validate my 25 yard zero by holding about an inch up from center.

If I'm taking a long range shot, I want to know if my bullets are still in the velocity envelope. I'm not going to pull out a laser range finder to find out in a situation but it's good to know that I may have to take extra shots or hold over a bit if an attacker is at 50 to 75 yards to end that attack. If I'm carrying a 3 inch barrel gun, then I may have to consider that at distance past 7 yards or so, my bullets may not expand at all. If our Defender had a Glock 43x with it's 3.1 inch barrel, those shots at 40 yards may have only been as effective as FMJs because they never expanded. I ran the Lucky Gunner velocity of 1067 FPS and the numbers drop to 1050 FPS at 8 yards. That may work for close in but it may also explain why our Defender had to put 8 rounds into the attacker. Not that he could see if they were effective hits or not. Really, you should keep shooting until they stop.

Honestly, this is starting to make me want to go back to a 4 inch barrel gun but I've run my own data and found I should good out to about 50 yards. I really like my ammo and P365xl combo but I'm wondering if I should see if the Federal HST 147 grain is any better. Doesn't look it. 

But what about capacity?

If our Defender had a Glock 48, Glock 43x or Glock 26 with the standard capacity magazines then he would only have had 10 rounds per magazine. If he topped off, then +1 that capacity. This is a concern for me because he fired 10 rounds. While clearly this worked out well, it highlights that if there had been another shooter (think Columbine) then he would have had to reload. 

If our Defender had carried a Glock 19 or a Glock 19X, 45 or 17 then he would have had 15 or 17 rounds in the standard magazine. This would have left him with at least 5 rounds or as many as 8 rounds depending on the variables. That's not a lot of wiggle room.

Alternatively, he may have had a embiggened magazine in one of the smaller guns, such as the S15 mag in the 48 or 43x or a 15 round G19 mag sleeved in a G26 or a +2 extension on any of these guns. Simply put, we don't know.

"But how often to people need to reload?" Great question. Sometimes, it's not about running out of ammo. 

I try to carry a spare magazine with my P365xl. Not because I think I'm gonna get in a big ol' gun fight but because sometimes things happen. Once I found that I had lost my magazine from my gun when I got home. I reached down to unholster before changing clothes and found the magazine was missing. I knew immediately when the gun was in hand. Had I needed my gun, I would have had 1 round in the chamber and needed a reload. Had that happened, I would have been able to pull the spare 15 round magazine I keep and charge the weapon. I found that magazine in the truck shortly after. I don't use that holster anymore since it clearly doesn't protect the magazine release. 

Summary

There's a lot of missing information I'd like answered. Did he have a red dot? What setup did he run? We won't know for a while, if ever. We do know this, he was successful in stopping that attacker. I am extremely grateful he was successful. I am very pleased to see such accuracy and speed in this situation. I wish he never had to deploy his gun. Evil exists in our world. We have to put it down when it shows up. If you ever have to help out, I hope that you took the above information and questions and put it to use. God Bless. 

2022 - Will 2022 Be the Year of the Restoration of Gun Rights?

There are several court cases against the various firearms restrictions implemented by States against their People. 2021 and 2022 have the potential to be ruinous for the forces of Authoritarianism in states like California, New Jersey and New York who, for decades, have labored yearly to envision new ways to regulate firearms and infringe on the Second Amendment. It's like these states are a think tank for an infringement strategy.

The Supreme Court has opted to take several of the most important cases from these states such as a magazine ban limiting magazine capacities to 10 rounds, restrictive issuance policies regarding pistol carry permits and the ever hated but incredibly popular "Assault weapons" that are available in 90% of the rest of the US.

This could be so ruinous for Authoritarians such as Michael Bloomberg that the current President Joe Biden has created a commission to "investigate" changing the number of Supreme Court justices. Basically, the idea is to add something like four more justices to the Bench so that Biden can pick all four, stacking the deck against any "Conservative" ideals. Can't win? Cheat.

Concealed Carry Permits

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen is the case from New York state that is changing the restrictive concealed carry permit issuance policy that has been in place for decades. For me, this is the most important case since it will impact the average everyday Citizen in these Slave States the most. The unhindered ability for the People to exercise their Right to self-defense in those Slave States will help drive down the wildly out of control crime rate in said places.

When I did the math on this, a favorable vote for the People and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms would potentially add an additional 4 to 7 million concealed carrier permits in the areas where No Issue is the policy. The US is reportedly to have around 19 to 21 million carry permits. I'm looking forward to an additional bolstering of those numbers.

Magazine Bans

This and the AWB are the darlings of gun control in the US. They are low hanging fruit and easy to target with cheap propaganda and media manipulation. Association of N.J. Rifle PistolnClubs, Inc. v. Attorney Gen. of N.J is one of the cases that is dealing with a blanket ban on magazines with capacities over 10 rounds. Previously, a person could posses previously acquired magazines but the newest law and a similar one in CA require disposal or modification of those magazines. 

"Assault Weapons" Ban

Assault weapons is a term created by gun control advocates based on the same term for a different weapon. Generally, assault weapons are semi-auto firearms that have specific features, those guns are bad according to may Authoritarians and need to be banned. They claim it's about making it harder to commit mass shootings but these are the same people who track incidents with BB guns as shootings and ANY mass shooting with something like a traditional handgun under the guise those incidents are Sandy Hook repeats. You can commit a mass shooting with a cowboy cap and ball revolver but that doesn't really matter does it? The magazine ban case is James Miller v. Bonta. A win in the Supreme Court for the People would immediately crush the push for gun control in the US on the Federal level pretty much whole-stop. There just simply isn't much more that is as big as semi-auto firearms with those banned features that gun control advocates have pushed. 

I know I said that the carry permit case is the most important case and it is because it impacts more people on a daily basis. There are literally 10s of millions of American's who can't exercise their rights because they live in CA, HI, NY, NJ, MD, etc. Most people don't care about magazine capacity or semi-auto rifles until they need one. If it really came down to it and I needed to fight for my Rights, I can make a featureless goblin of a substitute for an AR-15 pattern rifle work. If I had to fight with a muzzle-loading rifle or club, I'd do it. Screw your anti-American, anti-Republic, Authoritarianism and your gun control.

03 OCT Update: The NY case for concealed carry is getting huge. The list of groups both pro-freedom and anti-freedom who have filed briefs is LONG. See the below page for the list.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/20-843.html

09 NOV Update: The Supreme Court has listened the oral arguments for the NY carry permit case. According to folks who know more about this sort of thing than I do, it isn't looking good for New York. We shouldn't expect to hear back from the Justices until sometime around summer 2022.

07 DEC Update: The California magazine ban case was upheld in the 9th Circuit which isn't a surprise. No details on if the Supreme Court has opted to pick it up yet.

Ammo Standardization - Ammo is More Than a Checkbox You Mark Off. Your Choices Matter.

 Ammo can be tricky to get in general during these COVID and unrestful times. Simply buying what's on the shelf may help you stock up but unless you're willing to rezero every time you change ammo, you're not really doing yourself much in the way of favors. Plus it's a waste of a few rounds everytime. 

I learned the hard way that ammo is not just ammo; that not all ammo is equal. Most people will recognize this when you get "practice" ammo and "defensive" ammo. It goes deeper than that. Velocities, bullet weight, powder charge, etc. all contribute to changes in point of impact from the same gun at the same distances in the same hands. By testing different loads for same point of impact you can ensure that you can train regularly with ammo that emulates your point of impact compared to your defensive ammo. If done correctly, this is a cost effective way for you way to train while preserving your expensive and hard to get good ammo. 

In short, the answer to ammo selection is to investigate what defensive ammo meets your requirements then figure out if you can afford to buy a good enough supply of that one loading, if you can buy it regularly and does it come from Russia? More on that later. 

I use Speer Gold Dots in the 124 gr +P version of their 9mm defensive loadings and based on the weight and velocities of this cartridge, I had assumed that Winchester's Q4318 9x19 NATO 124 grain load would have been a good choice. It was available and when it was on sale with whatever retailer, I could get 500 rounds for around $110 shipped and the recoil should have been about the same as the Gold Dots. I was carrying a PPQ or an M&P Shield gen1 at the time with open sights. As a result, I had stocked up and amassed a goodly sized supply but under 1000 rounds. Then a few things occurred. First I switched to a pistol with a red dot and finally, 2020 happened. I have only seen a few boxes of Q4318 available for sale since 2020 and the red dot, a Holosun 507K X2, when zeroed at 25 yards, does NOT have the same point of impact between the two cartridges. I would have to rezero every time I wanted to practice and that's simply not practical. It would be a waste of ammo and I can't afford to keep shooting Gold Dots every time I go out. 

In 2020, I took a full inventory of what I had out of a need to organize my gun stuff as part of house projects. I found that while a have an ample supply, it's an ABSOLUTE hodge-podge of ammo. Starting in 2022, I have been finishing up my projects, many of these guns use a red dot or scope. Since you zero your sights and optics for the rounds being used, its best to have an ample supply of the ammo you're zeroed for. Since rezeroing is a pain and wasteful, I'd rather have 1000 rounds of the same stuff than 1700 rounds of different rounds in the 300 and less count since much of which would have a different POI.

In March of 2022, I took my carry pistol to the range along with several boxes of the ammunition had in my inventory. What I had on hand was Monarch 115 grain brass 9mm, Winchester 115 grain 9mm, Winchester Q4318 and Igman 124 grain 9mm. None of the 124 grain stuff has a similar point of impact to the Speer Gold Dots but both the Winchester and Monarch (which is Academy's in-house brand) have a minimal enough POI shift relative to the Gold Dot from my pistol at 25 yards. This is specific to my gun, red dot and ammo choices. Your situation may be different. 

Currently, I'm training for the Georgia semi-auto pistol course qualification which has accuracy requirements. Having a supply of training ammo with the same POI at distances I will be testing at is a huge benefit as I won't have to adjust my point of aim to compensate. 

As a result of those tests, I know that as I use up what ammo I have for practice, I should be replacing it specifically with one loading. I haven't chosen between the Winchester and Monarch yet but since both are close enough, I can just go with which ever is cheapest. 

In the end, I should have only two loadings for my carry gun, the expensive defensive rounds and a matched POI training round. 

I am applying this to my other guns as well. 

The biggest parts of this project have been 9mm, 22LR and 5.56. My primary AR-15 has been zeroed with the no-longer available Wolf Gold 223 Remington. It appears that the manufacturer is no longer importing that loading but does import an M193 based round which is still different than my current 223. As a result, I've had to resort to testing different cartridges to see which have a similar POI at 50 yards. Thankfully, Wolf Polyformance and Tula both have a 55 gr steel case 223 with a POI close enough that at 50 yards, I can hit a 6 inch gong reliably enough. This means that I have a supply that I can get often enough thats inexpensive that I won't have to use up my nicer brass cased Wolf Gold. 

Except then Russia decided to do Russian things and invade Ukraine. Russian made ammo was already under sanctions but existing import authorizations would still be honored until they expire. Those would have lasted a few years. You'd still be able to get Tula and others for cheap. Those sanctions likely would have ran out before the import licenses expired but since Russia invaded Ukraine (for like the third or fourth time in human history), getting cheap ammo isn't going to be a thing for a long while. Wolf's Performance, Polyformance and others along with Tula, Brown Bear, Silver Bear, Barnaul and even some Monarch brand ammo, is made in Russia. While some of these brands also have plants in other places (like Ukraine - Red Army Standard) these brands represented what is generally, the cheapest options on the market. Tula's bottom of the barrel 9mm load was a steel cased, zinc jacketed bullet factory offering that you could get for 16 cents per round in a 1000 round case.

Since I won't be able to ethically acquire cheap Russian made ammo with similar POI to the Taiwanese made Wolf Gold I have left, I need to start looking at what I can use. The next largest supply of ammo I have is M855 from Federal but that was from back when they were running the Lake City plant and the Army was still using M855 and not the new M855A1. Now that Winchester is running the plant, I would have to test to see if their M855 is the same as the Federal in terms of POI. But since the Army left M855 behind for the A1 version, I might as well not bother. M855 does appear to be all that great anyway.

At this point, I've got a few options already in very small quantities that I'll take to the range. I'll run them through a chronograph to see if they have similar velocities to the Wolf Gold I have. If the POI is similar enough and accuracy is good, then I know that I'll be able to start stocking up on whatever loading I select while practicing with the rest of my inventory. 

This process is tedious but I think is worth any gun owner's time and helps keep expenses down.

Choose one cartridge that meets your needs. If you can afford to do it buy those rounds in bulk. If you can't afford that, then test small quantities of different rounds for point of impact shift and stock up on the rounds that have the closest point of impact to your good ammo, that is cheaper and actually available and NOT from some country that's going to screw over everyone. 

H.R. 38 - The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 - Do it. Just do it.

Recently, one of the House committees voted in favor of a very important bill. While I'm not pleased with the method of execution, states like New Jersey and Maryland are the reason this is happening. If those states had bothered to recognize their citizen's rights, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

 As a Georgia resident, I am not directly impacted by this legislation. The reason for that is because the states that surround Georgia and that states that I regularly travel to and through, all have reciprocity with Georgia. The only state that I have traveled into since moving to Georgia is Maryland and that was on my way to the Canaan Valley. I've also skirted D.C.

When I passed through Maryland (Oakland specifically) I stowed my sidearm until I got into the Canaan Valley. The funny thing I noticed on my drive was the small amount of signage that indicates that you've entered Maryland on those back roads. It would be easy to make a wrong turn and end up in an unfriendly state.

The way this bill benefits me is through requiring Maryland to recognize my permit. This would make it so that as I drive through Oakland from Morgantown down to the Canaan Valley, I would not be in violation of Maryland law by carrying my legally owned handgun and not having an impossible-for-the-average-citizen-to-acquire permit.

That is the main benefit of this law.

From what I understand, however, is that this bill may also make it so a resident of Maryland or New Jersey that isn't otherwise prohibited in another state, could receive a non-resident permit (provided they pass the background checks and meet the requirements) from another state (such as Utah or Virginia) and could still carry in their hyper-restrictive home state. If that is true, this finally gives those residents a much needed vector to exercise their natural rights.

It also, allegedly, protects you from magazine and ammunition limitations.

This needs to pass immediately. If it does, I would actually consider visiting states like New York for vacation.

CZ 75 P-01 - Cheaty McCheat-Face

I really like the CZ 75 P-01. It's probably one of my best guns. It's easy to carry and accurate. The trigger isn't too bad and is very smooth. It's possible to find holsters for it but it can be tricky. So what's the problem?

Well, the issue is me; basically my trigger control sucks. I'm having too much trouble mastering the double action trigger pull from a draw. I can be fast but my shots are poorly placed or I can go slow and be accurate. That would be the problem though, the accuracy is coming at a speed far too slow than what I'm comfortable with. Maybe if I got some professional training to help master the DA/SA but I haven't but the desire to seek out that training just yet.

In the mean time, I've decided to be a Cheaty McCheat-Face. I'm switching back to striker-fired guns.

The M&P 9 Shield, M&P9c, SIG P320 SC, Glock 26 and Walther PPQ M1 are now back in my rotation. With that, I will be able to go back to appendix carry (Shield) giving me more options on method of carry as opposed to the OWB method for the P-01.

Over the last few months, I'd been tracking my times and shot placement with the P-01, which led my to wonder if I would be any faster/more accurate with the striker guns. As it turns out, I'm not any faster but I am significantly more accurate. This doesn't really surprise me since my initial training was done on a striker gun (XD-40 Service). That and I think the triggers on striker-fired guns are inherently easier to shoot well, hence the cheating part.

I really wanted to master the DA/SA trigger but I just don't have the money to throw at getting past shooting the DA quickly. I'm managing around 50 rounds every weekend right now but I don't feel like that's enough to get past my control issues. If I can motivate myself to locate a class or professional instruction on mastering the DA/SA then I will look into switching back. Until such time, I will have to stick with striker-fired guns.

Life with the CZ-75 P-01 - A Great Carry Gun

I will preface this by saying that I have become a big fan of the CZ 75 P-01. I'm not sure that I can say I'm a full blown CZ fan boy yet but I do really like this firearm and other CZ weapons. It's not the best carry gun but it's been good so far. I'm having a hard time finding holsters in general and have ordered a custom Kydex OWB holster for it but it's going to be a while before I get it in. Once I have a proper holster I think this will become one of my favorite carry guns and will carry it much more than I have been.

Getting holsters for the P-01 is somewhat of a pain. There are just not many people out there making them for the P-01. I prefer the paddle style OWB holster in general. I especially like the Safariland 5198 model (I have 3 of them) but they do not make one for the P-01. They do for the SP-01 but not the P-01. I was able to pick up two Alien Gear holsters for this weapon, 1x Cloak Tuck 3.0 and 1x Cloak Slide OWB. The OWB has become the main holster for use as carrying the P-01 IWB is a pain. I did try the Galco M5X Matrix; never again. It's essentially trash. It has effectively zero retention. I'd rather have a leather holster than a plastic one with no retention. That said, I have ordered a custom made holster from Contact! Concealment but they have a 4 to 6 week delivery time and I'm around 4 weeks into waiting. I hate waiting for things I paid for. Blame my millennial-ness if you want.

The biggest down side to the P-01 is it's width; 1.38 inches according to the CZ USA website. It's .18 inch wider than the M&P 9c (w/o thumb safety) and .20 inch wider than the Glock 26. It does, however, have more rounds in the standard magazines but it is also a physically larger gun. The P-01 is more of a compact sized handgun where the other two are sub-compacts (even though the M&P9c is labeled as a compact I'd still categorize it as a sub-compact). The P-01 compares more with the Glock 19.That said, I prefer the P-01 for it's ergonomics over the Glock 26 any day, all day. Both are reliable and eat just about whatever you put through it.

An upside to the P-01 is magazine availability. While it doesn't take Glock mags, the P-01 can use standard 14 round CZ compact mags for a flush fit but the P-01 has a specific version that has a rubber base pad which acts as a finger extension. These are a little harder to find.

The trigger pull feels a little heavy but it is a double action/single action firearm with a decocker. To make the double action pull a little less tough the P-01 has a half-cock position that the decocker drops the hammer down to.

Ergonomics! Seriously, this piece feels great. It comes with these rubber grips that don't look that good but make the sidearm very controllable. Access to all the controls is easy. It also aids in accuracy. The P-01 is both accurate and precise and it's a blast to shoot. The trigger feels clean and breaks well when in single action mode. In double action mode is has some oddity that feels like you have to overcome a hump before you even reach the staging point.

One thing I really like about the P-01 I got is that I have the older NSN version. The initial version of the P-01 is what I call the NSN version which is the pistol CZ put through NATO trials. At some point, CZ changed the slide release spring which prevents the pistol from having the NSN on the frame designation. However, mine has the NSN on the frame and that makes me happy.

All in all, I really like the P-01 and would like to have the SP-01 to go with it. CZ-USA has a version of the P-01 they call the Urban Grey edition. It features a custom grey finish, with a threaded barrel for a suppressor, raised night sights and even has their Omega Convertible safety system. I'd rather have the NSN version any day.

Note: This review is short and oddly written. Right now I just want to post something because I'm pissed off about the latest executive order regarding gunsmiths and the DDTC. Thanks Obama.

My Smart Gun Question - It Got a Reply. Or Two.

Not long ago I posted a question on here if people were willing to carry a smart gun in exchange for shall issue carry permits. This question really only applies to folks living in states that are May Issue and make it incrediblely difficult to acquire a permit. I would never expect any sane individual in a Shall Issue state to go for this sort of thing. Well, I opted to ask that question to the folks over at The Truth About Guns. TTAG is a blog I read almost daily. They have a very large following and are one of the top gun blogs out there. Their readers represent various groups of people ranging from the absolutists and hardcore gunnies to the moderate. It would not surprise me if they even had a few anti's that read them as well.

 

TTAG's post

You can see in the post my question (the editors appear to have shortened my email a bit which is fine as it's easier to read) was answered by many members of the community. I cannot believe how many people have commented in the first hour the post has been up; over 70 comments! Everyone commenting pretty much all said the same thing; NO or F*** NO! LOL. To be fair though, I think most people didn't bother to read the full thing. I probably wouldn't have either and just posted NO. I'm not saying I expected anything different from the readership but it's kind of amazing and a little exciting to see something of mine take off and get responded to. So far, many people have indicated one very specific reason (amongst others) as to why NO to smart guns; the potential ability of the/a government to "turn off" the guns. This concept is interesting and is worth being worried about as the state could very easily prevent folks from using their firearm in a time of need; such as a natural disaster. Additionally, many of the comments are in regards to giving up part of our rights; the "give an inch..." argument came up quite a bit. Also, the ability to track the gun via GPS was a major concern in addition to the firearm not being reliable and these laws being unconstitutional. The concerns about the state forcing a requirement to be able to track the gun and having any ability to disable the weapon remotely are, for me, automatic turn-offs. I would NEVER agree to the legislation if any level of our government had those abilities regarding my smart gun. 

Why Even Suggest This?

I don't disagree with anything they've said. I completely understand their concerns and I agree with them but my idea was simply one possible way to coerce these states normally unwilling to budge into Shall Issue permits. Then take the state to court over the legislation to remove the smart gun requirement due to it being unconstitutional (for any reason is fine with me). The state would then be forced to remove the smart gun requirement potentially leaving the Shall Issue permit intact. This process could be very dangerous for our rights but we could end up gaining ground if it won't happen by itself. Part of me thinks that Shall Issue permits are the future despite these elected politician's and their inability to recognize our rights.

The process likely wouldn't happen this way but at least I'm trying.

Note: I will check back over the next few days to see what others have said. So far the comments have reached over 110. Very nice.

The Maryland HQL - How Long and How Much for your Rights?

I finally finished the process one must complete to buy a handgun in Maryland. The entire process will have taken me about 6 months before I can take possession of any newly purchased handgun. However, before one gets all excited the ACTUAL time is 22 days. I took the class back in October of 2013 but I had waited before putting in the actual application, hence the 6 months bit. But from the day you take a training class to the soonest you would be eligible to pick up a newly purchased handgun after the waiting period ends is around 21 days. Are you interested in the minimum total cost? With NO GUN PURCHASED you are looking at spending a minimum of $124.50 for just the HQL. If you actually buy a gun the minimum total cost not including the cost the handgun is $164.50.

As I had stated earlier the class was back in October 2013 but I waited for personal reasons. I finally put in the application 26 March 2014 (a Wednesday) after having completed the fingerprinting requirement (my finger print receipt says 3/25/14). I watched the Maryland State Police license page everyday afterward except on Sunday. By Sunday all the sections had been completed except the MVA Photo, LiveScan and NICS sections (I imagine those last 3 are actually the easiest sections since NICS is instant). The page has a section that breaks down the various Maryland criminal and mental health agencies' databases the MD State Police reference when completing the background check. There are also sections for the fingerprinting part and the "MVA Photo" they need for the hard copy and of course the NICS checks. As each agency reports back, each section is reported as 'Completed.' Once all sections are complete then an "approval officer" completes the process. If all goes well, you'll have an active HQL number in about a week. Mine went active on 31 March (a Monday).

Once you have an active number though you still can't buy a handgun... You actually need the laminated card. That takes about a week to be mailed out to you; I got my card 7 April (a Monday). That means that it took 12 days from the day I put in the application to the day I received the card. But we're not done yet. I could have run out and bought a handgun on 7 April. Had I done that I would STILL have to wait at LEAST 7 days before I could pick up a firearm that I just bought (Maryland has a 7 day waiting period). If I had taken the class on 25 March and if the store allows "8th day pickup" then you are looking at 21 days before you a able to exercise your right to own a handgun.

But what about the cost? The ACTUAL minimum cost to purchase a handgun with all the fees and taking the cheapest class I could find plus the cost of a chamber lock (more on that later) is $164.50. Below is the breakdown:

Cheapest class I could find* - $20.00
Cheapest LiveScan fingerprinting I could find - $54.50
Maryland State Police HQL Application fee - $50.00

Minimum Initial Cost - $124.50

*Please note that the $20 class is offered by one group otherwise the classes offered by other groups are usually around $100 to $120. This brings you to a cost of around $204.50 and upward.

Purchasing a handgun, however, requires a little more money to go to the State Police plus one other requirement State law says is needed: the chamber lock. A chamber lock is a device that is inserted into the chamber of the firearm then the key is inserted into the muzzle and rotated to lock the device in place. This locks up the action so one can't pull the slide back. The State says that you have to have a chamber lock before you leave the store. If you can't get one from a buddy then you have to buy one. The fee that goes to the State Police is for something that I'm not sure about. I've seen where it says Government Background on a receipt from BassPro for $10 but I've heard it was a transfer or registration fee. Additional Costs below:

State Police transfer/registration fee - $10.00
Chamber Lock - $30.00

So, in total, if you want to exercise the 'KEEP' part of your right to "keep and bear arms" (specifically a handgun) as a resident of Maryland you will wait around 3 weeks and you will pay a minimum of $124.50 in addition to the cost of the firearm of your choice plus sales tax, fees and required accessories. The total cost of that new $550 Glock 19 GEN4 you want? Around $747.50 without any extra mags, ammo or other accessories. But remember, not all of the HQL classes are that cheap. Many of the classes available are around $100 to $120 but some of those classes offer more that just the basic class. From what I have heard, some of the more expensive classes have you shoot various handguns giving you experience with those firearms to help you choose which gun you may end up buying.

When you buy the gun you still have to do several pages worth of paperwork in addition to the standard form 4473. Everyone does form 4473 no matter what state you live in; its a federal requirement when you buy from a dealer. But Maryland has about 3 or 4 pages you still have to fill out which, incidentally, those pages are basically the same as form 4473 AND the questionnaire you had to answer when put in the application for the HQL. TRIPLE REDUNDANCY!!! Thankfully once you have the HQL you can buy all the handguns you want (you'll still have fill out all the pages for each purchase). I would strongly suggest you buy as many as you can so as to help offset that initial cost. Additionally the license lasts for 10 years; I'd like to move out of this idiotic State before then but only time will tell.

I just want to say that it boggles my mind to think that people are willing to set dangerous precedence by requiring lengthy delays and monetary costs that the ordinary, everyday citizen has to jump through before exercising what is a fundamental, Constitutionally protected right.

Don't believe owning a handgun is a right? Don't take it from me The Supreme Court says it is (see the 2008 Heller Case).

Update: I may have some of the days wrong. The dates are correct but the math may not stack up just right. Either way, your still looking at about 21 to 24 days before you can actually legally pick up a newly purchased handgun from the store.