Gun Rights 101: My choice for concealed carry

August 28, 2:51 PMDenver Gun Rights ExaminerDan Bidstrup

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This will be a very personal post, in that it is only one man's choice that fits the criteria set out in the last column.  It is intended as a sample solution, not the only or the best solution to the question of what weapon to carry and how. I carry a Kahr P9 in a Galco Ankle Glove holster.  Let's walk through the list from the last column and see how I did.

The sidearm you choose must first and foremost be reliable. The Kahr P9 is a 9mm semiautomatic pistol that is made with a steel barrel and slide and a polymer plastic frame.  The magazine is metal.  The gun is designed with no external hammer, external safety or anything that will snag or hang up when carried or drawn.  Rather than a traditional hammer it is designed with a linear striker that has a pillow block between it and the cartridge that withdraws out of the way only at the end of the trigger pull.  This means the mechanism is as simple as it can be, and there is no way the primer can be struck any other way.  The gun can be dropped, thrown or stepped on and it won't fire, even with a bullet in the chamber.  Only by pulling the trigger will the pillow block retract and the striker hit the primer.  The design is called double action only, which means each trigger pull compresses the striker and fires a bullet.  Many similar guns have different trigger pulls depending on whether or not the hammer is cocked.  If it is not cocked, the trigger has to travel farther to pull the hammer back.  If it is cocked, the trigger pull is shorter.  I find the consistent trigger pull to my liking, although it is longer than I wish it were. 

Along with simple design, my gun has only jammed one round, in the first 50 I fired, and has never failed to shoot a bullet since. I have shot hundreds and hundreds of rounds of Winchester, Speer, mongrel reloads and Hornady TAP ammunition smoothly and dependably.  I also bought tritium night sights for my pistol.  These are illuminated dots on the front and rear site that glow like luminous wristwatch faces.  They will glow for about 10 years, then they will need to be replaced.  This is for low light situations to aid in aiming.

The sidearm you choose must be simple to use.  The only two levers or buttons on the outside of the gun are the magazine release button and the slide release lever which also holds the action open after the last round has been fired.  There is just the trigger, point and shoot.  I carry a full magazine and one round chambered.  Literally, all there is to do is draw the weapon and pull the trigger. I constantly mention training with your pistol.  This gun took some getting used to because of the length of the trigger pull.  It is also a very narrow gun so the grip doesn't fill your hand.  Practice, practice, practice.

The sidearm you choose should be concealable.  Here is where the Kahr shines.  Because of the hammerless design, it is one of the thinnest guns on the market.  At it's thickest part, it is less than 1 inch thick.  With a 3.5" barrel, from the tip of the barrel to the end of the grip measures only 5.8".  There is a variant called the Kahr PM9 that has a 3" barrel and shorter grip that is just as slim and only 5.3" overall.  I found the P9 to be sufficiently small and easier to shoot.  Again, because of it's design, it has nothing to snag or poke in a pocket holster or an inside the belt carry.

The sidearm you choose should be comfortable to carry.  Here, weight is a consideration as well as size.  Because the P9 has a polymer frame, it is very light.  The gun weighs just 18 ounces, and with a full clip and one in the pipe it tips the scales at 25 ounces.  Some polymer frame pistols lose accuracy after a lot of firing because of wear on the plastic from the metal slide.  Kahr has inserted metal strips in the polymer where the wear occurs which should extend the life of this pistol considerably.  With an ankle holster especially, weight is important.  I often forget I have it on and can run and jump with no problem.  I get my pants hemmed as long as possible, with a break of the crease over the shoe.  That is the extent of my wardrobe accommodation to concealed carry.  In public I don't cross my left leg over my right when I sit, but other than that I wear what I want.  Jeans and a polo shirt or suit, it's all good with my setup.

The sidearm you choose should be sufficient to kill.  A commenter raised a good point here.  Killing is not the ultimate purpose.  Stopping the threat is the ultimate purpose.  A fast slug with a good expansion will stop a threat better than a smaller or slower slug.  9mm ammunition is very common, made by every manufacturer.  Because of the variety available, you can get ammunition that isn't very effective at stopping a threat.  While I practice with a variety of ammunition, I carry Hornady TAP rounds.  The casings are plated with a black nickel coating to make them less likely to jam in a magazine or while loading into the chamber.  They have a fast burning low-flash powder that reduces the flash which could temporarily blind you in a dusk or low-light situation.  The bullet is designed for maximum kinetic energy transfer for knock-down power.  The slug is light and fast.  Because of the reliable mushrooming, there is also less likelihood of a round passing through the target and ricocheting.

There are about as many other possible solutions to the question as there are people with concealed carry permits.  I have simply told you what I chose.  My dearest hope is that more of you that have already gotten your concealed carry licenses will carry all the time, and that those of you sitting on the fence might take the plunge.