14 Things You Should Know About Guns

My CWP choice - a .45ACP Springfield XDS

Here's the list.

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you probably already know them these things. However, it never hurts to spread some knowledge around.

On a semi-related note, when I started carrying almost two years ago, I was constantly worried about people looking at me and seeing my pistol underneath my jacket. Now, I realize that no one really looks at me that closely. Most people are so wrapped up in their own business, they rarely scrutinize what other people are doing. And after awhile, carrying becomes fairly routine. Since the CWP law was modified to allow for carry into restaurants, I've had to disarm less during the day.

Luckily, I haven't ever been in a situation where I've needed it, and I hope I never do. (Kind of like the smoke detectors in my house)

Funniest Response to Craigslist Ad Ever

Looking for a "disguised weapon" on Craigslist? This guy has you covered.

Civil Rights Expanded in Georgia

Leftists are going to have their heads explode in 3....2....1.

Cindi Scoppe Doesn't Like "Gun-Toters"

Cindi Ross Scoppe at The State would like all you bitter-clingers to know how much she holds you in contempt. She tries to hide her contempt at first, but she just gives it away at the end of her opinion column in today's paper about the current bill pending in the SC Senate to allow CWP holders to carry into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol on the premises.

I haven't done a good fisking in awhile, so if you can't get past the pay-wall at The State, I'll hit all the high points for you below the jump.

Springfield Armory XD(s) Review

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I would be doing a review of my new Springfield Armory XD(s). Someone finally reminded me that I hadn't done my review yet, so here ya go, campers.

The Springfield Armory XD(s) is a subcompact .45 ACP semi-automatic handgun. As soon as you take it out of the box, you can tell the XD(s) is clearly intended to be used as a concealed carry gun. At it's widest point, it's only one inch thick, and it fits very nicely into the palm of your hand, and it's fairly light. When you wear it on your hip and throw on a jacket, it simply disappears.

However, all of this compactness and conceal-ability requires you to make some compromises. In a similarly sized Glock 19 (ok, maybe the Glock 19 is a little bigger) you get a 15 round magazine. However, you're getting 15 rounds of 9mm in the Glock, whereas the XD(s) is giving you .45 ACP. Unfortunately, you're only going to get a magazine capacity of 5 rounds of the .45 ACP in the standard mags. Springfield does make a 7 round magazine for the Xd(s), but good luck actually finding one. I'm not sure if you've heard, but there's a little bit of a run on magazines and ammo these days.

In any event, the point is that you're going to be sacrificing magazine capacity for conceal-ability. But that's why God created spare magazines, and he said "let them be plentiful".

As for function, the little XD(s) is great. The first 50 rounds that I put through it were made in Hungary under the label "RWS". Yeah, I bought some Hungarian-made ammo. It's really hard to find ammo these days. Anyway, here's what I bought:

So, I go out to the range and put a box of this Hungarian ammo through the little XD(s). There were seven of what I would call "light-strikes". That means I pulled the trigger, and the gun went click. That's bad, because it's supposed to go BANG! 

I ejected the round (after waiting the safe time) and looked at it. The bottom of the round (where the striker hits the cartridge to ignite the primer) had a small dimple in it, like it's supposed to. However, it didn't go off. Strange, right? I put the same round back in the chamber and then fired it again. Every time the round fired on the second attempt. Very strange.

At first, I chalked it up to the Hungarian ammo. I mean, what do they know about making ammo in Hungary, right? However, I did a little research and it turns out that Springfield ships the XD(s) in a condition where they are not really ready-to-go out of the box. They put a bunch of grease and stuff down in the channel where the striker is, and it kind of gums up the works. So, I did a detail strip of the gun, pulled the striker out and examined it. There was more gunk and grease on there than I would have expected, so I cleaned it off real well, cleaned the whole gun, and lubricated all the rails and other areas that needed to be lubed.

After that, I've put about 250 rounds through it of various types of ammo, and it's been 100%. I haven't had any failures of any kind whatsoever. All I can tell you is that if you're thinking about getting an XD(s), don't  be scared of the stories you hear about the "light strikes". The gun just needs to have a little cleaning before you take it shooting. It also likes to be well lubricated because all the parts fit together so tightly. (That's what she said.)

Overall, it's a great gun. I'm not as accurate with it as I am with a full-size 1911, but that's not totally unexpected. The overall length is only 6.3", so you're not dealing with much. (That's what she said.)

However, probably my biggest flaw in my shooting technique is my tendency to pull the trigger too hard. This causes my shots to go low and left about five inches at 10 yards. With the XD(s) being such a small gun, this error shows up very clearly. With a larger, heavier 1911, my same problem is lessened by the fact that the 1911 is heavier and bigger, so I'm not moving the gun as much. I still have the same flaw, but it's more obvious with the XD(s). However, in a critical self-defense situation at 10 yards being off by five inches isn't going to make me miss center mass. Having said that, I'm going to work on my shooting technique.

Other Features: There's no thumb-safety on the XD(s). However, there is a grip-safety, in the same style of the 1911. You can see the grip safety in the picture above. It's that little tab on the back of the grip. To me, the XD(s) seems like the folks at Springfield Armory tried to make their version of the Glock. It has that same safe-trigger deal like a Glock, and it's simple - like a Glock. Take down is actually easier (to me) than with a Glock. The sight picture is nice, and Springfield even gives you options for changing out the front sight if you don't like the red bead.

Overall, theXD(s) is a great carry gun if you want something chambered in .45 ACP. If you're looking for a range gun to just do precision paper shooting, this isn't your gun. This gun is intended to be carried all the time, and to pack a punch when you need it to. Although I'm a fan of 9mm, you really can't go wrong with .45 ACP.

 

Take care of lubricating and cleaning this little gun, and it will take care of you. Permanent Press officially endorses the Springfield Armory XD(s).

My CWP Class Experience

On Saturday, I sat through my CWP (concealed weapons permit) instruction. The instruction is required to be a minimum of eight hours, which includes both classroom time and range time.

There were eight total people in the class, which made it an average-sized class, according to Paul Peters, the instructor. If you pay attention to South Carolina gun law news, Paul Peters recently was in the news, for his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the issue of modifying the concealed carry laws to allow for concealed carry into establishments that serve alcohol for on-premises consumption. Here's a photo of Paul from the classroom portion:

Paul Peters is grading our tests at this point.

Paul has a great background for teaching the CWP class. He’s a former police officer, former Lexington County Councilman, and he helped write the existing CWP law. In addition to being a certified instructor for the CWP class, he’s also a certified instructor for teaching other instructors.

The day was broken into three segments: a classroom portion, a range portion (actual shooting), and then further classroom time. Finally, we took a written exam. After the exam, Paul gave us the added service of fingerprinting us. He didn’t have to do that, but since he is a former police officer, he knows how to do it, and has all the equipment. That saved everyone a trip to the police station.

After taking the class I have a couple of thoughts. [NONE OF THIS IS LEGAL ADVICE] First, it is absolutely necessary to take the CWP course given the amount of laws regulating where you can carry, the practicalities you need to consider, the problems you will encounter, and specifically, when you can use deadly force, and how you go about it.

Going into the class, one of the main questions I wanted to discuss was how to handle a traffic stop while legally carrying. For the most part, I observe the speed limit, but I have been known from time to time to daydream while driving, and when that happens I end up going a little faster than the posted speed limit. I wanted to know what I should do in the situation I end up confronted by John Q. Law in a routine traffic stop.

Paul went into that scenario in detail, and he had the advantage of discussing the situation from both the points of view. For the police officer, a traffic stop is a dangerous part of the job. You’re approaching a person that you don’t know anything about, it could be dark, it could in an isolated place. They could be a normal person who happened to be speeding, or they could be a drug dealer who has a bunch of drugs in the trunk. As the officer, you don’t know who you’re dealing with.

As the person stopped, you don’t know what kind of police officer has just stopped you. It could be an old veteran who is wise and knows how to handle things, or it could be a scared young rookie making his first solo traffic stop, and he’s a little jittery.

As the person who has been stopped, it is your goal to put the officer at ease. You don’t want to do anything that will make him nervous, or afraid, because that’s how you end up getting shot. If it’s daytime, you will want to pull over somewhere safe, and if it’s nighttime, you will want to pull over somewhere as well-lit as possible. That way everyone can see. If you’re still in a dark place, put your dome light on. That way the police officer can see you more clearly. Remember, he doesn’t know what you’re doing in the car.

You should roll down the windows, put the car in park, turn it off, and then sit there calmly with your hands on the wheel. Don’t start reaching for your license; don’t start looking in the glove box for your registration and proof of insurance. Just sit there. The officer hasn’t asked for those yet. He will, but this isn’t the time to anticipate his questions. Just sit there quietly.

When the officer gets to your car, you’ll get the ol’ “Do you know why I pulled you over?’ question. How you answer that is up to you. The part that concealed carry folks want to remember is that when the officer asks for your driver’s license, you have to give him your CWP license, and inform him that you are legally carrying at that time. Don’t start reaching for your gun, don’t do anything else. As soon as you tell the officer this, you’re going to be entering territory where the officer realizes there is another firearm (other than his) present.

Personally, I’m going to handle the situation as follows:

Police Officer:           May I see your license and registration?

Me: [Hands SCDL, registration, and CWP license to officer] Officer, I am a CWP holder, and I am currently carrying a concealed weapon on my person. How would you like to proceed?

This has put the officer on notice that I have a gun. I’m not reaching for it, I’m keeping my hands on the wheel, and I’m not doing anything that could threaten him. If he’s a veteran cop, he may just do nothing and proceed with the traffic stop. If he wants to remove the gun from me for the duration of the traffic stop, I would tell him that I would prefer not to handle my gun in his presence, and I would prefer that I step out of the car, and he can remove it from me himself. That way, there is no way that I am doing anything that could threaten him.

Going through that scenario in the class was only a fraction of what we learned. I’m sure everyone is familiar with these signs:

Did you know that for that sign to be legally enforceable, it has to be an exact size? (8" x 12") If it’s smaller, it’s of no legal effect. If it’s larger it’s of no legal effect. That blows my mind. It has to be posted between 40" and 60" high, and it has to be a certain proximity from the door. (Side note, the signs at Regal Cinemas are at the ticket box office, not the door. So guess what? They're not legally enforceable.) Also, if the sign has to be posted at every entrance to the building, or the building isn’t covered. Here’s another one: if the words “NO CONCEALABLE WEAPONS ALLOWED” aren’t in ALL CAPS, it’s not a legal sign. If you start looking at most places, the signs aren’t in compliance. Interesting huh?

Paul also let us know that this course was not the time for us to learn to shoot our guns, and this course was not the sum total of the training we should receive. He told us that we should continue to train and shoot at least once a month to stay proficient. He also recommended several other defensive handgun courses.

Over the whole course, Paul was the consummate professional, and he is extremely knowledgeable. He answered all of our questions in a discussion type format. With only eight students, it was very much like an upper level college course at my college. He asked us questions about hypothetical situations and we discussed them at length. We went through how handguns work in detail. We exhaustively went through handgun safety. During the entire class, safety was paramount. In fact, Paul started the class by saying “I don’t care if all you flunk this class, but we’re going to be safe today.”

Overall, the course was absolutely necessary. I cannot imagine the State of South Carolina just saying Go ahead and carry – good luck with figuring everything out.

For instance, let’s say you have a handgun in your car (you’re not a CWP holder, just a regular joe). In South Carolina, it’s perfectly legal to do that. However, in South Carolina you have to have it in the glove box, the center console, or the luggage compartment. If you get stopped by the police, it has to be in one of those three places. But then let’s assume you’re driving to Charlotte to go to the mall. As soon as you cross into North Carolina, the law changes. If you get stopped by the police in North Carolina the handgun has to be in plain view. That means you need to take the handgun out of the glove box and put it on the seat next to you before the officer approaches the car. Personally, I think that is a horrible law, but that’s the North Carolina law.

The sheer intricacies of the law are one thing; the sheer logistics are another; and the decision on when to use lethal force is another idea that needs time to be considered and developed. Paul made it clear that when you are carrying lethal force with you, you need to have planned ahead for situations, so you’re not trying to make important decisions under pressure. Safety, planning, training, and thoughtfulness were the hallmarks of his class.

If you’re looking to take a CWP class, I could not recommend him any more highly. If you’re against carrying concealed, I would recommend you take his class to educate yourself on the mindset of the people on the other side of the debate. There’s no requirement that you carry concealed after taking the class. Heck, you don’t have to even apply to SLED for the permit. It’s simply a great education on the laws in South Carolina.

I enjoyed the range time. We had a nice little bit of a break in between the rain for the shooting portion. Here's all eight of our targets before the shooting.

One target for each student.

Here's my target after the shooting, which has been scored 100 out of 100.

My target after Paul graded it. As you can see, a perfect score, but certainly room for improvement.

Here's Paul scoring anther student's target. As you can see, he went through each target with a little piece of chalk and made sure of each student's score personally.

Paul verifying a shooter's score.

After completing the written test, I received my certificate. I did not receive a perfect score. Paul took off .5 of a point because he didn't like the exact way I worded one of my answers to the written portion. So I ended up with 99.5% on the written test. However, a double 100% would sure look nice on the certificate.

Don't Try to Rob a Waffle House in Spartanburg, SC

I don't want to make too much of a generalization here, but I'm going to anyway. If you don't like it, start your own blog. There are different kinds of people out there.

I'm thinking about the differences between people who go to...say an expensive French restaurant and a Waffle House.

The folks who go to an expensive French restaurant are probably likely to be wealthy, have lived a mostly insulated life, like to go to the symphony, and are members of the local country club. They are not very likely to be carrying concealed weapons because they have lived mostly insulated lives, and are content to call the authorities from their iPhone when needed.

The folks who go to a Waffle House are probably likely to be people who have been working all day at the factory/shop, or doing some other sort of actual labor. They don't put up with much crap, since their boss has probably been riding them all day, and they just want to eat their food without having to pay very much for "atmosphere". They're likely to have a bit of an "independent" streak.

Accordingly, if I'm going to rob a restaurant, I'm probably not going to rob a place where there are some Alpha-Males hanging out. However, someone hadn't done the proper analysis.

A Roebuck man - less than two hours into his 19th birthday - entered the Waffle House on Chesnee Highway with a gun and attempted to rob the restaurant before a customer fired his weapon, killing the teen, authorities said Saturday.

 A customer, who is a concealed weapons permit holder, thwarted the robbery by pulling his gun and attempting to hold the men until deputies arrived. When one of the men pointed his gun at the customer, the patron fired, killing the teenager.

 As you can see, the CWP holder, was probably just sitting there, eating his hash-browns when some punk kid rolls up to the Waffle House and tries to rob the place. It sounds like the CWP holder, rather than just blasting the would-be robber, simply attempted to hold the guy there. Unfortunately for would-be robber, the CWP holder didn't want to die. If you're holding a gun on a bad guy, and he turns his gun to bear at you, it's pretty much game over for someone.

Moral of the story: Don't rob places. However, if you have to rob a place, don't do it in Spartanburg, SC. The good guys are everywhere, and the local sheriff encourages the good guys to carry.

Alternate moral of the story, per the Spartanburg Sheriff:“The way you get shot by a concealed weapons permit holder is you point a gun at him,”

Chief of Police in Madison, WI Doesn't Understand Why People Want Guns

A few months ago, Wisconsin started allowing it's citizens to start carrying concealed weapons. (Better late than never, but whatever.) Ann Althouse has more on the story of the obstacles being placed in their way. However, the Chief of Police in Madison is less than thrilled. Here's what he had to say:

"What I can't understand is how come we have not evolved beyond the point that the best way to protect ourselves is a gun? How come we cannot come up with something that is less destructive and less permanent."

Wait, what? Yeah, that's the Chief of Police. The guy in charge of the police. Who are supposed to fight crime. With guns. Presumably.

I can't understand why have not "evolved" to the point where there's no crime. And this guy's job is to fight crime. How did he get to be the Chief of Police? He sounds like a hippy-dippy 20 year old in a 2:00AM dorm room smoke session.

Henceforth, in an effort to stop crime in a "less destructive" and "less permanent" way, the Madison police should only carry little yellow flags around. If they see a crime, they can throw a flag on the ground and issue a ticket. I'm sure that will work.
UPDATE: Welcome SayUncle readers!

1% of Wisconsin Wants a CWP

1% of the entire population of Wisconsin has applied for a CWP in the first six weeks that it has been available.

Insert Occupy Wall Street joke here.

Spartanburg Sheriff Chuck Wright Tells It Like It Is

A 46 year-old man (Walter Lance) is is police custody after an attempted rape. He attacked a woman walking her dog on Sunday afternoon in a park in Spartanburg, SC.

At Lance’s bond hearing on Monday, 7th Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette said the victim was walking her dog when Lance approached her and petted the dog to be sure it was friendly. Then he grabbed the woman and dragged her into the woods...Lance choked the woman from behind, forced her to strip off her clothing and then attempted to rape her.

First, this could happen to anyone. Walking your dog in a park at 2:30PM on a Sunday shouldn't be a high risk activity. This is a prime example of the police simply not being able to be omnipresent. Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens all too often. Apparently, it has come to the point where the Spartanburg County Sheriff is issuing a call to arms (video at link).

Wright said Lance had been charged numerous times with crimes against women, and other crimes such as resisting arrest and escape. Wright said Lance had been on probation for a federal gun charge. 

He referred to Lance repeatedly as an "animal," and expressed his disgust about Lance's long record and the attack. 

Wright said Lance has had more than 20 charges dating back to 1983.

During his press conference Wright expressed his disgust with the current justice system that allows criminals to re-enter society to commit more crimes like this. Multiple times, Wright said that private citizens need to get a concealed weapons permit. "Carry a concealed weapon. That will fix it." I agree; carrying around a sidearm is much easier than carrying around a sheriff's deputy everywhere.

If you like to think of yourself as a responsible person, ask yourself this: Am I responsible for my own protection? Getting a restraining order and a cell phone doesn't stop people (and I use that term loosely) like Lance. The only thing that is going to stop him is a few rounds in his center mass. I know that it may be unlikely for you to need a concealed weapon, but the bad guys only need to be lucky once. You have to be lucky every time.

Permanent Press applauds a law enforcement officer who will tell people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.  It sure isn't politically correct, but it's common sense. Having said all that, if you do decide to carry, it's also a big responsibility. Don't do so on a whim. Practice, train, and be smart.

Update: Welcome, readers from Legal Insurrection!

Does Carrying a Gun...

...make you more polite?

In my experience, this holds true.