PICKING YOUR ALL-AROUND PISTOL

BY PAUL HANTKE

There is no doubt that big parts of almost every survival situation are defense, protection and security. In some ways, concern about dangers from the elements that threaten you, such as hurricanes, earthquakes or man-made disasters, is vastly overshadowed by preparations you make to keep safe from the people who tend to be less prepared than you.

You have critical supplies—food, water and equipment—that your life and the lives of your family and friends depend on. Your success is dependent upon you maintaining control over your provisions.

To this end, a handgun is a perfect solution for a defensive tool. It’s small and compact, easy to use and, perhaps most importantly, concealable. In certain situations, advertising your intentions and abilities with a rifle or a shotgun might attract more attention and trouble than you need, want or can handle. Your best bet is to have a handgun that can be kept under wraps but deployed effectively when needed.

SETTING SOME PARAMETERS

However, any conversation about concealable handguns for survival needs a few qualifiers. We need to first establish exactly how concealable the gun needs to be; and then, we need to determine if the gun is primarily for self-defense or for securing food. Finally, a decision needs to be made about whether our goals can be accomplished with a single gun or if the formula requires two or more handguns to satisfy our needs.

If you wonder about concealability being an issue, you have to look no further than the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when local authorities took it upon themselves to go house to house confiscating firearms from law-abiding citizens. This left them easy prey for the miscreants who swooped into neighborhoods to loot, steal and commit worse crimes.