"Advice" From A Gun Rag...

"Here's something to remember: What rides on your hip is a poor excuse for a real weapon...no one but a fool would go into harm's way armed only with a handgun..."

Guns & Ammo, 2006 Annual, page 101.

The article then goes on to brag about how long distance pistol shots are quite do-able, but the lead-in is what a great many no-nothing writers use to scare the rubes.

Sidearms are, generally speaking, less effective than longarms at ending a hostile confrontation. Decades ago, if you were not armed with a .357 magnum, or .45 Colt or ACP, the outcome of any shootout was in doubt, but this is not decades ago, and there are many, many, men and women alive today because of their proficiency with a handgun, and many, many, badguys dead today because of the same.

For me in particular to learn, at this stage in life no less, that the venerable sidearms I used to dispatch enemies our enemies were in fact poor excuses for a weapon, is mind boggling. And you can only imagine what those on the receiving end must be feeling.

Think they can ask for a do-over?

Sure, druther have a .308 if the shit hit the fan, but know what? Would MUCH RATHER have air support or artillery over anything else, so comparing levels of power is ludicrous. You use what you have on hand, and not only are handguns the right weapon for a lot of jobs, they are damned good at it, too. I fail to see how presenting arms, shooting a target 50 feet or so away, and dropping it like a ton of bricks can be called "a poor excuse" for anything, and this happens pretty much each and every day, somewhere in the world.

And this does not even take into consideration the marvelous new ammunition available for today's handgun. Ammunition that I've personally seen drop a target as fast as anything from a .223, and in the right hands, as anything from a .308 or better. The shame of it all is that modern instructors don't teach head shots all that much, and sure, a lot of it has to do with the clueless, talentless folks that line up in droves to take handgun proficiency courses, but to this day, if the target is within my envelope of effectiveness, the first shot is going nose and above, and to hell with center of mass. If, at 50' and under I cannot hit a bigger-than-a-softball sized object, then it's time to drop down a caliber and learn to shoot 12-15 rounds in under 3 seconds towards center of mass. But I'll go there kicking and screaming. My dad was in his early 70's and could present and topple a coffee can from a fencepost 30' away in one smooth motion. And as all men who'd seen a lot of combat, when it got serious he was faster and more accurate than the days we'd plink for the hell of it.

If your handgun is in 9mm or above, your doing just fine, so forget what the gun rags are trying to sell you. Sure, it'd be good to have at least a .40 to fend away the foemen, but thats another topic for another time.