Tommy Theis runs Arkansas-based Theis Holsters. He hand-makes every holster, mag holster, and belt that comes out of the shop, and test draws from each holster to ensure proper fitment. I really like single-clip, hybrid holsters, and thought I’d try one from Theis — their EZ-Clip — for my H&K P7 . . .
I don’t generally care for micro pistols. I carry a Commander 1911 or larger for self defense, and I have never had the need for something smaller. Maybe it’s a confidence thing, I’m not sure. One thing I am sure of is that the subcompact pistol market has been exploding in recent years. Guns … Read more
This wasn’t actually going to become a TTAG post, but I was inspired by our IGOTD winner, Dallas Archer, who chose to conceal an NAA Mini-Revolver in a very private place on in her person. Rewind one year — almost to the day — and a new company called Speakeasy Briefs is generating funding on Kickstarter for their boxer briefs with a hidden (assuming you’re wearing pants) pocket on the front. Ideal for stashing a flask, wallet, passport, rolled up sock, “protection.” Ah…protection. I’m fairly certain Speakeasy meant condoms, but when I think “protection” I think of the ballistic sort . . .
In the world of production firearms, there aren’t many smaller than the offerings from North American Arms. Its Guardian series is about as petite as semi-automatic pistols come, and I believe its Mini-Revolvers may be the smallest production revolvers in the world. There really aren’t many clothing choices — at least ones you can legally get away with in public — that would prevent carrying a gun this small. As I’ve owned an NAA Mini in .22 LR for about 5 years now, I think it’s high time I officially reviewed it . . .
Moms Demand Action founder and Mayors Against Illegal Guns muppet Shannon Watts was incensed earlier this week when she learned that I was armed when she posed for a photo (above) with me at an anti-gun event. All I did was ask for a pic, then shake her hand and thank her. She accused me of misleading her and in a way she was right. By carrying concealed I was hiding the fact that I had a gun (not that it’s anyone’s business anyway) and it reminded me of something Dr. Gary Kleck (of the 1995 Kleck-Gertz study on armed self defense) said during an interview I did with him a few years ago. He pointed out that an odd change has taken place in American attitudes with regard to open vs. concealed carrying . . .
Note: Those of you familiar with my writing will detect immediately that the following review isn’t my own work. Instead, this guest review is written by Tony, a law enforcement professional with decades of first-hand firearm experience both at home and abroad. Like Top Gear’s nameless F1 driver The Stig, Tony’s day job requires that he remain otherwise nameless. Some say his blood pressure is measured in copper units of pressure instead of mmHg, and that his duties once required him to wear a fully-automatic Skorpion machine pistol in a shoulder holster. All we can say is, he’s called Tony. You may also know him as the author of the classic Internet text file ‘Loads 2.0‘, the authoritative guide to the defensive ammunition of the mid-1990s. A good deal of what I know about guns, I’ve learned from him…
Service Station. Military Intelligence. Honest Politician. Coherent Gun Laws. Do any of these phrases rise above the level of oxymoron (with an emphasis on the last two syllables)? After spending God knows how many months training and studying, then several more months waiting for processing, I finally obtained that cherished little piece of plastic, a Texas Concealed Handgun License, AKA: a CHL. Good in 39 states, last I looked, it guaranteed me the right to carry concealed, at least most of the time. Or so I thought. Sadly, I learned yesterday, I was wrong…
Hindsight runs 20:20 in my family. My grandfather played first trumpet with a bandleader in the early part of the 20th Century. Had the opportunity to tour with him. My grandmother talked him out of it. So John Phillip Sousa went on to fame and fortune without him. My dad? He was offered 10% of a company that was going to put a Geiger Counter in a plane and criss-cross the continental US to look for uranium. The buy-in was all the money my folks had saved. They passed. The guys found the largest uranium deposits in the USA. So I’ve learned – the hard way – that my foresight is not the most reliable thing in the world. Which is why you’d think I’d be just this side of militant about carrying concealed. You’d think…
Here at TTAG, we talk a lot about concealed carry, including the what, when, who, why and how of it. But there’s one topic we don’t really delve into a lot, and that’s the whole thing about if you have a concealed carry permit, how often do you actually carry? I bring this up, because when it comes right down to it, carrying is not just a huge responsibility (from civil, criminal, self-defense, and safety perspectives), it’s also requires a lot of dedication . . .
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