I grew up in California for most of my youth, and the thought of owning a gun never even crossed my mind. After graduating high school, I moved out to Oklahoma to move closer to extended family and friends. It was a culture shock from day one. Within a week, I was invited to go hunting with some of my cousins. My first experience with a gun was not pretty. My cousins handed me – someone who had never fired a gun – a pistol-grip mossberg 500 with magnum slugs . . .
I lined up the sights and fired. I was rushed to the ER. Three dental surgeries and a broken jaw later, I quickly developed a fear of guns of any kind and was content with never touching a firearm again.
I joined the Air Force three years later and dreaded the day that we had to go through firearms training. The instructors trained us on proper sight alignment,weapon positioning, and handling. The first time I pulled the trigger of that M16A2 my heart was beating like a jackhammer. That day I realized that not only was my fear relatively unfounded, but I enjoyed it.
I’ve spent years enjoying firearms since. Many of them trying to find what I deemed the “perfect” carry pistol. I’ve carried everything from a Beretta Nano to a Combat Delta Elite, but I always had complaints in one what or another. I loved the feel of the M9 when I was in the military, all metal with a DA/SA trigger and a safety, but it was too large to carry every day.
After much deliberation, I settled on a CZ P-07. I loved my CZ75 SP01 and I heard good things about the P-07 and P-09. The first time I picked it up, I fell in love. Great ergonomics, hammer-fired, DA/SA trigger with a smooth pull, and light enough to carry. While I still occasionally pocket carry the Nano in a holster on hot days, I almost always carry my P07 and I haven’t looked back since.
(See the rest of the posts in this series here. Send your What I Carry and Why submissions with a photo to thetruthaboutguns@gmail.com with WICAW in the subject line.)