Today would be the first anniversary of the arrival of my carry permit. In considerably more than three trips while carrying, I still haven’t
- Left my gun behind in a restaurant
- Dropped my gun on the floor
- Accidentally shown it to anybody
- Needed it
It’s particularly interesting that so far as I know nobody has accidentally seen that I’m carrying. I’ve carried every day, and nearly every time I left the house (a handful of exceptions, including the NRA instructor training courses, amusingly); except when I had specific strong reasons not to. I know that parts of my gun have shown at times. But I’ve seen no signs anybody else ever noticed.
Closest thing to a “situation” I’ve encountered: I noticed a couple of people hanging around their cars outside a restaurant (I was inside the restaurant) whose behavior worried me. It looked like they were waiting for something and were a bit nervous. I cut short my reading and left. As I was leaving I saw some more of their behavior that mostly canceled the orange alert, but I kept going anyway. No news articles or gossip about any trouble at that restaurant that day.
In the intervening year, I’ve picked up three NRA instructor ratings (home firearms safety, basic pistol, and personal protection in the home) plus Range Safety Officer. I’ve also gotten certified as a Utah concealed firearms instructor, which involved developing an acceptable Utah course (actually, I developed a combined Minnesota / Utah course). I’ve only taught two of my own classes (plus assisted Joel Rosenberg on a few of his). I’m still working for AACFI on their web site. And I still haven’t gone to the range enough.
I’ve only bought one new gun (Kel-Tec P-3AT), and haven’t gotten rid of any (though my Kel-Tec P-32 is for sale, and my S&W 915). Not very many new holsters, either, but I really should try a high-rise pancake for the Taurus 85, and I need something better around the waistband for the Taurus 445. If I won the lottery I think I’d like to try the Kahr PM40 and see if I really had any more trouble shooting it than I do the K40.
Most recent change to my carry procedures: I’ve started carrying a couple of speedloaders with reloads for the Taurus 85. The speedloader pouch is more trouble than the gun itself; it’s thicker, and it slides around on the belt. It’s not a fully satisfactory solution yet.
I’ve got two uncompleted articles for this journal, which may yet appear. The first one was blocking other progress for months; it’s a major topic, and I’m not comfortable with what I’ve got to say on it yet.
Politically, we’ve had no disasters in the first year of shall-issue in Minnesota. And we recently had a case of several permit holders collaborating to detain a murder suspect who had eluded the police. And the civilian use of weapons even got reported in the Star Tribune!
So far, so good!