Gun Digest Concealed Carry 2022 SIP #1

In 2021, roughly 20 million guns were sold in the United States. That’s more than 1.6 million sold every month. Or, said another way … the entire population of Florida bought a new gun last year. And, according to the National Rifle Association, 40 percent of that 20 million were first-time gun owners. Certainly, not every one of those guns were pistols destined for the hip or purse of a citizen with the intent to carry concealed, but the majority of them were. And things haven’t slowed up much during this first quarter of 2022. In short, people are turning to the armed lifestyle at an amazing rate. But despite the flood of people making this change, I’m frequently reminded that this shift is not as simple as dropping a gun in a…

HISTORICAL NOTES Introduced in 2008 by the Federal Cartridge Company, the .327 Federal Magnum was an attempt to improve the performance of the .32 H&R Magnum. Factory .32 H&R Magnum ammunition, as per SAAMI specifications, isn’t loaded to the cartridge’s full potential. This is due to the weaker H&R revolvers chambered for this cartridge. Cartridge performance for the .32 H&R Magnum can be substantially improved with handloads when fired in Ruger or Smith & Wesson revolvers. The .327 Federal Magnum takes this performance to a new level. This is accomplished by increasing the case capacity and loading the cartridge to a substantially higher pressure (45,000 psi) than the .32 H&R Magnum, which has 21,000 CUP. In fact, the .327 Federal Magnum is loaded to a higher pressure than any other commercially loaded…

Many a great designer has created something from nothing. Still, some of the greatest produced great from the good. Such is the case for the late Mark Craighead, founder of CrossBreed Holsters. In the early 2000s, Craighead tinkered and toiled with handgun holsters, trying to make something work for his shooting style. Leather had its qualities, but so did Kydex. Still, where one worked, the other failed. So, after years of trying everyone else’s handgun holster ideas, he finally decided to create his own. And, when he did, he did it in about as American a way as there ever was: by taking a trip to Walmart and hijacking his wife’s kitchen to build the first of many hybrid leather-Kydex handgun holsters, maximizing leather’s comfort and durability with the durability and malleability…

Currently, the most popular handguns for personal protection are what are often called ultra-compacts. Handguns of this size are nothing new, but what’s relatively new are handguns this small that are chambered for the 9mm Luger. The reason this type of firearm has become so popular is because as the popularity of concealed carry rises, so too does the realization that a fullsize pistol is uncomfortable to carry and hard to conceal. So, every year, we see new introductions into this segment of the market. Ironically, one of the smallest and easiest to conceal 9mm handguns has been around for a while, and it’s often ignored by those looking for something small, easy to conceal and comfortable to carry. It’s the DB9 from Diamondback. My first exposure to this handgun was more…

Sometimes, life ends up with someone bleeding. It doesn’t have to be from a gunshot, but if you’re carrying every day, that might be some date in your future. Then, there are all the times you’re using power equipment, or just big, sharp cutting tools. It’d suck to have to explain to the Big Guy at the pearly gates, “I was only 50 yards from my house, but I couldn’t make it in time. Guess I should’ve had some trauma gear.” Adventure Medical Kits offers compact trauma packs that you can keep in a pocket, a bag or close at hand. The one I have close by is one of theirs with QuikClot as part of the package. In addition to the four different gauze dressing sizes, gloves tape and trauma…

On December 23, 2021, Los Angeles police officer William Dorsey Jones Jr. shot and killed 14-year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta, who was hiding from a criminal assaulting a patron of the Burlington store in North Hollywood. The officer’s video camera was on, and it clearly caught officer Jones not only shooting the man who was beating a female customer with a bicycle lock, but also killing Orellana-Peralta. The video shows Jones firing three shots from his AR-15 rifle, apparently striking the criminal suspect, but also at least one shot missing and hitting Orellana-Peralta through the dressing room wall. There was no indication of a dressing room right behind the criminal, and in all appearances, the death of Orellana-Peralta was accidental. “The video shows Jones firing three shots from his AR-15 rifle, apparently striking the criminal…