Respectfully Disagree

This post earlier from Tam over at View From The Porch hits on a subject I have disagreed with by others in the gun world as well, hers is just the latest. Massad Ayoob also wrote one a few months ago on the same subject and I have seen others I can't recall. That subject is having one dedicated carry gun, and no more. I am not a paid gun writer or any self-proclaimed expert that will ever tell others what they should do. If asked I will tell others what I do because it works for me. As they say "YMMV."

I have four (five if you count the Gen 3 Glock 21 on the nightstand) personal defense handguns, and I don't select my "CCW pistol every morning based on the color of one’s mood ring or whether its grips match one’s choice of socks that day." There are many more factors that come into play for me, and I always know EXACTLY which one I am carrying, how it operates, and practice with all of them. Here they are in no particular order:

Ruger GP-161 in .357 Magnum

When outdoors hiking, walking my dog, in the woods, or at the range. I open carry it on a dedicated gun belt in a Bianchi thumb-break holster with a pair of HKS 586-A speed-loaders in Bianchi dual speed-loader carrier. The cylinder and speed-loaders are fully loaded with Hornady Critical Defense .357 Magnums. Takes care of local 4-legged predators, bruins, or 2-legged predators.

 

Ruger SR9c in 9mm

In cooler weather under a flannel over shirt or coat and carried in an "On Your 6 Design" kydex OWB holster at my 3 o'clock. At my 7 o'clock is an On Your 6 Design dual mag carrier. Magazines are Kommiecticut legal 10 rounders loaded with Hornady Critical Defense, and all my semi-autos are carried in "Condition 1" with one in the pipe and safety ON for a total of 31 rounds. Depending on where I am going and for how long I will also include my SureFire Defender flashlight. A trip to the local store for example may mean I leave the spare mags at home. A day long shopping trip, out to a restaurant, or the rare outing to a theater is the full loadout. 

S & W 45 Shield in .45ACP

This one is more year round and is probably carried more than the SR9c. I will carry it the same way as the SR9c in cooler weather. Also at my 3 o'clock but in a DeSantis friction fit OWB Speed Scabbard. In it I carry the extended 7 round magazine, and the same magazines in a DeSantis Dual Magazine carrier. All are loaded with Hornady Critical Defense 185 gr ammo, giving me a total of 22 rounds. My particular gun has NO manual safety and the Tritium Nite Sights. Yes... one definitely in the pipe on this one too.

Because of the slim profile, this is the gun  I carry on my bike. It all disappears under my leather vest.

In warm weather wearing Duluth Trading cargo shorts, I will carry it in a DeSantis pocket holster with the 6-round flush fit magazine. It disappears in the right thigh pocket, and a single spare 7 round magazine is in the left thigh pocket in a divided pocket made for a knife. I carry just the gun in this manner every day to and from work in the right front pocket of my EMS trousers. At the firehouse it is placed in a gun safe locked container attached to the truck. When I get home in the evening, I change into my jeans and swap out the flush mag for the extended 7-round mag and slide the DeSantis Speed Scabbard holster onto my belt at 3 o'clock. This means I can be armed at home, but the gun and holster can be quickly removed and secured in case I need to respond to an after hours emergency.

Ruger LCP in .380 ACP

In really hot weather when EVERYONE is wearing light clothing, I carry the gun in a DeSantis "Nemesis" pocket holster with a spare mag on my belt in a carrier that looks like it is just a pocket knife. The .380 ACP Hornady Critical Defense is the minimum I will carry and it is loaded in the Ruger factory 7-round magazines for a total of 15 rounds.

After writing all of this, I realized I do something else Massad Ayoob has written about that he isn't a fan of; "Administrative Gun Handling." I regularly handle, load, unload, holster, swap out, and otherwise have my mitts on my guns every single day, sometimes multiple times a day. His theory is once its placed in the holster, it only comes out if needed for defense, or to put it away. I disagree completely. Always practicing Col. Cooper's 4 Rules of Gun Safety, becoming proficient in gun handling is as important as shooting. I had a negligent discharge in 1984 that luckily went harmlessly into the ground, but it was my "one" and it was totally my stupidity. By always and consciously following the 4 Rules of Gun Safety and constantly handling my firearms, has only improved my gun handling proficiency.

Ethnic Heritage Update

After putting up this post this past Friday, I decided to log into the separate anonymous Ancestry.com account I have for my DNA test to see if the results have updated. It is not associated with the account that contains my actual family tree with real names at all, and it has all the privacy settings locked down so no one on the outside can connect to it, including my own siblings. For all Ancestry knows, Ol' Glypto just appeared on Earth with no family, immediate or extended.

Ancestry continually refines DNA maps based on additional samples from around the world, which will also update your heritage ethnicity map based on the sample you already submitted. My sample is several years old and the breakdown currently looks like this.

A close up of the current "Ethnicity Estimate"

As you can see from the previous list below, I no longer have the 2% Ireland but have gained a 6% Scotland and higher percentage of Germanic Europe. I am also less French and a little more Polish. Sweden and Denmark have replaced Ireland and Norway. Scotland, huh? Bagpipes.... people either love them or hate them, there seems to be no just simply tolerating them. I have always loved them, and being in the fire service, they will bring me to tears at a funeral if the piper(s) are really good. Haggis on the other hand, I have never had but would be willing to try it even though it sounds kinda gross. If I ever start wearing a kilt, it will be proper commando. I find Scotch Whiskey horrible, so I will stick to my Eastern European/Russian roots and Vodka. "На здоровье!"

My previous ethnic breakdown

 

 

Ancestry has some interesting tools for poking around your DNA estimate. This one shows where the DNA comes from, mother or father. Not really any surprises here.

We all did the DNA kits when my Dad was still alive and way before the dementia really started taking my Dad away as we knew him. Funny story about Dad... our first DNA maps showed us kids mostly from the Spain portion of the Iberian Peninsula. Our last name is the same in French, Spanish, and Italian, so we just thought maybe we were actually Spanish and not French. When we got those initial results and showed them to Dad, he starts, "Well, when I was in the Navy and visited Barcelona, there was this girl, you see..." OMG! we all died laughing and explained to him that you don't catch and pass on DNA, and since that girl in Spain was not our mother.... He was in the Navy and off active duty years before he met Mom. He was such a goofball sometimes. The only thing that would have been funnier was if Mom was alive to be in on all that.

No, Not Everyone

They say "everyone is Irish on Saint Paddy's Day!" but not me. According to my Ancestry.com DNA profile, I am a European mutt with 2% of my DNA coming from the Emerald Isle, but I don't really care. Most of my heritage came from France and eastern Europe. I actually mostly embrace and celebrate my Polish heritage because it was ever present in my maternal grandparent's home. You would think I would be fluent in Polish, but my relatives born in the old country kept it as their secret language so us kids didn't know what they were saying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, tomorrow is Hartford's annual St. Patrick's Day parade and it has been on the local news all week, so I am fucking sick of hearing about it. The local stations will be televising it tomorrow in case you can't be there.. UGH! That is, IF the weather doesn't postpone it, because they are calling for a few inches of snow overnight. Oh yes, I will be engaged in joyful schadenfreude for the parade not to happen. Kinda hard to perform Irish step-dancing in wintry slop, hee hee!

Now being born a Masshole into a family of Massholes from the Springfield-Chicopee-Holyoke area, you might think I would be excited about the Holyoke St. Patrick's parade, which is the largest in the entire region. Nope, not even a little. Also, Irish or not if you're good Cat-Lick thou shalt honor St. Patrick or its the confessional and penance for you. My parents went faithfully in their younger years, and I have slides and 8mm color movies from the 1957 and 1958 parades. A couple of slides are of then US. Senator John F. Kennedy on the reviewing stand outside Holyoke City Hall. Still don't care. 

Since green is the color of puke, I shun green beer, Shamrock Shakes, green colored pancakes, or any other food and drink artificially colored green. I normally only wear green club shirts at the events held by my sportsman's club. The only other green clothes I have is camo and if I am wearing them, someone is probably about to die.

So go ahead and enjoy the parade and getting stinkin' drunk, just leave me out of it.

Schadenfreude Plus

Senate Minority Leader "Cocaine" Mitch McConnell is in the hospital after being injured from a fall. I hope that piece of shit RINO asshole is writhing in excruciating pain, and is never able to return to his post. Taking the eternal dirt nap would just be a bonus.

See... I hate members of The Stupid Party as well as The Evil Party.

I am an equal opportunity hater.

I Am Now A "Made Man"

To borrow a term from my Sicilian friends and their "azienda familiare" structure, I like to say I became a made guy by being voted in as a regular member of my sportsman's club. I had been a probationary member since being accepted in December of 2020. During that time, I made sure I was highly visible and participated in all work parties, club events, and attended all meetings. The club membership is limited in size by our By-Laws, so a probie can only move up when there is a opening. In January three slots opened up, but I was #4 on the probationary seniority list. Recently, a member reached his 65th birthday and 10+ years of being a member in good standing, making him eligible for what's called "The Gentlemen's Club" meaning he is a regular member that no longer has to pay dues. That opened up the position for me.

Prospective probationary and regular members must stand in front of the membership and state why they should be accepted in as a probie or made a regular member. It was easy for me and I had multiple guys speak on my behalf. I was excused so they could then discuss me in private, and vote in a secret paper ballot. I was brought back in to a round of applause and congratulations of becoming the newest member. This means I can now vote on club matters and be elected an officer of the club. My plan is to become even more active and involved with the kitchen committee as well as get involved with the range committee, and pursue becoming an R.S.O.