Recently in Firearms Category

George over at Sleepless in Midland has run across an interesting tidbit: it's legal to openly carry a handgun in California as long as it's unloaded. At first glance, this seems like a senseless legal right. As I mentioned in a comment on George's post, carrying a hammer would actually be a better choice than an unloaded gun in a self-defense situation.

But then I ran across the FAQ on the California Open Carry website, where we learn that it's also legal to carry ammo at the same time; it just can't be loaded in the firearm. This considerably evens the playing field, given the speed with which one can pop a loaded magazine into a pistol, with a little practice.

Of course, laws and lawyers being what they are, the definition of "loaded" is subject to, um, nuances. Read this discussion thread to get a feel for some of those subtleties.

I'd be interested to know how often people exercising their right to UOC in California get stopped and inspected by the police to ensure their firearms aren't loaded, and how strictly the definition is applied.

In Texas, anecdotal evidence suggests that Concealed Carry Permit holders are generally treated with beneficent respect by law enforcement officers (I've never had a chance to prove this myself as I've never had an encounter that required me to present my permit to an officer). The CCP is evidence that the holder has passed a background check, and has been trained not only in firearm use, but also in the legalities that accompany it, with the implicit assumption that holders and peace officers are, so to speak, on the same team. I wonder if California police have the same attitude toward UOC?

My guess is "no," as UOC appears to not be accompanied by any training requirement or background check. In fact, here's what the aforementioned FAQ has to say:

Update (8/5/09): Yesterday, I sold the firearm described below to a fellow who wanted to carry it as a snake gun. I just couldn't justify hanging onto it. My only regret is that I never got to shoot it.

My brother and his wife live in rattlesnake country. Walking onto their front porch after dark on a summer evening is an act of courage (depending on your definition of "courage").

They also frequently encounter roving bands of javelina. Those wild pigs are unpredictable and it takes more than a sternly worded command to deter them. In fact, a large caliber bullet is probably the surest method of self-defense.

The combination of those ongoing threats is seemingly what Taurus International Manufacturing had in mind* when they designed "The Judge." It's a revolver chambered for the .45 Long Colt ammo as well as the .410 shotshell. You can mix-and-match the ammo in the five chambers if you want to be ready for anything. The .410s are effective for killing invading poisonous snakes up to about twelve feet, and the .45s handle everything else beyond that range.

Anyway, we stopped by the Cabela's store in Buda (just south of Austin) last Tuesday, and they had a couple of The Judges in stock. I decided that one would make a fine Christmas present** for my brother; I even rationalized that my parents would likely be willing to split the cost and thereby avoid the inevitable shopping hassle when December rolls around. So, I bought it.

During our regular Sunday night conversation after we returned to Midland, I told my mom about the plan. I didn't get the expected reaction. Instead, she described to me a trip to a nearby town taken by my brother and his wife, ostensibly to shop for his wife's birthday present. While wandering around that town, they happened upon a gun store. You can probably see where this is headed, can't you?

Let's summarize, shall we? On the same day I was 300 miles away buying him the gun, and probably around the same time of day, he was buying the same one for himself. It's like a redneck version of an O. Henry story. OK, maybe not, but it's still weird.

The upshot (no pun intended) is that he has a gun he wanted, and I have one that I didn't want but now that I have it am finding to be pretty cool, provided I can ever find any ammo for it. Perhaps it was just meant to be. I know I never look a gift revolver in the barrel.***

*OK, this is probably untrue. The Judge is being marketed as a self-defense weapon, and in fact derives its name from the fact that a fair number of the judiciary carries the gun for protection. Or so Taurus would have us believe.

**If you're thinking that a gun makes a lousy Christmas present, you obviously don't live in Texas.

***You don't have to be a Texan to understand the wisdom of this statement.