Anybody else pack a heater? (Non-burgerlanders, we know this is not normal or good, but we are surrounded by frothing at the mouth chuds with guns). Right now I carry a pepper spray and a legal knife, never needed to use it, but I'm thinking of carrying. What are your thoughts on this from the trans perspective?
suicidal ideation
I'd get a gun if I wasnt afraid I'd use it on myself tbh
Go for it, you can strap it on your leg under the skirt for that real Femme Fatale feeling
Fair, probs best to keep away if you have impulses to do so. As for strapping it to my thigh... I don't exactly go for compact. And the can adds like 11 inches to the length. I might have a little black cylinder poking out below the hem line. Could be a conversation starter!
suicidal ideation as well
i was kinda sorta trying to get a gun back when i was living a v different kinda life. it wasn't exactly a secret that i was really messed up. i'll always remember how my then bestie reacted to my asking around; "no fucking way, we're not gonna make it easier for you to kill yourself"
In Poland self defense law is utter shit, so even though you can carry a loaded black powder revolver legally without a license, don't ever think of using it. Even when you are the victim of an attack, self defense can end up with you being prosecuted :dont-laugh:. I carry pepper spray and am ok at running.
At least it's not as bad as in Germany, where you can only legally carry and use pepper spray against animals.
I'm getting a gun myself when I have the means to do so. Maybe I'll be able to afford one after I transfer departments.
Not sure yet tbh. Probably a rifle of some kind but I'm not a gun expert. They tend to be safer than handguns.
Well, what do you want it for? If it's home defense, that's a big no go. Rifle rounds will penetrate into your neighbors home, let alone possibly hit your family members in other rooms. Best home defense is a short barrel shotty with shot shells so they won't really make it through drywall with any real power behind them. 9mm pistol is also not good for in-home due to it's ability to penetrate, but pairing a 9mm with hollow points with less propellant is good for personal defense when out and about. Safety is relative to your awareness of the weapon. A rubber pistol or airsoft gun can be a good way to get your feet wet with ergonomics and handling practice.
This is inaccurate. A .223 round from an ar-15 has very little mass and will slow down and be stopped by fewer obstructions (walls and such) than a 9mm or a shotgun with appropriate home defense ammo. It also has much less recoil, you can have 30 rounds in a magazine, and you can easily attach a strap and light to ensure you can retain the weapon and identify your targets.
A full size hunting rifle is a bad idea, but an AR-15 is really the best home defense gun there is.
Sure, it can be in the hands of an experienced shooter, but for a novice looking for basic home defense, shotty. A rifle platform needs shots placed precisely, otherwise even a home defense round is still potentially lethal to people on the other side of a wall. I don't care if it's a bleeding edge cartridge that's $10 a round and says it doesn't penetrate drywall, it's still a high velocity round that concentrates energy to a pinpoint, I wouldn't risk that if I weren't well practiced. An inexperienced person is liable to be shaky, having some spread with lower mass projectiles (that even if they made it through two layers of drywall, wouldn't have enough energy left to kill). And if you did have a low enough power .223, a beginner gun owner isn't necessarily going to know if it will have enough gas pressure to cycle. A simple R870 or M500 can attach lights and a sling as well. Additionally, cost as a barrier to entry and reliability for a novice shooter - a simple $250 pump action with a short barrel is going to be as reliable as a hammer.
One is a manually-cocked weapon with (usually) poor sights, high recoil, and a small magazine. The other is semi-automatic, accurate, easy to make quick follow-up shots with, and comes with 30 rounds standard. Both will punch clear through drywall, though the 223 will penetrate fewer barriers unless the shotgun is firing birdshot (please don't try to defend yourself with birdshot). Both of them, you need to be able to accurately aim it at your target.
Shotguns do tend to be much cheaper though, and that is a barrier for some people.
Also you can rack a shotgun and that is way scarier than just silently flipping the safety off.
I also feel like I'm being needlessly argumentative and I'm trying to stop doing that, so sorry about that.
Yeah, gun arguments can get pretty annoying, you're fine though. You have valid points for a .223. I'm comfortable with any firearm due to my combat training. I've just tended to recommend a shotty from various old timers and the people that trained me. Either way, people need to train and be familiar with their weapon.
why do you want one?
Something something, trees of liberty.
I've got a kahr p380 I inherited, though I'd like to learn to use it more before carrying.
In would like to start carrying when I start presenting femme though. Probably keep it strapped under my skirt or something.
Yeah. I don't anymore because I live somewhere where trans people are relatively safe, but I used to.
A lot of holsters marketed to women will assume you have wide hips and they can fit kinda awkward if you don't. Also regular 4 o'clock iwb carry feels weird to me - I've had the most luck carrying aiwb (1-2 o'clock) with a subcompact with jeans and a proper belt. That's hard to do if you have a tummy or sit down a lot though.
As for what to carry, those teeny tiny 9mms aren't that bad to shoot and fit much better with women's clothing. It's not just the size - anything bigger than a subcompact will weigh down pretty heavy unless you have a good belt, which limits outfits. .380 is also good, but bullets are way more expensive and not that much easier to shoot. The Ruger LCP is a trap though - it's too small and awful to shoot and you won't wanna practice with it ever. But also you need to practice.
I only have full to extended frame right now, but they can fit in my purse. Not I'm not a fan of small guns with average calibers, but a .380 might do the trick for a subcompact for me so long as I get a grip extender mag. I've thought of revolvers for concealed on my person too though.
Off-body carry is not great, purse snatching becoming gun snatching makes a bad problem worse. There are purses designed for concealed carry through; with fast-access dedicated firearm pockets/sections and (hopefully) reinforced or somehow body-attachable straps.
Fair, but I'm not taking my maxpedition gun purse out to any place but the range. My coach will due until I can find something cute that also carries.
This article is pretty old, but the info is good. A lot of the links from it are dead but it looks like these folks have not-strictly-utilitarian looking carry purses (lotsa leather though, so not vegan friendly).
Ugh now I kind of want to be a purse person instead of a pockets person because there are a lot of cute purses
Isn't sorta the same thing as the rule with nukes? Nobody should have them or everyone should.
And yet, America again seems to offer evidence to the contrary.
Yes. Got a little single-stack 9 and a nice pocket holster for it; if I'm wearing pants it's usually in them.
6-o'clock carry gets a lot of hate, but my posture is terrible and I have bad anterior pelvic tilt and a lot of ass and damn if full frame double stack pistols don't just fucking disappear under a loose shirt back there.
I have a few cheap elastic thigh holsters for very tiny pistols with skirts but they've never been great; can't decide if I want to try a real expensive one or like a belly band or something.
And, final note, shoulder holsters feel exactly as as cool as you'd expect. Very very specific outfits required. But I feel like a hard boiled private eye from the 30s every time. (Probably look like a dork for real though)
Bit the, lol, bullet and bought a Phlster enigma to see if that gives me a better skirt-friendly option. My wallet cries.
I've liked the idea of "this is a gun belt I wear under my clothes so the clothes are irrelevant" but hadn't been able to decide on what to try
