Tiny Guns for Concealed Carry

We're gonna talk about tiny guns for concealed carry for a minute. We're gonna talk about them from two different directions. First, the number one reason that I see people have tiny guns is because of concealment issues, carry ability. They think that they can't carry a gun except for a tiny gun with the clothing that they wear, the lifestyle that they have, maybe just for their own comfort, their body type, their body size. So that's the first limitation people put on themselves. I very rarely see someone that can't carry a firearm that isn't what I would call a tiny gun but is actually a sub-compact model that fills the hand and they can shoot it well, but it's still going to be concealable. The other side that I see people come to tiny guns from is generally, it's a condescending situation that women find themselves in where a guy's gonna say, "Oh little lady, you need a small gun for your small little dainty, petite self". And the fact is that obviously women come in a wide variety of sizes. Women's hands while they may generally be smaller than men's and maybe not as strong as men's in terms of grip strength. Fingers can often be slender and long. In fact, many women have much longer fingers than male counterparts with hands that are the same size. So the idea that they end up with a tiny gun just because they're a woman, it really is, it's a misogynistic condescending concept. And especially when you think about the fact that the way a lot of women dress with untucked or flowing clothes, maybe extra layers or when they purse carry that they have a whole purse they can put a gun in. The idea that they need deep concealment is really a little bit of a myth and a misconception. But if someone wants to carry a little tiny gun and they want to carry it in a pocket holster or they want to carry it inside of their purse let it be for the right reasons because you need to. This is a real compromise leaning towards carry ability and going away from shoot ability. A tiny gun like this, where most of the palm is not even touching the grip where it'd be almost impossible to get two hands on the gun to help support you're shooting with two handed fire, where you have really, in this case even with the magazine in, I've got a finger and a half that aren't even touching the front of the grip. Remember I want good pressure front to rear whenever I grip a gun and try to stabilize it. And if you're carrying anything like a .380 +P a powerful round in this gun or if you have a nine millimeter, that's this size and you're carrying nine millimeter rounds that are of a defensive nature, relatively high power loads, you're going to have a lot of recoil to overcome because there isn't much surface area, that's friction touching your hand and obviously there isn't much mass, there isn't much inertia to the gun itself to help mitigate that recoil. So you're really setting yourself up for the worst possible set of situations that you could have when you have a tiny gun. The other thing about tiny guns is they're almost always going to be a double action gun or a safety operated gun. This one happens to have a double action trigger. If you think about some of the small 1911 copies, the old Colt Mustang and now there's some other newer models out there that are sort of remakes of it. They're very small guns, very hard to manipulate the functioning of the buttons, functioning of the safety especially. And they're just not as shootable as a subcompact gun. So I'm going to tuck this one back into that little pocket holster there, very thin situation. And we're going to take a look at another gun that is not at all a large gun. It's a single stack gun, it's very thin. It's one of the thinnest guns on the market. This one is, as far as the grip goes. This is the nine millimeter BP9cc. And this is a Bersa gun. It's a single stack gun. It's got a trigger that some people are really surprised how good this trigger is. In fact, a couple of instructors have said, you know that's right on that borderline of almost being too good a trigger for such a small subcompact gun. But if we, if I go back in here and I pull the Ruger out you can see how much more mass, how much more size there is with this very concealable, very carryable gun. My entire hand, or just about my entire hand can fit behind the grip. I do have some space that I can lay in some contact with a second hand for support. I even have an accessory rail that I could put a light or a laser on with this particular gun. And there's obviously a lot more mass up above the hand and in general, to help mitigate recoil with the full power nine millimeter defensive loads that I'd be likely to use. If I take a look at my actual everyday carry gun, it's an XDS. Now this is an XDS Mod 2. I carry one that is very similar, as we see it's just about the same size as that Bersa. It's got plenty of space. It's got even more space maybe a little bit thicker this way for me to put my hand in there on the gun. Now, of course the XDS Mod 2 also does come in .45 and the XDS line has been known as a nine and .40 gun in one version and as a .45 in the other. Well, anytime you're going to accommodate that .40 caliber round, you get a little bit more space in here and a little bit more width, a little bit more mass that's also going to help you with the shoot ability. So here's a very carryable very concealable gun that is going to be infinitely more shootable than that tiny gun that you might think about sticking in your pocket. The other and the most common thing that I hear that third version of the tiny gun problem is caused by this great, amazing, little, reliable, concealable carryable, lightweight, defensive firearm. What do I mean, Rob? What do you mean, Rob? Why are you saying it's great? Why are you saying that this is great when you just said it's a problem with a tiny gun? Well, this is a great gun. You can see the wear and tear on this. The miles have been put on this. Grant Cunningham worked the action and the trigger for me. This is something I carried on an ankle holster when I was in full-time law enforcement in uniform. I've carried this in a belly band. I've carried it in pocket holsters. I've carried this whole, this quite a bit in a lot of different holsters. When I felt like I needed a very deep concealment ultra reliable, last ditch backup type gun or even primary gun in a very highly concealable situation. So even I have fallen victim to the tiny gun need but this is not the kind of gun that you want to start someone out on. It's not the "Hey little lady you need a revolver because they're simple". Is it simple? Sure. Is it reliable? Absolutely. Is it easy to shoot? Absolutely not. There are guys who have made like their entire careers teaching people just about J frame revolvers. There's guys who have written books just about J frame revolvers. There's classes and videos around for snub nose revolvers. And you can even get a lot of information at Personal Defense Network about this very popular gun. But don't mistake its convenience and its capabilities in terms of reliability and what it can do in the hands of a skilled user for ease of use or for simplicity in the bigger picture. It's a very hard gun to shoot. The ergonomics of the revolver are not nearly as good as the modern striker fired pistols. It's a heavy double-action trigger pull. And of course the recoil impulse is coming in very high up above the hand. And again because this is an alloy gun, this particular gun there's not much weight to help absorb that recoil. So when we think about tiny guns they have their limitations. Obviously that one of those limitations is going to be capacity. Another ones going to be shoot ability. Another one's going to be functioning, the maneuvering of the hands and the thumbs for the buttons or magazine release, for example. Maybe a safety. Maybe pulling that heavy double-action trigger that seems so common on the tiny guns is also going to be a problem because you just don't have that surface area to stabilize the gun while you pull the trigger. So before you run out and get that deep concealment gun that you perceive you really need before you suggest to someone that they get a tiny gun, 'cause they're a tiny person think about shoot ability and how important that is. Think about comfort of training and think about the ability to use the gun efficiently. Making sure that the hand actually fits with all the levers and that the trigger can be pulled efficiently as well especially under duress. Maybe you want to take a look at that midsize gun that reliable single stack subcompact which isn't as tiny as it gets, but is probably tiny enough and infinitely more shootable and a better choice for you if you're preparing to protect yourself or those you care about.