Arming yourself is the most valuable step you can take towards having the ability to defend yourself. A pistol, for instance, is the best self-defense weapon currently available. As a result, buying it will ultimately lead to a positive outcome. Yet, carrying it has various disadvantages that you should know before getting one.
Pistols are highly effective weapons. Because they’re lightweight, easily carryable, and, most importantly, lethal, carrying one will ensure your safety in threatening situations. Their advantages rise over the disadvantages. Hence, the rate of people arming themselves is rising.
I’ve been a special forces operator for a lengthy period. Consequently, my knowledge in this field is broad, and I want to share it with you. While pistols have many pros, having one may lead to trouble. As a result, before buying yourself one, ensure you’re familiar with the consequences of carrying one, which we’ll discuss broadly.
I wrote a post on everything you need to know about self-defense. As a result, I highly encourage you to read it to expand your knowledge before arming yourself.
Lethal
The most important aspect of a self-defense weapon is its lethality. Because we want to quickly disable a hostile before anyone gets injured, having a means of doing so will assist us in avoiding injuries.
A pistol is the deadliest weapon available for everyday carry. Because it’s capable of disabling an attacker quickly, many people see positive results in using it. As a result, many people are turning in and buying one for their own.
Not only is it a lethal self-defense tool, but it’s also a long-range one. Unlike a knife, which you can solely use in a face-to-face encounter, you can use a pistol from a distance. Hence you’re at an immediate advantage the moment you carry one.
As a result, an attacker who notices you carrying a deadly weapon will give up their cause and flee. That way, you can avoid injuries and protect everyone around you.
The goal in using self-defense isn’t to disable the attacker. But it’s to avoid people getting hurt. As a result, by making the hostile flee, you’ve done your job.
Tactical
Having a lethal weapon isn’t enough to disable an attacker. Although it’s contrary to most people’s thoughts; yet, it’s the reality. Consequently, we want to check if the weapon we’re buying is tactical.
Hold up, why will it help me?
You see, tactical means you can easily carry it and, it doesn’t bother your everyday activities. While walking, for instance, you want to have the firearm located comfortably. That way, you’ll be able to have it on you without thinking about it.
A pistol is lightweight and comfortable to carry around. As a result, it’s tactical. Because of that, the value of having one on you is higher than the average self-defense weapon. Eventually, buying one and carrying it will provide benefits, such as knowing you can defend yourself.
Because it’s tactical, most militaries provide their special forces operators with pistols. As a result, they can use one to defend themselves if they need to. As a result, they’ll become more capable of performing distinct actions, such as opening a closet while holding a weapon.
If you’re interested in what makes special forces “special,” I highly encourage you to follow the link to an article of mine.
Legal
A key takeaway from many cases is that some weapons aren’t legal for everyday carry. You can’t carry a rifle around, for instance. Therefore, buying a legal self-defense weapon is vital not to get in trouble.
In most regulated countries, completing a particular process will allow you to carry a pistol legally. Therefore, you’ll have a clear mind when walking around with it. Because of that, ensuring you buy a legal self-defense weapon is crucial.
That said, completing a process is mandatory in all countries. Therefore, you can’t just buy a pistol for self-defense. Instead, you’ll need to follow a different procedure depending on where you live.
Because of that, many people may end up discouraged in buying a pistol. However, I assure you it’s worth it. Carrying a firearm ensures the safety of yourself and others around you. Therefore, I can’t stress enough how good of a self-defense weapon it is.
That said, some individuals use pistols for criminal activities, such as armed robbery. Therefore, before possessing one, ensure you have the legal permit to carry one in public.
Easily carryable and accessible
Having a self-defense weapon on you is fantastic. However, if you have a can of pepper spray that you regularly shove down your backpack, you won’t be able to access it quickly in a time of need. Therefore, having your self-defense weapon in an accessible spot is vital.
Not only is a pistol easily carryable, but it’s also lightweight, comfortable, and accessible. Thus, it’s a suitable self-defense firearm for many situations. As a result, the benefits such a tool grants the user exceeds its disadvantages. Therefore, it’s a fitting weapon for self-defense.
A dangerous situation may occur in an instant. As a result, you want to minimize your reaction time and respond as quickly as possible. That way, your chances of keeping yourself sound increase.
In special forces, we’re ready for anything anytime. Because of that, the training is adapting to our need to prepare ourselves constantly for the worst scenario.
In your life, you want to do the same. Prepare yourself as if tomorrow you’ll encounter the worst possible scenario you can imagine. That way, when you encounter a threatening situation, you’ll be able to handle it properly.
Easy to use
Today, many weapons are exceptionally challenging to use. Consequently, when we consider which self-defense tool we want to buy, review its difficulty. That way, you’ll ensure you won’t purchase a weapon you won’t be capable of using.
Yet, becoming a solid shooter takes plenty of practice. So, why am I saying it’s easy to use? You see, shooting a pistol accurately enough won’t take as much training. As a result, it’s unchallenging in becoming familiar with the way it operates.
Before I could possess a pistol, I had to go through a week of training. To some, it may be a lot. Yet, it’s not. Therefore, if you’re willing to spend little time in the gun range for a lifetime of safety and security, I recommend you do so.
Although it’s easy to use, in most self-defense cases, the victim won’t use a firearm.
Victims use guns in less than 1% of contact crimes, and women never use guns to protect themselves against sexual assault (in more than 300 cases). Victims using a gun were no less likely to be injured after taking protective action than victims using other forms of protective action.
Harvard study – Gun threats and self-defense guns use.
Involve a lengthy training period.
So, you may think I’m contrasting myself. Let me explain myself.
In the last section, I mentioned that a pistol is easy to use. Consequently, its training won’t be prolonged. However, once you buy the firearm, it’s not over. You still have to visit the gun range once in a while.
Because of that, some people may get discouraged in buying a pistol for themselves. To some, it may be an expensive investment. Therefore, they’ll switch and buy another self-defense weapon, such as a knife.
Still, I’ll stand my place and say that having a pistol is valuable. Additionally, once you get good at operating it, you’ll enjoy shooting it and keeping yourself worthy of using it. Because of that, the burden of shooting becomes a fun hobby.
Expensive
When arming yourself, there are many cheaper options to consider. A pocket knife, for instance, is a valuable option that’s cheap. At this moment, you can order a pocket knife from Amazon and receive it tomorrow. In addition, after you buy it, you don’t have to spend more money on it.
Contrary to that, you’ll have to buy ammo magazines and constantly shoot the pistol. Therefore, it may cause trouble. Because of that, before you take the leap and buy a firearm, ensure you’re willing to invest money in it.
However, a lifetime of safety is worth plenty of money. Therefore, the financial investment will provide high value. Hence if you’re worried about the price versus the return, don’t.
Come with great responsibility.
Although some will interpret this as a pro rather than a disadvantage, you can’t avoid it. Therefore, understand that owning any self-defense weapon, you’ll have responsibility.
As a result, some may avoid purchasing a pistol because of the responsibility. However, I sense it as an advantage.
Because getting a firearm involves a background check, we can sleep deep knowing we’re safe. I trust anyone who carries a pistol to respond to life-threatening situations to assist anyone who requires help. That way, in any scenario, there will be no unnecessary injuries.
Intimidating
Various self-defense weapons are intimidating. As a result, they may cause many hostiles to flee rather than attack. If we remember the goal of self-defense, we want to avoid injuries. Therefore, if the attacker ran, we did our job.
A pistol is highly intimidating. Picture the following scenario; you’re an attacker, and the person pulls a firearm on you. What will you do? Most people’s reaction will be to regret attacking and flee. By that, we did our job and assisted everyone in avoiding injuries.
Consequently, you’ll notice others respecting you more than usual. They’re sensing that you’re capable of not only defending yourself but your surroundings. Hence you’ll be responsible for your actions at a more intense level.
According to a Harvard study, firearms are used more often to as an intimidation method rather than to disable an attacker.
Conclusion
While a pistol has plenty of benefits, many disadvantages come with carrying one. Now, many people aren’t aware of such consequences. As a result, they may commit to buying one, realizing it’s a mistake.
Because of that, you should consider the pros and cons of carrying a pistol before you get one.
Additionally, they’re suitable for self-defense purposes. Therefore, if you’re looking for a tool that you can use to protect yourself, consider a pistol as one of your primary choices.
Hold on, if you’re looking for a different self-defense weapon, I highly encourage you to buy a knife. It’s a fantastic tool that also provides high utility. If you want to know which are the best knives for self-defense, I highly encourage you to follow the link to an article of mine.