10 Dec 18

Pistols in Pockets!

A company making a line a small, concealable carry-pistols, Cobra, includes in its list of products an over-under Derringer.

This small pistol has been accused of not being drop-safe, as it has been implicated in at least two cases where pants in whose pocket it was placed where thrown on the floor, ostensibly causing the pistol to discharge, injuring the owner.

I have no opinions on any of these cases, as I don’t have a set of facts, and I am unfamiliar with Cobra’s product line.

I personally don’t own any.

However, we should all be warned against throwing pistols, any pistol, unprotected, into pants pockets, handbags, etc.

For a personal defensive pistol to be truly useful, it must be loaded when it is carried upon the person. The practice of carrying pistols with no round chambered is confined to the realm of idiots!

That being the case, a carry-pistol must be carried in a suitable holster, which completely encapsulates the trigger-guard and thus isolates and protects the trigger, making the trigger inaccessible when the pistol is holstered.

Such holsters can be on belts, ankles, or incorporated into handbags.

The point is that pistols, rattling-around loose in pockets, briefcases, handbags, etc are a veritable invitation to catastrophe, no matter what kind of pistol is involved, and the practice is thus highly not recommended by any competent instructor I know of, including me!

When you decide to go armed, you need to get serious, with serious gear and serious training.

Otherwise, my sincerest recommendation is that you abandon the whole idea!

/John