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Guns are Tools – You Should Be Able to Knock ’em Around

The weapon you carry for defense should not require classic car treatment.

Years ago I attended a Jim Cirillo class alongside my old Rangemaster, Sgt. Glenn Langley. We watched with poorly disguised humor as Mr. Cirillo (ever the gentleman) pushed another student's pristine weapon up against a barricade while chastising him. The student didn't want to take a chance on his pistol getting scratched and had refused to shoot barricade support for fear of scratching the slide. He listened aghast Cirillo politely admonished him — a proper carry pistol, Cirillo told him, is a tool, not something to be treated like a precious heirloom.

As recently as 2 weekends ago at a Sage Dynamics course I threw an emptied and slide-locked pistol downrange after first running all my magazines out (I'm reviewing a Glock 43); the pistol was covered one end to the other in clay and mud when I retrieved it, something I easily remedied before going back to work. At least two others present were shocked that I'd done it (which was funny, but hadn't been my intended goal). The thing is, if God forbid I wind up getting in a fight, I don't want to draw a 1970 Chevelle SS 427 LS6 from my holster. I want to drag out the lawnmower I've had for years. It always starts and I've never minded getting it dirty or dinged up. A working man's working gun is a tool and should be rugged and reliable enough to be treated that way.

Note – I define “working man” in this context as an armed, responsible citizen (white collar or blue) who carries a weapon everyday vs. a recreational shooter who only occasionally goes to the range, a collector who may or may not ever carry and the like. I do not include dilettantes and mall ninjas for obvious reasons.

Recently Steve Fisher of Sentinel Concepts was filming some episodes of Trigger Time TV and someone caught him on video throwing 2 guns to the ground after emptying each; you'd have thought he'd wiped his ass with a bald eagle and done a John Woo roll from some of the responses seen on social media (and he'd only tossed them to the grass – imagine if it had been rock and dirt).

There was, as they say, much derp – not as much where I first saw it on Primary & Secondary, but definitely in other places online.

Now, I know there will be ass pain expressed over this, so let me clarify.  I'm not urging anyone to go out unnecessarily and kick their handgun around on the ground or handle a weapon unsafely to prove a point. I'm not suggesting that dynamically tactical kinetically strategic pistol hurling become a regular part of anyone's training regimen — and this has nothing whatsoever to do with the concept of a New York Reload. I'm not saying you should go out of your way to scratch or mar your EDC gun. I do however respectfully suggest your perspective (or choice of carry gun) might do with some reevaluation if you can't bring yourself to abuse the firearm on which your life might depend.

Treat your safe queen or collector's gun with kid gloves and baby it, by all means; you shouldn't have to be as careful with an EDC gun.

Watch for updates about Season 7 of Trigger Time TV on their website or here on Facebook. Sentinel Concepts is online here or on Facebook here.

Condolences to Troy Alan Guillotte — you never should have let your hand get anywhere near Fisher's mouth while there was bbq sauce in the room.

Steve Fisher - Spaceshuttle Doorgunner - Sentinel Concepts Yeti

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