Autism and gun ownership (Another one of PennSilverTaco's BS threads)

General opinion; good pistols at their price point. I regret getting rid of Titanium Tracker with 6" barrel. Just because it was unique and they don't make them anymore as far as I know. It functioned just fine but was rather clunky compared to a S&W or Colt my cousin has a 92 copy and it's never failed him.

 

So, Titanium Tracker is the brand? Never heard of that brand; Ever heard of Astra?

 

Titanium Tracker was a model made by Taurus in the past. I think they still manufacture the Tracker line but just not Titanium. Never heard of Astra brand.

 

Astra was a South American brand (I forget exactly where in South America)...
How about Lorcin? SPOILER: Lorcin is probably the worst gun ever made!

They were made in the early 1990s, and by 1992-1993 was the top-selling handgun in America; They were specifically marketed toward lower-income consumers, and generally sold in pawn shops instead of by traditional dealers. My late great-grandfather, who died in 2004 just shy of his 94th birthday, lived in New Jersey for probably the last 45 to 50 years of his life; It is not particularly easy to buy or own a gun in Jersey, and he bought a Lorcin for home defence. I remember him proudly showing this piece of shit to my dad almost 20 years ago, and my dad could hardly stifle his laughter, only telling me what he really thought of the gun in the car on the drive home...

Lorcin handguns were made of subpar materials, and there were several lawsuits in the 1990s and early 2000s brought on by guns failing and in some cases exploding in the hands of people firing them! The company no longer exists, for obvious reasons!

 

Astra

I think Astra was Spanish, shot one years ago in 9mm Largo when choosing between it and a Star 9mm Largo. Didn't care for the style of the Astra, bought the Star. Browning/1911 design (Star). The Astra was a weird gun, I think it was a model 400.

 

That sounds about right; Had you ever heard of Lorcin...?

 

Lorcin was one of the Ring of Fire manufacturers, Jennings, Phoenix, Cobra were others. All used subpar materials like Zicam in parts that you wanted good metal.

Back to the topic. Taurus is very hit/miss imho. The guns that they usually do well on are clones of some sort, PT92/PT99/

$100 PT100 Full Face Organic Vapor, Chemical, & Particulate Respirator - 1 Year Full Manufacturer Warranty - Reusable Eye Protection Mask

PT100 are Beretta clones, their revolvers are S&W clones, and of course their 1911 clones. Their newer 22lr pistol with 16-17 rd capacity is supposed to be good. The problem with Taurus is they are constantly turning out new models because the ones before were crap. PT709, PT24/7, various iterations of the 101 all had various problems, but not every one of every model had those issues, so you'll always have people that swear by them. The first Taurus Curves left the factory without rifles barrels I'd rather buy a used Glock/HK than a new Taurus

 

I was discussing this in the Pennsylvania thread; I got my carry permit on November 20th, 2020...

I did not have to make an appointment; In Pennsylvania, concealed carry permits are issued by your county's sheriff's department. I walked right into the Bucks County courthouse, showed my driver's license, filled out an application, got my picture taken, and walked out with a shiny new carry permit that's good for five years in under an hour!

My friend and former coworker has been around guns his entire life and has a decent amount of experience shooting them, but he only recently bought his first firearm (a used 9mm Sig) about a week ago; He wants to get a CCP, but found out that it's by appointment only now due to COVID ramping up. Looks like I got mine just in the nick of time!

 

Yep, you did. My CCP expired in December and the soonest I could make my renewal appt for was the end of January. I made the appointment back in October, but wasn't aware walk-ins were allowed until they announced walk-in service was suspended sometime in early December. Appointments in my area are several months down the road now.

 

New to the thread but I admire your financial discipline in the OP. It's very hard to have such control in a world where CC debt and car payments are the norm. I will disagree with you, however, on waiting to get any firearm until you have more money saved up for a home. Shelter, food, transportation and defense are the most important things, I believe. It sounds like you have 3 of those checked already. You may want to do more to your truck, but it does get you around. You may want to buy a house, but you have a roof over your head right now.

I haven't bought a gun for a long time and don't know exactly what the market is doing right now, but I'd even consider paying an inflated price at this time to get whatever I could, within reason. You also do not need a million rounds of ammo, this doesn't have to be a 4 figure investment. I would recommend a professional grade flashlight or weapon light as well (Surefire/Streamlight) and a holster you can start training with for when you are ready to carry. Get a few snap caps, draw and dry fire and do all the other manipulation drills you can learn.

Also (a ton of info, sorry) have a plan for what you will do when you hear a bump in the night. You've got to know your structure, corners and blind spots. It is impossible for 1 person to safely enter a room, especially a center fed room. There is a lot to weigh. Everything- the gun, light, your abilities with both, your knowledge of the structure and your action plan(s) are all a system and only as strong as their weakest link. If you are effective with all of them you minimize the chance of having to shoot, or at least you have put yourself in the best possible position, which is good because the idea is to WIN, not to fight.

I also had a Taurus revolver and it was very loose. Would not recommend.

Sig/Glock/M&P are the way. There are other cool boutique guns but they do not have the aftermarket support or parts availability.

 

I unfortunately have not fired a Sig yet, but I stopped by a local gun shop that had a used one in stock; I started chatting with an employee about the reasons I want a handgun, and the discussion turned to how important comfort/grip is. I said I’d fired an M&P 9mm before and loved it.

He ended up putting the aforementioned used 9mm Sig in my hand and I loved it. Unfortunately, this thing was almost a grand USED. I don’t want to spend more than $700 for a gun at this point in my life, but man did that Sig have a comfortable grip!

I also held a Smith and Wesson M&P and further solidified my favorable opinion of that weapon; An M&P was the first 9mm I ever fired, and I liked it for the fact that it was comfortable to hold and was heavy enough to not have a ridiculous recoil, but at the same time was compact enough to easily conceal.

If I don’t end up with a 9mm Glock of some sort, I’ll probably end up buying an M&P because it’s ideal for both recreational target shooting and self defense!

 

Lots of people love the M&P's. I have never shot one. I've never liked Sig's, but they have their following.

Hopefully you can shoot these options before you commit, but you might not be able to. I found that comfort while handling a gun can sometimes be very different than the comfort while firing the same gun, but you can learn to like nearly anything. I had my eye on Walther PPQ's and got one because of how comfortably it sat in my hand and how light and crisp the trigger was. I am a Glock guy and most people would not describe a Glock as comfortable or having a good trigger. Anyway, the Walther was comfortable to hold, but I found that while shooting, the wide trigger guard rubbed the inside of my middle finger and my very high grip could cause the monster slide catch to lift up during recoil and lock the slide back. The grip angle was also very unnatural to me, but I knew that going in. Because of this, point shooting under stress was just not working. The draw stroke out of the holster was also very different. While I loved the gun for it's mechanical abilities, I could not become as effective with it as I wanted without unlearning the things that made me very effective with Glocks.

You'll find the perfect fit, or you will get something good enough and fine tune yourself around the gun.

 

Sounds like a good plan, the crime rate in Central bucks is way lower than the rest of the US and Pennsylvania, get yourself a good dog to hang with and go wheeling with in the meantime.

 

What kind of Sig was it? Alloy frame (220, 226, 229, etc.) at that price I imagine.

You can still get a brand new Glock 19, 17 (non-MOS), M&P 2.0/2.0c, CZ P10, FN 509 in the $500-$560 range if you look hard enough. A lot of places have them marked up to take advantage of the current state of the Union (especially gun broker.com), but check local, especially shops further away from the cities. https://dukessportshop.com/ is a shop about 50 mins from Pittsburgh and they don't mark up. I picked up a gen 5 Glock 19 for less than the MSRP a few weeks ago. My first Glock and I really like it. I've owned an M&P Shield 9 for years and like it, but I tried the M&P 2.0c while I was there and did not care for the trigger. The M&P felt better in my hand though. You can have the pistol sent to a local FFL from there.

I wouldn't go with an alloy frame Sig if you intend to carry. Awesome pistols, just a bit on the heavy side for concealed carry.

 

I honestly don’t remember, but that Sig was on the smaller side and felt light enough to carry. The other gun I held at that shop was literally a hand cannon; blued 8-shot S&W revolver in .357 magnum!

I would NOT ever concealed carry a revolver, but I definitely do want to own one someday!

 

Why not?
I think an

$14 SP101 CRL "Sparkle" Cleaner and Stain Remover - 8 oz. Bottle

SP101 would make an ideal CC.
Nothing simpler than a revolver.... no complicated procedures to burn in to muscle memory, no wondering if a round is chambered or not.
Just load and carry. If needed... pull, point, squeeze.

 

My take on pistols for CC from personal experience:

Glock 23: Same as the G19, but in .40. Reliable, small enough to easily conceal. Not a fan of the ergonomics, nor the Glock trigger. Some prefer SA only triggers, but I'm not a fan for CC. Don't want to risk putting my finger on the trigger when drawing during an emergency.

Walther PPQ: Similar in size, reliability, concealability as a G19, but with far better ergonomics and trigger. I think the MSRP is $100 less than a Glock 19. Also a SA pistol. PPQ for the win between those two, and it isn't close.

Walther P-99C: Compact version of the Walther P99. It's a striker fired pistol with a decocker, so it's a SA/DA pistol. I consider this far safer than a SA only pistol.

Sig P226: Full size pistol, so not as easy to conceal. Very reliable SA/DA pistol. It comes with a decocker to put the pistol into DA mode with a round in the chamber. I consider this far safer to carry than a SA only pistol.

Springfield XD-E: It's the single stack hammer fired XD. It also has a decocker that doubles as a thumb safety, so it's a SA/DA pistol. I consider this the best possible carry pistol, since you can carry it in any possible mode you can think of. No round chambered, SA mode, DA mode, thumb safety on (or off).

Sid 365: micro-compact. Sig reliability, and you can buy one with or without a thumb safety. Since it's so small, it feels as "snappy" as a .40. Concealability is better than any of the above.

SW M&P pistols (including the Shield): not much experience, but they all felt really good. They seem like excellent choices.

 

The PPQ's trigger is sweet for a striker fired, but the gen 5 Glock trigger isn't bad. Neither are as light and smooth as a single action pull. You can find Glock 19/17 for less than a PPQ M2 if you look in local gun shops. Internet prices currently reflect the Glock popularity tax. Keep in mind the Walther only comes with two mags to the Glock's three mags. Also PPQ mags are almost $40 dollars and Glock mags are $20-$25.

 

Each of Pennsylvania's 67 counties has a sheriff's department, and the sheriff's department issues concealed carry permits out of the county courthouse. We both live in Bucks County; I got my CCP just before Thanksgiving in 2020, and the process took less than an hour. My friend went sometime prior to me in 2020, and said that the sheriff's office told him he didn't pass the background check but wouldn't tell him why.

My friend is legally blind (he can still see but he can no longer drive), but from what I've read the ADA rules ensure that he can get a carry permit, so we don't think this is the issue...

He has NEVER been arrested or faced any charges; However, he was a passenger in a vehicle that got stopped by police in NYC (specifically Manhattan) and got a citation for not wearing a seatbelt YEARS AGO. He never paid the ticket. Another friend of mine who is an expert on gun laws says that a minor ticket like this in another state should NOT be an issue either.

He owns a shotgun and a 9mm handgun; The pistol was a recent purchase, and he passed the background check with flying colors.

He does not have a medical marijuana card and, as stated above, has never faced any criminal charges; This includes drug charges.


He has pretty much given up on trying to obtain a carry license at this point and is fine with just having his guns for home defense, but I figured I'd see if anyone on TW could shed some light on what might be going on...

Thanks!

 

just to be clear. PA is an open carry state.

all of the minor things your mentioned wouldnt effect getting nixed on the background check. the being blind part tho may be your issue, but i cannot 100% say

this may keep him from getting a ccp but he should be able to get a sportsmans permit. this would let him transport the fire arm and shoot it on public property.

i will say that something as small as your address not matching up can cause you to fail a check.

i had to re-read the statement about the ticket - an upaid citation could indeed fail a check IMO. A minor PAID citation would cause no issue.

best of luck to him