ROAD TRIP!! (Why You Should Own A Cheapie)

I'm downing pot after pot of black coffee in effort to drive to western Iowa to see my hetero lifepartner and take our wives to the Henry Doorly Zoo. Being a fastidious and law-abiding armed citizen, I did my homework. In Nebraska, a "no carry" sign has force of law. No one seems to be sure what the penalty is, but the law reads like you can be charged with a crime, not just told to leave. And not wanting to go to prison, I will leave my gun in the car's locked glovebox.

So which gun to carry? My shiny Ruger? My tricked out Frankenstein 1911? My favorite M&P? None of the above. Today it's commie garbage all the way. My $150 P64 will be in my bellyband today. Turns out impulse-buying a pistol will finally work out for me.

I really don't like the idea of leaving firearms in a vehicle as a standard practice. But some days, it just can't be avoided. If I have to leave my gun behind, I'd rather it be a gun that is cheap and not particularly special to me. As an added bonus, the P64 is chambered in an obscure caliber, and only holds 7 rounds. So in the case it is stolen, it can only be fired a couple of times before the baddie has to toss it or start shoving incorrect ammo into it and hopefully kaboom-ing the whole works.

So here's my observations for the day. First, DO YOUR HOMEWORK before going out of state with your carry rig. When you travel out of state, you must now operate under the new state's bylaws. So for instance, if you have an Iowa permit and you go to Missouri, you CANNOT open carry. You have to obey Missouri's bylaws. And to do that, you have to know them.

Second, buy a cheap but reliable gun for days you know you'll have to leave it in the car, or in the hotel room, or whatever. To my mind, a Ruger LCP or Bersa Thunder .380 would be about ideal. If you're cool with leaving a Glock 19 in the glovebox, fine. It's just that $500 is a lot of money to me, and I'd rather not lose that money and give a bad guy a fairly effective combat piece. Maybe that's some tortured logic, but it makes sense to me.

So ends my ramblings for today. Enjoy your weekend and stay on the right side of the law, even if it doesn't particularly make sense.