Over the years, I have had the opportunity to test and evaluate several Taurus semi-auto handguns. So far, there have been no disappointments.
Taurus’s addition of two new slide color options for the striker-fired GX4 semi-auto 9mm pistol caught my attention.
The GX4, as described by Taurus, is “the company’s first high-capacity, full-feature micro-compact polymer frame handgun chambered for the 9mm Luger.” Designed for everyday carry, the GX4 comes with a pair of 11-round magazines, and features a 3.06" barrel, trigger safety, loaded chamber indicator and alloy steel slide with a drift-adjustable rear sight and fixed white dot front sight. The pistol weighs 18.5 oz.
COMING UP: USCCA EXPO
ANNUAL CONCEALED CARRY &
HOME DEFENSE EVENT OCT. 1–3
The annual Concealed Carry & Home Defense Expo will offer loads of savvy
advice to the public when it runs Oct. 1–3 in Forth Worth, Texas.
I received notification registration is now open for the 2021 Concealed Carry & Home Defense Expo scheduled October 1–3 at the Fort Worth, Texas Convention Center. At least 20,000 people are expected to attend.
Hosted by the United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA), this little soiree features exhibits for women, complete with a Women’s Concealed Carry Showroom, training and self-defense seminars, demonstrations of different gear and displays of “hundreds of new products.”
According to a USCCA release, the Women’s showroom “will provide a female-focused environment where women can discuss firearms with female USCCA instructors, shop holsters and apparel, and learn more about the product offerings for women. The showroom will also feature a demonstration stage for female gun owner-focused training and presentations.”
Women comprise the fastest-growing segment of the gun-owning public, with minorities running a close second. I know many female gun owners. They are competent and enjoy the shooting sports. Many are hunters, invariably self-reliant and determined not to be victimized.
In my home state of Washington, according to data from the State Department of Licensing, roughly one out of every five people who holds an active concealed pistol license is female. That’s no small number considering the Evergreen State now has somewhere north of 624,000 active licenses in circulation.
The USCCA Expo will also have a live fire range “offering attendees ages 18-years-and-older the opportunity to get hands-on experience shooting and testing firearms,” the release noted. USCCA says it is providing “unlimited rounds of free ammo.” It’s going to be noisy.
The USCCA Concealed Carry Expo will have advice on holsters,
concealed carry options and related subjects.
We Checked the Website
I have been acquainted with the USCCA and its founder, Tim Schmidt, for some time.
He has appeared at several Gun Rights Policy Conferences co-hosted by the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and he carries on a good conversation.
The first day’s hours are 2–7 p.m., while on Day 2 (Saturday) the program runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The final day’s activities run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Speakers include Beth Alcazar, associate editor of Concealed Carry Magazine and creator of the Pacifiers & Peacemakers blog; Donna Anthony, a veteran of law enforcement and private investigation, and owner of Point Blank Firearms & Self Defense Training LLC; and Dave Young, a nationally recognized defensive tactics instructor, founder and director of ARMA Training and U.S. Fighting Systems.
Also on the roster is Sgt. Don Gulla, King County (WA) Sheriff’s office and founder of Gulla’s Arrestling. He’s joined by Gary Drake, a law enforcement veteran and trainer who teaches at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center.
General admission for this event is $25 and digital tickets are $15. USCCA members may attend for free.
For details, visit https://www.usccaexpo.com/
New Guide from Blackhawk
Blackhawk — who has been producing equipment for law enforcement and the military for two decades — has released a trio of videos and a downloadable guide to carry positions.
According to a release from the Virginia Beach-based company, the new videos are available for viewing on Blackhawk’s YouTube page. Blackhawk says these programs are “designed to assist gun owners with carrying on the go.” The videos are hosted by Blackhawk Product Manager Justin Hoffman, the company said. Viewers will get tips on concealed carry while wearing business, casual or athletic attire.
Blackhawk’s Carry Positions Guide is a free downloadable PDF and includes details on “the nine most common carry positions and their intended purposes.”
According to Blackhawk, this is part of the company’s Your Right 2 Protect (YR2P) initiative. To learn more about this project, visit Blackhawk.com/Your-Right-2-Protect.
According to Taurus, you can get this pistol with either a Tungsten Cerakote finish on the slide, or a Troy Coyote Tan Cerakote finish. Personally, I like the tan finish but others may see things differently.
Check out these specs:
Caliber: 9mm Luger
Capacity: 11 RDS
Magazines: 2×11
Firing System: Striker
Action Type: Single Action Only
Front Sights: Fixed White Dot Steel
Rear Sights: Serrated Drift Adjustable
Safety: Striker Block, Trigger Safety, Visual Loaded Chamber Indicator
Frame Size: Micro-Compact
Grip Material: Polymer
Slide Material: Alloy Steel
Barrel Finish: Satin Black DLC Coated
Slide Finish: Tungsten Cerakote (1-GX4M93C), Troy/Coyote (1-GX4M93E)
BBL: 3.06″
OAL: 6.05″ (w/large backstrap)
Width: 1.08″
Height: 4.4″
Weight: 18.5 oz. (unloaded)
MSRP: $410.61
Fatal Error Department
American Handgunner’s Massad Ayoob has sometimes referred to deceased criminal suspects as having made “a fatal error in the victim selection process.”
That could be said about a 21-year-old who was allegedly half of a two-man stickup team that tried to rob a Papa John’s pizza establishment in New Carlisle, Ohio last month. They entered the pizza shop wearing masks and armed with a knife and crowbar, charging store employees.
A legally armed delivery driver happened to be in the shop, disrupting their plan. According to published reports, the driver shot one of the suspects and the other fled.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office was still investigating the incident at the time of this writing.
The armed driver appeared to do everything by the book. The sheriff was called, he put his gun on the counter and waited for the law to arrive.
A University of Dayton law professor told WDTN News that under Ohio law, “If you have a lawful right to be where you’re at, you can stand your ground and use deadly force in response to a threat of deadly force.” Based on the facts known at the time, the incident appeared to be “a pretty clear case of justifiable self-defense.”
https://dailycaller.com/2021/06/22/ohio-pizza-delivery-mean-armed-robber-concealed-carry/
Suspect Left His Card
When Las Vegas, Nevada police investigated the killing of Timothy Hartley, 28, last month at a local watering hole, they didn’t have to expend much energy identifying the suspect.
According to a report in the Las Vegas Review Journal, the alleged triggerman left his debit card at the crime scene. Coupled with video surveillance footage that caught the incident as it happened, the evidence allowed lawmen to swiftly round up the suspect, identified as 24-year-old Anthony Balderas.
As reported by KVVU News, the suspect had been drinking whiskey cocktails and wound up at the bar, where he encountered Hartley. The suspect allegedly got up and walked to where Hartley was talking on a telephone with his back to the gunman. One shot was fired and then the suspect walked out and drove away. Published reports say he told police that he did not remember leaving the bar or driving home. A bartender who knows the suspect said he was acting strangely.
According to KSNV News, when investigators showed the video to the suspect, he allegedly stated, “Case closed.”
https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/homicides/police-say-suspect-in-fatal-pub-shooting-left-debit-card-at-scene-2388503/
https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/crime/suspect-didnt-remember-shooting-fellow-bar-patron-las-vegas-police-say/article_26962574-d834-11eb-905c-37670fa5876e.html
