Changing Minds
We moved to the range area at the S&W Academy and, while we shot our way through a good-natured mini-competition with a cross-section of new guns, we got to know the EZ. The more I shot it, the more I liked it — and the more I understood what was going on. After about 200 rounds I understood exactly why this was, dare I say it — a brilliant idea. On the range, Mike eased up next to me, lifting his muffs, saying, “I get it now. Do you?”
Ta-da. We all were getting it.
Re-insert the line about me being an idiot here. But that was before — now I was an advocate.
Ask any gun store sales guy what does he do when a “Uh, we’d like to look at a home defense gun but we don’t know anything about guns” customer comes in. He points them at everything from .22 Autos and 4″ .38 revolvers to standard sized 9mm polymer guns. Some even show them small-framed revolvers and tiny .380s — shame on them, by the way. Factor in older people — even experienced older shooters — the infirm, many women, younger shooters, etc. and you realize exactly none of those guns are “just right” for them.
If you’d ask me before what I’d recommend I’d have gone down that same list. The thought, the very “idea” of what S&W introduced, had never entered into my sieve-like brain. Why not a bigger .380 with an easy to run slide, modest recoil and adequate stopping power? There were a rare few in years passed, but ammo at the time wasn’t up to snuff, so we basically ignored them. And they lacked some modern features. Add a light rail, external safety and even a grip safety and you have a defensive auto any beginner could manage.
I realized I was holding an answer to all those challenges.
