Bill's Weapons
November 9, 2011

My name is Bill and I live in Tucson, Arizona.  Recently I decided to stop relying on the local police department for protection, since it's well known that they cannot arrive at the scene of most crimes in time to make a difference.  My wife and I have also decide to arm ourselves with an assortment of handguns!  Why?  Read on . . .

The San Ysidro McDonald's massacre was an incident of mass murder that occurred on July 18, 1984, in a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro section of San Diego, California.  The shootings resulted in 22 deaths (including the perpetrator James Huberty) and the injuries of 19 others.  On that date, we lived in San Diego just north of the massacre.  This tragedy got us thinking about just how helpless we would be in a similar situation, so we signed up for a basic shooting class sponsored by the San Diego Police Department and we purchased a Smith & Wesson 4" revolver.  Following the class we both felt confident in our ability to shoot the revolver, so it was fully loaded (six bullets) and stored in a bedroom end table.

The Virginia Tech massacre was another shooting that took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) in Blacksburg, Virginia.  The perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people and wounded 25 others before committing suicide.  This massacre is the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in U.S. history.  Although I was in Arizona on that date, I did attend VPI for a short period of time and I was deeply affected by the horror of this incident.

On January 8, 2011, a mass shooting, by alleged perpetrator Jared Lee Lochner, occurred here in Tucson.  19 people were shot, 6 of them fatally, during an open meeting that U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was holding with members of her constituency in a Safeway parking lot.  Those killed in the incident include a federal judge and a 9-year old girl.  This shooting occurred 13.5 miles NW of our home!

After the Tucson massacre, we again began to think about how unprotected we'd be during a home invasion - or during any other criminal confrontation!  We also realized that the same Smith & Wesson 4" revolver from 1984 was still in a bedroom end table, with the same 27-year old ammunition!  Back when we were taking our basic shooting course, one of the San Diego policemen told me that he had 50 pistols hidden around his house, in his automobiles, and on his person.  Although I did not think I needed that many handguns, I purchased six guns for my family's protection ~ five are hidden in various locations around our property and one was to be carried on my person after I obtained an Arizona Concealed Carry license.  On March 19, 2011 I attended the Arizona Concealed Carry class, followed by a written test and a shooting test, both of which I aced!  A week later I had the license in my wallet and began carrying a Ruger LCP with laser sighting in my pocket.  Bonnie is still employed, but she told me that after she retires (hopefully in February, 2013) that she will also take a AZ Concealed Carry class.

Before purchasing the handguns, I did a LOT of online surfing to find out everything I could about pistols.  There is enough online pistol webpages to provide many lifetimes of reading, but ultimately I decided that semi-automatic pistols were the smartest purchase for us and that ALL semi-automatic pistols should be able to fire 50+ loads without a single jam or misfire.  I then joined a nearby indoor shooting range and extensively tested all the pistols.  The pistols pictured below passed the shooting test.  It might be interesting to note that I also purchased a Rohrbaugh R9S and a Diamondback DB9, neither of which passed my tests.  Fortunately, both the Rohrbaugh and Diamondback were later sold at approximately 90% of what we originally paid.  Also note that my wife was unable to rack the slide on any of the semi-automatic pistols, which is why we ended up with the single revolver.

You might be interested to know that the  Smith & Wesson 4" revolver purchased after the San Ysidro massacre in 1984, along with an old shotgun were used as trade toward the new handguns, and both were worth more in trade than they had cost new.  Additionally, a new Glock 17 (Gen 4) with high intensity LED lighting and laser sighting has been loaded with 18 rounds of new hollow point ammunition and is stored in the end table next to the bed!

Sort of on the subject, during my online investigations of pistol information, it was impossible to not run across numerous webpages devoted to knives.  Although I am very skeptical of a knife's practicality as a self defense weapon, I did find some of these weapons to be fascinating!  So while purchasing the six handguns, I also purchased six folding knives to go with my two Swiss Army knives.

So now I ask myself if I would be capable of shooting a person during a criminal confrontation?  I think so, but will never know for sure unless such a event occurs.  But now we both feel MUCH safer in our home and car, and when go out together!

BTW ~ this is the end of my purchasing pistols and knives.  I've provided adequate protection for my family which is what I set out to do, so there's no need to buy any more weapons . . . I think!  :D

 The below pictures are of the handgun and knife collections . . . enjoy!

(Click on thumbnail to enlarge)

An overall picture of all 6 guns:  3 Glocks and 3 Rugers.	A Glock 17 (Gen 4) with a Streamlight TLR-2s high intensity LED light and laser sighting.	After adjusting the laser on the Glock 17, I shot 12 rounds of target ammunition at a distance of 7 yards.  11 bullets were in the "X" and 1 in the "10", which made me a very happy camper!	Glock 19 (Gen 4) with a Streamlight TLR-1s high intensity LED light.  I believe this is the most popular handgun in the world!	A Glock 26 (Gen 4).
A Ruger LC9 (Light, Compact 9mm).	A Ruger LCP (Light, Compact Pistol) with Crimson Trace laser sighting.  This pistol shoots .380 loads and is the only truly pocket-size gun we own.	A Ruger LCR-357 (Light, Compact Revolver).  This pistol will shoot .38 Special +P and .357 magnum loads, making it the most powerful pistol in the collection!	This shows size comparisons for all the pistols.  The accessory lighting was removed from the Glock 17 and Glock 19 just before taking the picture.	Cold Steel Rajah II folding knife with 6" Kukri style blade and a Grivory Handle.  This knife measures 14" from end-to-end and weighs 13.1 ounces, making it one of the largest folding knives in the world!
Benchmade Onslaught (Bob Lum) Axis with a 4.30" blade and G10 handles.	Spyderco Endura II, 4th Generation with a 3.75" blade and stainless steel handle.	Emerson Commander with a 3.75" stonewashed blade and an ultra-fast "Wave" opening hook.  In my opinion, this is the best made knife in the collection.	Benchmade Waddell's Bone Collector with a 3.36" D2 blade and walnut wood handles.  This is the best looking knife in the collection.	Spyderco Tenacious folding knife with a 3.38" blade and G10 handles.
Victorinox Swiss Army SwissChamp ~ a total of 29 tools.  This knife was purchased in Tijuana, Mexico during the 1980's.	Victorinox Swiss Army Tinker multi-tool.  This was a gift from in-laws many years ago.	This shows size comparisons for all the knives.	As I said above, I don't believe that knives are practical self defense weapon.  Therefore they are all simply stored on a display rack in my bookcase.

You may use any of the above pictures for any purpose and may do so without giving me credit.  Note that these pictures have been downsized for those with slow connection speeds.  If you'd like copies of the original JPG pictures, send me an E-mail telling me which pictures you want and I'll be happy to send the original pictures to you at no charge!