Getting your high price carry pistol confiscated after a self-defense situation is the least of your worries, financially speaking.

Your lawyer fees and the possible civil suit will be vastly more. If you think you can scrape by without an attorney after a justify shooting, you're doing yourself a disservice and opening up to possible prison time...irregardless of justification.

Carry any piece you want whether it'd be a $500 polymer or a $1000+ stainless or a $3000 classic, but you should also have a good amount of savings for legal fees. Owning guns goes beyond the price of the firearm and ammunition, that's just the entry fee.

Your argument leads to the conclusion I shouldn't carry and gun and instead buy some fashion accessories that are pretty. Maybe a bejeweled purse?

Better yet why not have a beautifully crafted gun out of lightweight polymer that doesn't even fire? Then I can stare at its beauty every day


Nah ill just pet my ugly gun every night because I know it will do what's intended if I ever happen to need it

Statistically speaking . . . the NRA reports in The Armed Citizen "that firearms are used more than two million times a year for personal protection, and that the presence of a firearm, without a shot being fired, prevents crime in many instances."

"A third point to consider is that the vast majority—up to 98 percent, according to More Guns, Less Crime author John Lott—of armed-citizen events end without a shot being fired. For many criminals, the mere sight of a gun reminds them of urgent business the next county over." - NRA Family | The Top 2 Myths about Self-Defense for Seniors

Y'all ain't going to shoot anybody. Your gun is not going to be taken from you. A citizen actually shooting someone is a fringe event. Worrying about what will happen to your gun in an extremely unlikely event is paranoia.

Unless you live in a blue state.

You can spend your days with a Glock, or with a Colt. I'm saying spend them with what you like, not what you don't care about. Life is too short to carry an ugly gun.

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I've still got it made.

Hello, I'm on the collect smith revolvers and carry a glock 19&23 train. It's true about the use it and loose it. My dad @ 93yrs decided to take the easy way out with his trusted I frame terrier he carried as a correction officer for 35 years. It took a year and dozens of phone calls to get it back!

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NRA Life Member
CPO

I can always buy another gun, but I can't buy another life....

Most agree that no matter where you reside..if you use it, you may as well count on not getting it back for a long time, if ever. Pretty sad that it's the intended victim who will be unfairly punished.
I trust Glocks more than all other semiautos. The G29's 15 rds of 10 mm are better (for me) than 5 - 6 rds of .38 or .357, so it's what I' carry...but the Glock 26 and the 640 are carried on certain occasions.

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My 442, a certain M-65 and a Glock 26 get carried most often, not because they are a dime a dozen, but because for me they are a really good fit for what they are intended for. If I'm fortunate, they never get used for defense. IF they do, I'm going to be concerned with more pressing matters than whether a pistol gets dropped, scratched or peed on by a public employee. If my high end 1911's were a better fit (for me) for the job, I wouldn't bat an eye at carrying them.

Guess I'm just lucky that I'm a cheap date.

I open-carry a Hi-Point, which everyone thinks is a hairdryer anyway, so doesn't matter to me.

Yes we will take it, NO it will not be mistreated. Once the shooting is determined to be lawful and justifiable then it will be returned. As a Detective who has investigated this types of shootings I try to get the firearm returned as soon as the investigation is over. I have to get a DA's approval and that's the hold up.....takes about a WEEK after the investigation is complete. So you might get your gun back a week or two after the incident.

WOW.....for what reason would law enforcement keep your weapon indefinitely for? Once it's justified it's returned to the owner. In my part of NC we have had a few people defend themselves with a firearm from intruders and guess what? they got their firearms back! I have investigated these types of incidents and once it's determined to be a lawful shooting WE NO LONGER HAVE THE RIGHT TO KEEP THE WEAPON

I don't care what the value of the firearm, as long as it does what it was intended. I can't undo losing my life or someone I love. With carry guns valued at $350 to $3500, my life depends on the reliability of that firearm. I can replace a firearm, I can't bring back myself or a family member. Simple equation for me.

Jeff

Yes LEO guns are taken, at the scene you get one just like it for your holster, yes civilian guns are taken but if it's a lawful shooting then why 1. Would it not be returned to the owner? and 2. Why would it be sent to a forensics lab? engraved with a case number? POSSIBLY if someone is charged......

Geesh......

Finally!! Again, what right does law enforcement have to keep your firearm if the shooting is justifiable?

Holy **** that's one of the dumbest things I've ever read. Their policy doesn't trump state law.....

I'd like to know who, in their right mind cares about the value of a firearm IF they've had to use it to defend themselves or another? Metal is metal and historical value, ok I see a loss, but the last thing I'm worried about is not being cleared of a shooting if, indeed, I had to use a firearm. As I stated before, I have handguns that are worth $350 (but reliable) and have Colts worth in the thousands. My or my wife's life trumps everything. Maybe as a VN Vet my mindset is skewed some but the bottom line it the preservation of life no matter the cost of a material item. That's about all I can offer without rehashing comments already made. I'd hate to lose my '66 Colt Python, she's a beauty, but then again I don't everyday carry her. If used in a home invasion, so be it and I'll go through the process. Law Shield money well spent for me as I don't have $15,000 minimum to lauch a defense ad that's probably a lowball figure. Be aware, be safe but never take anything for granted due to the cost of an item.

Sounds like the theory that if I owned a Ferrari, I shouldn't drive it when the roads are busy because it might get damaged if somebody runs into me. Keep it in the garage where it is safe, and only trailer it out to drive it at track days....

First, if I'm going to carry and place my life in the hands of a Glock, why shouldn't I be doing most of my shooting with that Glock, instead of my Browning High Power or Dan Wesson CBOB? I intend to do most of my shooting with what I carry for self defense the most. Which would be the High Power in the urban settings, the 10mm CBOB in the rural settings.

Second, as has been said numerous times here already, the value of any gun is insignificant compared to the value of your life.

Third, if your handgun is seized as evidence, it won't be treated kindly? Says who? It seems to me that depends on the jurisdiction you are in, and how professional they are. In my time, handguns went into heavy plastic evidence bags, which then went into a specific evidence locker. The evidence log was used to record when and who went to look at it, who logged it out of the evidence locker and when, etc. And we also knew that defense counsel would have a field day if ANY piece of evidence had markedly changed in appearance or any other characteristic from the time it was seized.

So I have no doubt that there are some police departments out there populated with Neanderthals as far as evidence is concerned, but for the most part professionalism and the courts demand something other than abusing evidence however you feel like.

And finally, like so many others have already said, if I actually have to fire a handgun in self defense, what the police department does with that handgun and how valuable it is to me are going to be the absolutely least of my worries.

Better it gets an idiot scratch from me putting it into the safe one night than risking letting my toddler find it when I'm not looking, or some bad guy stealing it while I'm at work and using it to kill someone over five bucks worth of heroin. Better it gets holster wear from being on my person an in my control than it falling out and getting into the same toddler's hands. Better it gets scuffed up, scraped, rusty, or never comes back at all from a police evidence locker than losing a member of my family, or them losing me. I put what the gun is there to protect way, way before the value of the gun, sentimental or otherwise, and it's their value to me, not the value of the gun that dictates what I'm willing to carry.

Yeah it's dumb, but the State Law is dumb too. The respective States Atty has authority to set holds, and under state law the default response is to melt everything.

Not quite the same as the Ferrari scenario, but I won't drive my classic Jeep CJ in the snow. I can't control the other non-driving idiots from sliding into me, and I wouldn't be able to replace it. So the Explorer or Cherokee gets driving in snow duty.

This thread has had some legs.....................

But I feel like we seem to be missing the middle ground..........

No I would not carry a 3 1/2" Registered Magnum for Concealed Carry.....OK maybe to a "Keith .44" Texas BBQ...... but not concealed ........ but that doesn't mean I have to carry a "Saturday Night Special" cus it's inexpensive/cheap.............................

the middle ground IMO is : there are a lot of "nice guns" that can be easily replaced for $500-700 in today marketplace ( or are already in your safe).....a 2 1/2" or 4" 66/19........ Sig 220/245......................

I CCW a Glock 17. If I lose it for awhile, I get my Springfield Armory M1911A1 5-inch out and CCW it. But I do love my G17. But my SA has seven cartridges with 255gr bullets that leave the muzzle at 850 FPS. I trust that my SA .45 can handle up to five felons.

This is exactly why I carry a truck gun as my EDC, worn on the outside but pristine on the inside, accurate and yet easily replaced if nessassary...

My favorite is not super expensive so I'd just buy another one.

Same here. My Glock 17 isn't that expensive.

It is just a crying shame that the dirt bag didn't get his rights between the eyes or center mass. Some folks just don't deserve to have rights. But in this screwed up PC world I feel your pain Brother. Hang in there, and praise your Daughter evertime you can.

That just sounds wrong for some reason. To bad the prosecutor couldn't be voted out of office and replace with someone with common sense, go figure.

I carry guns I like to spend time with. No glocks.


Charlie

Glad to see this thread is still going. And a wide range of comments. I am firmly on the side of carry what you trust, is reliable, and you like to shoot. So, I carry my Ted Yost prepped Delta Elite nearly every day. It would suck to lose it, but if I have had to use it for it to get taken for awhile at least I will know it did its intended purpose. For me that is the bottom line.

bob

As a collector I have some guns that I would never carry on a daily basis. Holster wear is more of a concern than confiscation as I look at the odds of actually having to use one in a self defense situation.

My carry guns are a 340PD AirLite which is expensive but replaceable and a 4040PD AirLite, also expensive but harder to replace. Just the magazines I carry for it are worth more than a new M&P or Glock. Lately I've been considering getting a M&P for carry as I'd hate to lose the 4040 to an evidence locker.

I also have a 3914LS that is identical in form and function to the 4040 but much easier to replace, so I carry that more often. If I feel the need for .40 power and bullet weight (.40 165gr vs 9mm 115gr Critical Defense) I can carry my 411 especially now that the Season allows better cover garments.

My pristine low serial number Shorty Forty stays at home in the safe, as does my very nice model 59 and a 3913NL that BMCM refinished for me and I want to keep free of holster wear.

I don't like to carry flashy weapons, and black goes with everything, so my stainless guns are pretty much range guns.

digiroc

I shoot a government model 1911 best, so that is what I carry. I have six Colts and one Dan Wesson Valor. I can be in six justifiable shootings before I have to start worrying.

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U.S. Navy - U.S. Army, ret

My carry gun here in VT is a 27-year-old Glock Model 17. It has withstood my ownership that long; I don't suppose that Police custodians can hurt it much more.

It might pay to have a spare...

After much thought I have decided to find M&P compact or shield with an appropriate CCW holster rather that risk giving up my 4040PD Airweight. The possibility of not finding another 4040PD is more concern than the monetary value. Of course my 4014 single stack might make a good substitute.

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Jim in Iowa