KEL-TEC P3AT
A Pocket Gun For Today's Concealed Carry
With most states passing right-to-carry laws, there has been an explosion of people obtaining their concealed carry license. What do people want for personal protection? The answer is simple: a small, easily concealable handgun. However, the gun manufacturers have been slow delivering guns that can be easily carried by the average person. So many people start out with a gun that is too large or too heavy to carry all of the time and end up with a handgun that is not always within reach. Remember, the first rule of a gunfight is…. Have a gun. If you can’t reach yours, it is useless to you. Is a small pocket pistol the ideal weapon for a gunfight? Certainly not! A twelve gauge shotgun would most likely be the weapon of choice; however most of us do not carry a shotgun as we go about our daily lives. Even my favorite handgun a Glock 9mm is not always an option.
Many people ask me what gun I carry and what they should buy for self defense. My best advice: I feel that you should carry the biggest caliber that you can shoot affectively and carry concealed. I have different guns depending on the situation but the key is that I have personal protection all the time. A defensive handgun is for the time when you least expect to need a gun. If that time comes, you will need to be able to put your hand on your weapon. A gun that is large and cumbersome can place you at a tactical disadvantage.
Kel-Tec has pocket carry gun that can always be there. One of my favorite concealed carry weapons is the Kel-Tec P3AT. This gun is almost as easy to carry as no gun at all, yet delivers seven rounds of hollow point power if needed. It is a gun that can provide a little comfort in a situation where you do not feel the safest. Walking across a dark parking lot, just knowing that the .380 is in your pocket is much better than knowing your .45 is back in the car. I think everyone who is serious about concealed carry should own P3AT.
Yes these days there is an overabundance of subcompact handguns in duty chambering .38 Special, 9 mm, .357 Magnum, .40 S&W and .45 ACP, but there is still a case to be made for the true pocket pistol - most commonly in .25 ACP, .32 ACP or .380 ACP. What these pistols and their caliber lack in potency- there is one critically important attribute: the ability to be carried discretely with just about any type of clothing.
Kel-Tec has been the leader and innovator in small lightweight pocket pistols. They achieve this feat through the use of modern design engineering, equipment, and materials. So let’s get technical for a moment… The 6.5-oz. Kel-Tec P-32 was the first lightweight pocket gun. With a width of approximately ¾ inches the P-32 is one of the thinnest as well, but the P-32 has perhaps only one flaw: its anemic .32 ACP chambering. Realizing this weak spot, the engineers at Kel-Tec started work on a .380 version of the P-32. The 7.5-oz. P3AT was introduced in 2003 and retains the virtues of its older brother, while offering increased terminal effectiveness.
The .32 ACP and the .380 Auto may be weaklings, but they are by no means equal. In the top loadings, the .380 Auto is capable of generating around 200 ft.-lbs. of energy—some 50 percent more than the hottest nominal .32 ACP ammunition and roughly equivalent to the energy of standard .38 Special Loads. The .380 ACP is the smallest caliber I feel comfortable carrying.
Now almost every gun manufacturers provides guns that are easy to carry for the average individual. Some of these small guns even look like clones of the P3AT. I will be reviewing these options so you can be armed with the knowledge to pick what works best for you. Maybe I will find one that’s even better than the Kel-Tec P3AT as far as a small pocket gun that can be carried every day with almost any clothing option to almost any occasion. Smith & Wesson, Reuger, Sig, Kahr as well as others have in the past year developed .380 auto pistols. I’m taking aim and taking notes….