When one thinks of revolvers, 38 Special is sure to spring to mind shortly thereafter. Invented in the late 1800s, it has accounted for innumerable bottles shot, bowling pins knocked over and criminals repulsed. It was so popular in the hands of United States law enforcement that it continued service as a primary weapon until the 1980s and continues on today in the hands of law enforcement and private security throughout the developing world. As in all things in life, there are compromises to be made and the debate over ‘revolver vs. semi-automatic’ handguns for concealed carry usage quickly gets muddied with the discussion of mechanical reliability, terminal performance and magazine capacity. Many people are shocked to learn that I am not a ’gear junkie’ and instead advise great emphasis on training oneself (and getting trained) in the effective usage of firearms for your envisaged end-usage. Only then can we discuss the merits of the technical differences between guns and bullets. And I believe that you must take every technical advantage that you can get. Having said this, I carried a S&W 642 daily (38 Special with 2” barrel length) for many years. Its size makes it almost as handy as a true pocket pistol like the small 32 ACP and 380 ACP handguns currently on the market. The gain you get with the snub-nose is that the 38 Special cartridge is significantly more effective once it hits the target. I carried it because malfunctions are easy to clear—just pull the trigger again. You don't really want to be monkeying around getting a gun ready to fire if the other guy is showing up to fight. Most hostile people don’t stick around when they realize that you have a gun and a notion of shooting it at them.

Even fewer stick around once they hear the gun go off and fewer still will stand and trade shots with you—there’s just nothing in the equation for them to gain and most criminals are opportunists at heart. But the situation is changing in many developed countries. The social fabric of the nations are being torn away by the intentional degradation of the family, traditional values, the reliance on drugs for all social ills and the promotion of degeneracy on television. Probabilities of encountering the fully-motivated fighter, previously a rarity outside of a battlefield environment (facing soldiers of specialized units, no less) are increasing at an unknowable rate. The fully-motivated fighter can now be a drug addict who sees you as the only thing that stands between them and their next high.