Spending some time out of state, caring for ailing grandmother, I have decided on one handgun for this particular role. The selection process was tricky, and as you can imagine, not without false starts and missteps.

The criteria:

Legality - Obviously.
Propriety - Similar to above, but specific to this area
Replacability - Due to airline travel issues and time away from home. Nothing too fancy.
Robust build - Needs to be ready to go, without need for babying
Flexibility - Needs to fill several roles, from defensive to sporting

Keeping these in mind, it's not hard to come up with a short list. Local ordinances are restrictive, and with zero interest in threading the hole between statute and enforcement, I eliminated the 1911 and the double action revolver. Nearly any non-current handgun is touchy here.

What does that leave? Easy. The Ruger Blackhawk. Complete with factory locking case and safety manual, blah blah belch. .44 special flattop. Case close, so to speak. Dry fire with a leather thong - on the gun, not me - to muffle the telltale snap - is part of the nightly ritual here. And btw, "night" begins here after 5:30, when granny hits the hay.

And to bring this full circle, having plenty of thinkin' time, I have enjoyed considering all those insipid "what if" and "choose only five/three/one" games, here, at night, from the standpoint a bit closer to reality than is comfortable. More on that another time, over the good stuff.

One humorous note: The beard is working. What began a few months ago as an experiment has now become an effective means of clearing my path of yuppies and metro-types. Short scale marketing is much faster when the timid make way. Coupled with the backpack, surplus pants, gruff demeanor and bicycle travel, it might be that I appear to be a vagabond. Perhaps it is time for a haircut and shave?