Samuel Colt and Valentine's Day

While I often lament over what to get my perfect gal on Valentine's Day, often falling back on roses, chocolate or dinner, this year there was a scary reason my lovely bride dropped hints that she wanted a gun more easily carried than her Colt Commander 1911.

We live quite a few miles apart, unfortunately, and a serial rapist has struck more than two dozen times in the rural area in which she's living to care of our handicapped daughter and our four grandsons. I'm 6 1/2 hours away on a good day. When a rapist strikes, 1 second is too far and 911 is too late.

This jerk, who apparently walks to his victim's homes or apartments (so there's no vehicle description), has begun severely beating the women afterward. The 1911 is undeniably one of the best self-defense firearms ever designed, but it's heavy enough that a woman might think twice before tossing it in her purse if she has a CCW. It adds bulk to a girlish figure and our daughter is a quadraplegic, so getting her in and out of the van and through stores is exhausting enough without John Moses Browning's ultimate design adding to the workout.

So this year, instead of roses or even a card, I bought her a Ruger LCR. It's not nearly as "modern" as Browning's 100-year-old design, but it has some twists. It's double-action-only and hammerless, so if a bad guy shows up, she can run the gun from her purse without ever removing it, knowing all five shots will rotate into battery because there's no slide or hammer to get caught up in that purse's clutter.

As for the fine folks who don't think guns are the answer, I've been blessed enough to become friends with a variety of handicapped people who have routinely carried guns. I also got to see some of them draw on bad guys. When they pulled, bigger and more muscular, fully ambulatory criminals cowered and ran. The quote about Colt is right.

My wonderful daughter's fingers no longer work, so she doesn't qualify, but I'm glad to know my wife has her covered with a lightweight Valentine's Day gift chambered in .38 Spl. +P.