Times and conditions have changed.
When Ike was President I preferred single shot rifles and 410 shotguns. And woods. In fact I was squirrel hunting on the Catoctin ridgeline once when suddenly a whole bunch of men in suits appeared and asked me just what I thought I was doing. I explained that so far I wasn't doing very much since about all I'd done so far was annoy a few critters. They laughed and explained I was on government property and so no hunting was allowed but if I'd head back beyond a creek I'd passed about ten minutes earlier all would be fine. I apologized and said I hadn't known there was a military base around there and they said it was more a meeting place.
By the time Kennedy was President I was more likely to be carrying a small Beretta pocket pistol. That remained the norm until I moved to Arizona during the Johnson Administration. It was pretty normal to see folk wearing a handgun at the time and since it was a whole new world for me; like all my life I had been wearing dirty glasses, a Smith model 19 became my preferred handgun. In town and around town it was loaded with 38 Special and when in the mountains or deserts with 357.
When I moved to California a heavier gun for the 357 caught my fancy and so a Highway Patrolman was my pick until Ronald Reagan made it illegal for a citizen to publicly carry a loaded gun, and then small once again became my pick of the litter. A few Smith J frames became the norm and that pretty much remained my primary choice. There were others of course, HP and HP clones, lots of Sigs, a few Berettas but the snub nose revolver remained the most often carried handgun.
When in the wilds a Smith or Colt 45acp revolver was also a common choice for many decades. I tried to like the 1911 format but honestly we just never really meshed. That stayed pretty consistent whether it was the mountains and deserts of California and Arizona or the mini-mountains and forests of Appalachia or the swaps and rice dikes of Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.
Lately though I have returned to the modern version of where I was at the time Kennedy was President with small size, small cartridge pocket pistols. Today there really are quite a few more choices than there were back then and today's 380acp sure aint the same thing I shot back then either.
When Ike was President I preferred single shot rifles and 410 shotguns. And woods. In fact I was squirrel hunting on the Catoctin ridgeline once when suddenly a whole bunch of men in suits appeared and asked me just what I thought I was doing. I explained that so far I wasn't doing very much since about all I'd done so far was annoy a few critters. They laughed and explained I was on government property and so no hunting was allowed but if I'd head back beyond a creek I'd passed about ten minutes earlier all would be fine. I apologized and said I hadn't known there was a military base around there and they said it was more a meeting place.
By the time Kennedy was President I was more likely to be carrying a small Beretta pocket pistol. That remained the norm until I moved to Arizona during the Johnson Administration. It was pretty normal to see folk wearing a handgun at the time and since it was a whole new world for me; like all my life I had been wearing dirty glasses, a Smith model 19 became my preferred handgun. In town and around town it was loaded with 38 Special and when in the mountains or deserts with 357.
When I moved to California a heavier gun for the 357 caught my fancy and so a Highway Patrolman was my pick until Ronald Reagan made it illegal for a citizen to publicly carry a loaded gun, and then small once again became my pick of the litter. A few Smith J frames became the norm and that pretty much remained my primary choice. There were others of course, HP and HP clones, lots of Sigs, a few Berettas but the snub nose revolver remained the most often carried handgun.
When in the wilds a Smith or Colt 45acp revolver was also a common choice for many decades. I tried to like the 1911 format but honestly we just never really meshed. That stayed pretty consistent whether it was the mountains and deserts of California and Arizona or the mini-mountains and forests of Appalachia or the swaps and rice dikes of Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.
Lately though I have returned to the modern version of where I was at the time Kennedy was President with small size, small cartridge pocket pistols. Today there really are quite a few more choices than there were back then and today's 380acp sure aint the same thing I shot back then either.