They hear me trollin', they applaudin'... -- Guns & Gun Shops

So, this post and this one, and this gun:

Photo from Gun Nuts Media, which you should totally go visit, or I wouldn't have linked the article already. Don't read the comments.

I visited two local gun shops today, one to sign up for an upcoming class and the other to buy some ammo for said class.

At both shops I asked if they had the Taurus Curve in yet.  They could probably tell from the way I said it and the expression on my face that I was needling them, but they didn't know why...

...until they looked it up, and saw the splendiferous derpitude for themselves.

Hooray, me!

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Speaking of signing up for a class, they had this flyer up in the range area:

In case you or someone you care about is from around here and wants/needs some training. Highly recommended.

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From the "Seriously?" department:
I ordered some spare mags for Mrs. Drang's Elsie Pee early in September.  They just arrived. Annoyed...

How dost thou annoy me? Let me count the ways:

• The people refuse to get enough training to understand that dropping the mag does NOT mean the gun is unloaded.
• That the herp-a-derps who need the reminder will try and load the mag with the sticker attached.
• That the Herp-a-derps who do that will ask for my gun advice and ignore it.

Mind you, I really believe that, before the end of 2015, Ruger will bring out their own version of the Curve, and it will almost certainly be a decent option for self-defense. 

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At work the other night one minion overheard a conversation about guns, about the Taurus Curve, in fact. "I need to get a gun."

Asked what she was getting, she said "I really want a snubnose. So-and-so says I should get a .357..."  So-and-so being other minion. She also said she plans on practicing weekly.

The fact that Minion So-and-so is mostly a rifle and shotgun shooter, that he was giving her "Gun Culture Gen 1" advice, and that she normally responds to any advice or feedback at work by saying "I know this job as well as any man!" caused me to react, well, not very respectfully.  (Mostly to her citing a non-pistol guy with whom she does not get along very well¹, but that was obvious to no one.)

Guys.  Really, Stop that.

No, really. STOP THAT!!!!

A double action revolver has simple, easy-to-master controls for the non-enthusiast, and a full sized (4+") barrel six+-shooter can make an excellent general purpose sidearm, but a snubnose revolver is a specialists tool; as a concealed carry gun for the neophyte it sucks out loud.

• The sights are as vestigial as those the Army had John Moses Browning (pbuh) put on the 1911. 
• Or worse.
• In those rare cases where the sights are OK, the sight radius is so short as to be laughable.
• With that short a barrel, you need to select ammo carefully.
• And the recoil is going to be a beast.  NOT good for newby non-enthusiasts.
• That's in .38 Special; a snubnosed .357 magnum has reduced grown men to tears. 

A hammerless model can be useful as a pocket gun; as Tamara has related that she sometimes carries one in an outer pocket of her winter coat in addition to her regular defensive piece, as she can get to it faster when dressed for Fimbulwinter. (Fortunately, it rarely gets as cold in Western Washington as it does in Indiana²...)

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1. Yes, I wonder if he was trolling her.
2. Because if it did, Mrs. Drang would make me relocate to Arizona or someplace.