Choosing Only One Pistol

If you could only choose one, which would you choose? In my whole time shooting and owning guns, I never really gave this idea much thought. When I was in the military, you were given one rifle and some optics that were yours to babysit and sometimes use. At times, my job required me to use a pistol, a machine gun, or even an anti-tank rocket. There was no choosing or debating. You just take what you get and do your job. All I remember is that I used my weapons and gear as I needed them and never really remember wishing I could choose just one. In fact, I remember feeling the opposite after having issues with my rifles(M4/M16) in terms of maneuverability, ergos, handling, etc. When I got out and started playing with different designs, I found the bullpup to fit every need I ever needed a rifle to fit.

I understand that this is about pistols, but I figured that I would start with that little anecdote. So the truth is that having just one sucks and you should never just choose one. Is there a time that we would have to make the choice of just one? Oh yeah, there are plenty of reasons to have to choose one pistol over the other. If you live in a country that only allows one pistol per individual or household, you will have to choose wisely. Maybe you would have to choose the lesser of two evils if you only have enough money for one. All these are very good reasons for sure, but there is still one thing people are not seeing here.

The thing I think people don't think about when they ask me what I WOULD CHOOSE is the fact that I am a different person from them. I have a different size, shape, attitude, set of likes/dislikes, sense of touch, perception of recoil, and sense of beauty. It boggles my mind that anyone would take my suggestions seriously. For all they know, I could be that guy who thinks that anything related to Snooky is the most erotic thing ever. Or maybe I am one of those evil people that eats Turkey bacon. Or worse yet, what if I were that person who is a vegetarian, but needs his fake meat to REALLY taste like meat? The point is that there is zero reason why someone should base their entire choice-making process on what crap spews out of my mouth. 

Now with all that said, I do not think that choosing one gun is really all that complicated. You literally just look at all the features and decide the priorities. If you cannot decide what priorities are more important and you think someone else can break the tie, you should probably not spend any money on a gun in the near future. The point is that you choose, not let someone else make the choice for you.

Now this leads me right back to a couple paragraphs ago. Asking someone else what you should choose is like asking a used car salesman which car he would choose. Obviously the other person doesn't know you, and you are just gonna be told what they would want. Basing your choice off of that is the supreme example of what is wrong in the world today. For whatever reason, everyone wants guidance and someone to tell them what to do. Me? I prefer to do my own thinking. I lived under the reign of others who used their own opinions to make decisions for you. This was the best lesson I learned from the military and I think you could learn from it and realize that you should be the one to make your own hard decisions.

When it comes down to it, I can easily pick between two pistols, and I often do. The issue is when I am asked to do the same for you. I am required, by my integrity and morals, to try to make a choice for you based on what little I know about you. That is not a fair or reasonable thing to ask of me. I get that the notion is entertaining, but too many people take it so seriously and think they will die if they make a different choice that isn't aligned with mine. That is a fatal way of thinking that has no valid reason to exist other than to justify being like everyone else. My message to everyone is this:

Be proud of your uniqueness. Be rational in your decision-making. Make your own choices and live with them shamelessly.