Beretta Blog

A trip to your local gun store can be overwhelming for someone new to concealed carry. Almost all guns bear a striking similarity to each other. They’re almost all black. Most pistols incorporate a hefty amount of plastic and some steel. What sets them apart?

The Beretta 92FS is one of the most iconic pistols in the world. The open-slide design gives the gun a distinct profile. The silhouette is even a popular choice for the “gun-free-zone” signs commonly posted by those who feel comforted by the protection offered by signage.

When I rounded the corner in front of my house, I could see into my backyard. The man was there, behind my garage. I had seen him earlier, when I’d left to pick up my son from school, just across the street. He looked out of place then, and I’d made a mental note of him. I even made eye-contact as I slowly drove by and gave him my best I-see-you look.

Heriberto Aceves is dead. The store owner was robbed back in his Bakersfield, CA store in late 2016 and the armed assailants brutally assaulted Aceves and his son. Aceves, though, put up a fight. He had a pistol behind the counter. Though the gun was loaded, the chamber was empty - in other words, "Israeli Carry." As Aceves struggled to rack the slide, his assailant shot him.

Earlier this year, Arkansas became one of the first states in the country to issue what the state calls an “enhanced” concealed carry permit. The new regulations allow those with an enhanced endorsement to carry a concealed firearm many places that are off limits to those with the standard CHCL: public college campuses, churches, even bars. Are these new permits a step in the right direction for those of us who carry concealed?

Just after I graduated from college, I found out that a friend I’d known forever was carrying a revolver. Carrying might be too generous a term. It was in the glove compartment of his pickup truck, and he didn’t have a permit.

Every time summer rolls around, I find myself justifying the .380 as a practical concealed carry round. It is a story I tell myself, really. When the temperature hits triple digits, I tend to shed layers of clothing—layers that I rely on to conceal my preferred double-stack 9mm.

What do I have against the .380? Nothing really. In my years in the firearm industry, I’ve plugged away at numerous gel blocks. I’ve studied the terminal ballistics of the 9mm Kurz, and I like what I see.