32 cal

Question
have a u.s. revolver 32 cal hammerless 5 shot and of the different bullets available what is recommended? i got shot right in front of my home last aug.of 07 by a 9mm from about 6ft.away  luckily the Lord put my left arm up but bullet went threw both bones in forearm into my chest ,but it was slowed down enough not to go into my heart!question, is it legal to carry [in open]loaded firearm on my property,and trying to get permit for concealed one i'm in california and what cal. do you recommend for personal safety thats reasonable? thanks for your help    rob

Answer
Hi Rob,

You have several questions here, so let's take them one at a time.

The first question is about your US Revolver .32 caliber handgun.  These guns were a 'second line' gun made by Iver Johnson between 1910 and 1924.  They were calibered in .32 S&W.  

You should be able to use any .32 caliber S&W defense round in the gun from the standpoint of fit.  Brand is largely personal preference.  Just make sure it is a good quality defensive round.  I would be cautious about shooting this gun a lot.  First, guns made early in the century really weren't built to stand up to the higher pressure modern rounds.  I should be safe to shoot, but I would not put a lot of rounds through it.

Your second question is about legal open carry in California.  Here is the law as I understand it regarding open carry in California...

Loaded open carry is only legal in your home, temporary residence or campsite (but not in a State Park or National Park), place of business, private property (with the owner's permission), and in extremely remote areas of unincorporated territory where shooting is not prohibited.

Unloaded open carry is legal anywhere except the following places:

"School Zones"
California State Parks
National Parks (not to be confused with National Forests)
US Post Offices
any state or local public building or at any legislative meeting required to be open to the public
the State Capitol, legislative offices, office of the Governor, Governor򳠲esidence, etc.
areas restricted by local city or county ordinance.  

Please bear in mind that as a result of the "gun unfriendly" nature of many urbanized areas of California, open carry of an unloaded firearm will probably cause upset in the people you encounter and they will likely call the police.  In addition, several urban areas have local prohibitions on open carry.  I probably wouldn't bother with unloaded open carry because of these issues.

I would strongly recommend that you try and persuade your local Sheriff to issue you a permit.  I will make the observation that if you live in any urban area, you will most likely be turned down.  California is a 'may issue' state which means they don't have to issue CCW permits and don't have to tell you why you can't get one.

As far as calibers for personal protection, .380 ACP or .38 special is as low as I go.  9mm or .40 is much better.  The tradeoff is the larger the caliber, the greater the recoil.  I recommend to my students that they shoot the largest caliber that they can shoot well.  You must land shots on target for them to have any effect....

My personal caliber is .40 S&W in my primary handgun and .380 ACP in my backup gun.

Hope this helps you out...

Doug