I bought a HandGun this Week

I have been living outside of Washington, DC's gun ban for about two years now. Buying a gun has always been in the back of my mind, however it was only after learning that there was a gun range only 15 minutes away at the National Rifle Association Headquarters that finally got me to go and buy one.

So last Saturday, I took a ride to the less urban parts of Northern Virginia to a gun dealer and was promptly told that they didn't have the model that I was looking for. I was shown a couple similar models and after trying them, I decided to order the specific model that I had initially wanted. They checked and I was told that there are none around to order. On the bright side, they informed me that I was welcome to have one shipped to them if I managed to find one. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. I have ordered lots of things on the internet, but never a handgun. My query to the manufacturer, Springfield-Armory, was replied to with an apology in that the model would probably not be available again for another six months. But, they encouraged me to try to find a dealer that still had some in stock. I finally did find one in Florida, and purchased it on the phone. I also made arrangements to get it shipped to Virginia. All the work involved was in finding a dealer that had this in stock. Once I did, the whole transaction took less than ten minutes. The gun shipped today and I should be able to get it transferred to me by Saturday. No permit required, just a quick background check.

This is what I purchased:
I went with the classic Model 1911-A1.

The M1911 is a single-action, semiautomatic handgun chambered for the .45 ACPcartridge. It was designed by John M. Browning, and was the standard-issue side arm for the United States armed forces from 1911 to 1985, and is still carried by some U.S. forces. It was widely used in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War. Its formal designation as of 1940 was Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911 for the original Model of 1911 or Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911A1 for the M1911A1, adopted in 1924. The designation changed to Pistol, Caliber .45, Automatic, M1911A1 in the Vietnam era. In total, the United States procured around 2.7 million M1911 and M1911A1 pistols during its service life. and the

The M1911 is the most well-known of John Browning's designs to use the short recoil principle in its basic design. Besides the pistol being widely copied itself, this operating system rose to become the pre-eminent type of the 20th century and of nearly all modern pistols. - Wikipedia

Updates as I get back into shooting. I was nationally ranked one year. I was sixth from the bottom, but that was good news as the rest of the team proclaimed: "Holy sh*t! There were actually five people who shot worse than you!" Of course, it's all relative. They were very good competitors and I was filling in for someone who couldn't go.

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