I bought my first gun, a Beretta 92, in May 1999 in response to the Columbine tragedy. It was a "silent protest" against the heartless anti-gun political opportunists who were exploiting the victims during the aftermath, which made me sick & disgusted. It wasn't long after that first purchase when I began a subscription to "Handguns" magazine. I was a subscriber for 10 years until a couple months ago when I decided not to renew my subscription for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I live in California, home of the "certified safe by the state" approved roster of handguns for sale, which prohibits most new models from being sold in CA unless they're bastardized to meet state requirements... like the bozos in Sacramento know anything about what makes a gun safe or not!
Well, you don't subscribe to a magazine for 10 years if it's crappy, right? This is a great magazine, and all about handguns. It contains the usual articles you would expect about new models and such, plus firing line reports for several models in each issue, but it also contains ancillary topics such as tactics, gun rights, ammunition, new accessory items on the market, nostalgic reviews of classic handguns, etc. It's a bi-monthly publication from the publishers of "Guns & Ammo", which of course is the gold standard by which all other shooting publications are judged. I believe "Handguns" carries on the tradition of G&A nicely. This magazine isn't as thick as its main competitor (American Handgunner), but I prefer "Handguns" because they stick to business, while AH seems to be run by a bunch of narcisistic egomaniacs who use their magazine as a forum for patting themselves on the back. I think "Handguns" also has a better command of English grammar than AH and is easier to read, though they're still a far cry from perfect in that regard. However, AH has a handgun giveaway contest in each issue, which "Handguns" does not, so props to AH for that.
If I had to criticize anything in "Handguns", it would be the gun rights column. At times--not very often, but sometimes--the author (Don B. Kates) seems like he's out in left field, out of touch with reality. He actually stated, for example, that now that the Democrats are in control of Congress again after 12 years, the Obama administration would _not_ attack gun rights because they had more important issues on their agenda; yet Obama is underhandedly trying to ban guns through the back door, via proposed "anti gun trafficking" treaties with Venezuela (not to mention a few other things). Assinine statements like that from a bona fide gun rights expert and legal authority makes you wonder what goes through his head sometimes.
Another criticism of "Handguns" is that they don't seem to review very many "budget" guns in their magazine. Not surprising, I suppose, because they do have to appease their big-buck advertisers, right? I'd also like to see this publication become monthly again, but I suppose it's kind of difficult to fill the pages on a monthly basis; when I first started my subscription they were bi-monthly, then went monthly for a couple years or so before switching back to bi-monthly again.
Nevertheless, as I said, this is a wonderful publication for the handgun enthusiast. I've only missed one issue since cancelling my subscription, and honestly I already miss it! I predict I'll break down and resubscribe before the year's end. By the way, [...]Get more detail about Handguns.
Posts
