To Carry A Back-Up Gun Or Not. That is the Question.

Having slaughtered Shakespeare in my title, I want to throw in my two cents on whether or not to carry a back-up gun. I had noted the other day a couple articles on the subject: "3 Arguments In Favor of Back-up Guns" by Gil Horman at The American Rifleman, and "Guns for Beginners: Three Reasons Not to Carry A Back-Up Gun" by Robert Farago at The Truth About Guns.

Horman's three arguments are: (1) in the event of weapon or ammunition malfunctions, especially something that cannot be cleared; (2) the primary carry gun is not accessible; and (3) arming another responsible adult. Farago's counterarguments are: (i) it is impractical given what other EDC items you must carry; (ii) it is unnecessary given the realities that most gunfights follow the 3-3-3 rule--3 shots, within 3 seconds, at 3 yards or less--and that a spare magazine cures the biggest source of mechanical malfunction--the magazine; and (iii) it is dangerous, in that you now have 2 firearms to handle and retain.

I think Horman and Farago are approaching this from two different points of view: Horman from the point of view of law-enforcement, and Farago from the point of view of civilian concealed carry. Each one's points are valid from their respective points of view.

However, they miss the basic point of having a back-up gun which is to have a fall back in the event that your primary arm is taken away from you, e.g., as what happened in the events of The Onion Field where two LAPD officers were disarmed, kidnapped, and one killed (the other was able to escape). Neither of the officers had back-up guns, and, it is my understanding (which may be incorrect) that the LAPD did not permit back-up guns at the time of the incident.

If you open carry, a perpetrator will probably know you are armed before initiating an attack, and may take steps to disarm you. Thus, if you open carry, it behooves you to train in weapons retention and to carry a back-up gun. As I have noted before, though, the whole point of concealed carry is to hide the firearm so you won't be disarmed prior to using the handgun.* (If you are being searched for a firearm, it doesn't matter if you have one or two firearms). Consequently, with proper concealment, the primary reason for carrying a back-up weapon doesn't exist. (Besides, don't you carry a knife?).

*Note: I'm not suggesting that concealed carriers should not train in weapon retention, but that people who want to open-carry most definitely should take such training.