Recently, congress actually did something. I know, I am as shocked as you are. I was even more floored to learn that what they did was something I was happy about. The house recently passed HR 38, better known as the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. This bill, if passed, will provide ‘full faith and credit’ protections provided by the constitution to concealed carry permits. What this means is that your state issued concealed carry permit will be valid in all states, just like your driver’s license and marriage license (SLD fucking state licensing). This of course has caused much pant shitting terror in the liberal world, because if enacted, flyover hicks (myself included) would be crawling all over New York, LA, and every other liberal bubble armed to the teeth. It’s one thing to arm criminally negligent illegal aliens or teenage gang members, but that hayseed with a MAGA hat and a Ruger LCR in his pocket is just too much to deal with. Today I want to take a glimpse into the future, a future where concealed carry is the de facto legal standard. Join me while we explore.. TRUMPS AMERICA! (horns blare, title fades to black)
What would be the result of national reciprocity? Defiant hysterical opposition, initially. Those latte sipping snowflakes aren’t going to just smile nervously and let a bunch of heavily armed Nazis march into their cities (insert France joke here). Expect a lot of illegal arrests, a lot of lawsuits, and probably at least one officer involved shooting where he is as guilty as the DNC’s IT staff but gets off cause ‘muh fear for muh safety!’. Eventually the defendants will be found innocent, the unlawful detainment lawsuits will succeed, and the coasts will be brought kicking and screaming to the reality that we do live in the same country. This is where it gets interesting. You see, once the coastal elite realize no one is coming to save them and this is the reality they now inhabit, they are going to have to make a choice: either stick to their guns (pun intended) and insist their path is righteous, or demand to have the same ability to carry concealed as the unwashed horde now terrorizing their city. Knowing what I know about the average progressive and his moral integrity, they will universally choose the latter. I expect to see mobs with pitchforks and torches (since, you know, they don’t have guns) demanding shall issue concealed carry in all of the restrictive states within a few years. Hawaii may be able to hold out, since they are an island and flying with guns is still a pain in the ass, but the rest will fall like dominos.
Then the miracle will happen. Those people on the coasts, the ones that swore to god and their country that national reciprocity would lead to blood in the streets, that Armageddon is nigh, will wake up and realize that they are still alive. Some of them might even find a handgun on their nightstand and a second picture ID in their wallet. And that is when the lie will come crashing down. They will realize that gun ownership is not some mark of the devil, and that carrying a gun doesn’t turn you into a Klansman. It is simply the end result of being a responsible member of society. A society that understands that there are those that exist to exploit and intimidate others for their own personal gain, and at the end of the day you are your own first responder.
Am I being a bit naive in my assessment? Perhaps. Maybe the courts completely disregard the written intent and prior law and declare the bill unconstitutional. Perhaps the police simply ignore the law and the prosecutors look the other way. Maybe the blue states prosecute every defensive shooting so aggressively that carrying concealed is a greater liability than it is worth. But maybe I am right. And if I am, this will be the greatest cultural shift in America in recent history. For the first time in 50 years, guns will become normalized. That is what the progressives truly fear. They have based so much of their rhetoric on othering gun owners, painting them as racists, knuckle draggers, vigilantes, closet murders, that should the curtain be pulled back on this it would be damn near a death blow to their culture war. How can you continue to live the lie of the evil gun owner when your daily existence contradicts that? When your friends and relatives prove you wrong every time you go out to dinner? When random strangers smile and hold open doors for you instead of shooting you dead? You can’t. This is my vision of the future. As a gun owner, and an eternal optimist, I can only hope.
Today, I am going to talk a bit about the opposite of guns. What is the opposite of a gun, you might ask. Peace? Love? Puppies? No morons, it’s body armor. For those of you just unfrozen from a 200 year cryo sleep, body armor stops bullets before they can enter your meatspace and STEVE SMITH you to death. And no, I don’t know who would know about STEVE SMITH but not understand the concept of body armor, but I’m sure if he exists he’s reading this at some point. There are 5 official levels of body armor as defined by the National Institute of Justice: NIJ level IIa, II, IIIa, III, and IV. III and IV are hard armor plates rated for rifle rounds, while everything else is soft armor only rated for handguns. Soft armor is what is usually used by police officers since it is lighter and flexible and can be worn more comfortably for long periods of time, while plates are worn by military for their ability to stop rifle rounds. I do not know much about soft armor since I don’t own it and I have never used it, but I would only recommend soft armor if you need to wear it for long periods of time or need to do a lot of walking while wearing it and don’t anticipate rifle fire. For most civilians I cannot think of a case that would justify wearing soft armor as part of your everyday loadout, and since it would be inferior in a SHTF situation, I don’t recommend it at all. If there is some situation where you need to wear armor inconspicuously then soft armor is probably the only thing that will work, but again I cannot think of many realistic situations outside of police work that would warrant it. There is another reason why I don’t recommend soft armor: It deforms when hit. Unlike a hard plate, soft armor will bulge to absorb the impact of the bullet. That means that while the bullet won’t actually enter your body, it will still feel like you got punched in the gut by Mike Tyson. Stopping the first bullet is no good if you’re laying there gasping for air immediately afterwards.
So what should you buy? Before we go into this I want to remind people that this is my opinion and you may find contradicting info elsewhere. Just remember that I am not trying to sell you anything. With that in mind, my answer on what you should buy is: it depends. I will tell you that because of the widespread proliferation of AR 15s and M193 ammo I strongly recommend not using anything below a 3+ rating. Beyond that, its a question of budget and desires. If you want to be able to stop basically any bullet fired at you, then level 4 is the only way to go. Remember though, you will only be able to take a few hits before the plate is compromised. If extreme durability is more important to you, a 3+ steel plate is probably your best bet. If you have a bit of money to spend and want a lightweight setup, 3+ ceramic plates are going to be your recommended option. Personally I run 3+ steel plates in my carriers. 
