Five years ago, while living in Scottsdale, Arizona, I became disturbed at the fact that seemingly every house in my neighborhood had been burglarized (Arizona’s recent immigration law was passed partly in response to this rampant crime). Realizing that I very might well come home one day to face violent felons in my own home, I obtained a CCW (Concealed Carry of Weapons) permit and began the search for the ideal carry gun.

The Kahr PM9 was all the craze at the time, and still is in the CCW world to a degree. I narrowed my choice down to the PM9 and the Glock 26, mostly because I’ve always liked Glock’s reputation for superior reliability. I read lots and lots of reviews on both guns and came to the conclusion that I couldn’t go wrong with either. (My search was limited to 9mm and .40 S&W autoloaders; I don’t consider .380 a serious round for self-defense.)

Being only 5’8″ and relatively slim I went with the PM9 since the Glock certainly appeared “fat.” I had my new Kahr fitted with night sights, obtained an appropriate holster, and began carrying.

As it turned out, the Kahr PM9 was VERY easy to conceal. Almost too easy, in fact – rapidly drawing the weapon under stress can be problematic because the tiny grip handle isn’t the easiest thing to grab in a hurry. In any case, it was absolutely reliable and comfortable to carry, so I stuck with it for a couple of years.

Fast-forward a few years to my temporary, and in retrospect, foolish, move to California. CCW laws are established at the county, not state, level in CA, and in my particular county, I didn’t own enough handguns to qualify for a permit. Yes, bizarre and arbitrary rules, but that’s a liberal state for you. Suddenly facing the need for another gun in my collection just to satisfy my county sheriff that I was a “serious” firearms enthusiast, I went for the Glock. I chose the Glock 27 over the 26, due to the .40′s superior firepower over the borderline 9mm round.

I tried out some holsters, found one that I liked, and tried carrying the Glock for a while.

I was pleasantly surprised. The “fat” Glock concealed just as easily as the Kahr PM9 for me. In fact, it was somewhat easier, because I had more confidence as to being able to firmly grasp and draw the gun under stress. Needless to say, the Glock became my primary carry gun. It rode with me 90% of the time. The little Kahr made up the other 10% for unusually light clothing.

In addition, the Glock is far easier to shoot, at least in my humble opinion. The trigger is better – the Kahr’s feels like it’s a mile long – and recoil and muzzle flip are far less severe despite the G27′s more powerful round. Finally, the Glock is easier to grip. You know you have a firm hold on it. If you have large hands, you can simply add a pinky rest to the magazines.

As someone who faithfully maintains my defensive weapons so that they’ll always work when needed, I routinely changed the recoil spring assembly in the PM9, since Kahr recommends it around every 1,500 or 2,000 rounds. So, imagine my surprise when I ordered one recently, and it looked nothing like the old one I was replacing! Kahr had a “solution” for this: Simply clip one or two turns off the recoil spring until it fits into the gun.

Umm, no thanks. That kind of cheap fix isn’t something I’m willing to do with a gun that my life may depend on someday.

Then, I had another problem – the slide on the gun wouldn’t move all the way back, and wouldn’t lock back, even with the old recoil spring assembly installed. Off to Kahr it went. To their credit, I will say they have excellent service. I overnighted the gun to them and had it back in my hands less than a week later! They replaced a few parts, and the gun worked properly again. Off to the range I went and put 100 rounds of various types of ammo through it with zero failures. Good job, Kahr.

However, I’m paranoid. There’s something about a gun that’s been through repair, and has a jerry-rigged recoil spring, that leads me to mistrust it. I just don’t feel confident carrying a gun that may or may not work when I need it.

That led me on a quest to find a new subcompact to replace the PM9. In addition, since the gun is SO damn small, I wanted something a little bigger – it’s really a pocket carry gun, not a holster gun. I looked at the Ruger SR9c. Too big. I considered the Ruger LCR, but am not willing to go below 9mm in a defensive caliber, and I prefer autoloaders. I checked out the Kahr K9 and K40, but the grips make them almost as fat as the Glock. I looked at the Walther PPS, which is almost as thin as the PM9, but reviews are mixed. I looked at subcompact 1911s, but the thinnest of them are just as thick as the Glock (contrary to what some people may tell you), and from what I hear, keeping a subcompact 1911 running reliably is up there with keeping a classic British car running reliably – not worth the hassle.

And on and on it went.

In the end, I considered how much I not only like to shoot my Glock 27, but how much I trust it with my life. It has never had a failure, ever, after thousands of rounds, and is more accurate than the PM9 and, for me, easier to shoot.

With that in mind I holstered the Glock, slipped a spare magazine into the IWB mag pouch, and tried on the slimmest fitting shirts I have.

The Glock 27 easily disappeared under all of them. At that point I realized the PM9 would go on Gunbroker or into the back of the safe.

For those of you undecided between a Glock 26/27 and the new breed of subcompact guns (Kahr, Kel-Tec, Walther PPS, and so on), I’d suggest you give the Glock a fair shot. It’s not as “fat” as its detractors would have you believe, it conceals very easily, shoots well, and best of all, it always works. Sure, Kahr is a great company with great customer service and responsive warranty repair. But, that’s just the problem – far too many Kahr owners have had to use their repair service! Glock owners have no idea whether or not Glock has good service or not, because almost none of us have ever had to return a Glock for repair.

NOTE: It didn’t take me long to come to my senses and escape from CommieFornia. I’m now proudly living – and carrying – in the Republic of Texas!