GUNS Magazine The Health Effects of Closing the ‘Gunshow Loophole’

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This tricked-out SIG P365XL “Frankengun” reliably lifted Will’s spirits in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.

As I sit typing these words, I am currently neck-deep in the COVID crisis. My day job involves wading about in a disease reliably killing about one in every 30 people who contract it and I am growing most weary of the thing. I sleep downstairs in the spare bedroom and have not been within six feet of my wife in 10 days. Such things will render a guy reliably grouchy.

My work makes me question my career choices. Perhaps in retrospect I should have become a plumber. The rest of the planet is just sick of being cooped up inside with nothing to do.

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True Friends

It has been said most any able-bodied friend will help you move. A true friend, however, will help you move a body. This pal is the latter sort.

He’s a local pastor, a former Law Enforcement Officer-turned-evangelist who speaks ballistic coefficients, grip contours and magazine capacities as fluently as he does Jesus. We’re kindred spirits, him and me. A staunch conservative who loves the Lord and has devoted his life to service, he’s the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet.

I innocently admired his pocket knife one day in clinic and he would not leave without giving it to me. Why else would one carry a pocket knife if not to give it away to a friend, he explained. You built a mental image of this guy, yet?

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This Springfield Armory 1911 Mil-Spec previously hosted a priceless WWII-era sweetheart
grip Will's wife's grandfather carried while fighting in North Africa, Sicily and Italy.

Not Always The Devil’s Workshop

My buddy’s church building has been shuttered by the coronavirus. As the church is actually the people and not the facility, they are doing just fine but my friend has a bit more time on his hands than was previously the case. This spawned a most fascinating email.

It seemed he had a SIG P365XL hybrid he could live without and a whole pile of lonely .45 ACP ammo needing a mission. He was between .45 ACP pistols at the moment. Could I help a brother out?

I have more than my share of guns but I had not yet availed myself of a P365. We devout gun nerds are not supposed to stoop to such, but I think this adorable little SIG carry gun is just cute as can be. Its sleek lines and Information Age ergonomics always struck a chord. This indeed seemed a splendid opportunity.

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Coronavirus And The Barter Economy

I scared up a low-mileage Springfield Armory 1911 Mil-Spec with a cool story. I had given this gun to my wife’s grandfather, a decorated combat Infantryman during WWII, to host the special “sweetheart grip” he built and carried during the war. The resulting article was my personal all-time favorite from a decades-long career in gun writing (American Handgunner, “True Love, Total War.” Google is your buddy if you’re interested.)

When the great man passed at age 96 the gun and grip came back to me. I moved the priceless grip to a 1944-vintage GI Remington Rand M1911A1. A top-tier 1911 once owned by a genuine war hero seemed a fitting swap. My buddy wholeheartedly agreed.

The Prize

My new SIG is a “Frankengun” of sorts. The frame is taken from the standard P365. The elongated slide comes from a P365XL. It is such remarkable modularity reliably setting SIG handguns apart from their competition. They’re like Garanimals for gun guys.

The frame is treated with some grippy stuff from Talon Grips and the gun comes with a 12-round magazine, three spare 10-rounders and a holster. As expected, it shoots like a dream and carries even better.

I found a spare 1911 magazine and a bushing wrench to toss in with the Mil-Spec. I had hoped my buddy would come out just a little bit ahead — after all, it was a really nice pocket knife.

Ruminations

We made the trade in the parking lot of my buddy’s church after a long day in clinic. I kept well clear. We’ve seen a lot of COVID-19 and I do not yet know how long I will go before contracting it. I didn’t want my buddy getting more in the deal than he’d bargained for.

We enjoyed a delightful conversation, albeit at a bit of a distance, and we both got new toys. We pored over the guns and chattered like schoolgirls about it later in the evening via email. In a fairly stressful sea of gloom and darkness both of us had our spirits lifted.

Had the Leftists had their way and closed the “Gunshow Loophole” we would both be felons now. Instead, a dedicated man of God and his physician friend got a brief respite from the stresses of fighting a worldwide plague both spiritually and physically.

Honestly — Pelosi and Schumer can bite me.

www.sigsauer.com

www.springfield-armory.com

www.talongungrips.com

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