Little guns rule

American Handgunner, Nov, 2000 by Roy Huntington

In my on-going quest for the easiest, most comfortable, most inconspicuous way to carry a concealed handgun, I may have stumbled onto something of note. It seems, right under my own nose, someone whom I've mentioned here before, has quietly perpetrated a handy solution to all this.

First, we've got to face the truth. If I had that proverbial nickel for every small auto and J-frame Smith riding in fanny packs, ankle holsters, front pockets and handbags, I wouldn't be writing this. I'd be out shooting. Big guns are cool, big guns are neat, big guns are in the movies, but in the real world, little guns rule.

Jerry Haugen of Haugen Handgun Leather read my thoughts. I had mentioned to him that with the proliferation of Palm Pilots, cell phones, digital this and cellular that, there must be a way to use this new culture to fool people.

So many people are clamping little pouches to their collective hips these days to hold all these goodies, how can we, as the French say, trompe l'oeil, fool the eye?

Jerry cogitated on this idea and a few weeks later a handy little box arrived in the mail. I thought, "Cool, a little case to hold stuff." Then I opened it and realized it was a cool little case and it held a Seecamp .32 quite nicely. I also liked the understated Python skin model.

I phoned Jerry and we discussed the idea at length, accidentally coming up with a name during the conversation. I said, "Well, these little boxster things are pretty cool, you know." We agreed immediately that "Boxster" was just right. Our apologies to Mr. Porsche.

The Boxster will be available with a belt loop or a belt clip, my favorite. Jerry is experimenting with a version for a small revolver but it looks like it might be a tad on the big side. You never know, however, there're some pretty big fellows out there who could probably pull it off.

The small auto versions are awfully nice and, I have to admit, for carrying a small gun around, it makes lugging a fanny pack (with the corresponding sign around you neck saying "Hey, I've got a gun in here") virtually obsolete. No more sharp edges on little guns prodding tender spots in your pockets.

So far, nobody's spotted it for what it was. They automatically think it holds a Palm Pilot, cell phone, pager, watever.