Lashie come home - Handgun Leather

There are moments in this life when we must simply accept things for what they are, no matter how seemingly foolish or absurd. The voice-activated TV remote control is one. The LASH holster is another.

The Locking Action Safety Holster (LASH) is a remarkable new -- what's the word I'm looking for? -- thing. The device holds a pistol in Condition Three, yet allows the user to draw, rack the slide, chamber a round and come up with a loaded pistol, all in less than a second.

Made by the Phalanx Corporation of Boca Raton, Fla., the LASH consists of a rectangular housing in which there is a chamber plug. You insert your empty pistol into the LASH and push down against the gun's recoil spring tension. LASH's chamber-plug slips into the chamber and the pistol is rocked into place, fully "holstered."

In the LASH, your pistol's slide remains partially retracted. Being in Condition Three, your pistol thus has an empty chamber with a loaded magazine in place.

To draw, you assume a firing grip and push down -- that would be the direction of your toes -- which allows the LASH to push your slide back. Pull up to release your pistol from the LASH and, as the gun snicks free, the slide springs forward, picking up a round from the magazine. It's slower to write than to perform.

The idea here is to accommodate those who are required to carry in Condition Three, yet offer a fast draw to a fully loaded, ready-to-go pistol. Death row wardens and U.S. Embassy guards in Lebanon, take note.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group