Well, after being down in Manatee County for about eighteen months, I think I have found my local gun shop. It’s actually over in Sarasota, but it’s a small mom-and-pop retail and repair place. I found it because I needed a place to take my Beretta Tomcat.

The Wife and I stopped in to take a look. We had some spare money from the sale of my Tampa house, and The Wife had been encouraging me to use some of it on a gun. She doesn’t like them, but she supports my hobby.

I didn’t end up buying a gun. I bought two. They had a sweet deal on a Ruger SR1911 Lightweight Commander. They also had a Steyr L9A1 in the case. Both are pistols that I’ve wanted for a while, and The Wife just looked at me with indulgence as I did the mental calculations.

For the record, the Steyr has some of the best ergonomics I’ve ever had in a pistol. Getting holsters and magazines is going to be interesting. The 1911 is a 1911. Good in the hand, pretty to look at, and fucking annoying to take down.

As soon as we’re able to go to the range, I’m going to start in on their thousand round trigger jobs.