Well, I won't tell all, but on my 21st birthday, I walked to the gun store down the block from where we were billeted and bought a stainless Colt 1911 that I'd had my eye on. Arizona law at the time (dunno what it is now) allowed for open carry of firearms, but they had to be loaded*. After the $600 for the pistol, I had enough money for either a case or a box of ammo, and since I was going to be storing it in my hotel room, I opted for the case. Had to wait til payday to get some ammo and go to the range (and there's a whole bizarre story about the fact that I may have entered into a common-law marriage there by accident). I still have the gun, it's one of the two handguns I own. The other is a complete piece of shit, and even cooler than the Colt at the same time.** Spoiler: * As it was explained to me, the reason firearms had to be loaded to be carried was to give people the legal right to assume that the gun you were waving around was loaded. I was told (no cite) that someone had pulled a gun, then defended himself in court by pointing out that it wasn't loaded and thus not a real threat. Were such a situation to occur again, it would be illegal possession of a firearm in public or some such. Spoiler: ** Absolute garbage. The exposed back of the firing pin means that it's never "safe" when there's a round in the chamber. The top-loading internal magazine means if there's a round in the weapon, there's a round in the chamber. The cylindrical grip means that it wants to swivel every which way when you're holding it, and the indent behind the trigger guard means it's hard to get your hand on it properly. The sights go notionally out to 100 meters, but they're a tiny notch and blade which makes them impossible to see in all but the most perfect lighting conditions. It's got 17 million moving parts, many of which like to fly, spring-loaded, across the room during disassembly. I have one because it was among the first (Wikipedia says third) semi-automatic pistols ever to go into production, and my guns are largely chosen based on historical interest. The Colt 1911, designed a mere fifteen years later, is still in use today.
At the time, concealed carry, except by law enforcement, was completely and utterly illegal. The theory, as explained to me (again, no cite) was that honest people shouldn't be hiding the fact that they were armed. I was at Ft. HoochieKoochie, so I could see in the landscape that there were good reasons for the gunracks in the back of the pickup trucks (like those fucking scorpions. Fuck a 12 gauge, give me a flamethrower!) that wouldn't apply in a more built-up environment like the Chicago suburbs that I came from.
The whole fast draw thing is largely a myth. I don't know for sure I wasn't there. While doing research for a story I happened on something called a "Muff" gun. Which ladies used to carry in their muffs, and by muff I mean a hand warmer. No, I mean a piece of animal skin that was sewed into a circlet in which they could warm their hands, and within this they could hide the gun. It was very small but of large caliber. Unless you're talking about Annie Oakley, this is the gun they would likely carry .
