Blinging your blaster

Keep the funny upgrades on your carry weapon to zero. And no funny signs or stickers either.

As gun owners, we always love having cool accessories on our weapons. Things like a Spartan helmet/Molon Labe, a Punisher logo, an image of Clint Eastwood and his line "Do you feel lucky, Punk?" and more. I would personally love to engrave my muzzle thusly:

Smile Muzzle 1

The down side of this is, an anti-gun District Attorney intent on putting you in prison for having the unmitigated gall of defending yourself would use your blings to show that you're really a bloodthirsty Redneck yahoo just looking for the chance to go all "John Wick" on somebody, not the law-abiding gun owner who was forced to defend themselves.

Another point is, you advertise that you probably have a weapon. Wearing clothing that show you're for the RKBA, or NRA/GOA/Punisher/III% stickers on your vehicle can make you a target, as you're advertising you might have a gun in your truck or on you. You might think that will scare the bad guys off, and it might. That being said, if they want you specifically, they'll come armed with superior numbers, or ambush you.

Another point against "blinging out" your carry weapon is you become emotionally attached to it. I know people who have spent more on the bling than they did on the weapon itself. Kind of like putting new 22" spinner wheels on their 1999 Nissan Maxima.

This is a critical reason against the "bling." If you have to use that weapon in a self-defense situation, it will be taken from you and entered into evidence. Some police departments will use an engraver to mark the evidence number on it, thus destroying any esthetics it had. From that point forward, it will have an indelible Scarlet Letter.

What's even worse beyond that is the PTSD. Provided you prevail in your legal and civil battles, and you manage to get this weapon returned to you, very time you hold this weapon, you will remember what you had to do with it. Is that something you want to put yourself through? Kyle Rittenhouse, after defending his life by ending the lives of two men and shattered the body of a third, had his AR-15 returned to him. He had it destroyed in the face of many people wanting to purchase it for their "collection." I am sure Kyle didn't want the reminder of what he did with that weapon every time he saw it. A rather ignoble, but appropriate end to a tool that was used in such a way.

The lesson I wish to leave you with is do not become emotionally attached to your carry weapon. Anthropomorphizing such a thing never ends well. If you consider any modifications to your carry weapon(s), I would suggest consulting your gunsmith and your attorney beforehand. A seemingly innocuous modification to your weapon to improve its use could be more damaging to your self-defense case than the engraving above.

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