Or not to H-Point? That is the question. At least it is on a post by Imcrazy over at the Ohioans For Concealed Carry Forums.

The poster is puzzled about people that buy and/or carry a Hi-Point firearm because "that is all they can afford".  He believes that they should just save their pennies and wait and get a "good" firearm.  Before I continue, here is a brief introduction to Hi-Point Firearms for those unfamiliar:

Hi-Point Firearms are made in Ohio near Dayton I believe. They have a reputation for being very cheap in both price and craftsmanship. They also have the reputation of being too heavy for concealed carry.  While I have not examined or fired any of their handguns, I don't know if they are cheaply made but they are definitely cheaply priced. And from the description on their website, they are definitely heavy—especially for a polymer framed auto.  Regardless of their quality, price or weight, I have been told that their service and warranty are first rate.

Now, back to the question. I have a few thoughts on this question, to Hi-Point or not to Hi-Point?

What would this Fat Man do?  Would I carry a Hi-Point if I had one? In my current situation, nope. But that's not to say if I had to I wouldn't.  I don't have to.  I carry a Sig. I bought it in 1997 when I lived alone in a cheap apartment and still spent more on beer than furniture. I also acquired a few other handguns over the years but the Sig continues to be my goto gun for daily carry. I am married now and have 3 beautiful kids from 1 - 5 years of age. I thought about naming my daughter Sarah Brady since I haven't bought a handgun since she was born.  With the cost of living up 15% over the last 18 months, I doubt I will add any more any time soon either. However, If something happened to all of my handguns, I would not let handgun snobbery prevent me from protecting my family and if that meant a low cost Hi-Point, then so be it.

A Hi-Point in the hand is worth a Sig, Glock and a Kimber at the gunstore. Especially if you need it. When I was 16, I needed a car. I wanted a Corvette. However, being poor and working part time as a fry cook at a Long John Silvers while going to high school, I wasn't exactly obtaining my goal in any great hurry.  I needed a car. I wanted a Corvette. I got a 1964 Corvair instead.  Was the Corvette a better car than a Corvair? Damn straight. However, if I had waited on my dream car rather than what I could afford, I would still be walking. Turns out I liked Corvairs and bought a few more. 

This is a No Gunsnob Zone.  Check your gunsnobbery at the door.  When I meet a fellow gunowner, especially one that carries concealed and believes strongly in the 2nd Amendment, I get excited. Here is another sheepdog that realizes there are indeed wolves about. I'm just glad there is someone else carrying, I could care less what they carry though I'll spend all day talking about it if they want to.

I was at a gunshow in Circleville, Ohio a few years ago. There was a guy trading in a Hi-Point on a Glock. Seems that the Hi-Point was his first gun before he knew what he wanted in a gun. A friend had introduced him to shooting and he didn't want to invest a lot of money into something that he wasn't sure he wanted to do. Like buying a carbon-fiber bicycle to see if you like bicycling. Turns out he liked shooting. tried some other guns and found that he liked the Glock better. Had he weighed the cost of the Glock as his first gun, he might have decided not to spend the money and never picked up the sport.  Yay Hi-Point!

In the world of concealed carry, I have heard the range "experts" and the internet warriors talk about how a gun is junk or a gun is no good, usually based on either price or because they never see a particular gun in use by their favorite ninja operator in some gun rag. Case in point is the Kel-Tec. This is a small, inexpensive pistol that has been in circulation for a while. The big boys dissed it as too small or too cheap. Then lo and behold, Ruger basically clones the Kel-Tec (I'll do a post about that sometime since the gun rags won't touch it) and all of a sudden, this "new" gun is the greatest thing to happen to concealed carry since "shall issue".

So should you buy a Hi-Point? Carry a Hi-Point? Shoot a Hi-Point? I don't care. I'm not going to because I don't have one. If Hi-Point wants to send me one, I'll be glad to give it serious consideration and shoot the hell out of it.  In the meantime, while I sit here and wait for the bailout to trickle from the billionaires to me, I'll not be buying any new handguns. And if I did, I would probably buy a Kel-Tec and a Ruger LCP and see how many parts I could interchange and still make it go boom.