New! American Rifleman Magazine App Now On Android

People carrying small firearms for personal protection is not a new concept, and in the middle of the 19th century, many pocket pistols were designed with self-defense in mind. One such gun, the Brown Manufacturing Southern Derringer, was among the earliest cartridge-firing self-defense guns.

In this episode of the NRA’s The Armed Citizen Podcast, we interview Gayle Pearlstein, COO and co-founder of Lox & Loaded, a Jewish-owned and -operated gun club that now—after being launched only a year ago—has 50 chapters around the United States.

Springfield Armory entered the world of modular, striker-fired handguns in 2023 with its Echelon line of pistols, and for 2026, Springfield is introducing an entry-level Echelon model with the Alpha 4.0C.

It has never been easier for gun owners to buy and use short-barreled rifles, and for the occasion, we have five of the latest SBRs on the market right now.

SDS Arms, under its Military Armament Corporation (MAC) brand, imports Turkish-made roller-delayed handguns of the H&K MP5 pattern called the MAC-5K.