My Governor, Rick Perry, dispatched a coyote with his Ruger LCP. Apparently it was the coyote or Perry and his puppy.

So, .380 may be marginal for self-defense, but seems adequate for coyotes. 🙂

Amusing from the article:

Perry said he carries his .380 Ruger pistol — loaded with hollow-point bullets — when jogging on trails because he is afraid of snakes. He’d also seen coyotes in the area.

We must emphasize the use of those evil hollow-point bullets!!  Of course, amongst gunnies the debate is that with a .380 you may actually be better off using FMJ in order to get adequate penetration.

And honestly, for snakes? I mean, I understand and all, but a .380 against a snake? I’d rather use proper snake-loads for that.

But there’s no question folks. As we humans continue to develop land, the critters on that land won’t go away. Plus as “green friendly” as Austin is, there’s lots of undeveloped land. That land is prime spots for critters to live. While I’m in the city, I back up to a greenbelt that connects to hundreds of acres of land that will never be developed. I get deer, I’ve heard the coyotes (one neighbor has seen them), there’ve been rattlesnakes in my yard, and there’s the suspected bobcat.

“I holler, and the coyote stopped. I holler again. By this time I had taken my weapon out and charged it. It is now staring dead at me. Either me or the dog are in imminent danger. I did the appropriate thing and sent it to where coyotes go,” [Gov. Perry] said.

Perry said the laser pointer helped make it a quick, clean kill.

I can see that. It’s not like you can aim that LCP that easily, so in case like this the laser had to be most helpful. I do wonder how long the shot was.

“It was not in a lot of pain,” he said. “It pretty much went down at that particular juncture.”

DRT. It’s nice to have a Gov. that knows how to shoot. 🙂

Texas law allows people to shoot coyotes if they are threatening livestock or domestic animals. The coyote never reached the dog, which was unharmed, Perry said.

Perry’s security detail was not required to file a report on the governor discharging a weapon, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange said.

“People shoot coyotes all the time, snakes all the time,” Mange said. “We don’t write reports.”

It’s good to see that time and money isn’t wasted. 🙂