Lachhiman Gurung was a World War II soldier from Nepal who fought for the British during the war.
He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroic actions during the war.
Born in Nepal in 1917, he and a friend enlisted in the British Army in 1940.
Even though he didn’t meet the British military height requirements of five feet, he was still allowed to join a British rifle unit.
In 1942, Japanese forces moved through Burma. British and colonial allied forces attempted to fight back for the next few years.
In 1945, the 89th Indian Brigade was ordered to attack withdrawing Japanese forces.
Lachhiman was in a rifle unit that was part of the attack.
When his unit attacked the Japanese in Burma, they quickly found themselves surrounded by Japanese forces.
Lachhiman and his fellow soldiers were cut off from the main British force.
The small platoon of Indian soldiers was suddenly attacked by over 200 Japanese infantry.
A grenade landed near Lachhiman and he quickly threw it back. When another grenade landed nearby, he tried to pick it up, but it exploded before he could.
Lachhiman was all alone and badly wounded.
He was bleeding, blinded in one eye, his arm was shattered, and his fingers severed.
But instead of giving up, he fired and reloaded his rifle with his good hand.
For the next four hours, Lachhiman fought Japanese soldiers.
Two days later, the battle was over and miraculously Lachhiman survived.
Of the 87 Japanese who died in the battle, Lachhiman had personally killed 31 of them.
He ended up losing an eye and the use of his hand.
In December 1945, the British awarded him the Victoria Cross for his bravery.
Lachhiman said, “I had to fight because there was no other way. I felt I was going to die anyway, so I might as well have died standing on my feet. All I knew was that I had to go on and hold them back.”
Just because you might be limited physically, doesn’t mean you can’t defend yourself.
Lachhiman is the perfect example of this.
In a home defense situation, you can still defend yourself with a firearm even if you only have the use of one hand.
You might just have to be more selective of the firearm you use.
For example, you want to use a firearm that is lightweight with less recoil.
In addition, it would be good to have a pistol with ambidextrous controls and easy to handle or maneuver with one hand.
Even though a shotgun or rifle can be fired one-handed, it wouldn’t be my first choice.
In terms of a specific gun for one-handed home defense, here are a few options to consider:
Glock 19:
The Glock 19 is a 9mm semi-auto compact handgun with an overall length of just over 7 inches and a weight of 30 ounces.
It’s not too small and not too big.
One of the reasons Glocks are so popular is because they are simple and have easy-to-use external controls.
There is a trigger, a magazine release, and a slide lock, but no external safety.
That is all there is to the Glock 19.
There are ways to rack the slide one-handed such as using your belt.
A new Glock 19 sells for about $500, but these pistols are so popular that you can often find them used at gun shops.
Smith & Wesson Shield EZ Series:
The S&W Shield EZ comes in .380 and 9mm. These pistols are designed for shooters with hand strength limitations.
The magazine is easy to load, and the pistols have a reduced recoil design.
The slide on the pistol has serrations and flared edges.
For many shooters, the slide can be manipulated with a thumb and ring finger alone.
Also, the majority of the recoil from the EZ pistols goes into the palm and not the entire hand.
This design makes it easier for many people to handle the recoil one-handed.
Depending on the specific model, the Smith & Wesson Shield EZ sells for around $500.
Sig Sauer P320:
The P320 is a modular handgun so you can choose the grip size, barrel, and slide lengths.
In theory, you can get a relatively customized pistol that fits your hand.
The pistol has an ambidextrous slide lever, and the magazine release can be reversed for left-handed shooters.
I would choose a P320 without the external safety so there would be no other external controls other than the takedown lever.
That would make the pistol completely ambidextrous.
Since there are so many ways to customize the P320 you can get the pistol in the best size for one-handed shooting.
The P320 starts around $650.
At the end of the day, the best pistol for one-handed home defense is the one you feel the most comfortable shooting.
This is why I would go to your local gun range to see how they fit your hand.
Whenever possible, rent the guns to shoot with at the range to see if you can operate it effectively with one hand or any limitations you have.
Once you’ve settled on a gun that you’re comfortable using for self-defense, you need training and drills to keep your draw, aim, and shots on target precise.
