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AR-15 Rifles, Pistols & Tactical Gear | Gun Store in Roanoke, TX

Premium firearms, optics, and tactical gear for professionals and enthusiasts.

 

Tactical Shooting

The 1,000-foot gun-free zone buffer is finally getting a court test

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Here’s a piece of federal law most gun owners have never thought hard about: the gun-free school zone doesn’t stop at the school’s property line. It extends 1,000 feet out in every direction, an invisible circle with no signs marking it. A case called United States v. Allam is challenging that gun-free zone buffer, and it’s worth understanding. I’m Lance Rankin, a Texas FFL and gunsmith at Western Sport in Roanoke, and while I’m not a lawyer, I answer carry-law questions at my counter constantly, so here’s my plain-English read.

Why the gun-free zone buffer is a problem

Draw a 1,000-foot circle around every school in a dense town and the circles start overlapping. A person running ordinary errands can pass through several of these zones without knowing it, because there’s nothing to see. No signage, no boundary, just an invisible line and a federal offense on the other side of it. Whatever you think about guns near schools, a rule that ordinary careful people can’t comply with on purpose is a badly built rule.

How Bruen changed the question

Under the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision, the government can restrict carry in “sensitive places” only where there’s a genuine historical tradition of disarmament. Dig into the founding-era record and that list is short: legislative assemblies, polling places, courthouses. Schools aren’t on it, and a 1,000-foot radius around anything certainly isn’t. The founders had no concept of disarming citizens across a fifth-of-a-mile buffer around a building.

The challenge also raises a point I find hard to argue with. If a place is so sensitive that citizens must be disarmed there, you’d expect the government to provide security in exchange: screening, armed protection, something. These buffer zones come with nothing. The state takes away your means of self-defense across the zone and offers no substitute, which suggests the “sensitive” label is doing work the facts don’t support.

What’s likely to happen

Courts move slowly and rarely tear out a statute root and branch. The smarter bet, and what this litigation is aiming at, is that the most indefensible piece, the 1,000-foot gun-free zone buffer, gets struck while restrictions on school property itself survive. If that happens, the precedent matters beyond schools: the government doesn’t get to draw a circle on a map and suspend a constitutional right inside it.

What Texas carriers should know right now

Two practical notes. First, the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act has an exception for people licensed by the state where the zone sits, which is one of the underrated reasons a Texas License to Carry is still worth getting even in the constitutional-carry era. Verify the details with a competent attorney, not a blog post, mine included. Second, as of this writing the gun-free zone buffer law is still on the books and still enforced. Nothing about a pending challenge protects you today, so know the rules and check the current status of the case before assuming anything has changed.

None of this is legal advice, just a gun dealer who reads the cases so his customers don’t get surprised. If you’ve got questions about carrying legally in Texas, or you need a holster or other gear that suits lawful carry, I’m at [email protected], 817-393-4000, or the store. Local pickup by appointment in Roanoke, north of Fort Worth.

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Glock 43 vs Glock 43X: which slimline 9mm should you carry?

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The Glock 43 vs Glock 43X question comes up at my counter about once a week, usually from someone buying their first carry gun. I’m Lance Rankin, owner of Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas, and I’ve sold and worked on plenty of both. The short version: they share a slide length and a slim profile, and the whole decision comes down to the grip. Here’s the longer version.

Glock 43 vs Glock 43X: what’s actually different

The Glock 43 is the original Slimline single-stack 9mm: six rounds in the magazine, a short grip that most people can’t get their pinky on without an extension, and about as little gun as you can carry while still having a real 9mm.

The 43X keeps essentially the same slide and barrel length but stretches the frame. That buys you a 10-round magazine and a full-hand grip. Height is the only dimension that changes in a way you’ll notice, a bit under an inch, and that inch is the entire argument.

Shooting them back to back

Put both on the range and the 43X wins, no contest. The longer grip gives your whole hand something to hold, so the gun squirms less, muzzle flip is easier to manage, and follow-up shots come faster. The 43 is perfectly shootable, but it’s a two-finger gun for a lot of hands, and light snappy pistols punish loose grips. New shooters especially tend to shoot the 43X noticeably better within one box of ammo.

Capacity tells the same story. Six plus one versus ten plus one isn’t a small gap. And no, the magazines don’t interchange; the 43X shares mags with the Glock 48, not the 43.

Carrying them

Here’s where the 43 earns its keep in the Glock 43 vs Glock 43X comparison. In concealment, grip length is what prints, not barrel length. The muzzle points down along your body where nobody sees it; the grip is what pokes through a fitted shirt when you bend over. If you dress light, carry in athletic wear, or occasionally pocket-carry in a proper trigger-covering holster, the 43’s shorter grip disappears in ways the 43X won’t.

For most people in normal clothes carrying inside the waistband, the 43X hides almost as well and shoots much better. That’s why it outsells the 43 at my shop by a wide margin. But “almost as well” isn’t “as well,” and the customer who’s tried both usually knows immediately which trade-off they care about.

Optics, lights, and upgrades

The 43X MOS comes factory-cut for micro red dots and has a short accessory rail for a compact light, and that’s the configuration I’d steer most buyers toward today. A dot on a small pistol is a real advantage once you train with it. The standard 43 makes do with iron sights, though good aftermarket night sights fix the factory plastic ones on either gun.

The two 43X builds that move fastest off my shelf are the Glock 43X COA with the Aimpoint ACRO already mounted, which takes the optic-plate guesswork out of it, and the threaded-barrel 43X Hush Puppy with suppressor-height sights for anyone planning to run a can on it.

One gunsmith’s note on the popular Shield Arms steel magazines that push the 43X to 15 rounds: they work, plenty of my customers run them, but pair them with the metal magazine catch as recommended. Steel mags against the factory polymer catch will wear it. That’s a ten-minute install we do at the shop all the time.

My recommendation

My call on Glock 43 vs Glock 43X: buy the 43X, ideally the MOS, unless you have a specific deep-concealment reason to want the 43. More grip and more rounds beat a slightly smaller silhouette for most people, most wardrobes, most of the time. If you’re shopping for a smaller-handed shooter, both are worth handling first; my best handgun for women guide covers that decision in more detail. Whichever you pick, feed it quality defensive ammo and test it in your gun; here’s my rundown of the best 9mm self-defense loads. And if you’re new to carrying in Texas, start with the Texas carry permit guide.

We stock both models in the online store along with the rest of our pistol inventory, and local folks can handle them side by side by appointment here in Roanoke, north of Fort Worth. Questions: [email protected] or 817-393-4000.

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Best AR pistols in 2026: a gunsmith’s honest guide

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Most “best AR pistol” articles you’ll find online are padded with 16-inch carbines and a couple of Glocks to hit a word count. I’d rather give you a straight answer. I’m Lance Rankin, owner and gunsmith at Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas. AR-15s and AR-10s are my specialty, I build and repair them in-house, and AR pistols cross my bench every week. Here’s how I’d actually pick the best AR pistols in 2026.

First, the legal housekeeping

An AR pistol is an AR-platform gun with a barrel shorter than 16 inches and no shoulder stock. Put a stock on it and you’ve built a short-barreled rifle, which is an NFA item requiring a tax stamp. The ATF’s pistol brace rule has been through years of litigation, and where braces stand legally keeps shifting. As of this writing the picture is favorable for brace owners, but check the current status before you buy or configure anything, or just call me and ask. We’re a Type 07 FFL/SOT, so if you decide you’d rather stamp it and run a real stock, we handle the NFA paperwork in-house too.

Pick the caliber before the gun

This matters more on a pistol than on a carbine. 5.56 was designed around a 20-inch barrel, and every inch you cut costs velocity. Out of a 7.5-inch tube you still get a capable gun, but you also get serious muzzle blast, especially indoors. .300 Blackout was built for short barrels and does its best work in exactly this format, particularly with a suppressor. If you’re weighing the two, my 5.56 vs .300 Blackout comparison goes deeper. There are also 9mm AR-style pistols, which are cheap to feed and pleasant to shoot, though you’re giving up rifle-caliber performance.

What separates a good AR pistol from a loud paperweight

Short gas systems are less forgiving than carbine or mid-length. A sloppy budget pistol upper is far more likely to short-stroke or beat itself up than a sloppy 16-inch build. So spend your money on the parts that matter: a quality barrel, a properly gassed and tuned system, and a bolt carrier group from a maker who actually tests them. A free-float M-LOK handguard is standard now and worth having for lights; the Daniel Defense MFR 9.0 M-LOK rail is the one I fit most often on short builds. On a 5.56 pistol, a blast diverter or linear comp will save your ears and your neighbors on the firing line.

The best AR pistols I’ll stand behind

Smith & Wesson M&P15 AXE. A 7.5-inch 5.56 pistol with a free-float M-LOK handguard, an M&P-style grip with interchangeable backstraps, and a blast diverter from the factory. Sensible spec at a fair price, and it acknowledges the muzzle blast problem instead of ignoring it.

Daniel Defense DDM4 PDW in .300 Blackout. We’re an authorized Daniel Defense dealer, so take that for what it’s worth, but I’d say the same if we weren’t. It’s the right caliber in a truly compact package, built to DD’s usual standard. Add a suppressor and subsonics and it’s about the most civilized short gun you can own. Costs real money.

Palmetto State Armory pistol builds. The budget route. PSA’s pistols run better than their price suggests, and they’re a fine way to find out whether the format suits you before you spend Daniel Defense money.

Or build exactly what you want. Half the best AR pistols I see started as a customer’s idea and a stripped lower. If that appeals to you, start with my AR build guide, or let me do the assembly and headspacing here in the shop. We Cerakote, too.

Setting one up for home defense

An AR pistol makes sense inside a house: short enough to work doorways, more capacity and easier hits than a handgun. It needs a weapon light, full stop, and a red dot earns its keep on a gun this fast-handling. I’ve written up my full thinking in the home defense AR-15 setup guide and the companion piece on optics for home defense, and both apply directly to pistols.

If you want to talk through a specific build or have me order one in, email [email protected] or call 817-393-4000. Online orders ship, and local folks north of Fort Worth can pick up by appointment.

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Civil liability after self-defense: what you still risk after an acquittal

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Here’s an uncomfortable truth about defensive gun use: winning the criminal case isn’t the end of it. You can be cleared of all charges, or never charged at all, and still get sued for everything you own. I’m Lance Rankin, owner of Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas, and while I’m a gunsmith and FFL rather than a lawyer, this topic comes up at my counter often enough that it deserves a straight treatment. None of this is legal advice. It’s a reason to go get some.

Two different courtrooms, two different rules

A criminal prosecutor has to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. A civil plaintiff only has to show it’s more likely than not that you were negligent. That’s a much lower bar. It means the same set of facts that gets you acquitted in criminal court can still lose you a civil case, because the jury isn’t asking whether you’re guilty of a crime. They’re asking who should pay for the harm.

Who can sue you

The obvious plaintiff is the person you shot, or their estate. Less obvious, and honestly scarier, is the innocent bystander. Say your shooting of an attacker is fully justified, but a round passes through or misses and hits someone down the hall or across the parking lot. Your justification against the attacker doesn’t shield you from a negligence claim by the bystander’s family. Their lawyer will argue you fired without accounting for what was behind your target.

That’s why the fourth rule of gun safety, know your target and what’s beyond it, is more than range wisdom. In a civil courtroom it’s the standard you’ll be measured against. It’s also why I harp on practicing in realistic conditions and thinking through your home’s angles ahead of time. My home defense setup post and the one on surviving a home invasion both touch on this.

What civil immunity statutes actually cover

Some states, Texas among them, have civil immunity laws that can get a lawsuit tossed before trial when the force you used was justified. That’s real protection and it matters. But read the fine print: these statutes generally cover claims brought by the aggressor or the aggressor’s family. They usually do nothing for you against a claim from an injured third party. Don’t let “my state has civil immunity” lull you into thinking you’re bulletproof, legally speaking.

What I’d actually do about it

A few practical moves, none of them expensive compared to a lawsuit. Look hard at a self-defense legal protection plan that covers civil defense costs, not just criminal. Get formal training and keep the certificates, because documented training is evidence you take safe gun handling seriously. Learn your state’s specific rules on duty to retreat and immunity instead of relying on gun-counter folklore, mine included. And find a self-defense attorney before you need one, because the hours right after a shooting are a terrible time to start googling. I wrote about those first hours in what to do and not do immediately after a self-defense shooting, and it pairs with this post.

Carrying a gun means accepting that the fight might not end when the threat does. Plan for the courtroom the same way you plan for the encounter. If you want to talk gear, training, or anything else, I’m at the shop most days: 817-393-4000 or [email protected].

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What to do, and not do, immediately after a self-defense shooting

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This is the post I hope none of my customers ever needs. I’m Lance Rankin, owner of Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas. I sell defensive firearms for a living, and I’d only be doing half the job if I talked about hardware and skipped this part. What you do in the minutes after a self-defense shooting shapes the legal case that follows, and people get those minutes wrong under the worst stress of their lives. Read this now, while you’re calm.

First, the disclaimer that actually matters: I’m a gunsmith and a dealer, not a lawyer. Self-defense law varies by state and even by county courthouse. Treat this as general preparation, and talk to a qualified attorney about the law where you live. Better yet, have one picked out before you ever need one.

Secure the gun

Once the threat has stopped, re-holster. Leave the firearm in whatever condition it’s in, and leave the scene alone. Don’t pick up your brass and don’t move anything. What feels like tidying up will be read later as tampering with evidence, and a gun sitting in a proper holster tells arriving officers they’re dealing with someone in control of himself.

Stay put if it’s safe

Remaining at the scene after a self-defense shooting is almost always right. The exception is continued danger, say the attacker’s friends showing up. If you have to move, go only as far as safety requires, and be ready to explain that movement later. Leaving the area entirely looks like flight, and flight looks like guilt.

Call 911 yourself, and say the right things

Be the first one to call. Report that you were attacked and that you need police and an ambulance at your location. You’re establishing, on a recorded line, that you’re the victim of a crime. Give the essentials: where you are, what you’re wearing so officers can identify you, and that the person who attacked you is down and needs medical attention. Requesting aid for your attacker feels strange in the moment. It’s still the right move, both morally and in front of a jury later.

You aren’t required to stay on the line indefinitely, and everything you say is recorded. Once the essential facts are out, it’s reasonable to end the call. Don’t narrate, and don’t editorialize.

When officers arrive

They’re rolling up on a shooting with a description that may or may not match you. Keep your hands visible, preferably high. Tell them where the firearm is, something like “it’s holstered, right hip,” and don’t reach toward it for any reason. Expect to be disarmed, and possibly put on the ground and cuffed. That’s not an accusation. It’s standard procedure for everyone’s safety, and calm compliance is the fastest way through it.

Then say almost nothing

Here’s the part people can’t make themselves do. After you’ve identified yourself, the only statement you should make is some version of: “I’ll cooperate fully, but I won’t be making any statements until I’ve spoken with my attorney.” Then stop talking. Not because you did something wrong, but because adrenaline wrecks memory and perception, and innocent people talk themselves into trouble every day trying to be helpful. Your full account will be given later, with your lawyer present. There is no version of events you can offer in the first hour that helps you more than silence plus counsel.

Prepare before a self-defense shooting, not after

Surviving the fight is step one, and my home invasion guide covers that part. The legal aftermath of a self-defense shooting is its own second fight, and it can continue even after a criminal case ends, which is why I also wrote about civil liability after self-defense. Know your state’s law, keep an attorney’s number in your phone, and get training that includes judgment, not just marksmanship. If you carry in Texas, my Texas LTC guide is a reasonable place to start.

None of this is pleasant to think about. Think about it anyway. The person who has rehearsed these steps once in his head is miles ahead of the one hearing them for the first time from the back seat of a patrol car.

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