The cover story of the August 2010 issue of Harper's Magazine is titled "Happiness is a Worn Gun: My Concealed Weapon and Me," by Dan Baum. It's unusual.

It's certainly not the kind of cover story that Harper's would have run under the editorship of Lewis Lapham, whose trademark leftist rants became too frequent and too detached from reality for me to continue purchasing the magazine. Lapham is still listed in the masthead as "National Correspondent", but his name is not among the writers in the table of contents. If the Harper's Index were to to somehow quantify the contempt for America and Americans spread throughout each issue of the magazine, it would certainly record a substantial drop from the closing years of Lapham's editorship. Good riddance to an old fool.

I would not have picked up the August, 2010 issue if not for the promise of the first-person narrative in "My Concealed Weapon and Me." That phrasing in the title, and the cover image of a vintage High-Standard Sentinel "belly gun" revolver suggested authenticity, so I paid my $6.99.

The article itself lives up to my hopes. Baum is a lifelong gun owner and the article is free of contempt for those who hunt or own guns for defensive purposes. He gives a fair appraisal of the state of concealed and open carry in the United States, why and how people choose to do it, and what the societal effects have been and might be in the future.

Baum is at his best when he is gently dismantling anti-gunner beliefs. Playing to Harper's readership, he presents John Lott's More Guns, Less Crime with a fair amount of skepticism and neglects to mention the Bellesiles fraud. Immediately after, though, he brings forth this defense:

But shall-issue didn't lead to more crime, as predicted by its critics. The portion of all killings done with a handgun -- the weapon people carry concealed -- hasn't changed in decades; it's still about half. Whereas the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C. can produce a list of 175 killings committed by carry-permit holders since 2007, the NRA can brandish a longer list of crimes prevented by armed citizens.

And he follows with this:

One number that jumps out from the FBI's 2008 data is how many alleged criminals were shot dead by civilians: 245, not many fewer than were shot by cops. I found that statistic amazing until I reflected on how seldom police are present when a crime is occurring. I CARRY A GUN BECAUSE A COP IS TOO HEAVY, goes the bumper sticker.

Baum also mentions that while many police unions and associations lobby against shall-issue laws, "Every street cop I've met, lately, sees it the other way."

The editing is a bit weak: there are one or two paragraphs that would benefit from being expressed as itemized lists, and data charts may have helped readers better visualize some of Baum's points. Those are my only complaints. Gun owners and CHP holders should go out, buy the magazine and read Baum's article. It is honest and thought-provoking.