Just curious, is anyone a member? Any comments? I get an awful lot of spam from them trying to get me to join.

http://www.usconcealedcarry.com/

The magazine is good, but don't bother with the "Full" membership, which just give access to their forums.

I thought it was a little pricy for a magazine subscription.

Looks like they changed their pricing. Used to be >60$ for the mag and forum access. $37 for just the mag is a bit spendy, but it's probably worth it. Great conversation starter too...

I have read through some sample issues of their magazine and find that they struggle to come up with material that is either truly newsworthy or truly insightful.

Truth be told, most of the articles in the magazine are on subjects you could find oodles of discussion about on this very board - each month I plan on canceling; then end up forgetting for whatever reason - $6/month - note to self...

Too much money for what you get. The forum is very average or even a little below average...and you pay lots for the privilege of being there!

I'm not a big fan, but maybe that's just pique -- I went through three drafts of an article on pocket holsters for them, and then they decided not to use it. I ended up publishing it elsewhere, for exactly the same pay -- they ask for contributions from their writers, too -- and I've not since been overly impressed with their editorial acumen.

But, again, that could be just pique; I'm of the opinion that I can rite rele gud, after all; if they disagree, hey, it's their magazine.

I think that doing an online forum well enough to make it worth even a little beer money to participate would be really, really difficult. I don't know anybody who has managed it. The closest I can think of is Jerry Pournelle's website, which is really more of a blog with lots of user participation, but that's largely because of who Jerry is, and some of the people who will be happy to write to and for him. (No, I'm not including myself, although I do participate on the Middle East stuff.) There's not lots of blog writers who can, say, get senior fellows at the War College to go off the record without even having to ask much.

ETA: we do get some of that here, on gun-related issues. I don't know of anywhere else where you can get detailed analysis from the likes of that guy at Hamline or his friend down in Faribeault, or, for that matter, serious commentary on How Stuff Works from thick-skinned, service-oriented cops like a couple of our regular members.

It’s well worth it in my opinion because it is dedicated to CC and nothing else. I don’t like to flip through half the articles on fishing and rifles to get to an occasional carry article like you do with most magazines. I save the money I would spend on those magazines so the cost isn’t that bad if you ask me.

This is a really good cross section of opinions! Thanks for all the input!