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If gunshots are the new American heartbeat, then the 9-millimeter serves as the preferred weapon of choice. 

What is it about the 9mm that makes it one of the most popular guns in America?

George Zimmerman fired a single shot into Trayvon Martin’s chest with a bullet fired from a lightweight, inexpensive 9 mm semiautomatic gun known as the Kel-Tec 9mm PF-9.

The gun, now locked away as evidence, is one of 140,000 PF-9s in use to date according to Derek Kellgren, Kel-Tec’s marketing director.

The company sells about 15,000 to 20,000 a year; easily making it one of the top five handguns manufactured in the U.S.

According to the manufacturer, the gun’s biggest selling point is its small size. It’s less than an inch wide and when fully loaded weighs just 18 ounces, less than half the weight of a conventional 9 mm.

The PF-9 retails for about $330 to $390, making it an effective, cheap and lethal weapon.

Zimmerman bought his gun in 2009 after a pit bull began roaming the neighborhood and cornered his wife.

It’s not clear what kind of ammunition Zimmerman used, but most gun experts believe the most popular for that type of gun are hollow-point bullets, which are designed to expand once they hit a target and do more tissue damage.

We see it in movies, we hear it in our music and tragically, we see it in everyday life.

Jared Lee Loughner went on a murderous rampage with his 9mm Glock in Tuscon, Arizona on January 8th of 2011, killing six people and injuring 14 others, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, in the process. Loughner has been indicted on 49 counts by a federal grand jury in Arizona.

Bronx-bred rapper Cory Gunz was arrested for possession of a 9mm handgun a few months back as plain clothes officers pulled him over in a cab he was riding in, searched the rapper’s backpack and discovered the lethal weapon. If convicted, he faces at least three years in jail.

In Florida it only costs $60 to take a firearms course and receive a license to carry a concealed weapon.

While more than 900,000 people are currently licensed to carry concealed firearms, all you have to do is send a completion of course certificate, along with an application, photo and fingerprints, to the division of licensing at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and in several months you get your license to carry in the mail. It’s that simple.

The problem with Glocks, Berettas, Rugers, Kel-Tecs, and any other type of 9mm, is that it continues to be the weapon of choice and more and more people are getting their hands on them.

When a person has a gun, their mind automatically triggers the thought that this thing will win an argument, settle any dispute and straighten people out.

So for the 900,000 people who carry guns in Florida, please silence your automatic thoughts before you pull that trigger.

-S.G.

Shaka Griffith is the News/Politics Editor of GlobalGrind.com Follow him on twitter @Darealshaka.