I was thinking about this post yesterday when I was talking with a coworker about carrying. This post from Buddy Borepatch got me motivated.
I didn’t have a round in the chamber. I was a bit nervous, it being really the first real time and all. Obviously, you carry a pistol for the unexpected, and so this was way suboptimal. Once I’m more used to this, I expect that cocked and locked will be the norm.
This is a totally understandable and reasonable step, as well as understanding of the potential risks.
Now first up given that I’m a prisoner of Massachusetts I had the desire to carry, as well as all the carry gear well before I moved to a town that would permit lawful citizens to carry. Still my actions work for anybody.
Step 1:Get a gun and a carry rig. BTW don’t go buy an IWB rig if all your pants are really snug, or any other such rig that would require you to buy an entire new wardrobe to begin carrying. Look at how you dress, and plan your carry around that. If you need to modify your clothes buying from then on, that’s fine. Like now I don’t buy sweatshirts I can’t conceal and draw a shoulder holster from anymore, but when I first started carrying there were only a handful of sweatshirts I regularly wore wouldn’t work with my holster.
Step 2Carry with a snap-cap. You should have snap caps for your preferred carry gun(s) they’re great for training and general safety. Not only do they protect the parts of your gun from dry firing (which is a moot point in most guns, but it can’t hurt) but also when you KNOW your gun is stuffed full of dummy rounds you know that no live rounds can get into your gun. Still load up your gun with snap caps as if you are loading your gun for carry. Use your decocker or safety just as you plan to use it for carry, then carry around your house. You carry as long as it takes for you to realize that the round in the chamber is NEVER going to meet Mr. Firing pin unless you pull the trigger.
It doesn’t take as long as you might think.
Also make sure you use the bathroom while carrying, both #1 and #2. You shouldn’t have any serious troubles using the toilet with your carry gear. You never know when Nature might call, so don’t make it harder on yourself if you’re carrying a gun.
Then you should practice your draw stroke. Do it from every position you can think of. Standing, sitting, and practice moving. At this point you may want to modify your carry method. If you have a gun that is DA/SA with a decocking safety (either one that decocks on safe like a Beretta 92, or a gun that can either run cocked-and-locked or DA with or without the safety like an H&K or the FNP Pistols) you may find that flicking that safety off in a smooth draw isn’t as easy as you thought, so maybe DA with the safety off might be the way to go. You may find that sometimes the safety gets bumped on or off, so maybe safety-on is a more efficient mode for you.
If you think Condition 3 (empty Chamber) is a good idea, this is about the time you’ll discover its a horrible way to carry a gun.
Step 3 Ease into it. Start carrying with live ammo exactly how you have decided is the best method to carry. Carry to the gun club or gun shop. Carry on short outings, carry to places where you’re in and out. Carry to friend’s houses. Get used to it. This is also where you enlist your friends. If they don’t know what and how you’re carrying ask them to spot your gun. Or show them your holster after you’ve been spending time with them for a while (This of course assumes your friends are cool with carry) If you have friends that AREN’T cool with carry, hang out with them for a while while carrying and SAY NOTHING. People who don’t like carry are the best judges, because unlike people who DO carry they aren’t hyper sensitive to printing.
Look its impossible to 100% hide a gun. EVERYTHING prints, from your carry gun, to your wallet, to your phone, to your Chapstick. Still if you can JUST HAPPEN to see the point of your gun grip through your shirt, what does that look like? Nothing, really. Most people won’t even see it, and if they do they might just dismiss it to a funny shadow. Meanwhile when your lycra tank top CLINGS to your gun grip like Reynold’s Wrap so they can read the GLOCK Logo through your shirt, or if when you reach for something on the top grocery shelf you can see your muzzle or holster peeking out, that’s a problem.
Step 4 Notice above I spent a LOT of time talking about conceal carry? Yeah well I needed to get here first. Step 4 is start carrying ALL THE TIME! You need to go out to get a pack of smokes at 10pm, or decide to run out with the kids after dinner for ice cream after dinner, carry your gun. Carry at work (if your company doesn’t have a policy against it), carry on the weekend.
Get REALLY comfortable with carry. After you’re in the comfort zone this is when I think would be the best point to start open carrying.
My rational is most people don’t even notice, and many of the people who DO notice don’t care. But you WILL encounter people who will be curious about your gun, and given that Open Carry is a controversial subject, it would be ideal that you be the best ambassador for the cause.
I’m not saying its right, just saying it is. Imagine that if there were bigots attempting to ban driving, would you want a 16 or 17 year old new driver to be the spokesperson for the cause?
And of course carry your damn gun! It doesn’t do you any good locked up at home, and I think we all know by now that you carrying a gun is a good idea all around!
I can’t imagine NOT having one in the pipe. That only works if the criminal says “let me give you a moment to get ready…”
Practicing the bathroom break: For a guy doing #1 there should be no issue – your little protuberant Anthony will be out of the way of the holster, unless you carry at 12:00.
For squatting: Please let me stress the importance of a very stiff gun belt. The gun/holster is a weight that will flop around once you open your belt. You don’t want to lose control of your gun. A wide and stiff gun belt will help you maintain control of your rig. Don’t pull your pants down to your ankles in a public stall – keep your gun above the bottom of the stall partition.
One trick that works for me is to unbuckle everything, sit, then buckle the belt back to the loosest position (hole nearest the end of the belt). This helps keep the belt under control and around my knees.
Things like Thunderware or belly bands worn low around the hips can indeed get in the way of guys doing #1. But yeah 95% of all carry methods only sit-down operations will require any thought.
Pingback: Warming to concealed carry : Newbie Shooter
As someone who lives in a shall issue state that is working towards his carry permit, I am having a hard time thinking about how I would carry at work, which doesn’t have a policy against concealed carry. I live in the desert, so for 8the or 94 months out pf the year its too warm for a jacket or sweatshirt, and the company is very casual and discourages suits and sport coats. So shoulder holsters andthe non tuckable IWB seem to be out of the question. That seems to leave me with a belly band, pocket carry, ankle rig or IWB tuckable. Considering that most days I tuck my shirts I am not sure what the best method of carry would be for me. Also for consideration my current pistol is a XD 45 Compact and that would rule out pocket carry. Any tips or suggestions?
I’ve seen some really good tuckable rigs that hide very well under a bloused dress shirt. Of course I find a J-frame type revolver to be one of the most versitile carry guns just because they’re small, light, but still decently powerful in +P .38. They’re ugly to shoot, but not prohibitively, and quite concealable.
As for shoulder carry in hot weather I just grab a light cotton shirt with a square cut waist, sized just a bit on the large size and it’s what I’ve been wearing most days with my 1911.
http://www.weerdworld.com/2010/shoulder-thing-a-response/
All of these all depend on your dress, body type, and weather (and how well you tolerate weather, the cotton shirt doesn’t make things much hotter than just a t-shirt alone, but its still a warmer outfit, so if you’re practically dying in the heat in a t-shirt and shorts, then a cotton shirt, not to mention leather shoulder straps will feel pretty horrible)
Also, frankly I’m of the school that nobody can have JUST ONE carry gun. Sure I could carry my J-Frame every day year-round, but a 5-shot .38 revolver isn’t a lot of gun. And while I do have a setup that lets me conceal my 1911 comfortably in the summer heat, “Comfortably” is a relative term, and some days I prefer a bit more digression and comfort, so the J-frame is in the pocket. This could easily be done also with a small automatic as well as a revolver (tho I LOVE that you can load and unload a wheelie all day long without bullet setback)
Lots of options, and you’ll just need to find what works best for you. But I’m glad you’re looking seriously at 365 Day carry.
Sorry, 8 or 9 months out of the year. Commenting using my DROID isn’t very easy!
I saw what you did there on the Cond 1 vs Cond 3 thing (which is a preference derived from early training not reasoned conviction on my part). Congratulations on a well reasoned mechanism to make the transition between the two. Once my new Quantum holster from Dragonworks gets here in August, I’ll give your method a try and let you know how it works out.
Sweet! Can’t wait to hear how it works!
Great post, Weer’d.
Was wondering if you could do a formal post about this, if you have the time/interest.
What do you do if you company DOES have a policy about ‘no weapons on campus.’ This means I couldn’t carry in my car either – so I’d pretty much be disarmed 50 hours a week.
It’s unfortunate, but depending on the laws in your state you could be at the mercy of the company unless you park off property. Yes, the likelihood of them doing a vehicle search is low and you could always tell them to stuff it, but that’s the chance you take. Texas recently passed a law that does not allow employers to tell employees they cannot have firearms in their vehicles. Maybe your state has a law or provision within the carry law that addresses this.
Dev, from what I have seen, most companies that have a no weapons policy have it because of a prior incident that caused some sort of liability for them. And often it isn’t because someone was shot, stabbed or physically harmed, but that there is a panic caused when a concealed weapon is accidentally revealed to someone that is uneducated about carry laws. I would caution against carrying if the company has a no weapons policy because most carry states that issue permits make it a crime to carry concealed when it is posted that weapons are not allowed.
Thanks Seers, I may reach out to you in another forum (email maybe) for some more advice, easing into carry for me is turning out to be a much bigger strong than learning to handle firearms for the first time. Great post
Thanks Weerd… not Seers. I am going to take my time commenting while on my phone from now on…
Agreed on all. Another thing is carry in your house all of the time as well. It helps you get comfortable with carry in a safe environment AND it’s just a good idea for your own defense.
Yep a gun on you is better than anywhere else, because no matter where you keep your various HD guns, the one on your person will be closer and easier to deploy.
-DEV- “What do you do if you company DOES have a policy about ‘no weapons on campus.’ This means I couldn’t carry in my car either – so I’d pretty much be disarmed 50 hours a week.”
I carry a shoulder bag sort of thing to work, filled with camera, lenses, batteries, GPS and much more. It’s also used to transfer the pistol from the cabin to the trunk and back. For a mid travel stop, discreetly holster the gat and pop the bag back into the trunk. I usually do this before arriving at the actual (Walmart) destination. I have found it do-able to leave the holster on all the time.
45er mentioned the recently signed into law legislation that forbids all but stipulated employers from baring firearms storage in employees personal vehicles in company parking lots. A few things about this new law; first, it specifically applies to Texas CHL permitees only not the general public. Second, there is no stipulated penalty for those companies that fail to comply, this will require someone to “bite the bullet” as it were and be the test case that determines what the burden to companies will be for their non-compliance. Third, the law stipulates the weapon remain locked inside the vehicle while on company property, so transfering a gun from one’s person to some portion of the vehicle not accessable from the vehicle’s interior would be a violation by the CHL permit holder. The law only requires the gun be “concealed from plain view” and “locked within the vehicle” so, no rear-window gun racks, but placed under the drivers seat is perfectly fine as long as you remember to lock the car’s doors.
The foregoing is from my lawyers at Walker, Rice and Wisdom in Houston, not my personal conjecture.
My opinion, this is a workable starting point for such a law. Give things a couple years for people to adjust to this degree of normal and work for a broader application with fewer restrictions next legislative term in 2013 (gotta love that part of Texas). Hopefully we’ll be able to drag Texas State Rifle Association kicking and screaming into support of dropping the word “concealed” from the state’s handgun license laws then as well.
That is one of the reasons I love NM. my vehicle is an extension of my home and other than specifically named places such as schools, companies cannot prevent me from having a firearm in my car on their parking lot.
Pingback: A Change in Culture | Weer'd World