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Rocky’s Reloading Room |
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Concealed Carry: The Day-to-day Trials
Practically every gun-related magazine today has articles about concealed carry. Invariably, the focus is on which gun or which holster is best. None so far have centered on what the citizen gun wearer really needs to know: how to discretely and correctly cope with the daily vexations brought about by concealed carry. None, in short, tell us how to live with a gun. Don't know what I mean? Quick - what do you do with the gun when you go to the bathroom? What happens when someone spots your gun? How do you respond to a police officer while armed? If you've never thought about these situations, you've never worn concealed. If you're a new concealed wearer, you've been struck with these situations from day one, but may not have learned how to handle them. You'll probably never have such things mentioned in any gun class you may attend. Nor will you find help in the law and regulation package you receive with your permit. You may, however, profit from the experiences of other gun wearers. What follows is a series of anecdotes and situations that have happened to me or to others I have interviewed. Each is common enough that it almost certainly will occur to you sometime. And while the responses may not have been the best in each situation, they may help you to formulate, in advance, your own plan of response.
Situation One: Paranoia When I was issued my carry permit, the friendly state agent made it abundantly clear to me that concealed carry means just that: flash or display the gun in public and I lose the permit. The fear of accidently revealing my gun has led to a variety of almost comical behaviors. Because light jackets never seemed long enough, I found myself constantly plucking the waistband down. Once, I stood helpless, afraid to reach for an item on a high shelf in the grocery store. In checkout lines, I would squirm nearly sideways so that the person behind me wouldn't jostle into me and feel the very hard lump on my hip. Yes, these actions seem silly; but until you begin to carry a concealed gun, you cannot believe how forcefully it can make its presence known to you. Overcoming these paranoid feelings is a challenge. Fortunately, time does indeed heal all. Your initial fears stem largely from the fact that wearing a concealed gun in public is a very new and strange experience. As you wear one more often the strangeness will largely but never completely disappear. I say never completely because your training in situational awareness will always be there. You will never really forget that you are wearing. But it will eventually begin to feel normal. Second, you will soon realize that most of the public is oblivious to what goes on around them. Unless you act very strangely, you are for all intents invisible. Besides, there are numerous non-gun items worn on people's belts these days. Even if part of your holster shows briefly, most people will ignore it or assume it's a beeper, folding knife or cellular phone. Under normal circumstances, if you're wearing correctly, you won't be noticed at all.
Situation Two: Nature calls But what about when you can't wear correctly? The most common example of this situation involves calls of nature. The first time I entered a stall and prepared to lower my pants, I froze with a horrible image in my mind. I envisioned my pistol falling out of its small-of-the-back holster and splashing into the toilet. So I carefully drew the gun, but discovered that I couldn't hold it and simultaneously undress. There was nowhere to put the gun down. On the floor it would be readily visible to the user of the adjacent stall, and there was no shelf or level surface anywhere. Nor could I unload it without making highly recognizable and distinctly out-of-place noises. I stood there gun in hand and completely flummoxed. Go ahead and laugh - until you find yourself in the same place. My solution? After locking the stall door, I slowly and carefully draw my gun and double check the safety is on. Then I hang it by its trigger guard from the coat hook until I'm finished. If there is no coat hook, I hang the gun on the flush lever. In the latter case, I completely dress and reholster before I flush, to avoid knocking the gun loose. To keep the holster from lying in plain sight on the floor, I lower my pants only to my knees and hold them there. Incidentally, I have also learned to avoid button-fly jeans when wearing a gun. There's just no way to unbuckle and unbutton at the urinal without having the gun flop around precariously loose. Still, no matter how careful you are, someone will eventually discover that you are wearing a gun.
Situation Three: Oops! Once, while sliding into a restaurant booth, the hammer of my pistol scraped a foot-long gouge in the simulated leather of the backrest. To my horror, the hostess seating me was staring right at the huge rip. Another time, (at a Junior League dinner no less) I absent-mindedly hitched up my suit pants and somehow dislodged the tiny .22 auto stuck in my waistband. It fell inside my pants leg then skittered off across the floor, stopping between the shoes of the very proper lady with whom I was chatting. In the restaurant situation, I immediately pulled down my jacket, mumbled something about my comb sticking out and profusely apologized to the hostess with an offer to pay for the damage. I never mentioned my gun and neither did the hostess. Either she hadn't seen it at all, wasn't sure what she had seen, or perhaps coolly chose to ignore it. In any event, she said accidents will happen and declined even my offer of payment. Relying on my own politeness and the hostess's professional courtesy served to disguise and defuse this potential discovery. But there was no way to camouflage the little black pistol lying between the demure toes of my dinner companion. Instead, I quickly picked it up and dropped it into my pants pocket without even a break in my sentence, following with a whispered "Sorry about that." Showing only a small amount of uneasiness, the lady asked if I were a policeman or something. With both my hands now plainly in sight and empty, I smiled and said that I was not, but was carrying legally and with good intentions. Then I returned to the previous conversation as if nothing had occurred. Later, the lady's husband approached me and said she had told him I had a gun. He asked why, quietly but not too gently. I replied that while I felt no threat whatever at the dinner gathering, I was less comfortable about walking my wife to our car at that time of night. He relaxed and the evening went back to normal. My initial response to possible discovery is to be a bit vague and distinctly apologetic and unthreatening. If there is some doubt that the gun has actually been seen, as in the restaurant, I don't volunteer its presence. If the gun has definitely been seen, as at the dinner, I minimize the disturbance as much as possible, quietly reassure the discoverer about my intentions and emphasize that I am acting legally. That works fine with most people, but isn't enough when the discovery is official. Situation Four: Jeepers, the cops! My wife and I were attending a baseball game, and I was wearing a gun in a fanny pack. Just after passing through the ticket stile, a city policeman approached me and asked me to step aside. Nodding to the pack, he asked if I were armed. He was clearly on alert and his hand hovered at his own sidearm. I immediately admitted that I was carrying a gun and my carry permit, then politely asked what the officer would like me to do at that point, sir. All the time, I kept my hands plainly in sight, hanging at my sides and absolutely still. After producing the carry permit, I was allowed to proceed and enjoy the game. Another time, we had just enjoyed a dinner out, and were driving home when we and all other cars were stopped at a mobile sobriety check. An officer approached, looked carefully into my truck and asked if I had had anything to drink that evening. My gun was hanging behind the passenger head rest in a holster, but not in plain sight. This time, I did not mention the gun and we were waved on with no complications. Had I had been asked, I would have responded exactly as I had at the ballpark. Again, I have learned to be completely truthful but not to volunteer information unless asked. If directly asked by a police officer or security guard about being armed, I immediately confirm the fact, ask for instructions, then cooperate fully and amicably. Other gun owners have told me that they automatically present their carry permit along with their drivers license when asked to provide identification. This does alert the officer that a gun is legally present, but may also be unnecessary in most situations. I prefer to let the officer raise the issue. In any event, while being interviewed I always keep my hands in plain sight, smile and be polite. After all, it is undoubtedly much more tense on the officer's side of the situation than on mine. I know I'm no threat but the officer doesn't know it.
Situation Five: Keep Out Besides strangers and police officers, our friends sometimes cause awkward moments. I was walking with a friend who was unaware that I was carrying a gun, when he suddenly turned and stepped into the Post Office we were passing. Knowing that it is a federal offense to wear a gun onto Postal Service property, I stopped dead. I couldn't immediately think of any plausible reason to stay out in the cold drizzle while he went inside. And so I walked into the lobby with him, but stood near the door while he went through the line. My response was perhaps understandable, but it wasn't very smart. In retrospect, what I should have done was offer to buy us both some coffee and meet my friend when he came out. But I was caught completely off guard by his abrupt action, and simply took the course of least resistance. Luckily, I got away with it. Had I been discovered, I'd likely have forever forfeited my right to even own a gun. The point is that incorrectly wearing a gun can be more than a minor and temporary embarrassment. It can be a serious crime.
Without doubt, wearing a concealed firearm is a serious decision. It carries a plenitude of responsibilities, not all of
which are addressed in the law or in our training. Further, while many situations involving concealed carry are of little
consequence or even humorous, none are trivial. The hardest part of concealed carry isn't in choosing a gun or a
holster, it's in the daily effort of wearing one both discretely and correctly. |