Carrying at the Beach

Personally I wouldn't carry a firearm that wasn't actually being carried on my person. Stuff happens at a beach, your kid gets knocked over in the surf and both you and your wife run to help and leave the bag unattended. Or like you said eventually the kid will be able to rummage through said bag.

I have a NAA .22 that I've carried at the beach once in a zippered pocket, but when I got back to the condo the barrel and cylinders were PACKED full of sand. Since them I've opted to not carry when I was going to get in the water, but I may try some sort of waterproof bag in the future. If there's enough slack I'll still be able to cock the hammer and pull the trigger with a design like the NAA has.

This year a guy near me made that one mistake. That simple little mistake that everybody on this planet will make. He forgot. His 5 year old son shot his self in the face. Is it Really worth the Risk.

troy fairweather said:

there is always the fanny pack, may work good.

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That is what I use when we take a long walk, I am not leaving my wallet and keys on our towel/chair.

I stuff my gun in my Speedo and all the Women follow me around.

BlueHeelerFl said:

I would suggest having the gun on you since its too easy for a bag to be stolen or Accidently picked up.

Swim trunks with a zippered pocket or even cargo shorts would work.

Then carry a corrosion resistant j frame or lcr type revolver in a plastic bag. If needed the revolver can be fired inside the bag.

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Very good point about the revolver.

Jack Ryan said:

Don't go to dangerous beaches?

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I guess there are some places that are obviously "dangerous". But how dangerous would anyone have thought the Gilroy garlic festival was?

mrblenderson said:

This resulted in a wide variety of responses from ridicule to advice but the overwhelming response was something to the effect of "if you genuinely think you need a gun while you are swimming in your own pool or showering in your own house there is either something wrong with you or you need to move."

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Where I used to live (L.A.) it was the latter. I was always armed in the house. Did not have a pool but probably wouldn't have gone swimming in it if I had. When I took a shower I had the gun in the linen closet just outside the bathroom door, and a get-off-me knife hanging right next to the shower. Here in AZ I leave the gun in the bed holster when I'm home, highly unlikely I'll ever need it though.

THAT was a GFZ. Beaches are not. Beaches are easy targets, even if you are close. One distraction and a thief has your bag and is running faster than most of us can manage. I never bring anything on the beach of value except my car key. Everything else is locked inside where no one can see anything.

I frequently embarrass my wife by proudly carrying in the black nylon fanny pack, with the wallet and cell phone in the front pocket.

If swimming, I have nothing for you. If not: you are shorts and t-shirt dad, aren't you? Just carry as usual. I have managed to do AIWB without printing (much) after getting soaked and while wearing a UA Tee (clingy!) so it is pretty safe. Assuming seashore, DO clean the holster and gun every time; doesn't have to be immersed, salt environment will do a number on metal things, and the sand isn't good for you either.

I've also gotten away with a fannypack a lot more when I have a toddler. Make sure it has some essential kid things (e.g. sunscreen) in there in the not-gun side, and you just look prepared, maybe more so than mom who always leaves the purse/diaper bag/beach bag back somewhere else.

mrblenderson said:

At least in Florida it's definitely legal to carry in the zoo or library, even if if it is a state, county, or local government facility.

Doctor's office I think is the only gray area, but I believe that the reason that's often off-limits is because federal laws prohibit carrying in mental health facilities and almost all hospitals have some sort of mental health facility in the building.

I should note the one place that I do not carry is in my son's daycare, because they have a VPK program so I believe that it could count technically as a "school." That one may be gray as well, but I am also concerned that if I were ever made there he might not be welcome back regardless of the legality and I don't want to go down that road.

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I know some Government building are off limits to carry ( the main health dept building was on county property), but that doesn't apply to libraries even though that would be county property as well?

Jack Ryan said:

Don't go to dangerous beaches?

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Nowadays any beach, like any location, can become dangerous.

I would be more concerned on the walk to and from the parking lot than the beach itself to having a dangerous robbery attempt. Where someone mugs you vs someone grabbing a bag and running while your in the sand or surf.

Like shoobe01 said, no real good solution if you're swimming. My swim trunks have a supposedly waterproof pocket/pouch but I don't trust it enough to put a firearm in there. I don't really like swimming so I usually just wear a tshirt and shorts and pocket carry my LCP II.

mrblenderson said:

Curious about the doctor's office, zoo, and library as based on my understanding it is not illegal to carry at any of those places? Even if those places are "gun free" wouldn't that fall under the category of "not illegal but if they tell you to leave because you're made you are now trespassing?"

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I recently dropped in at a branch of the Scottsdale library that has a used bookstore inside since it was on my way home from an estate sale where I found exactly zero books to sell... Very cute, they have a sign no firearms allowed, please use the gun lockers provided on such-and-such side of the building. Gotta love Arizona!!!

You do not get to pick or choose where the Monster may rear his head.

mrblenderson said:

Curious about the doctor's office, zoo, and library as based on my understanding it is not illegal to carry at any of those places? Even if those places are "gun free" wouldn't that fall under the category of "not illegal but if they tell you to leave because you're made you are now trespassing?"

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IL has a long list of prohibited places including doctors office, zoo, playgrounds, museums, libraries.... all the places you bring your children are GFZ in IL. Makes absolutely no sense to a rational person... but theres the rub- no gun laws make rational sense now do they?
So, if you are made in these places you are going to jail which means your kids are now in the care of DCFS.

Well, I NEVER thought I would say this, but this seems to be a case for a gun with an external safety and an internal lock.

1. Always have the external safety engaged when not drawn.

2. If you are hanging your belt holster over the shower and such where your child may find it, use a level 2 or 3 holster if OWB, otherwise engage the internal lock.

3. Engage the internal lock when your firearm is not on your person.

btw I HATE external safeties and internal locks but, then again, my dogs have never drawn on me

PS: Get extra internal lock keys if possible.

My post about the LCP and lots of oil, was intended to be tongue in cheek, sorry for the humor.

On body carry is preferable and doable at the beach. Any handgun can be carried in a fanny pack, a belly band under a 1 size up tee shirt makes a LCP size gun disappear.
Off body is risky, but better than nothing.
As far as beaches being safe my Wife was the victim of an armed robbery on a beach in Hawaii (dusk, she surrendered her purse and the assailant took off). ABC (always be carring).

ColtPythonElite said:

A drop leg tactical rig and Speedo would make a statement.

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Hey, leave me out of this.

old lady new shooter said:

Where I used to live (L.A.) it was the latter. I was always armed in the house. Did not have a pool but probably wouldn't have gone swimming in it if I had. When I took a shower I had the gun in the linen closet just outside the bathroom door, and a get-off-me knife hanging right next to the shower. Here in AZ I leave the gun in the bed holster when I'm home, highly unlikely I'll ever need it though.

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What, no shower or pajama holsters? lol

Jeb Stuart said:

You do not get to pick or choose where the Monster may rear his head.

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Agreed. You don’t get to pick when you will need your gun. That said, I’m mere miles from the Redneck Riviera, and beaches do have their share of riff raff. Our local LEOs maintain a very noticeable presence and the lifeguards all have walkie talkies. Heck, I actually fell a smidge safer at the beach than I do at the local wal mart. Fact is, thugs don’t typically sport AFTCOs and bikinis and prowl the hot-as-hell sandy beach. Now when on the boat, yep, I’ll toss a piece into my back pack because there are far more idiots on boats running the ICW and island/sand bar hopping than you’d think, and it’s easy to get away under power than across a hot parking lot in flip flops.

Speedo66 said:

What, no shower or pajama holsters? lol

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<g>

No pajama holsters.

Bed holster:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00POOTWYW

Get a Galco PH158 pocket holster for the j frame and keep it in your pocket. If you're go swimming or don't want to carry it for another reason, lock it in a steel box in the car. Combo locks are better than keys because as kids get older they will know where the key is. The best boxes are the Fort Knox series with the mechanical simplex buttons. I understand you have something like this in your home. Basically, you need one in your car too. The diaper bag won't do, nor will any wimpy compartment like the locking glovebox or center console. Get a steel box. Whatever anybody else says, theft of a j frame is a small loss, so keep focusing on the more serious risks and don't let yourself be distracted. It's not complicated. If it's not under your control in your holster on your person, then you want it to be locked in a steel box. If you want, you can easily get a steel box that will fit in the diaper bag, a backpack, or messenger bag, but I think if it's in there, it's no more accessible there than being left in the car in the same lock box. But unless you're going in the water, you can keep it in your pocket.

I wear a wetsuit when I go swimming and I haven't really given serious consideration to trying to fit a gun in it. If I go to the beach, I'm much more likely to bring pepper spray. I don't swim with it either, but I don't mind leaving it with my towel or whatever. I wouldn't leave a gun in a diaper bag, but pepper spray, sure. I would much rather have pepper spray available in a beach environment where I could end up in an altercation with belligerent drunks, out-of-control dogs, or the proverbial beach bully Bluto. Those situations almost always allow for de-escalation or avoidance and those are the best courses taken. Home invasion, sex assault, mugging, armed robbery and carjacking don't lend themselves to the kind of de-escalation or avoidance we can choose with bullies at the beach. You want the appropriate tools in the toolbox for the situations you're most likely to encounter, especially when you can't bring the kitchen sink such as when you're swimming.