Why would you do this?
Is it comfortable when sitting or bending over?
Doesn’t it violate one of the gun safety rules?
Who here carry’s that way and what do you find to be the advantages?
I will preface this by saying that my default “primary handgun” carry, in normal conditions, is conventional OWB, at or nearly muzzle-vertical. I am not trying to convert anyone to AIWB carry.
1. Why would I do this? Well, it can provide a solution to carrying some firearms, in some situations, in a very physically-defensible place on my body.
2. Is it comfortable? Well, it depends. There is a natural hollow, in the area of the inguinal crease, so, the more the weapon conforms to the shape of this hollow area, the better the comfort factor. On my body, that generally means revolvers work better, and, the smaller, the better. Blocky pistols, especially with accessory rails, just do not work for me, inside my trousers, forward of the points of the hip bones.
3. Does “it” violate one of the gun safety rules? I will first say that every holster “points” the holstered weapon at someone, or some thing, at some times. Even if my holster is a duty rig, at 0300, with zero degrees of rake or cant, the muzzle will orient itself toward someone, in such environments as a multi-story building. Assuming a covered trigger guard, and proper function of the fire control parts, such holstered weapons do not fire themselves, so these risks are usually deemed acceptable. I will assert that it is generally possible to insert the weapon into the AIWB holster in such as way that the muzzle does not point at any part of one’s anatomy. There will, after insertion, be incidental movement of one’s body parts into the “path” of the holstered weapon, but I could say the same of other holsters, too, especially ankle rigs, but even many “conventional” hip holsters, too. I take the “rule” to mean that one does not hold a gun, with one’s hand, while pointing it in an unsafe direction.
4. I, here, have carried AIWB. The advantages, as I indicated above, are that it allows some firearms to be better concealed in some situations, in a position that has some advantages in defending the weapon. “Defending” includes warding-off undesired discovery-by-contact, as contact with one’s inguinal-to-crotch area is generally considered provocative.
Having said this, I am more likely to want to use the inguinal crease area to carry a spare magazine, and/or a blade, than a firearm.
I will add that holstering a firearm, into ANY holster, is safer if my thumb can “ride” the back of a hammer, or, in case of Condition One pistols, ride the top of the hammer. There is a device made for some striker pistols that provides a similar safety advantage.
