Got Made (Kind of) While CCWing at Work - How to Proceed?

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Little Wolf

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First, I'd like to say that I live in a gun friendly state, and as such I carry everyday in defense of my life, liberty, and property. Work is no exception, and even though we have typical business casual dress (slacks, button down shirts) my comp-tac holster makes carrying very comortable and discret with basically no prining. The clips are the only give away. I work in a relativly small office, about 25 employees. A couple of weeks ago a new employee just came on with us. End of his first week he noticed my C clips on my belt from my comp-tac CTAC holster. He seemed to be a nosey guy as he asked,

"What are those clips on your belt there?"

I simply just replied "Belt clips"

"For what?"

"For attaching a cell phone, pda, ipod, etc."

"Oh."

Anyways, I thought that was the end of it. The excuse has always worked in the past and ended discusison, most people don't even notice it as my rig is a very discreet setup. Only the ends of the clips where they grab the belt are visible. In addition, I usually tuck my shirt in so that I have a fold of cloth that covers the top portion of the clip.

A week later, on the same day we were having a conversation with a couple other people and during a lull in the conversation the new guy goes,

"I still want to know what those clips are for!"

I couldn't beleive that he was

A.) still checking me out there

B.) asking about it after I already "told him" what it was.

In a joking manner I inquire as to why he is checking out my pelvic area! He states he just wants to know, but I walked away and the discussion ended. He is now away on a week of company training, but I wonder how much of a threat this guy is. I don't want him drawing other, mind their own business types, into looking at my rig. I don't like him attracting attention about it. I don't know whether to try to avoid him, to keep lying to him, or to bring him aside one day (maybe when out for a few drinks with him) and just level with him?

Currently, though, no one in the offices knows I carry and I would like it to stay that way. What they don't know can't effect them. I don't want to cause a panic, or ripples in the water.

Any advice and info would be appreciated. Thank you.
 
I'd switch to SmartCarry for a week or two, and put some new "clips" in place. When he asks again, pull off a clip with a zip lock bag of foulness and explain it is your colostomy. Alternatively, you could have a small electronic device with a clear tube going into your shirt and call it a cerebral rectal fluid inversion pump.
 
You should very nicely and politely say to him (when you're all alone), "I'm a little embarrassed about this, but I was afraid you'd mention it again in front of other employees {and I really am embarrassed about this} - the clips are to hold my colostomy bag".
 
The people who run this bulletin board will tell you never to break the rules. It's their bulletin board, they're paying for it, and I'm all for them doing what they want with it, but bear in mind it's very self-consciously called The High Road which corresponds to obeying the rules. If your company forbids guns (as most do) then you'll mainly hear that you shouldn't carry at work.

Amazingly (to me), I agree. Not because I don't believe in breaking the rules, but because I try to imagine what a reasonable person would do and then I do that. It's a trick I've developed. You've got to think about this holistically. Unless you're independently wealthy or own your own business, you need a job. If you get canned because you got caught carrying at work, you're in a jam, you and everybody who counts on you. You owe your family. You're not really solving any problem by carrying at work; you're creating a problem--for yourself and your family. You're not a secret agent; you're not saving the world by packing a rod. Your gun either helps you or it hurts you. At work, it only hurts you. I say leave it in your car. If you ride the train to work, well, then you'll have to leave it at home.

If your company forbids carrying at work (and I think pretty much all of them do) then don't carry at work. I'm as nutty a 2nd Amendment type as there is, but I never carry at work. You're not even supposed to have a gun in your car where I work, but everybody does, so I don't worry about that.
 
Little Wolf:

I must respectfully disagree with the other posters.

Your attempts at discretion, while noteworthy, are obviously lacking. You've brought this problem on yourself. The guy may be nosey, but had you not tipped him off, he wouldn't have a clue.

I like the humorous suggestions, but you may find telling him the truth the best option and maybe a chance to recruit a fellow handgunner.

Don't hold his curiousity against the new guy, keep the blame where it belongs.

Kowboy
 
What Joe said, and

Concealed means concealed. Something is not concealed, fess up, produce a cholostomy bag or find a new carry system and/or piece. I would respect your privacy, but some people are just wired nosey, and if you can't trust them you'll have to adapt accordingly. A small keltec, NAA or Rohrbaugh might do the trick. Plenty of pocket sized revolvers to choose from also since you did not state your preferences.

This could be just the excuse you need to justify your purchase of something new in the name of even greater discretion.:D

jeepmor
 
I rarely find satisfying nosey peoples curosity to be a good thing.


I would politely point out you already answered him and then let him know your done talking about it.

Also, what the heck is a "new employee" doing going around sticking his nose in your business and annoying people.
 
CCW OK at work?

If there are no rules then I suggest you switch to the Smart Carry rig and get this guy off your back.

If the butt-in-ski keeps pushing and tells the right boss then there might be a new rule at work you might have to live with.

Alternativley, you have told him the clips are for connecting a cell phone or some such. Get that something and next time he asks just put it on the clips or better yet already have it there so he will shut the heck up.

Of course, the colostomy bag line is pretty good too.
 
I deflect unwelcome questions with more of my own. For example:

Nosey Moron: What are those clips for?
Me: What is your social security number?
N.M.: What?
Me: Empty your pockets please.
N.M.: Why should I?
Me: Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to remove your shoes.

It works for me.
 
I don't know that I'd "come clean" with the guy, he sounds borderline "socially retarded" and you don't know what he'd do with the info.

My suggestion would be to "conceal" your firearm. And the holster too.
 
saspic ~

Brilliant!

Little Wolf ~

I'd switch to another carry method for awhile. SmartCarry, or a belly band, or a tiny gun in a pocket holster. Get the clips out of sight.

Or keep on with the CTAC and when the jerk asks about the clips again (he surely will) go with saspic's method, if you think you can carry it off. Problem is, now that the jerk has started talking about it, there's a good chance that anyone who has heard or will hear the questions will also wonder about the clips. I think it's probably better to dodge the questions if you can, but that's a judgement call for you to make.

I wouldn't stop carrying, as long as you're legal (I would never advise anyone to break the law).

pax
 
saspic's rejoinder is MUCH better than what mine would have been. Especially the second time the dweeb asked, I think my response would been along the lines of something that we can't write out verbatim here without upsetting Art' grammaw, something akin to "*** business is it of yours? Do I ask you how you hold up your underwear?"

BTW -- is it against either the law or company policy for you to be carrying at work? Never mind "I'd rather be private" -- is it against the law or the rules?

Personally, I would try to avoid the guy like I'd avoid a known carrier of bubonic plague. However, if this proves impossible and he hits on you again, I think it might be appropriate to put him in his place: "Has anyone ever mentioned to you that you are exceptionally nosey? Excuse me, I have things to do."
 
I see two different things regarding the 'High Road' Legal vs company policy. Telling to do something illegal is one thing, telling someone to ignore company policy (which of course can get you fired) is a whole different ballpark in my book.


Regarding the nosey guy, he may well be a gunner too, but doesn't want to tip his hand. Before you give him the total shove off, test the waters for his gunneryness. Set out something that says molon labe, especially in greek, and see if he comments positively on it (greek is good, it would be harder for him to type the greek version into google) or the hobo 'man with gun lives here' symbol. Hell, next time he asks, draw it, ask him what it means/is. If he knows you got a buddy, if you don't tell him 'well I am just trying to give you something else totally meaningless to think about all the time'

finally if he doesn't back off, use the old '

I am uncomfortable with your continual comments and attention about my cloths and body. If you are romatically interested in me and just expressing it a way I am not familiar with, let me be clear, I am not interested in you in that way, and never will be. Please cease this attention, I have no desire to get Human Resources involved, I only desire for it to stop.'

that in a memo or a note you can pull out of your pocket should stop any and all comments about you whatsoever.
 
... and I'm all for them doing what they want with it, but bear in mind it's very self-consciously called The High Road which corresponds to obeying the rules. If your company forbids guns (as most do) then you'll mainly hear that you shouldn't carry at work.
Click to expand...

Spend more time here and you will find that our members are overwhelmingly in favor of carrying whenever legal, not with following a company's legally non-binding regulations.

Accept the fact that you may be fired, or re-evaluate your decision to work there.
 
What is employer's policy re carrying?

LOL at saspic!

"Accept the fact that you may be fired, or re-evaluate your decision to work there." If carrying is against company policy, I tend to agree.
 
Little wolf has given me no reason to expect the company has a no-CCW policy, or at least he has not stated they have one.

Given this, I'd still go way out of my way to be discrete rather than muddy up the waters- most employers who don't have a policy just haven't gotten around to writing one, and if they do, you won't like it.

My former employer had a break in several years ago, I was the first person on scene after the police. Was a good opportunity, so I asked what company policy was. He looked at the S & W 4506 I was wearing, and said "Don't ask, don't tell." Far as I know that is still the unofficial policy. Several pro-CCW co workers and I got together after that, and made informal rules about who would take care of what, and generally keep things discrete and safe. For instance, I'd take mine out of the holster and bring it into the building in my 'tech bag' which I carried tools, etc. in every day, and keep it locked in a tool box when at my workbench. If I had to go to the office, or bathroom, etc. I knew my buddy in the next station could keep an eye on things should anyone unauthorized be in my area.

All this assumes (a) you have a CCW friendly company, and (b) trustworthy, firearms safe co-workers. Neither, I'm pained to say, are very common.
 
sapsic said:
I deflect unwelcome questions with more of my own. For example:

Nosey Moron: What are those clips for?
Me: What is your social security number?
N.M.: What?
Me: Empty your pockets please.
N.M.: Why should I?
Me: Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to remove your shoes.

It works for me.
Click to expand...

Perfect!
 
Yeah, until he makes a fuss and a supervisor comes to sort things out. Then the supervisor wants to know what the clips on your belt are for. :uhoh:

I'd lose the clips myself, or keep your belt covered. If carrying will get you fired, I'd leave it home for a few weeks, then switch to something which is completely concealed -- probably pocket carry in an office environment.

Even a complete lackwit will be able to figure out what those beltclips are for, given enough time. Especially if you don't ever hang anything off them, and don't have a halfway convincing story for why they're on your belt. :scrutiny:
 
If the supervisor asks, tell him it's for a medical device and they will shut their mouth pretty quick usually.

And you aren't lying. It could keep you alive, or cause medical problems for someone else :neener:
 
If your company forbids CCW on site this individual will eventually be serious trouble for you! :cuss: He may think you have a hidden tape recorder or something but this issue does not seem to want to fade away meaning watch your BACON! If this is the case and you want to keep your job you have some heavy duty soul searching to do -- Pronto! :scrutiny: While this may sound #:?#@!!, it is a fact of life these days -- Your Choice!

If the Company has no policy concerning CCW on site IGNORE this Noisy Individual! I work for a Bank in their Main Computer Center; CCW on premises is not even an option -- Immediate Termination is the rule! :banghead:


:evil:
 
hobo 'man with gun lives here' symbol
Click to expand...
Okay, my curiousity is piqued. What is this vagabond sigil?

{edit} Google results:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo
http://www.epcc.edu/ftp/Homes/monicaw/borderlands/12_hobo_sign_language.htm

no luck so far, but oddly enough I found the answer on an offshoot site of Brunching Shuttlecocks a now defunct Bay-area humor site.

http://www.bookofratings.com/hobosigns.html

hobosign-manwithgun.jpg
 
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