Do you ever "make" someone carrying? Let's experiment.

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jon_in_wv

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When I first started carrying I was always paranoid someone would see I was carrying and would start trouble. I decided I would start intentionally looking out for people carrying to see how many I actually noticed. After several weeks I hadn't seen even ONE. I concluded either people do a pretty good job of concealment or just not that many people carry.

I'm proposing this experiment on a larger scale. For 30 days, starting today, lets all keep and eye out and see if we can notice other people carrying. Don't use your friends who you know carry, I'm talking about strangers. When you go in public and you see one, post it on the thread. NOT who or where they are, just the circumstances of how and why you made them. It might be interesting to see just how well, or poorly, people are doing concealing their weapon. It might also help us all learn a little about out own carry habits.

Ready, go.
 
Cool idea. I will start looking. As a side note, I can only recall "making" one person. My family andI were at lunch and the guy at the table to my right stood up and leaned over and his shirt rode up a bit and exposed the bottem inch or so of a kydex holster. I didnt see the gun so I just assumed he was armed as we were not in a prohibited place,
 
Meh, I've tried, no dice.

But every time I see a guy with an un-tucked dress-shirt or cargo pants that look packed full of something, I wonder. I've only been made a couple times. Both times by two of my employees.
 
I've been actively looking for the past two years! I only think I've seen one and I'm not even sure about it.

The guy was wearing a vest when it was 90 degrees out and humid. That's what first got my attention. And he had a bulge at 3 o'clock. Never actually saw the gun, but I'm pretty sure he had one. He also looked alert while shopping. His eyes were scanning every few seconds and when he noticed me looking at him, he just politely nodded.

That made me think he was carrying even more. He was in "condition yellow," as a lot of people in here like to call it.
 
In Virginia we have open carry. Last Saturday in KFC a young fella was open carrying a parked 1911 cocked and locked. The kids in line were all big eyed and staring. :uhoh: The adults all ignored him.
Joe
 
Such a hard thing to do... As far as I know I've never been made. I can only remember making one person... even then I'm still not sure he was actually carrying.
 
When I worked in the furniture store in Houston Texas back in the 80s and early 90s I made several people carrying. However, they were all off duty or plain clothes LEOs who were just being sloppy about how they concealed.

Not too long after Texas enacted their current concealed handgun laws that allow civilians to get concealed handgun licenses I was working in another furniture store when a man and his wife came in. They were both wearing real big fanny packs in front of them and it was obvious they were carrying. The husband even used his CHL license as ID when he paid for something by check!
 
Here in Indiana we can open carry. I make an honest attempt to conceal but if I slip up no big thing.

Frankly as far as what others are doing, its none of my business.
 
Well, figure that even in the best states, about 5% of people have a permit and many people with permits don't carry all the time (or at all). That puts the odds of finding someone pretty low, even if they are poorly concealed.

Only guy I have made was open carrying at the gas station. Doesn't really count. Although, my g/f noticed a guy with a 1911 last fall.
 
Made a guy in walmart a few months back. Khaki safari vest started me looking. Under that he was wearing a tshirt with the local IDPA club name on it. Then as he passed me I glanced back and he was printing pretty bad. Another time same type of vest, caught a glimpse of a 1911 as the guy turned and it swung.
 
There's a few guys that wear the photographer's vests at local summertime events. Shorts, t shirts and photographer vests.....no cameras.
Kinda obvious that they're carrying.
 
I guess I'm the odd one out here. I've seen quite a few people that were carrying but never bothered to count or say anything to them.
 
Never seen one for sure. I've had a couple people come into work (in a mall) and randomly ask if they're allowed to carry concealed weapons in the mall. I watched them pretty close, because they didn't give me a good vibe. I responded with "I don't think so..." (Totally a lie, but they weren't the kind of people I really wanted to talk guns with. Besides, I was carrying, and I'm not supposed to at work. Didn't really want to clue my boss in on that.) Didn't see any guns on them.

Shoot, I even have a hard time making my brother, and I know what he carries, and right where to look. Concealing effectively really isn't all that hard if you know what you're doing.
 
I have made a bunch over the years... guys on bikes, in stores, undercover cops, even a Secret Service Agent that was undercover. Only one I ever spoke to was the SS agent as it was at work.

Once in Beckley WV, a guy outed himself by dropping his Baby Glock right out of his back pocket onto the lobby floor of the Country Inn and Suites. Thankfully it was just me in the lobby at the time, and I could have made off with a nice Glock because that young man did not even notice. I got his attention pretty quickly though with a "Hey pal, you just dropped defenses on the floor!". He was just a little taken aback.
 
When I first started carrying I plopped down a little too hard in a dinner's hard laminated booth. The butt of my 1911 smacked the back of the booth with a rather resounding "clunk." The three cops in the booth across the aisle looked up for a second and then went back to their meal. :uhoh:

Once, I was with a female friend who was appendix carrying at an outdoors art festival. At some time the wind had blown her blouse up over the butt of her gun and it stayed there for who knows how long before I spotted it. I have no idea how long it was like that but I didn't notice anyone staring or even seeming to notice.
 
I've had that happen too. Twice somebody walked too close to me and smacked an elbow on the slide of my M&P. Another time I was walking between two cars and the butt of my weapon smacked the rear view mirror of a guys car. I turned around and the guy was sitting in the driver seat. I apologized and he just smiled. I don't know if any of them knew what was hit. A few months ago I was leaving a movie and when the guy in front of me walked out he leaned over to the trash can and I saw the bottom of a nice leather belt holster hanging out from below his shirt.

Honestly, I think a lot of cops do the WORST job of concealing. I lived in California years ago and a guy was walking through the Carl's Jr. I was at and you could CLEARLY see the outline of a Glock in his fanny pack. His cop t-shirt and cop hat were a big clue too.

But really this should be about sightings for the NEXT 30 days. Do us a favor and keep score. First person to see one is number one, and so on.
 
At work earlier today, I spotted a guy with a rather large bulge under his t-shirt at his right hip. It was about the size and shape of a holstered 1911.

I work behind a parts counter and spot an average of two a month, not counting friends or customers I know to be LEOs.

Vernon
 
Welcome to THR!

I've made a decent number. The one person I made the most, a friend of mine, believed people rarely noticed. It wasn't uncommon for me to quietly tell him to pull his cover garment down while we were out, as he was flashing a Glock or XD.

With practice, folks can stay in condition yellow without "broadcasting". ;)

John
 
Making friends whom you KNOW carries weapon isn't the same thing as making a stranger you see on the street don't you think?
 
What a timely post! About an hour ago (before seeing this thread) I was in Wendy's having a frosty, and unmistakably made a guy carrying a full size something or other in SOB. The grip printed quite prominently through his knit shirt, and the barrel... well, let's just say that most humans don't have tails like a boxer dog stuffed down the back of their pants. No way the guy could sit down.

I've been looking for years, and never seen what I thought was a concealed gun... until tonight.
 
Police do the worst job of concealing because they don't HAVE to worry about concealing. If someone spots their gun (another LEO or otherwise), they just whip out their police ID. If someone reports a man with a gun, they just get to say hi to Bob(the annoying coworker who works Saturdays) instead of being ordered to lie face down on the ground.

Also, they don't have to worry about being in places that are off-limits, as those rules do not generally apply to peace officers. So basically, there's little incentive for them to worry about being "made."

Plus, if an anti spots it and confronts them about it, asking why they "need" a gun, they can just respond that there are a lot of dangerous people out on parole that would love to murder the person responsible for putting them behind bars in the first place.
 
I'm not interested in who may or may not be carrying.

I may notice if they look like they fell out of a 511 catalog, but otherwise I just go about my business.
 
I started carrying a mouse gun in my front jeans pocket a couple of weeks ago. My wife is sitting 4 feet away from me and she has no idea I have a gun in my pocket.
 
A few weeks ago, I was getting lunch at Subway and I could make out the outline of a shoulder holster straps on the woman in line in front of me. Can't say that I've made anyone else.
 
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