Carrying at the Beach

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mrblenderson

mrblenderson

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We go to the beach every weekend with our toddler, who will be 2 in September.

I carry 100% of the time that I'm out of the house.

I have always kept my gun hidden but quickly accessible in the diaper bag, which I am comfortable with as one of us is always next to the bag under our umbrella and the little guy is not capable of opening it himself.

I'm trying to figure out what to do in the future as it won't be long before he is able to open the bag and will likely be curious about digging around in it.

Any suggestions?
 
I'm just throwing this out as a brainstorm, and I don't know the size/weight of your weapon, but what about a small zipper case for your weapon, zip tied or lashed out of reach at the high point of the umbrella pole. If you lash it, use a prusik knot to keep it from sliding down. It may keep it out of reach for a few more years, especially for a lightweight revolver or pistol in lightweight j-frame or LCP size.

You'll eventually have to have the conversation with your child about what is in the case, but showing him will ease his curiosity to search it himself.
 
Just a couple of ideas. Maybe one of those plastic police style holsters with the hidden release? Or maybe carrying an auto with the chamber empty?
 
mrblenderson said:
I carry 100% of the time that I'm out of the house.

I have always kept my gun hidden but quickly accessible in the diaper bag, which I am comfortable with as one of us is always next to the bag under our umbrella and the little guy is not capable of opening it himself.
Click to expand...
Are you wanting to actually "carry" the gun, or just have it somewhat near? You don't actually "carry" 100% of the time if it's in a diaper bag, unless, I suppose, the diaper bag is over your shoulder at all times, which would be a bit weird at the beach.
 
I do something that is often frowned upon here by some... I play the odds. While one never knows what life will through their way, I make a calculation. What are the odds that while I am at the beach for a couple hours that I will be required use a firearm? What are the odds that some lowlife will snatch an unwatched bag while enjoying my time with my kiddio? What are the odds my little guy digs around and finds my pistol while I'm preoccupied?

I'm not a fan of unsecured guns simply because life happens more often than a direct threat occurs.

My beach/lake gun, when I carry there, I just go with a cheap NAA .22 magnum stuffed into the money pocket of my trunks.
 
It is an unfortunate fact of life that it is just not practical to carry at all times. Im having to come to terms with that myself as my kid is 3 now. Too often I end up leaving the gun locked in the car. First it was out of necessity ( cant carry at doctors office, zoo, library for example). Now more and more its out of convenience basically. Its so hard to keep hidden at certain places ( rolling around the playground with him for example). So many baby/ kid friendly places are not CC friendly (which unfortunately makes perfect sense to antis and certain types of parents).
A big worry of mine when the gun is stashed is that a kid will find it. I lock it up when not on me to prevent that from happening... so the diaper bag, hanging bag, buried in the sand etc is not an option in my mind.
It becomes a numbers game at that point... odds of needing it vs odds of some kid finding it. Kids be kids right? Sure they shouldnt be in your bag/car/house but they will... and last thing anyone wants is an accident, right?
Sorry, long rant to say... keep it on your hip or in the car.
 
Empty chamber? There are some adults that can’t chamber a round on some compact semiautos, kids can’t on lots of them.
 
I know I'm going to catch some flack here. I am one hundred percent pro gun, pro 2nd amendment, pro carry if you need, pro freedom. But, Your kid will come of age when he/she will be into everything. If you are like me and everybody else in the world you are very capable of making mistakes. You don't want to make a mistake with a gun around your kid. Consider leaving you gun locked away where your kid is present. Is it really worth the risk?
 
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.
 
ColtPythonElite said:
A drop leg tactical rig and Speedo would make a statement.
Click to expand...

I think it's, " I'm a good swimmer" or " I'm going to drown".:D


Water won't hurt a firearm. Leaving it unmaintained after is what does it.

Most Auto-Loaders would work in a Ziplock bag, too. The pressure from firing is going to shred the bag. Hopefully the slide won't be crammed with plastic, but it will work once..
 
Lots of great replies here, I appreciate it.

This reminds me of a similar situation a few years ago:

When I first started carrying I carried 100% of the time I was awake (I do agree as someone noted above that if it's not on me it doesn't count as "carrying") and so that included all the time that I was at home. I was trying to see what other people did with their gun when they were in the shower or the pool on a different forum.

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."

After reflecting on all of this I realized that I truly do not need a gun on me at home, we live in a very safe area and have large dogs, locked doors, security system, etc. I keep it in a quick-access safe when I'm at home and haven't thought twice about it.

In general that led me to consider my life in general, and I have more or less come to the conclusion that it is highly unlikely that I will ever need a gun given where I live and my day-to-day life, habits, lifestyle etc. This is part of the reason I carry a J-frame - I probably won't ever need a gun so I certainly don't think I need something large and high-capacity.

It does seem, however, that a public place with a $0 entry fee and a wide variety of people from different countries, areas, etc. (tourist area) could be one of the more likely scenarios in my day-to-day life to have a problem if I were to have one. Even the nicest beach in the nicest area still has some shady characters hanging around.
 
But I would bet that in a tourist area, the majority of "shady characters" are not looking for harm or confrontation, but merely a quick purse snatch or similar; so keeping a gun in bag is not the best choice. One of the reasons I avoided Daytona and drove up the coast to Flagler - dog friendly and only a few folks on the beach at any given time
 
Cost/benefit analysis time.

Cost: loaded gun stored off body. Can be stolen, lost, handled by unauthorized persons, etc.

Benefit: 1:100000000 chance of needing it to protect yourself in the even you can get to it in time.

Your choice but I know mine.
 
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