Nobody should have known you were carrying . . .

[HisStigness]

I haven't been carrying for long, and I don't think any passerby has noticed me. That being said, it is winter which means I am wearing a jacket about 95% of the time.

When I first started carrying, I quickly noticed the issue of my shirt riding up when I bent over even slightly. My holster is a crossbreed super tuck IWB and has two clips that attach to my belt. To keep my shirt from riding up I take a bit of my shirt and tuck it in between the rear clip (at about the 5 o'clock) of the holster and my belt. It doesn't look conspicuous at all (unless you have really long shirt tails or something) and keeps my shirt where it belongs. Hope this helps

 

[cougar1717]

English cut suit jackets (the ones with two slits in the back at 4:00 and 8:00). If you're not careful, one of those can ride up and get caught on slide/grip.

Those light polyester golf shirts print like a Gutenberg press.

Grandma/hip huggers. Have to defend with a good low (strong side) and high (weak side) hug.

I just assume anyone who has a fanny pack is carrying, that is, unless they also have tight-rolled stonewashed jeans and some slap bracelets.

 

[Coyote3855]

The only time I know for sure: I was at a gun show where concealed carry was allowed, wearing an older pair of blue jeans. My Kahr .380 in a DeSantis front pocket holster had, over time, worn a faint outline on the outside of the pocket. Sort of like the guys who carry a can of chew in a hip pocket.

I saw a deputy sheriff across the room look directly at my pocket, then up to make eye contact. I nodded my head and shrugged. We both then went about our business.

There's a popular bumper sticker here that reads "Welcome to Wyoming. Consider everyone armed." I think a huge majority of people don't notice, or assume the bulge is a phone or multi-tool. Recently I went to lunch at Wendy's with a group of NRA instructors. One was open carrying, which is legal here. I wasn't watching all the time, but it appeared only a couple of people noticed the handgun.

 

[Delford]

We have approval to carry at church. When "passing the peace" I'm careful to hug the old timers like myself from the offside. I've not been carrying all that long but only my wife knows where the holster is and I hope to keep it that way.
I have a Split Decision from High Noon which tucks the shirt between the J-clip and the leather holster while staying outside the undershirt. It's not an easy reholster but hopefully I'll never need to outside my home.

 

[Saddlebag Preacher]

Actually, when I was policing here in KY, I was more concerned about my weapon showing than I am now. We didn't have a CCW legislation like we do now. As an officer, by department standards I was required to be armed on and off duty, In a K-mart one day I dropped something and when I reached down to get it, my shirt rode up over my 2" revolver. I got a very startled stare from a little old lady. I showed her my badge in my wallet just to reassure her. Yes we had open carry then also though few did it, but concealed was a no-no.

Fast forward 25 years and retired, it is so common today with the CCW permits and open carry folks, that I don't even worry about it. If it prints, or shows occasionally, oh well. The younger gun enthusiasts really should be thankful for those who went before them to get these laws changed. Never take it for granted, it wasn't always so.

 

[Teachu2]

My wife, my pastor, and all my doctors know I carry. My wife and my pastor now have CCW permits, and my chiropractor wants shooting lessons.

My GP caught me by surprise one day, as I usually left mine in the truck when I have an exam scheduled....she had lab results and was concerned about my PSA. Those of you guys over 40 know what that means. I hesitated, and she noticed. I explained that I was legally carrying, and she was OK with that. I put a paper towel on the counter and placed my Shield on it, then had the exam. When I went to put it back in the CBST, she stopped me and asked if she could handle it. (She's been my GP through a couple of annual physicals, so she's handled everything else! ) I unloaded it, showed her how to verify that it was unloaded, and let her examine it. She had never held a firearm of any kind, and I got to go over the 4 rules and basic familiarization with her. She confided that her native culture did not encourage women to be armed, but she was beginning to understand how empowering it would be. She's under 5' tall and under 100lbs, and writes prescriptions in an office almost completely staffed by women of small stature. I suspect my wife and I will be hosting her for some range time soon.

 

[Mainsail]

All it takes is for one excited person to call 911 and report a "Man with a gun!" The fact that the citizen called is enough to cause LE to respond. I much prefer to avoid the commotion....ymmv

I was the reason for many such calls. Never any commotion. Most of the time the police never bothered to come (or it wasn't dispatched), other times went like this:

PO-PO: Sir, can I see some ID?
ME: Am I being detained?
PO-PO: No.
ME: Have a nice day officer.

Yeah, lot of commotion.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Well, the only way anybody can know they've been "made" is if they either see or hear a reaction. I've never seen or heard any such reaction, so I don't know for sure.

I know I've seen my share of others carrying and have never said anything. I've never seen one exposed outright, though...if I had, I would have politely let the person know so they could cover back up.

I suppose if one carries, though, it's not a question of IF they're going to be made, but WHEN.

 

[SSN Vet]

I have a friend at church who seemed to think it was his duty to come up behind me and whisper in my ear "your printing"....

I make a reasonable effort to not do that.... but I don't lose any sleep if I do.

My conscience is clear

 

[RustyShackelford]

Walmart walk....

About a week ago, I did a few errands then went by a local "Super Walmart" .
I picked up a few items and checked on a few ammo prices(9mm, .45acp) in sporting goods.
The Walmart was packed.
I found this odd because it was 230pm-300pm on a Friday.
The store looked more like a intl airport than a Walmart. It was like the famous "cantina" scene in Star Wars(1977).
I made my way over to the super-market area to snag a few items.
I raised my arm to grab a can of French Dip Pringles & my long sleeve 5.11 Tactical shirt also went up. This exposed my M&P Shield no thumb safety 9x19mm in a left hand SERPA CQC Sportster holster.
A young girl, 10-12 years old, near me glanced over but didn't say anything.
I quickly checked my 5.11 shirt & walked into another aisle. I leaned over & my open shirt briefly showed my M&P 9mm again. This time a Walmart employee stocking shelves looked directly at me but didn't make any comments.
I'm sure she's seen worse things at that 24hr Super-Walmart.

 

[TomJ]

I was “made” a couple of weeks ago by the computer at a Sleep Number mattress store. I injured my back a couple of months ago, and at the recommendation of a friend I went to buy a Sleep Number bed. I assumed it would be similar to any other mattress store, where you lay on the mattress and if it’s comfortable, you buy it. At this store, as part of their sales process they have you lie on a mattress which is connected to a computer. The computer’s screen shows your body’s profile, and any body part that’s putting excess pressure on the mattress is red in color. As they adjust your sleep number to relieve that pressure, it fades from red to blue. When lying on my back, it worked fine, with the salesman adjusting my sleep number until all red areas were gone. He then asked me to lay on my side. I couldn’t lay on my left side, as I was carrying IWB on my right side and was sure he’d see the gun, so I turned to lay on my right side. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get the red area caused by my gun pressing into the mattress disappear. He became increasingly flustered, assuring me I’d be happy with the mattress even though he couldn’t find my “sleep number”, having no idea why he couldn’t get that red area to disappear. I bought the mattress, with him mumbling as he was putting the paperwork together about having someone come out to fix the glitch in the computer. I felt bad not telling him his computer was working fine, but telling someone you have a gun is almost never taken the right way.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

I was “made” a couple of weeks ago by the computer at a Sleep Number mattress store. I injured my back a couple of months ago, and at the recommendation of a friend I went to buy a Sleep Number bed. I assumed it would be similar to any other mattress store, where you lay on the mattress and if it’s comfortable, you buy it. At this store, as part of their sales process they have you lie on a mattress which is connected to a computer. The computer’s screen shows your body’s profile, and any body part that’s putting excess pressure on the mattress is red in color. As they adjust your sleep number to relieve that pressure, it fades from red to blue. When lying on my back, it worked fine, with the salesman adjusting my sleep number until all red areas were gone. He then asked me to lay on my side. I couldn’t lay on my left side, as I was carrying IWB on my right side and was sure he’d see the gun, so I turned to lay on my right side. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get the red area caused by my gun pressing into the mattress disappear. He became increasingly flustered, assuring me I’d be happy with the mattress even though he couldn’t find my “sleep number”, having no idea why he couldn’t get that red area to disappear. I bought the mattress, with him mumbling as he was putting the paperwork together about having someone come out to fix the glitch in the computer. I felt bad not telling him his computer was working fine, but telling someone you have a gun is almost never taken the right way.

Thanks!

You just provided me with an evenings worth of entertainment at a local Sleep Mattress store, now!

 

[Mr.510]

I've carried a concealed handgun every day for 24 years. Early on I noticed a few times when someone saw my gun from a shirt lift reaching at the store or leaning forward to pick something up and printing badly. With time I've gotten much better at moving in ways that minimize printing and my shirt hasn't lifted far enough to show my weapon in public for probably 10 years. I have developed a habit of flicking (or blousing I guess?) the bottom of my shirt once in a while and that pretty much eliminates all printing. I'm a firm believer in 'concealed means concealed' and used to put conscious effort into not printing. All of that is now completely automatic, it just happens with no active thought. Training and muscle memory doesn't just apply to shooting guns.

I was 'made' in epic fashion once. An extremely rambunctious little kid in a grocery store line was running around all over the place, bumping into people and generally reinforcing my decision to never have children. He went behind me left to right and then turned suddenly and ran his forehead right into my XD with a loud 'thwaap' noise, lost his balance, and landed on his butt crying. His mother was in line behind me. She gave me a concerned look as she picked him up so I said, "You saw that HE ran right into ME, right?" She said, "Yes, of course. I'm so sorry. But what did he hit his head on?" My reply was, "It's a forty five". Her eyes got kinda big and she kept her kid close and under control after that.

 

[CajunBass]

This one didn't happen to me, but I was sort of "involved" shall we say.

I used to work uniformed security at an all night grocery store. There was usually an off-duty policeman working with me. Now this was many years ago, long before concealed carry was common around here.

One evening, I was standing in the door of the guard shack, when I was approached by a classic "little old lady", I mean this woman probably owned Sylvester and Tweety Bird, who whispered, "That man has a gun."

I looked and she was pointing toward my off-duty partner, and you could clearly see the Browning HP in the small of his back, under his shirt. Odd at the time...not many cops carried semi's then.

I whispered back..."That man is a policeman. Don't tell anybody."

Her eyes got real big, and she took a deep breath and said..."OH!" and went off quite happy in being in on the secret.

 

[zerobarrier]

I have never been "made" that I know of. I have however, taken girls home(that didn't know I was carrying) and well you know how that goes. Kind of tuff to hide a full size 1911 and 2 mags when your shirt is being taken off. That can be alittle awkward, but they usually brush it off, at least until the next day.

 

[Kaeto]

In summertime I usually open carry, and have only gotten any kind of reaction three times. Twice they asked what kind of revolver I was carrying ( it was a .455 Webley). And once I was asked how you went about getting a Concealed carry license. None of my encounters were with police.

 

[coyotehitman]

My wife and I were still dating and we were at a craft store (Michaels I think) and it was one of those photo - finish scenarios of finding the restroom on time. I got in, and as I dropped my pants my revolver came bouncing out of its IWB holster and across the floor into the adjacent stall. I was all alone at this point, and the photo finish scenario is getting ever so much closer to me losing the battle. So I do what any person in such dire circumstances would do, I grab the crotch of my pants and underwear, pull them up enough to waddle "exposed" the 2 ft from stall door to stall door and regain control of my AWOL weapon, then immediately complete my mission. As I pick the gun up with my left hand, and am holding my pants with my right hand, buttocks bare and flapping in the gentle breeze provided by the noisiest fartfan ever created, I hear chuckling. Apparently this poor young lady (teen) had slipped into the restroom unannounced to clean it and witnessed the show. She couldn't contain herself from laughter but she did manage a chuckling indication of some form of apology as she quickly escaped the restroom. By now, the initial mission is about to fail, and I do manage to take care of business. I reholster, resecure, and attempt to compose myself as I go to exit the restroom. When I finally open the door I see the poor soul sitting on a bench next to the restroom across the narrow hallway next to the MEN'S restroom with a cleaning cart pushed to the side. She is still giggly as is the rest of the crew at the store who are giving odd looks and laughing like crazy as I make my way around the store, collect my girlfriend and excuse myself to the car.

Fortunately, you didn't suffer an accidental discharge. Clean up to stall two...

 

[eastbank]

to me open carry could get you killed(i didn,t say would). thats why i don,t open carry. if the shif happens as a planned event you stand a chance(a big chance) of being the first one taken out,disarmed or shot. i know it may be your legal right,so i don,t need to hear that. if some one is up to no good do you think you may be the first one taken down? i do. eastbank.

 

[coyotehitman]

Originally Posted by Rock185 View Post
All it takes is for one excited person to call 911 and report a "Man with a gun!" The fact that the citizen called is enough to cause LE to respond. I much prefer to avoid the commotion....ymmv

I was the reason for many such calls. Never any commotion. Most of the time the police never bothered to come (or it wasn't dispatched), other times went like this:

You seem proud of yourself.

PO-PO: Sir, can I see some ID?
ME: Am I being detained?
PO-PO: No.
ME: Have a nice day officer.

Man, you really showed those officers, who were investigating a condition caused by your irresponsibility, who was boss. I've also never heard anyone who wasn't thug trash refer to police officers as the "PO-PO".

Your attitude reflects poorly on those who responsibly carry a gun and I chuckle when someone who has your mentality has their CHL revoked.

 

[Mainsail]

You seem proud of yourself.

No, no pride involved. The police require reasonable articulable suspicion that a crime is afoot in order to detain a citizen. Since open carry is a lawful activity, they would have no reason to detain me. I am always polite but I see no reason to engage them in a debate- it solves nothing. they know it's lawful, I know it's lawful, so what's to discuss?

I've also never heard anyone who wasn't thug trash refer to police officers as the "PO-PO".

Well, now you have.

Your attitude reflects poorly on those who responsibly carry a gun and I chuckle when someone who has your mentality has their CHL revoked.

Wow, that's high road. I've seen people get their account locked for less than that- the mods must be in a forgiving mood today.

Ignoring your low-road rant, it seems that you're inferring an attitude that isn't present. I view the legal carry of a sidearm as not at all remarkable- in other words, I don't see it as any different than the wear of a watch or sunglasses. I am not carrying to make a statement or show- I just carry. I am little concerned for other people's biases (like the anti-gun bias you expressed) or their emotional irrational unease regarding firearms. My attitude reflects indifference, nothing more or less. Chuckle if you must, but I don't need a CHL to carry, only to carry concealed.

 

[Walkalong]

More bickering that useful comment, so I guess we are done.