What do you do when someone touches your CCW?

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jsalcedo

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I was standing in line to buy a movie ticket when an older lady standing behind me grabs my Makarov (fobus paddle under a long button down shirt)

I whipped around abruptly and she has turned a greenish gray color.
She kind of stammers "do you have the time?"


Later in the week I'm at the local grocery standing in line with my basket.

The lady in front of me lifted up her hand carried basket and it catches the side of my shirt lifting it up and exposing my 1911 riding in a belt holster.

I barely felt it happen and start putting the groceries on the belt.
Suddenly I look down and see the gun is totally exposed and has been for at least 20 seconds....

Turning red, I put my shirt back down and look around to see if anyone is dialing 911.

Luckily either no one saw or cared.

Am I unlucky? Careless? Is this a normal occurance for those who carry?
 
I guess it depends on the circumstances. I have not had very good luck with paddle holsters, as I have found they don't hold the gun tightly enough against my body. This could be a contributing factor to your problem (snagging, etc.).

If someone "grabbed" my gun, it would not be taken lightly or nicely. They would be reprimanded post-haste, and if the situation called for it - I would take appropriate action.

Luckily, I don't *think* my CCW has ever been noticed. I carry a full-size 1911, and sometimes a Kel-Tec P32.

TD
 
good grief man! you let a dangerously psychotic old woman sneak up on you and grasp your weapon??!!! wheres your situational awareness at?
:D

i dislike when unknown people invade my personal space (at least 18 inches around my body), and go to great lengths to make sure i'm never crowded. my ccw is holstered on my right hip and if i'm at the store or out in public i keep my right arm close to my body, at least my elbow anyways. so it looks like i'm walking very abnormally.

a month ago i wound up playing a game of touch football at a friends graduation party. i thought for sure it was going to get discovered, and i was a little curious at what peoples reactions would be. but it wasnt, and it was only under a t-shirt. i did get blindsided by someone blocking (it was touch only for whoever had the ball in their hands) and landed right on the weapon, leaving a bruise on my waist.
 
I acknowledge the tap, but nonchalantly, just as if they had touched my cell phone. I act as if it were a complete non-issue. People are likely to belive it is a cell phone or some other such item, and if per chance they do immediately realize it is a gun, your calm natural attitude will go a long way (in their minds) into justifying your carrying.

Remember, it is amazing what you get away with when you pretend to know what you are doing.

Quiet confidence is key.

The lady was probably just freaked out by the way you started and turned on her as if she was an attacker.

Make it look natural and they won't care what you're carrying.

Porter
 
On occasion, someone will bump into my CCW. Most have no idea what it is they hit, other than it was extremely hard. No one has ever "grabbed" my CCW.

My best incident occured while waiting in the checkout line with both of my hands full. I was wearing my S&W 5906 in a Galco Miami Classic shoulder rig. The woman in front of me turned and her elbow nailed the snap holding the gun. As she turned farther to apologize, I could feel the gun starting to slide forward, out of the holster. With nothing else to do, I leaned over the counter just as it broke free and bounced on the counter. The woman suddenly got a pair or Marty Feldman eyes and began doing all kinds of apologizing. The cashier had her back to me and never saw it. I sat my merchandise on the counter and reholstered the S&W as the lady backed out the door, apologizing all of the way. Never saw her again.
 
The lady was probably just freaked out by the way you started and turned on her as if she was an attacker.
Click to expand...

If she grabbed his CCW, she is an attacker. What business of hers is it what he has under his shirt? If somebody grabs something of mine on my belt, it would be like they were trying to steal it.

If she was tapping him, to get his attention, if she really wanted the time, wouldn't the normal place to be on the shoulder? Or even an "Excuse me, excuse me, do you have the time?"
 
"Oh I'm sorry, pardon me, I'm still carrying one of those big, old cell phones." (Big Smile)

Works wonders. lol
 
I almost got made once. I turned around (crowded) and it hit a friend's hand. He says "Whoa, what's that, I felt something hard." I told him it was either my camera (slung on my back) or my knife (which I'm known to carry).

At church or whatever, people kinda poke me or whatever to say hi. I noticed my shirt on my tuckable holster getting untucked last night but I was at a restaurant and it was too dark to make out the gun against the chair, my dark clothing, etc.
 
I have never had anyone get that close that I didn't want to be that close. I also carry in the wasteband, so my Glock 27 is pretty well concealed. If you did see anything, it would be the back end and pistol grip of a "toy looking" handgun.

Now, would I play touch football with my Glock in my wasteband? Probably not. That seems sort of crazy. But then, where do you put it and how if you are at the park or a friends house? Very interesting. Rather than tell Spacemanspiff he should never do that, I would just say that is interesting. If you can do it and not get anyone hurt, hard for me to say "no, no, no" when it works now doesn't it?
 
Kids! = Little Ones!

That age where the little darlin's are ambulatory, verbal, but ain't socialized... yet (if ever:rolleyes: ). The last time was in a mall where someone's little Imp got away from it's handlers and made an all-out frontal charge on my person with both arms upraised and flittle fists clenched:what: - You know, that particular age when the wee ones get the quaint notion that it's NEAT to slam a grown man in the 'stones':fire:
Permissive Parents:confused:
Anyway this little banshee is headed straight for me at high speed at close range with obvious intent ... and both my hands are full of m'ladys' packages. All I had time to do was turn my hip - and let the little jerk bash me right in my Walther! = Hurt his little hands :D When Mom caught up with her little stray he was hopping about yowling, but as both my hands were loaded, and I had witnesses, nobody accused me of belting the kid and it somehow never came up as to what had caused his little hands to hurt before she hauled him off. :D
 
I went to eat lunch with my daughter at her school one day. While we were standing in line to leave she grabbed me real tight to give me a big hug and her head hit something on my belt. She promptly says, rather loudly, "Ow! Is that your gun!" :eek: Wouldn't you know it, there was a D.A.R.E. officer right beside us!:eek: I said "No, honey, its daddy's cell phone!"

Before you guys freak out, it was my cell phone!:D Of course I'd left my gun locked in the glove box of my car outside.:D
 
Remember, it is amazing what you get away with when you pretend to know what you are doing.
Click to expand...

I take advantage of this to the max, in many aspects of life. at the right times. Along with playing dumb when necessary.
 
Theres gotta be something missing in this description, why would a little old lady make a grab at a carry gun that is concealed and if its concealed how did she know it was there. I am afraid from zadlaf's reply that he would have turned and double tapped her in the movie ticket line.

Also people of rural areas seem to have a zone of comfort that they dont wish to be invaded and also dont push others, people raised in citys dont appear to have that. I have noticed when in areas with a lot of immigrants (no slam intended but I have noticed it with Mexicans, Asians and middle easterners) they tend to push up to you in line until if you move a couple of inches back you step on their toes.
 
This is why I hate crowds; always concerned I'll get bumped and made.

I seem to recall this happening on an episode of COPS in New Orleans during Madi Gras; the officer in the crowd just brushed against the bad guy, felt the handgun in the waistband, and they pulled him down.

Some of my friends that don’t know I carry, if I haven’t seen them in awhile and they give me a big ol’ hug, they’ll feel it and give me odd look. I think the cell phone ploy is wearing thin.
 
Gerald..

Thats exactly what happened in the movie ticket line.

I didn't really consider national origin and its relation to personal space.

She didn't tap me on the shoulder because I'm 6'5 and she was about 4'10

I guess my waist was the place she decided to reach for to get my attention.

Believe me she got my attention alright.
 
I had a young lady get knocked over in a panicked rush to the door (some idiot pulled the fire alarm) and fall into me and while catching her, she came into full contact with my holstered pistol. She never really noticed what it was and assumed it was a cell phone.

A friend, who knows I carry thought it would be funny to snatch my pistol out of it's holster. He tried and then he was begging me to let go when I grabbed hold of his hand and kicked his feet out from under him, coming down on top of him with his arm bent up between his shoulder blades. A bit extreme, but he won't do something stupid like that again, to me or anyone else.

Otherwise it really depends, I do my best to unobtrusively protect my ccw, and maintain a comfort zone but accidental contact is going to happen and the cell phone/pocket knife/ pager excuse covers alot of contingencies. It is less of a problem with an IWB, versus a belt scabbard.

But most people aren't observant enough to even realise what they contacted and if you treat the matter as nothing of great import they will tend to follow your lead. Ignorance is bliss.
 
Thats cool, it just sounded from the post as if she was making a grab for your handgun. From my perspective there is a difference in making contact with, patting or touching the handgun in a holster and grabbing the gun. The mind kind of conjures up that she was wrapping her fingers around the grip and pulling.

I first noticed the nationality (and city relationship) and the distance that we all like to keep between us and others on a trip to Mexico. In discussing it with a friend he said to notice the next time I was at a beach with a high concentration of Asians (of which there are some in Texas) and you notice they tend to crowd an area pretty close to each other and leave huge gaps with no people at all. Slowly dawned on me that we rural folk like some distance between ourselves and others.

By the way, I can imagine it quite disconcerting to feel some one touch you out of the blue on your carry arm, unless you carrying a Galco deep cover, then depending on whos grabbing might be fun.
Gerald
 
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I was wearing a SW3913 IWB strong side hip at a street fair in a large city (where CCW is permitted) a few weeks ago in a crowd watching a group perform when a female LEO grabbed me by the hips to move past me. "s'cuse me hon" she said as I instinctively put my arm over the CCW. I turned white as a ghost when I saw she was a LEO, fortunately she was after something more important and paid my reaction no mind.

Yes, I realize had I been "made" eventually there would be no problem, but the thought of having to go through a "rigorous" check did give me pause.
 
Remember, it is amazing what you get away with when you pretend to know what you are doing
Click to expand...
Porter Glockwell

He's right most the time some one spots my gun they assume I am a cop

I don't know about you all, but the people that "made" me most of the time or at least the ones that point it out are little kids. I should say this is when the gun flashes usually. The kids zoom right in on it, the adults never notice.
 
Yeah, most americans like their personal space to be... personal (about 18" clear space all around at a minimum). Other cultures seem to favor body contact.

I've been lucky so far. Only the females, son and father in my family get hugs and they all are aware of my situation (like father like son).

Concealed means concealed. I like pocket carry or IWB for that reason.

What Porter said... I concur.

Imagine if it were your "colostomy" bag (ooooh).

Keep people away, arms reach at a minimum. Shrug it off if its not an officer of the law and keep truckin.

Adios
 
I was standing in line to buy a movie ticket when an older lady standing behind me grabs my Makarov (fobus paddle under a long button down shirt)
Click to expand...
You should've jumped back and screamed "DRAW!!!"
Like others have said, ignore the contact as if it were a pager or cellphone. Most sheeple won't think anything of it. The 1911 swinging in the breeze is a tough one. I believe that here in PA you could actually be cited for exposing your CCW in public.
 
"No ma'am. I'm just happy to see you."


...


What? Someone had to say it.
 
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