women and concealed handguns

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I'm surprised this hasn't come up. I carry a briefcase frequently and always have a gun in it. I guess it could be comparable to purse carry. However, when I go in a store or at the mall for example, it goes on my person. The briefcase carry comes in handy at work or even in the car or truck because it's sitting right beside me and accessible quickly.

I would not recommend against any of the reason given for carrying on your body but, I think the other has it's place. Just be mindful, careful and observant.

Oh yea, my wife always left her purse somewhere......a consideration. ;)
 
Heck, I don't even own a purse.
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I know, it's a "men's European carry-all", right? ;)

Agree that purse carry is not ideal, because you can't set it down anywhere then - kids or strangers might get into it and grab the gun. On your person is best - there are many belt holsters (IWB, OWB) out there designed to accomodate a woman's hips, there is smartcarry, if you wear a skirt or dress, there are thigh-band carry holster available. Then there's always ankle carry, belly band carry, fanny pack carry, pocket carry, etc. With smart-carry, you might get accused of being a "pre-surgical transsexual", but oh well.

I wear long skirts a lot - so a back-up gun goes on one thigh, and an ASP baton on an upper shin.
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I'll bet your S.O. has learned to put the toilet seat down. :what: :D

Dave T., so the wifey refuses to carry anything less than a 1911 in .45? Wow, my kinda woman! :)

Marshall
Just be mindful, careful and observant.
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When I was younger, I was that, and so briefcase or purse carry would be fine in that situation. But as I've aged, for some reason I have become more dip-sticky/careless, for whatever reason, even though I try not to be this way. Now I'd sometimes lose my head if it wasn't attached.
 
If I remember, Tamara said she sometimes carries a wheelgun in a purse, keeping her hand on the grip as much as possible in public. Should Mr Tango try to snatch said purse, he's essentially drawing and aiming the gun for her... :D

Might be wrong though... might not have been Tamara...
 
f I remember, Tamara said she sometimes carries a wheelgun in a purse, keeping her hand on the grip as much as possible in public. Should Mr Tango try to snatch said purse, he's essentially drawing and aiming the gun for her...
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The problem I forsee with that is that most judges aren't going to consider a purse snatching a situation that warrants deadly force. If I were carrying on body and someone snatched my purse, I'd let them go with it. I can get another purse. It would just suck a heck of a lot more if my gun were in it.

The type of situation that frightens me the most -- and for which I carry mainly -- are situations where one might be abducted, carjacked or the like. A case like this happened in the parking lot of the Barnes and Noble I go to every week. A woman was carjacked by two men, raped and shot multiple times (story here). In such a case, I would think the first thing the bad guys are going to do is separate you from your purse -- see if you have cash, a bank card, whatever (I'm not sure but I think they made her withdraw cash from an ATM before they shot her). In her case, the assailants were already armed, but if they aren't and they take your purse, well, they are now if you carry off-body. Not to mention all of the cons that have already been mentioned about basically having to resign yourself to never letting your purse off your shoulder wherever you go -- what a pain.
 
I'm not much on a shoulder holster, especially in this heat, but if she just found out she's pregnant she should have more CCW options than we did because she'll have more layers of clothes when she starts showing!
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Yeah right! In this heat even one layer of clothing is too many while pregnant.
 
WOW!!!
These posts are great! :what:
I have been getting some wonderful concealment ideas from them. :D
Being new to the whole concealment thing, I was a little concerned on how other women carried. Thanks for all the great info. :p
 
Bubbles, I KNOW what you're talking about! I was pregnant last year in DFW, in the heat...Smartcarry was my friend! Then so was the Coronado Crosscarry purse. Those solutions worked best for me when pregnant. Mostly carried a Taurus 605 while pregnant too, and left the 1911 at home. It just carried better with the baby.

Guys, I hate to tell you but there are times when you have no other option but to purse carry...my favorite example is when women have to go visit the OB/GYN! There's just Nowhere on the body you can carry during one of those visits! :eek:

I don't like purse carry, and I don't advocate it as a primary method, but there ARE times when it is my only option. I'd rather carry in my Crosscarry then, than not carry at all.
 
When I visit the GYN I simply remove my holstered gun and fold it with my clothes, putting my clothes under the chair rather than on it. No problem there ~ it's the same thing as when you go try on clothes, really.

pax
 
Pax, I guess I forgot to mention I have 3 kids under 4yrs old, and they always come with me to the dr office. They'd probably get into stuff under a chair. They tend to leave stuff on the sink cabinets alone though. At least I can lock the holster compartment on my purse.

And for whomever was wanting the 'tactical diaper bag', well, that's what I call my 5.11 knockoff vest! :p It holds OC, cell, light, 3 bottles or sippy cups, spare diapers/wipes as needed, ziplock bags of snacks...and I still have pockets to spare! Oh, and it covers up my 1911 very nicely thankyou very much! :neener:
 
Vic303 ~

I used to look like that. :D We had five boys in less than six years (oldest turned 6 four weeks after youngest was born). The oldest is 15 now, so in a few short years I will have five teenage boys ... fun, but a whole different kettle of fish!

What worries me about purse carry, especially w small children around, is that kids do get into mommy's purse if she puts it down and doesn't pay attention. Of course, [sarcasm]my children were always little angels and never would have done anything like that when I wasn't looking [/sarcasm], but you know how Other People's Children can be ...

Okay, less sarcastically: good mom or not, good kids or not, the potential consequences are way too severe to rely only on the kids being good all the time or on the mom always noticing what they're up to. I know there's at least one company that makes a gun purse with an oversized zipper, so you can put a small padlock thru the zipper holes and lock it together. If I had small kids & carried in a purse, I'd get that one, and at the doc's office (when I would expect to be a little bit distracted!) I'd make a point of putting the lock on the purse before I set it down.

Even if you carry on your hip, you could still use the locking zippered purse that way, btw.

pax
 
My Coronado has a locking zipper fortunately. At least now, I don't have to make all those OB visits! I hardly ever have to use the purse for carry any more. It'll last the rest of my life I imagine. My NORMAL carry is IWB in a UCR or a VM-II, FWIW.
 
. . .um. . .

GGB - I'm a 5 year post-surgical transsexual, and my S.O. of the past fourteen years, Susan, is a wonderful TKD black belt & EMT ( the toilet seat isn't an issue. . .). She's doing wonderfully well, BTW - nothing but perfect health and ever-growing energy since her heart surgery!

:D

Hunter Rose - it's my S&W 649, and that's done most often when I'm in say, a parking lot after dark, or anytime in a parking structure.

It's never done as some sort of anti purse-snatching tactic. . .

Bubbles - it was just a thought (it's worked wonderfully for two friends of mine). I hadn't taken Virginia's summer temps into account!

On topic:

One of the easiest ways to carry (especially during the summer) is to purchase one of the neon-colored insulated, padded lunchboxes that has a shoulder strap! I look for the ones stocked by the supermarket, or Wally-world, and check ease of access. . .If I'm heading into the city to meet Susan for some reason and we're going to be out, the lunchbox is an option for a second gun that never gets a second look!

YMMV, obviously.
 
Semi-related, I just took my Texas CHL renewal class yesterday and noticed that out of a class of 13 people there wasn't a single woman in the lot! I was quite surprised.

Cheers,
ChickenHawk
 
Hi Chris,

LOL, Thanks for saying so! I was afraid they might have been absent after seeing my name on the class list! ;)

Regards,
ChickenHawk
 
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