Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we talked about when avoiding is the best possible thing you can do. If you happened to miss that article and want to check it out, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I want to really look at some of the biggest struggles I have run into over the years when it comes to carrying a concealed handgun every day. Some can result in discomfort, while others can put you in tough situations with friends or family. Each aspect is important to think about ahead of time, so let's take a closer look at the top problems when carrying concealed.
Improper Holsters
When it comes to issues that can cause problems, holster issues are typically a common occurrence when you first start carrying a gun. I’ve met more than a few people who carried their gun with no holster in the beginning, where they just tucked the gun into their waistband and went on with their day. While nothing happened to these guys, having an unsecured handgun just bouncing around in your waistband has a much higher chance of shifting or even falling out because there's nothing securing your handgun in your waistband except your belt or sometimes even your clothing. This is a terrible choice and you need something that is designed for your exact carry gun.
Another common trap new carriers fall into is starting out with universal cloth holsters, which don't have enough structure or stability to ensure your gun will stay in the same place all day, every day. While I absolutely understand how exciting it is to just carry your new gun or have it on you, even though you may not have a holster for it just yet. Although you may want to carry that new gun, it's important to have a Kydex or leather holster that is specific to that model. The last thing you want is having your concealed carry gun shifting around or risking even falling out of your waistband throughout the day. Having your carry gun fall to the ground doesn't just cause social issues, but depending on the situation and who sees it, that mistake could easily land you in major legal trouble. Having a quality fitted holster is an absolute must to be successful every day while carrying.
Situations Where You Have to Leave or Drop Your Gun
One of the toughest situations when carrying a concealed handgun is having to try and plan ahead where you need to choose to either skip plans with friends or take your gun off and leave it in your vehicle. Over the years, I have run into this problem a few times, where I need to either stop at my truck and unload my handgun before locking it up or try to persuade my friends not go to a certain place. This can be when people want to go to a bar or sporting event where you're not allowed to carry a gun. Sometimes they have security where you have to walk through a metal detector, so you either have to plan ahead or cancel your plans and head home. Sometimes it's physically not possible to carry a gun into a certain place and you have to have a plan ahead of time so it doesn't raise questions or look suspicious to people who may not understand.
I’m not someone who loves to go to bars and typically I just say I'm not interested in hitting the bar scene anymore, but for younger carriers it can be a real challenge to either carry or go with friends out where guns may not necessarily be legal. A couple of small tips that really helped me are having a small lock box in my vehicle, so I have an option to safely store my firearm unloaded in my vehicle if I decide to go out and have a drink with friends. Typically, I will just avoid going out to the bars, but I know others are different and will use their lock box when they want to disarm and have a drink.
Other places, like large sporting events, will oftentimes have metal detectors so it is not a choice to risk going in with a gun. You will either have to leave your gun or avoid the situation entirely. I try to limit places I go where I have to completely disarm like that and sometimes friends will get frustrated, but I would rather be safe than be put into a situation like this. This is a common choice you will have to make and it becomes easier with time, but you still face it in different situations throughout your life.
Small Caliber Carry Guns
One of the scariest issues I see is when carriers decide that various guns are too heavy or they can't comfortably carry, so they decide to go as small as humanly possible with either a .22 LR or .32 ACP, which by today's standards are vastly underpowered. Having some sort of firearm will always be better than having nothing, but it starts to create issues with stopping power and not being a reliable round for self-defense. I can hear some of you racing to the comments section to talk about shot placement, but the vast majority of shooters under pressure can’t make precision shots.
The benefits of something larger, like a 9mm, are that you can hit center mass and modern self-defense rounds have enough energy transfer to shock the system, allowing the carrier to stop a threat even under stress with less than perfect shots. With a .22 LR, you need to make precision shots to the vitals in order to stop a threat and the people who say a single-stack 9mm or .380 Auto is too heavy to carry often don't possess the training or skills to make that type of shot. Maybe there are exceptions to this rule, but as a general statement, there's an issue between training and carrying an underpowered cartridge.
Overall Thoughts
Some of these may be fairly common sense, but it's important we talk about these problems because there are certainly individuals in the community who carry without any type of holster or carry a .22 LR, thinking it will have the same stopping power as a larger caliber round. I have met these people on more than one occasion, so it's certainly more common than we think. What are some of the problems you guys have seen when it comes to carrying concealed? I would love to hear your stories down in the comments below. If you have questions about carrying concealed or firearms in general, feel free to shoot me a message on Instagram @fridgeoperator. Stay safe out there and we will see you next week for another edition of Concealed Carry Corner.
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