Carried for the first time today...

Carried for the first time on Sunday, while bringing my kids to serve dinner at a homeless shelter. I was checking out every one of the 75 people who came to get a hot meal, as they took a glass of milk from my son's hand, and a plate of beef stew from my daughter's. I felt like they all knew I was carrying, but they were more likely just "making" me to be the overprotective father. The crowd was very thankful and well behaved. For the record, my Glock 17 on an IWB holster felt big when I put it on, but I forgot about an hour later (standing the whole time). I am in the market for a smaller CC pistol, now that I got my "first time" out of the way.
 
congrats! I have a restriction, so I've often wondered what it's like the first time.

I think i'd be most paraniod about bending over and someone brushing/touching it on accident. That ever happen to anyone?
 
Steve_P said:
Title just about sums it up....
I carried my M&P9 Full size OWB in a Don Hume open-top belt holster.
No problems keeping concealed when out and about with my jacket. I was very self-conscious though.

I do want to eventually move to an IWB holster. I just have to pick which one to try first.

Steve
Click to expand...
After two decades on the job, I find carrying mostly a pain in the balls at this point, but I still do it every day.
 
Starvin said:
congrats! I have a restriction, so I've often wondered what it's like the first time.

I think i'd be most paraniod about bending over and someone brushing/touching it on accident. That ever happen to anyone?
Click to expand...

Not from a total stranger, but I have had my mother give me a hug and somehow put her arm right on top of my M&P. In fairness, that was the first and only time she actually realized I was carrying.
 
Starvin said:
congrats! I have a restriction, so I've often wondered what it's like the first time.

I think i'd be most paraniod about bending over and someone brushing/touching it on accident. That ever happen to anyone?
Click to expand...

I had a friend of the landlord who hadn't seen me in a while come up to me last summer and say: "Hey, long time no see Vic". He shook me hand with one hand and reached around to slap me of the back. His hand pretty much collided with my IWB Glock 30. Let's just say he was very uncomfortable. I acted as if nothing happened and went on my way.
 
As an update:
I carried for the rest of the week in the same OWB holster. I am definitely not super comfortable with the OWB....
I definitely think that I would print/expose much too easily.

So, I did some research on IWB holsters. After a bunch of reading, I decided to go with an MTAC. Seems like a very nice design and I have read many stellar reviews. I should have it in a week or so.

I will update when I get my new holster.

Thanks again for all the support!

Steve
 
I don't much like OWB on the hip, either. You are pretty much stuck wearing whatever you have covering it and one wrong move.."plink" the weapon is exposed. I prefer a small pistol(PF-9) carried IWB. I like it tucked in the front mid-way between my belt buckle and hip bone. Its soildly held(even with sweats), instantly accessed and completely concealed.
 
Congrats. The "everyone's watching me" feeling goes away after a couple of weeks. I do periodically and discretely check my shirt after I get up from a seated position though.
 
Well...first off let me congratulate you for being able to be both adroit and lucky for being able to jump through the hurdles to get a LTC that enables concealed carry.

Now I am going to take a different track on your original post and very respectfully suggest that maybe you don't want to announce to the world that you carried concealed for the first time. Not that it is in and of itself a bad thing, you understand. It is a good thing, a wonderful thing that you can do this (carry concealed). My thought is that part of the combat mindset of carrying concealed is discretion. From my perspective, anyway, one should never reveal whether one is carrying or not, not even to one's colleagues and friends on this august forum. Even my spouse doesn't know that I am carrying. The only time I would reveal that I am carrying is when someone in authority lawfully asks me. CCW is certainly nothing to be ashamed of, ihdeed, quite the contrary but I am suggesting that it should be secretive. There will come a time when it will seem natural to you, but even when it becomes natural, it should never become "routine" in the sense that you always want to be alert and follow the color code system first laid out by the late Jeff Cooper. Clint Smith said "that guns should be comforting, not comfortable" and to that I would say the same thing about concealed carry in and of itself, it should be comforting but never comfortable. That's different by the way, from it feeling natural. Carrying a pistol or revolver concealed and with a high state of alertness can become very natural but not necessarily comfortable.

So while it is well and good that you made it through the first day's experience as a lawfully armed member of society, I am not totally sure if this is something that needs to be shared except with a mentor or an instructor.

I fully realize that this is a minority opinion and again I want to emphasize that this is not intended to be a put-down or to be disrespectful of you, it is just a way of looking at it from a different mindset.

All the best to you and may you always be safe and never have to fire a shot in the defense of your life,

Mark L.
 
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I was in whole foods market today with my new Walther PPS at my side. If you can get through whole foods market (of all places crunchy and liberal), without an issue - you can get through ANYTHING [rofl]
 
mark056 said:
Well...first off let me congratulate you for being able to be both adroit and lucky for being able to jump through the hurdles to get a LTC that enables concealed carry. Now I am going to take a different track on your original post and very respectfully suggest that maybe you don't want to announce to the world that you carried concealed for the first time. Not that it is in and of itself a bad thing, you understand. It is a good thing, a wonderful thing that you can do this (carry concealed). My thought is that part of the combat mindset of carrying concealed is discretion. From my perspective, anyway, one should never reveal whether one is carrying or not, not even to one's colleagues and friends on this august forum. Even my spouse doesn't know that I am carrying. The only time I would reveal that I am carrying is when someone in authority lawfully asks me. CCW is certainly nothing to be ashamed of, ihdeed, quite the contrary but I am suggesting that it should be secretive. There will come a time when it will seem natural to you, but even when it becomes natural, it should never become "routine" in the sense that you always want to be alert and follow the color code system first laid out by the late Jeff Cooper. Clint Smith said "that guns should be comforting, not comfortable" and to that I would say the same thing about concealed carry in and of itself, it should be comforting but never comfortable. That's different by the way, from it feeling natural. Carrying a pistol or revolver concealed and with a high state of alertness can become very natural but not necessarily comfortable. So while it is well and good that you made it through the first day's experience as a lawfully armed member of society, I am not totally sure if this is something that needs to be shared except with a mentor or an instructor. I fully realize that this is a minority opinion and again I want to emphasize that this is not intended to be a put-down or to be disrespectful of you, it is just a way of looking at it from a different mindset. All the best to you and may you always be safe and never have to fire a shot in the defense of your life, Mark L.
Click to expand...
I don't think you lose any tactical advantage by announcing to your friends that you are carrying. Sometimes especially in a restaurant type setting I've had friends ask me why I'm not drinking and I've told them the truth. Probably not the best idea when sometimes alcohol makes others say things they shouldn't but I'm pretty trustworthy of my friends and presumably they wouldn't announce it to anyone trying to knock off the corner store. In fact, I think it may be better for people to talk it about freely so they become more used to to it. With comfortability comes a possible change in mindset where they may not vote a certain way, look down on gun owners, or maybe it could come into their daily conversation more. Perhaps, whoever they're conversating with comes more accustomed to it and eventually it becomes a chain reaction. The media portrays guns and gun owners so negatively maybe next time a friend, coworker, or family member of one of my acquaintances is at a party, around the water cooler, or at the dinner table and someone makes a snide remark they can reply well "I know several responsible gun owners and none of them have ever had an accident, killed anyone and I don't feel the least bit less safe when Im around them." The tactical advantage lost if any all (look at how much you lose when some open carry in states where its legal to do so compared to what we're talking about. Plus police officers open carry every day and I would guess they have a larger tactical advantage simply because they don't have to humble with their attire before drawing their weapon) is minimal and what we lose is made up by furthering our cause. Which is why I try to work firearms into my daily conversation as much as possible regardless of whether I'm carrying or not. I know I have been a strong influence to at least three people who have gotten their LTCs and I'm also quite confident they would have never made the effort if I had got my licensee and never said another word about it till I wrote out my last will in testament or was laying on my death bed. Not trying to start an argument or a lengthy debate just throwing in my $0.02.
 
Edmond,

I think there is a big difference between talking about firearms and promoting them, and revealing whether one is carrying or not. There are a fair number of people who know that I have an interest in firearms, but don't know whether I am carrying or not. To me, anyway, that is a critical and crucial difference, otherwise it's nobody's business whether I am carrying or not.

I think your 2 cents is important and I agree with your basic premise that we should be ambassadors of gun culture to the outside world. I don't want to get into a lengthy debate and I don't like the idea of getting into "what if's" but I will suggest a scenario that was inspired by a real life incident as related by Massad Ayoob: You are in a bar or restaurant when two armed men walk in and start robbing the patrons at gun point. You are at a tactical disadvantage and outgunned, when your friends start looking at you to do something because they know you are armed, and one of them blurts out: "You've got a gun, do something for christsakes." This causes attention to be focused on yourself by the bad guys, and all of a sudden you are forced to take action, unsuccessfully for yourself because you are outgunned and are faced with mulitple assailants. This is exactly what happened to an off-duty New York City dectective who was a regular at a local bar, and who was known to the patrons there as both a cop and a gun carrier. He stepped up to the plate, so to speak when one of the patrons of the bar called him on it, and went down in a hail of bullets from his adversaries, simply because he was outgunned and at a definite tactical disadvantage. Now one could cogently argue that it was his status as a police officer and not a gun carrier that evoked this response from the bar patron, but it is not beyond the scope of things to see a similar response made by someone who knows you are "packin." There is a time to react, and there is a time to be a good witness. That applies both to the police and the private citizen who carries concealed.

I too, do not want to start a lengthy debate or populate this thread with "what-if's" but I do feel compelled to respond to your well written and well thought out post.

All the best and keep doing your great work as a "gun culture" ambassador.

Mark L.
 
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Steve_P said:
Title just about sums it up....
I carried my M&P9 Full size OWB in a Don Hume open-top belt holster.
No problems keeping concealed when out and about with my jacket. I was very self-conscious though.

I do want to eventually move to an IWB holster. I just have to pick which one to try first.

Steve
Click to expand...

Well done, keep it going and keep it to yourself :)

I hope and pray you never have reason to draw and use your firearm...

Stay staunch.
 
Steve_P said:
As an update:
I carried for the rest of the week in the same OWB holster. I am definitely not super comfortable with the OWB....
I definitely think that I would print/expose much too easily.

So, I did some research on IWB holsters. After a bunch of reading, I decided to go with an MTAC. Seems like a very nice design and I have read many stellar reviews. I should have it in a week or so.

I will update when I get my new holster.

Thanks again for all the support!

Steve
Click to expand...

img0991.jpg


Great choice, I would get the C-clips if you didn't.
 
mark056 said:
Edmond, I think there is a big difference between talking about firearms and promoting them, and revealing whether one is carrying or not. There are a fair number of people who know that I have an interest in firearms, but don't know whether I am carrying or not. To me, anyway, that is a critical and crucial difference, otherwise it's nobody's business whether I am carrying or not. I think your 2 cents is important and I agree with your basic premise that we should be ambassadors of gun culture to the outside world. I don't want to get into a lengthy debate and I don't like the idea of getting into "what if's" but I will suggest a scenario that was inspired by a real life incident as related by Massad Ayoob: You are in a bar or restaurant when two armed men walk in and start robbing the patrons at gun point. You are at a tactical disadvantage and outgunned, when your friends start looking at you to do something because they know you are armed, and one of them blurts out: "You've got a gun, do something for christsakes." This causes attention to be focused on yourself by the bad guys, and all of a sudden you are forced to take action, unsuccessfully for yourself because you are outgunned and are faced with mulitple assailants. This is exactly what happened to an off-duty New York City dectective who was a regular at a local bar, and who was known to the patrons there as both a cop and a gun carrier. He stepped up to the plate, so to speak when one of the patrons of the bar called him on it, and went down in a hail of bullets from his adversaries, simply because he was outgunned and at a definite tactical disadvantage. Now one could cogently argue that it was his status as a police officer and not a gun carrier that evoked this response from the bar patron, but it is not beyond the scope of things to see a similar response made by someone who knows you are "packin." There is a time to react, and there is a time to be a good witness. That applies both to the police and the private citizen who carries concealed. I too, do not want to start a lengthy debate or populate this thread with "what-if's" but I do feel compelled to respond to your well written and well thought out post. All the best and keep doing your great work as a "gun culture" ambassador. Mark L.
Click to expand...
Thank you for sharing. That sort of situation had never crossed my mind. I've never been in a high intensity, life threatening situation but I would like to think I would respond responsibly and to the best of my amateur ability. However, I suppose no one can confidently say others would handle the pressure equally as well.
 
pj150 said:
Congrats.

Just remember

1) If you have a good holster, it will NOT fall out. Try rolling around on the ground at home with an UNLOADED gun in the holster. It won't come out unless you're upside down and shaken.
Click to expand...

+1 I had a browning hi-power fall out of a IWB holster running across a street. -Changed my view of holsters forever.. ALWAYS check for the unexpected. It's not that it could happen, it's that it will happen.
 
Bill Nance said:
+1 I had a browning hi-power fall out of a IWB holster running across a street. -Changed my view of holsters forever.. ALWAYS check for the unexpected. It's not that it could happen, it's that it will happen.
Click to expand...

that's gotta be pretty scary. I have to say though, with my Mtac holster, nothing is falling out of that thing.
 
What happened after? Did anyone see it?
Click to expand...

No, this was in Washington so it wouldn't really have mattered anyway, but ya, it totally freaked me out.

And did the HiPower get scratched?
Click to expand...

fortunately no.

I was crossing the street and some maniac turned without stopping at a red light. I had to run like Hell to avoid getting hit and my crappy holster didn't hold the gun.

Later that day I got a new holster with a thumb-strap. These day's I'd just use a good retention holster.
 

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