sheeple oblivious to OWB non-concealed carry

[Viking Kitten]

I was in Staples on Lexington St. in Waltham earlier today. I was a little taken aback by the black grips of a pistol being carried OWB by a young man with no visible uniform that would identify him as an LEO (translation: someone you might expect to see with a gun on their hip).

He was wearing navy pants, black boots, black sweater. After he passed me, going in the opposite direction, I turned and saw a pair of handcuffs and various other items clipped to his waistband.

I should have stuck around to see if the cashier noticed when he reached for his wallet in the checkout line!

 

[Jose]

Wannabe cop?

 

[dwarven1]

There are so many people who go through life in condition white that it's not funny.

Personally, since I enjoy Sherlock Holmes stories so much, I deliberately do observe people to try and deduce what I can about them. I've noticed people that I thought were carrying, sometimes. But the best one I ever had was when I was registering for classes at college, I asked a guy sitting next to me what kind of a bike he had. He had NO idea how I knew he rode since he didn't have a leather jacket or a helmet with him.

The answer? There was a black worn spot on his left workboot from the gear shift pedal. And as happened to Holmes in the stories, after he knew how I did it, he thought it was simple. (and if it was so simple, sir, why didn't you notice MY boot?)

 

[Underwhere]

I was in Staples on Lexington St. in Waltham earlier today. I was a little taken aback by the black grips of a pistol being carried OWB by a young man with no visible uniform that would identify him as an LEO (translation: someone you might expect to see with a gun on their hip).

He was wearing navy pants, black boots, black sweater. After he passed me, going in the opposite direction, I turned and saw a pair of handcuffs and various other items clipped to his waistband.

I should have stuck around to see if the cashier noticed when he reached for his wallet in the checkout line!

Wow, I'm surprised.
That's an unexpected response in Waltham.
Maybe I should carry OWB there too.

 

[calsdad]

Maybe it's just this guy's way of carrying without getting hassled. He had enough "indicators" to make many people think he was just a cop. He might get a hassle from the random real cop that he ran into - but in reality - how many of us run into a cop on a regular basis while going thru our daily lives?

When I was back in college I knew two guys who ran the coast to coast Cannonball Rally. The way they did it was the bought a Ford LTD police special - made it look as "cop like" as possible, and they both dressed in blue shirts - with dark blue ties. They were both already pretty clean cut anyway so it came off quite realistically as looking like they might be cops. I can't remember what they did about license plates - this was 20 years ago - so MA registered cars did not need the front plate.

I remember them saying that more than once on their cross country escapade they would go sailing by a cruiser sitting by the side of the road (doing about 90mph as they went by) - and they would just smile and wave. They did not get pulled over once.

 

[drgrant]

I've seen armed security guard types with minimal identification
on in numerous places. If they have enough crap on that makes
them look like cops/security, it's enough to make the sheeple
ignore them. (or at least bite their lip)

-Mike

 

[KimberCT]

I remember them saying that more than once on their cross country escapade they would go sailing by a cruiser sitting by the side of the road (doing about 90mph as they went by) - and they would just smile and wave. They did not get pulled over once.

I can attest to this. I used to drive a retired police cruiser and was always ignored by police on highways... not to mention I owned the left lane.

Around town, however, I was pulled over quite frequently though never ticketed. I definately didn't appreciate having two over zealous campus cops aiming their guns at the back of my head for "having a blue license plate light bulb".

 

[DickWanner]

I can attest to this. I used to drive a retired police cruiser and was always ignored by police on highways... not to mention I owned the left lane.

Around town, however, I was pulled over quite frequently though never ticketed. I definately didn't appreciate having two over zealous campus cops aiming their guns at the back of my head for "having a blue license plate light bulb".

I hope lost their jos over that...

 

[clinotus]

Generally a good holster lets you slide by most eyes unseen and unchallenged; Remember holster = good guy, Gat sticking out of a plumbers crack = call 911. Though this rule doesnt always hold water when it comes to Soccer Moms.

I've seen cops in my neighboring town in plain clothes, obviously detectives walking about with OWB holsters milling about in stores, the only telling factor are you 1) seeing them get out of a vehicle and giving it the once over, or 2) the radio in their hand. Other than that he could be you or I who forgot to wear a cover garment.

 

[Joe G]

Taking this to a more personal level, I was very surprised at my inability to 'make' anybody at Firefly's yesterday. I figure at least half the back room was carrying and I couldn't pick it out. The one 'sure hit' I had turned out to be a guy's cellphone holster upon closer inspection.

It makes me feel a lot better about my own attempts at CCW. Maybe I wasn't wearing a neon sign on my hip. I'm even more looking forward to the GOAL Art of Concealed Carry class in Feb.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

From the limited amount I saw on New Orleans disaster on the news, it looks like persons openly toting guns while wearing black T shirts with the word SECURITY in large white block letters got a pass while everyone else caught with a legal gun lost it.

 

[dwarven1]

Taking this to a more personal level, I was very surprised at my inability to 'make' anybody at Firefly's yesterday. I figure at least half the back room was carrying and I couldn't pick it out. The one 'sure hit' I had turned out to be a guy's cellphone holster upon closer inspection.

I honestly wasn't looking; I just assumed that most folks WERE carrying!