15 May 17

“Where, oh where, can my pistol be?
Liberals took it away from me
I’ve gone to heaven, because I tried to be ‘good’
I didn’t have my pistol with me, so I had to leave- yeah- this world”

With sincerest apologies to J Frank Wilson & The Cavaliers in “Last Kiss,” from 1964
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Going armed, consistently:

Last weekend, my students were intensely interested in talking about carrying concealed. Some did already, but at least until last weekend, few did consistently. My job is, of course, to emphasize consistency!

I explained that going armed is a confounded nuisance! When suggesting various methods, I keep coming back to this point:

Some “adjustment” in dress, disposition, personal philosophy, knowledge base, skill base, and lifestyle in general, is going to be necessary, when you are determined to be one of us. The notion that you’re going to “fit a gun into” your current lifestyle, with no alterations, is naive and dangerous!

“Occasionally” carrying a concealed pistol is akin to “occasionally” wearing a seatbelt while driving! Either wear a seatbelt or don’t, but please refrain from insulting my intelligence by insisting that you can predict the future with sufficient precision, so that you’ll know exactly when you’re going to “need it,” and when you’re not, nor that you have the uncanny ability to arbitrarily separate your life into “safe” and “dangerous” moments!

Women, for any number of reasons, are confronted with far greater challenges when carrying concealed than are men. Off-body carry (in purses and handbags) smugly shunned by some (mostly men) often represents one of the few viable options for many women. “Bra-holsters” represents another.

Every concealed-carry option, regardless of your gender, feature advantages and weaknesses. For some, depending upon the way they dress and the places they go, a single carry method may not suffice. Some of us may thus be compelled to carry in different locations on different occasions. That, of course, complicates the entire affair, yet may be necessary.

Shoulder-holsters, ankle-holsters, belly-bands, bra-holsters, et al all service a specific requirement, but all have failings too. One big issue is that most of the foregoing are “one way.” That is, the gun may come out quickly, but it cannot be speedily reholstered using only one hand. Thus, when you need to get your brandished pistol out of sight quickly, it will probably have to be placed in a pocket.

“Appendix carry” is currently all the rage, but it has issues too, not the least of which is safe reholstering. And, we all know that holstering is pistol is the single most dangerous things we do with guns!

I advise students that, before their search is over, they’re likely to have a box full of holsters! Even then, the “perfect” pistol and “perfect” concealed-carry method will likely elude them! The combination ultimately selected may suffice most of the time, but as noted above, it will ever be a confounded nuisance!

When you have made the firm and irreversible decision to go armed, as a permanent lifestyle, you’ll find a way! As noted, it will be far from perfect, but you’ll make the sacrifices necessary to make it work.

If not, you’ve likely stopped reading already!

“The most perfect technique is that which is not noticed at all”

Pablo Casals

/John