17 Nov 19
“Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom.
One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot teach it.”
Hermann Hesse
“Appendix” Carry:
I’m not sure that appendix carry qualifies as a “trend,” but I’m seeing it a lot more of it than I did a decade ago.
With the whole idea of concealed carry still a “novelty” in many parts of the country, and so much of it being poorly and unsafely displayed in Hollywood productions, more than a few students of our Art are currently experimenting with the practice.
Simultaneously, holster-makers make available a never-ending variety of wares designed to accommodate appendix carry.
More than a few concealed carriers opting for appendix carry have accidentally shot themselves in the leg or groin!
Of course, during the same time period, probably an equal number of concealed carriers opting for hip carry have likewise accidentally shot themselves in the buttocks, but those wounds tend to be less life-threatening than with the former category.
I’ve been asked to comment on the practice, as I know respected instructors who don’t allow appendix carry in their venues!
Here are the main points:
1. Guns are dangerous! Risk attaches to all forms of concealed carry, no matter how careful we try to be. None are “risk free!”
2. The most dangerous thing we do with pistols, by far, is place them into holsters! Upwards of ninety percent of range/training accidents happen as the student is holstering/reholstering. It is at this moment that we must be most alert and careful, no matter the carry method for which we’ve opted.
3. Carrying a concealed pistol, for the purpose of personal protection, absolutely requires that the pistol be loaded! Carrying concealed, in any body location, where the pistol has no round chambered, represents foolish self-deception! Who are not prepared to carry a loaded pistol, are not ready for concealed carry at all, and shouldn’t!
When you produce your pistol during an emergency, who promised you that your support-hand will always be available? Is that a “given?”
When the practice of routinely carrying concealed, a modern, high-quality pistol with a round chambered, frightens you, my advice is to not carry at all, in any position, as noted above!
4. I ask appendix carriers to do two things I don’t of require those employing other carry options:
a. I ask students to holster only when standing up. I ask them not to holster while they are sitting (as in a car).
b. I ask students to thrust their hips forward slightly as they holster, insuring that only empty space (rather than their thigh or groin) is directly in front of their pistol’s muzzle as the pistol is seated in the holster.
5. As with off-body carry, appendix carry (with all its risks) not only represents an acceptable option. For some, it represents the only option!
Back to point 1:
I don’t think it is possible to handle, nor bear, deadly weapons “safely.”
I think we can handle them CAREFULLY! Even then, there are no guarantees.
The practice of routine concealed carry, in any form, is ill-suited for clueless snowflakes! Only the assiduous, serious, and sober need apply!
/John
