Yesterday I talked about what to do if someone found out you were carrying a gun. The bottom line is that if there is any adverse reaction you need to leave. You don’t want to explain to the police that you are legally carrying a gun while the cop is pointing a gun at you. I’ve had a couple things happen over the years.
One of the weirdest was when I was working for an armored car company and open carrying. I was working in the south (rich) side of Orange County on a Saturday. There was a Costco on my route that was always a problem. This weekend I was on my way in with money so the store could make change (and change is heavy). The place was always packed so I would carry my gun in my hand, down by my leg. It was totally legal and I did it as much for shock value as to get people to move out of the way.
I made it past the doors and was almost to the back. The Costco employees were very good at security and helping us. One of the employees was holding the door to the office open for me. I was almost there when a kid (about 12), walked in front of me and demanded to know why I was carrying a gun. He went on, as I holstered my weapon and kept walking, that I was not suppose to have a gun. I slowed a little and demanded where is mother was. He stopped to turn and point, I kept walking and quickly slipped into the back room.
It was almost funny but crazy things happen when you carry a gun. You have to have a plan. My plan when I carried money during my time was never to stop and talk to anyone. I walked past my Grandmother once when she said hello (I put the money in the truck and went back). Even when crazy happened, I still kept with my plan.
Years later here in Texas I was carrying concealed in a Walgreens with my one-year old. I put him down for a second to get something and he ran off. I ran around the corner after him. A man stepped back from him and into me. There was a weird clunk as both of our guns bumped. We looked at each other for a second, I grabbed my kid, and he went one way and I went the other. I checked out (because I was getting something for my wife and it wasn’t a good time to come home empty handed). But as soon as I paid, I was out of there. The guy I ran into looked like a cop, but I was sticking around to find out, and I’m glad he didn’t stick around to ask.
The last one was just uncomfortable. I was at our church and was standing outside with a bunch of the guys after service. One of the members of the band came over and gave me a hug. He lingered a little long for a “guy” hug and I was pushing him with a joke when he grabbed my holster and said “there it is.” I walked away from the group and back into the church. I’m still not sure who told him that I carry a gun or why he thought that would be appropriate to find it.
That gave me something to think about, how do you hug someone when you are wearing a gun? Man hugs are easy, because I went back to shaking hands first and holding on to his hand while getting a hug. Yes, guys give me hugs and I’m okay with it, mostly. Women giving hugs is harder. I’m not sure how to handle that. I thought I had it by just making sure that my arms are underneath, but my cousin’s wife still felt my gun because after we finished hugging, she leaned against me with her arm on my shoulders. The only conclusion I have come to so far is not to hug people that don’t know I’m carrying a gun.
Figure out what you are going to do if someone finds out you are carrying and think about how to handle personal contact while you are carrying.
Stay Safe,
Ben
One technique I’ve heard for hugging while carrying a gun is to turn your body slightly so that the person trying to hug you makes contact with your non-gun hip. You could also drop your strong-side arm to sort of cover the butt of your gun with the fleshy part of the arm, which might help. This is something women who carry deal with more often because, in my experience, women as a group tend to be “huggier” than men.