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During the heat of summer (all 2 months of it), I like to wear skirts. I choose breezy flouncy knee length styles because they are much cooler than blue jeans and much more attractive than shorts. I'm trying to decide how to carry.
Belly?
Or thigh?
I think the belly band would be more practical but Mike is lobbying for the tactical thigh holster, thinking I'll wear it, and not much else, around the house.__________________________
I went to Target today and as I was paying for socks and nail polish remover, I noticed that there was a young security guard standing near the entrance. An unarmed security guard. I suppose he was hired to make people "feel" safe; wearing a dark uniform, multiple embroidered badges and a batman belt he looked very official. He might have even had pepper spray. I envisioned something happening. A crazed gunman, a lunatic with a machete - whatever. If it could happen in a Chicago Lane Bryant, or an Omaha shopping mall it could happen in a Target here. (why not?)
But what could the security guard do, exactly?
Call for help and pray that someone with a gun arrives before it's too late.
27 comments:
I keep trying to see the belly band as a comfortable option but I can't. I guess I'll have to try one out and see for myself, because it would be an ideal fit for about 60% of my wardrobe.
I have also observed what you have - people aren't LOOKING for a gun. So they don't SEE a gun. A friend of mine got his CPL recently as well and has been trying out methods of carry. We keep playing the "can you see it?" game.
*I* see it every time, and I can easily tell the difference between an empty holster and one with a gun in it. But apparently I have super-human eyes because nobody else sees it.
This has, however, put me into a mode of thinking I see guns on *other* people.
i'm with mike; that thigh rig does look like a sexy garter...maybe you can find one in black lace with fishnets?
and do you really think that rentawannabecop is there to protect you? it's strictly a psych thing for shoplifters; if a bad guy got serious the "guard" would be the first one out the door...jtc
You can walk around talking on your pistol like it was a cellphone. Nobody would notice. Use it for a key fob and flop it on the checkout counter. Nobody will say a thing. I've dropped them in pockets, inside waistbands, jacket pickets, et. Yours is nice and light and small. Nobody is going to notice.
If he wants the double thigh righ tell him you are going to need a couple of Kimber 1911s.
Galco holsters sells a thigh band, which would work for a longer skirt and a smaller firearm. Their web site is having some issues, so-no linking available right now. It would probably work for the Bersa. Though they are supposed to be VERY uncomfortable.
The Undershirt holster is an option, though I don't know anyone who uses one. A shoulder-holster without the jacket.
The Cornered Cat has a discussion on this topic - holsters in general that is.
There's a couple things going on for why other people don't notice concealed guns.
The first is that most people aren't thinking in terms of even *looking* for concealed guns on other people. It's just not something they are aware of or concerned with. Add in the fact that most people aren't really that observant anyway, and that increases the fact they aren't likely to notice.
The second reason is that a bulge, even if it's visible, can be anything these days. With the prevelence of cell phones, PDA's, etc, a bulge in clothing is not really that out of place anymore and can easily be misinterperated as one of those things.
Rob
I thought of something else:
The easiest way to spot someone carrying a concealed pistol is to look for the person constantly adjusting their clothing or patting the pistol to make sure it's concealed or secure. That's common, especially with people new to concealed carry. A non-gunny probably wouldn't twig to it though.
The other tip off is someone with a folding knife clipped to a pocket. I've yet to met someone who carried a knife that way who didn't also carry a gun.
I know people with knives in (not clipped) to the pocket or who have a folder in a holster, and they may or may not carry, but everyone I've met who has a knife clipped to the pocket, carries.
No advice on carrying in a skirt or dress, if I had a kilt the gun would be in the SPORRAN, but the twin dirks in my stockings would be telling. I have an undershirt holster, and I think it will work well for all except immediate, fast gun access. But I would be armed. I think the world (most Americans) thinks everyone is unarmed, and they should think that everyone is armed and it shouldn't make a difference. But then they call 911.
Actually, it has already happened at Target. A year ago, at one of the Target stores in Kansas City, four miles from my house. The gunman managed to kill two people in Target's parking lot before the police shot him -- and he'd even brought the police with him. On his way to Target a police officer had stopped him at the gas station directly across the street from where I work, and he'd shot the officer in the arm. Here's the story:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation
/2007-04-29-mall-shooting_N.htm
I am living a different reality or am traveling through a different space than those around me.
Yes. Welcome to the dimension. You may notice that some things are a little different here.
Take a look at the Kangaroo holster--Sort of a cross between a bellyband and a shoulder holster, worn under your shirt. My wife has one--She has a minor problem with the front rolling, but she thinks she can add some stiffening and make it work well. Her XD is too big, but my J-frame works fine, and her P3AT disappears.
I think the Target guard is just there for the shoplifters. Unfortunately, the uniform + their being unarmed could result in their becoming a...um...*point of attention* for a BG. (I was trying not to say target...it would've been too easy...)
Trebor: I've carried my Kershaw Liner-Lock in my jeans change pocket or clipped to my cargo pants pockets since I was a gun-fearing liberal. The guy who had the same knife also carried it that way, also no gun. Of course I intend to change that : ]
As for holsters, the belly band is probably the most versitile, so buying one of thems you'll definetly have some carry options you'll like for various codes of dress.
For the Thigh holster, are your skirts slit in such a way (or are of proper lenth) that you won't expose your peice, but can still get them out of the way so you can draw? You don't want to be fetching up lots of skirt to get to your holster when trouble calls...though a goblin might be transfixed by your odd, and possibly sexy reaction to his threat of violence.
I still think you need to take to carrying inside you leg, much like Robocop! We have the technology! : ]
Many security guards are just an extra set of eyes and an attempt to be a deterrent. In fact, where I used to work, if a female employee wanted an escort by a security guard to her car in the middle of the night, they would be happy to oblige...BUT, policy stated they could NOT actually do anything if something happened, other than call 911.
That's right, a bad guy could jump the female employee, beat her up, rape her do whatever they wanted...and per the security services policy the guard was prohibited from doing anything other than watch and call 911.
On a lighter note, you could be wearing your gun completely out in the open and most people would never even notice. Check out the following forum:
http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/
Many states allow Open Carry and people in the above forum discuss their experiences.
On the subject of holsters, have you checked out http://www.smartcarry.com/ yet? I have no personal experiences with the holster yet, but I am very tempted to give it a try.
Not sure if you're one to carry a purse, but this might be an option for still going armed regardless of the outfit you wear.
Just be sure and have a designated fitted compartment for it so it stays clean and oriented correctly.
My wife just got a belly band holster for Mother's Day (upon request), and thinks it will work well enough to keep. It's not the end-all, be-all, but it's another option for her, like when she wants to wear something that won't go with a thick belt.
Her only real complaint so far is that, unlike a leather holster, the belly band doesn't help keep the butt of her pistol pulled in against her body. When she sits, the gun wants to pivot on its muzzle and the butt winds up jutting out. She dresses around that a bit to make it work.
In the holster's defense, she's carrying a Kahr K9, which is a fairly hefty chunk of stainless steel. A lighter gun may not lean out so much.
Mmmmmm ...... Breda in a Lara Croft style holster rig............
[RM smacks himself for inappropriate thinking before Mike does]
:-)
I prefer skirts year-round, so I'm sort of on the horns of this dilemma, too. We shall see... Have lost 10 pounds since January, and the belt I bought at the FWGS on March 31 is already almost too big... hmmm....
I'm a guy, so what works for me might well not work for a woman. I posted how I carry on another site:
http://www.twincitiescarry.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4981
Worthless for a woman in slacks. Might work for you, under a loose skirt.
You can't bolt a holster to your leg? Perfect for skirt weather and if someone saw the outline of the holster through the material they'd think it part of the prosthetic. Lots of other cool options if you go that route.
tBolt - my prosthesis is only from the knee down. I'd have to wear really long skirts.
Dang! That's limiting. A spring loaded mechanism that jumped up to where you could reach it from calf level would just be a BIT embarrassing if it was inadvertently tripped.
~~~~~~~
Breda at 7-11...
"$6.29 total? Lessee, 5, 6, and 25 and 1, 2, 3..."
-SPROING!-
"Oh don't mind that. That's just my Bersa... I'll reset the mechanism and be on my way. No, KEEP the cash in the register. This isn't that. No. No. It's ok, just a concealment faux pas. Ok. Here's $20. Keep the change."
I think the belly band would be more practical but Mike is lobbying for the tactical thigh holster, thinking I'll wear it, and not much else, around the house. Something like this?
People are totally unobservant.
(Wow. That was like one of my very first blog posts ever...)
oleg - you scared my husband!!! LMAO!
What about Thunderwear? http://thunderwear.com/testimonials.asp
They seem to like it!
DoubleTapper
DoubleTapper@gmail.com
DoubleTapper, blogging on Guns Politics Defense from Israel
There are times I thank G-d I ride.
Like when I fill the tank on my bike.
Or because I look NORMAL wearing a black leather CCW vest. Keys and other junk in outer pockets completely hides any print through.
----------------------
Acronym game: nvrbymf
NeVer BuY Musty Flubber
See? I was polite!
What the dirtiestthing every written on the Breda Fallacy?
"...are your skirts slit in such a way (or are of proper lenth) that you won't expose your peice..."
;-)
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