Might Want a Security Holster if You Open Carry

[General Zod]

People are seriously just not observant enough to notice whether you're carrying or not.

 

[Hoji]

People are seriously just not observant enough to notice whether you're carrying or not.

Unless they are looking to attempt to grab your gun.

 

[Hoji]

People who want to rob a gas station or something could see that you're armed and target you first.
I don't have any facts to back this up because they aren't necessary.

However, one could argue that the sight of the pistol could be a deterrent.

I'm not getting into that argument, though.
I'm just explaining the theory.

Didn’t dissuade these guys.
https://abc13.com/robber-disarms-hpd-officer-and-holds-her-at-gunpoint-video/5303914/

 

[General Zod]

Unless they are looking to attempt to grab your gun.

Which goes back to the point most of us have been making here - wear a retention holster if you OC and don't get complacent whether you're carrying open or concealed.

 

[candcallen]

I suggest not holstering your head in your ars as a good first step.


I would like to say the whole snatch your gun chicken little-ism is alarmist BS. For the most part it is, but I have to admit it almost happened to me. This said I have open carried for over 40 years [AZ native] and never once had an issue out of uniform. Frankly its because most people never even realize you're carrying unless your rocking a high point in the cheapest sagging POS nylon holster with a walk like John Wayne swinging your arm wide over the weapon screaming look at my bad ars self.

The time it happened to me I was escorting an inmate thru the county hospital and a prisoner another agency had there took advantage of his escorts flirting with a nurse and tried to get my weapon. My holster required a straight vertical draw stroke so between my practicing proper retention technique in the crowded hall and his pulling back and almost down all he got was a broken nose from a nice lateral hammer fist blow to go with the rest of his cuts and bruises he was there for. That and I'm pretty sure he sheit his self because 3 or 4 other officers from other agencies all drew at the same time and he realized just how fruitless it would have been if he succeeded. The only officer surprised was the one escorting him. I mentioned that officer might consider chasing skirts off duty especially when escorting a prisoner they had to fight with to begin with.

This is rare but shit happens. Any decent modern holster that limits how you present the gun to a specific stroke will probably be all you need. That is most quality modern holsters.

One very important thing, and I think it's a much more important part of the discussion. I have seen more than a couple brands of holsters, Fobus crap comes to mind, get completely ripped away from its mounting system in snatch drills. A couple rivets in cheap plastic is a recipe for disaster. Do your research on this. You dont need a level 12 kevlar reinforced holster that can do double duty as a repelling rig, nor should you carry in a holster you are not completely acquainted with cause you may just find you cant get your own weapon out. As with most things somewhere in the middle is just fine.

 

[Jon Payne]

I worked with this officer for a few years. He’s still in a coma.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.12...arch/502-3c6d0090-d3a7-4831-add1-9d4daf704fe6


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Damn!

 

[Charlie]

Hope the officer comes out of this OK. Hope they burn the guy that did it at the stake!

 

[leVieux]

Some 12 years ago, grocery shopping mid-day in the Montrose Fiesta Market, G26 in a semi-retention IWB well-concealed under my shirt, I felt the unmistakable hand on my weapon. IDK how or why I avoided my instinctive spin-and-slap, which I learned long ago and practiced thousands of times. But, spin I did, to find a a little 80-ish lady standing behind me looking confused. How she got her hand on my GLOCK remains a mystery. Had I followed instinct and training, she would have been laid-out and I would have felt terrible. Maybe a "Guardian Angel"? leVieux

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

A few years back, I had a lady in Home Depot put her hand on my concealed pistol (outside my concealment garment) and I quickly clamped my hand on her wrist.

At the time she was (unnoticed) behind me while we were both in line at the cash register and all I knew was someone had their hand on my pistol, so pulling it out wasn't going to happen, but I was startled to find someone's hand on my pistol even if 'outside' my concealment garment or not......

To top it off, she acted pissed when I grabbed her wrist announcing she wasn't going to steal from me.

I took my hand off her wrist as started to pull away.

What the hell she was doing with her hands on me remains a mystery.

 

[Hoji]

A few years back, I had a lady in Home Depot put her hand on my concealed pistol (outside my concealment garment) and I quickly clamped my hand on her wrist.

At the time she was (unnoticed) behind me while we were both in line at the cash register and all I knew was someone had their hand on my pistol, so pulling it out wasn't going to happen, but I was startled to find someone's hand on my pistol even if 'outside' my concealment garment or not......

To top it off, she acted pissed when I grabbed her wrist announcing she wasn't going to steal from me.

I took my hand off her wrist as started to pull away.

What the hell she was doing with her hands on me remains a mystery.

I would have probably just done what is instinctive and reactive in that situation and not lost a second of sleep over it.

 

[majormadmax]

People who want to rob a gas station or something could see that you're armed and target you first.
I don't have any facts to back this up because they aren't necessary.

However, one could argue that the sight of the pistol could be a deterrent.

I'm not getting into that argument, though.
I'm just explaining the theory.

I know the theory, I'm just asking those who claim that OC makes them a target to provide evidence to that over the past 3+ years Texas has allowed it, or in any other state that does the same.

My point is there is no proof that OC means a criminal will target a person first. I will concede it's also tough to prove how many instances the presence of someone OC'ing stopped a potential crime, but there has been numerous scientific studies that concluded criminals prefer unarmed victims, so the correlation can easily be made.

Given that police officers in uniform are rarely robbed, I believe that it's more of a deterrent than a vulnerability.

But most importantly, I see OC as a political statement concerning an inalienable right.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

Hoji,

Right.

I never felt bad or guilty about the experience, just baffled at what she thought she was doing...

 

[txinvestigator]

I know the theory, I'm just asking those who claim that OC makes them a target to provide evidence to that over the past 3+ years Texas has allowed it, or in any other state that does the same.

My point is there is no proof that OC means a criminal will target a person first. I will concede it's also tough to prove how many instances the presence of someone OC'ing stopped a potential crime, but there has been numerous scientific studies that concluded criminals prefer unarmed victims, so the correlation can easily be made.

Given that police officers in uniform are rarely robbed, I believe that it's more of a deterrent than a vulnerability.

But most importantly, I see OC as a political statement concerning an inalienable right.

I have seen at least three news reports of OCers having their handguns taken from them IN TEXAS since OC became legal.

Many, many police officers are killed with their own handguns. Not as many from holstered handguns now that retention holsters are so common

 

[F350-6]

I have seen at least three news reports of OCers having their handguns taken from them IN TEXAS since OC became legal.

Many, many police officers are killed with their own handguns. Not as many from holstered handguns now that retention holsters are so common

I agree with both of these, but 3 is a rather low number, and I'd be willing to wager that situational awareness wasn't up to par for the OC folks in the news.

The police issues are something else entirely. They're having to confront the bad guy directly, and if they decide to resist, then the chance of them trying to go for the pistol can be high.

 

[txinvestigator]

I agree with both of these, but 3 is a rather low number, and I'd be willing to wager that situational awareness wasn't up to par for the OC folks in the news.

The police issues are something else entirely. They're having to confront the bad guy directly, and if they decide to resist, then the chance of them trying to go for the pistol can be high.

So first you say there is no evidence, then when shown there is evidence you claim it is insufficient.

It CAN happen, and as statistically low as the chance may be the consequences if it were to occur are so potentially severe that it would be foolish to not carry in a retention holster if you open carry.

 

[candcallen]

Carrying concealed or open is a commitment not a fashion accessory. You need appropriate sized clothes belts and holsters or you may find your gun at your ankles. Worse yet watching it slide across the floor as you discover some version of messican carry isnt as secure as you thought. These are the problems you are much more likely to encounter than a snatch attempt.

The good news is solving these will most likely mitigate or eliminate a snatch attempt. Keep your head out of your anus is something most consider an important part of the process as well. YMMV.

 

[leVieux]

I have learned to always keep my "armed side" away from any threat, including innocent-looking folks too near.
leVieux

 

[leVieux]

I suggest not holstering your head in your ars as a good first step.


I would like to say the whole snatch your gun chicken little-ism is alarmist BS. For the most part it is, but I have to admit it almost happened to me. This said I have open carried for over 40 years [AZ native] and never once had an issue out of uniform. Frankly its because most people never even realize you're carrying unless your rocking a high point in the cheapest sagging POS nylon holster with a walk like John Wayne swinging your arm wide over the weapon screaming look at my bad ars self.

The time it happened to me I was escorting an inmate thru the county hospital and a prisoner another agency had there took advantage of his escorts flirting with a nurse and tried to get my weapon. My holster required a straight vertical draw stroke so between my practicing proper retention technique in the crowded hall and his pulling back and almost down all he got was a broken nose from a nice lateral hammer fist blow to go with the rest of his cuts and bruises he was there for. That and I'm pretty sure he sheit his self because 3 or 4 other officers from other agencies all drew at the same time and he realized just how fruitless it would have been if he succeeded. The only officer surprised was the one escorting him. I mentioned that officer might consider chasing skirts off duty especially when escorting a prisoner they had to fight with to begin with.

This is rare but shit happens. Any decent modern holster that limits how you present the gun to a specific stroke will probably be all you need. That is most quality modern holsters.

One very important thing, and I think it's a much more important part of the discussion. I have seen more than a couple brands of holsters, Fobus crap comes to mind, get completely ripped away from its mounting system in snatch drills. A couple rivets in cheap plastic is a recipe for disaster. Do your research on this. You dont need a level 12 kevlar reinforced holster that can do double duty as a repelling rig, nor should you carry in a holster you are not completely acquainted with cause you may just find you cant get your own weapon out. As with most things somewhere in the middle is just fine.

My Daughter was E D "Charge Nurse" in a large urban university hospital. She was present when a prisoner managed to draw a revolver from one of his two officer-escorts and fire three shots across the crowded waiting area before being controlled by another officer. Luckily, no-one was hit. So, it DOES happen.

leVieux