Showing Off Your CCW Unsafe?

I have, as well as one or two of my friends, but we cleared them and in the parking lot "shielded" by my friend's truck. JMHO.

^^ This is, to me, acceptable, and I've done it.

Once while carrying openly in a sporting goods store, an older man saw the Glock and promptly whipped his Glock subcompact out from his fanny pack to show me. I wasn’t amused.

There was a news story a few years ago about an open carry event in PA. The reporter was pleasantly surprised that when he asked to see any of the OCer’s pistols, they would merely rotate that hip towards him- not one of them pulled the gun out of the holster.

My opinion is that the holster is the best safety the handgun has. A modern handgun inside a proper holster cannot discharge. Fiddling with a loaded gun is poor form, and you should have told him so (tactfully).

Showing off your CCW in public is generally a very bad idea. I actually stopped going to one of the local gun stores because of this. The owner often took breaks and left a friend behind the counter to watch the store. The guy would show customers his CCW by handing it to them, sometimes still loaded.

Some exceptions exist. Maybe if you're out camping somewhere, on our own property (but perhaps not standing around in the front lawn), in your home, in a friends home, etc. But not generally outdoors in public.

In a home, yes provided it is properly cleared and the 4 rules are followed. In public, not worth it on a risk/reward scale for me.

If someone else does it with no warning like in your case, just smile politely and say it is a nice gun, then leave. I wouldn't handle it, if he handed it to me, I'd take it, look for a second, then hand it back. I wouldn't manipulate it, examine it etc. I wouldn't refuse it, or clear it, or make a scene, that would just prolong the time the gun is out of the holster being fondled by someone.

I have experienced this, someone handed me their new CCW pistol while in their car, I looked at it with the muzzle pointed at the floorboard, said that is really nice, holstered it and we moved on.

If you know me well enough to know that I'm armed then you have already seen my gun and there is no need to see it again. It's a tool, NOT a showpiece to be displayed for all to see.

CCW means CONCEALED.

If you are gonna show it off, go somewhere private to do that.

But it is not unsafe as long as the 4 rules apply.

Deaf

Not very smart IMHO. I never show when I am carrying concealed, defeats the whole purpose. I have one friend/cousin-in-law who was a sherriff and also CC and we have chatted about what we carry. The only time we have physically seen or handled each others firearms is when we would go shooting together or when he first purchased his 1911 and he had it in his vehicle unloaded and wanted to show me his new purchase. Only time I unholster a loaded weapon is to use it.

As I said in another thread - the less coonfingering of loaded guns in public the better.

There's a young counter man in a LGS who's always whipping out his pet pistol to show off the latest modification he's had done. It's gotten to the point that if I see him behind the counter, I don't go in. They OC at work, it isn't as if I don't know what a 1911 looks like, and the add-ons are commercial off the shelf offerings. A description would suffice...

You want to go someplace SAFE and draw and clear the weapon using proper procedures? Sure, share your guns with your pals.

In a public place with no safe backstop and/or known safe direction for muzzle control? No way.

Very rarely do I show off a carry firearm. But when I do, the proper unloading and clearing procedures are followed. In the parking lot at my temp job has almost as many firearms as a gun show I visited.

Rule 1 All guns are always loaded.

I agree!

In a home, yes provided it is properly cleared and the 4 rules are followed. In public, not worth it on a risk/reward scale for me.

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Think that states it well. If it is a ccw, leave it there until your life is threatened. If you want to show it off, do so from a case and clear it before transport, then clear it again in front of the person your showing it to. I try to make it a goal that no pistol I ever clear in front of another, ever has a live round come out of the chamber, given obvious acceptions.

I've cleared said weapon and showed a friend using my truck as cover once or twice him likewise

Every time, every single time, you unload or load a handgun the weapon can discharge. When the weapon discharges, the bullet will end up somewhere or in someone and one will likely make the news.

It's not a "toy", it's a long range drill. Don't be jacking with guns. Parking lots provide no magic force fields.

Don't show off guns.

The desire to show off a firearm in such situations is usually an indicator
of someone who has only recently become a "convert". They just bought
their first toy, just got their CCW etc. etc.
It's a normal response but one that can easily lead to accidents or other
problems. Show and Tell activity's should usually be restricted to areas
where others not involved will not be affected or endangered.

Doing something like this runs counter to everything I believe about carrying a firearm. As mentioned above, concealed is concealed. I've seen guys in gun shops yard up their t-shirts to display their guns and it makes me cringe every time. It also makes me lose any respect for the individual because it's pathetic behavior. Misplaced machismo run amok.

Handling a firearm is when something can go wrong. When you cycle the action, and load or unload a firearm with live rounds something has even more potential to go wrong (sometimes a soft primer can even be set off by a light bump from a loose firing pin, dirt or debris the action presses into it, or a mechanical fault can discharge the gun with otherwise safe handling.)
When you first show someone a firearm it also shouldn't be loaded before they even know how it works.
Guns should be pointed in safe directions.
Proper safe handling is often hindered when staying hidden or inconspicuous is a major concern, like when handling firearms in public without being noticed.
The concern often is less about safety, keeping it pointed in a safe direction, finger off the trigger, clear communication, and making sure the other guy does the same, and more about not being seen, putting priorities wrong when dealing with a new unfamiliar and potentially dangerous object. Even worse when loaded.


There may be exceptions in some locations, but in general taking a gun out in public to show, especially one carried loaded for protection, is a bad idea.



I also think it is rude and disrespectful to pull out a gun to show someone without warning or telling someone ahead of time. If you are going to take out a gun, they should be expecting you to retrieve or take out a gun, it shouldn't suddenly be in your hand. And it certainly shouldn't suddenly be in your hand loaded. That strikes me as juvenile immature behavior that lacks respect for the firearm and for the other person.

See my new toy

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That statement says it all. None of my guns get referred to as "toys", especially the one I'm carrying.

Negligent discharges happen most frequently when the gun is unholstered and in somebody's hand.
Very rarely shoot themselves in the holster unaided.

Nuff said

Fred Fuller said:

As I said in another thread - the less coonfingering of loaded guns in public the better.

There's a young counter man in a LGS who's always whipping out his pet pistol to show off the latest modification he's had done. It's gotten to the point that if I see him behind the counter, I don't go in. They OC at work, it isn't as if I don't know what a 1911 looks like, and the add-ons are commercial off the shelf offerings. A description would suffice...

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Local to new or old place?

El Tejon said:

Every time, every single time, you unload or load a handgun the weapon can discharge.

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Nonsense. If you cannot load and unload without risk of a discharge, sell your guns, now.