Being Made when CC'ing

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coolluke01

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I've been CC'ing a G26 for a while now. I'm becoming less and less uncomfortable about being made, and I believe that it's really not that noticeable.

These are two different issues really.

1. Have you ever been made while carrying? Was it a problem?

2. Is it really that noticeable? I can see it when I stand in front of the mirror, but that's because I know it's there.

I haven't quite gotten to the point where I'll wear my gun IWB with a T-shirt yet. But I'll wear a untucked heavier shirt, even though I'm self couscous about it. I have been places where I carried it IWB at 4 with a shirt untucked while playing pool. I was worried about it showing but my wife didn't even know I was carrying.

How clueless is the public? How hard is it to make out a concealed firearm?
 
Anymore, I just make sure mine is covered. I regularly carry OWB with an untucked T-shirt, though I don't wear tight fitting shirts and I try to make sure that if I need to reach up I do so with my off hand.

Other than that I don't worry too much about it. I get the feeling that you really have to be careless to be noticed by the average person, and if another permit holder "makes" me, I don't really care.
 
Most people don't notice even if you are open carrying, much less concealing it.

And even if they do, I don't really care. I'm not doing anything wrong, and in Georgia it not unusual to see people carrying guns, so no one usually cares.
 
1. Have you ever been made while carrying? Was it a problem?
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All the time, but I carry open. There is nothing in WA law (where I live) that makes printing or even exposure illegal, and doing so does not threaten your CPL. Knowing that, why would I care if I was 'made'?
 
I have carried open (remember Starbucks anti-boycott day?) on a few occasions without so much as a third look. I carry concealed and find nobody is looking. If I've ever been "made" I'm not aware of it, nor do I care.
 
How clueless is the public?
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"The public" is very local, and seldom (as you put it) clueless. Someone in NYC reporting OC to the police is not clueless; they are reacting to the reality that OC without a badge in NYC (outside of one's own store) is very unlikely to be legal.

Here in MA, I would expect very different reactions if my CC becomes visible, depending on where I am. As the practical penalties for letting your CC be seen here might range as high as arrest at gun-point and loss of license, I don't let myself be made.

If you decide to carry concealed, then do it well. Test all carry options before you leave home; a full-length mirror is your friend, especially when coupled with an hand mirror to let you check how you look from the rear.

I'm not sure I get the point of carrying "sort of concealed."
 
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1. Have you ever been made while carrying? Was it a problem?
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My 6 year old daughter "made" me one day in front of family and a bunch of other Cabela's shoppers. She's hyperactive, fast, and a bit clumsy. She came flying down a row between some clothes racks and smashed fore-head first into the butt of my 1911! Made a cantaloupe "THUNK" that I swear everyone in the store turned around to figure out "what was THAT?" She burst into tears and fell on the floor holding her head! Left a big white DENT right in the middle of her forehead.

Problem for her! :) Otherwise, not that I know of -- when trying to conceal -- and no problems, no.

2. Is it really that noticeable? I can see it when I stand in front of the mirror, but that's because I know it's there.
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You can always see it about 10x easier than anyone else. With the plethora of junk about half of the population hangs on their belts these days, a little lump here or there at your waist line is not going to raise any eyebrows at all.

There are degrees, of course. Some guns and holsters are more obtrusive than others, and some clothing (and colors, and patterns) conceal better than others.

I haven't quite gotten to the point where I'll wear my gun IWB with a T-shirt yet.
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I've "concealed" a S&W 629 under a snug white t-shirt on a hot, sweaty day before. I'd imagine it was pretty easy to tell what that lump was if someone wanted to take the time to focus on it. (But this is PA, so who cares?)

But I'll wear a untucked heavier shirt, even though I'm self couscous about it. I have been places where I carried it IWB at 4 with a shirt untucked while playing pool. I was worried about it showing but my wife didn't even know I was carrying.
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I have a photo somewhere that my mother took of me, from about 5:00, while I was leaning over a fence rail at a historic site. To me, I think I can just about read the caliber and see the checkering on the right grip of my 1911 through my cover shirt. None of my family members noticed, and no one else did, either, through about 4 days of vacation that I wore the same shirt.

How clueless is the public? How hard is it to make out a concealed firearm?
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Clueless? Well, that's kind of a pejorative term. Most people (except a very few other "gun" people) aren't looking for a gun on your belt. When they don't expect to see a gun, their brains really don't seem to resolve that lump or silhouette into the mental image "GUN." Many people who open carry a lot say the same thing seems to happen. Even with the weapon right out in the sun, many people don't seem to bring it into focus.

In other words, relax. :)
 
I'm sure I have. I don't quite open carry, but I don't quite conceal carry; at least not all the time. I carry my full size M&P in a SERPA OWB holster. If the clothing I choose for the day covers it, I'm concealed. If not, I'm open carrying. I don't really care either way who sees it. I've never had a problem of any kind.
 
Cops and bad guys plus other CCW people will notice. Most times I can spot a cop also because he has an ankle holster as backup.

The other 90% of the people will never notice.
 
If I've been made I haven't been told.

I don't think people are so much clueless as they are more concerned with themselves than what's going on around them.
 
This is a glaring generalization, but I'm going to make it anyway. Most people are in condition white, completely self-centered, and totally unaware of what's going on around them. I believe lumps and bulges, if noticed at all, are assumed to be smart phones or Ipods. I'm not surprised when I hear that open carry is not noticed, although I don't unless I'm on the ranch or in the woods.

I've never been made, except when my sister-in-law gave me a back handed slap on the side and hit my Kahr P9.
 
I spot an average of about 1 concealed pistol a week, here in Tennessee; (almost always at WalMart). I figure there's probably 5 I don't spot for every 1 I do. I try to point them out to my wife as a way to work on her situational awareness, but most of the time she just doesn't care. Clueless? Maybe just unconcerned...
 
No one has "made" me and I don't see how anyone could.

If someone asks, "Are you carrying a gun?" and the gun isn't in clear view, simply say no or mind your own business. They can't PROVE you have it, just by a lump in your shirt and if they try to physically expose you by reaching for the gun, putting their hands on you, etc... well, then give them the gun, barrel first.
 
I got made once, I was wearing my OWB rig, with a coat on. I reached in my right back pocket, looking for change at the gas station. The gas clerk spotted it, and was enthusiastic about it. "Yo dawg, you got heat? I can't wait til I turn 21, I'mma get a Glock Fotay! Can I see yo piece?".

Other than that, my shirts tend to ride up quite a bit while grocery shopping (bending, lifting, etc.), but I'm not concerned about becoming unconcealed, really, and no one else has every said anything to me. I notice quite a bit of CCer's, around here, some who like to carry OWB in a small enough shirt that I can see the serial number through it. No one cares.
 
It gets more comfortable over time to the point you don't even realize it's there (which you gotta watch out for sometimes :) ).

You asked how hard is it to make somebody, how often do you make people? I personally rarely ever do but then again I don't really care so I don't look (most of the time).

Sam1911 - LMAO. I woulda loved to be at that Cabelas.
 
I did see one fellow going into the local grocery store in a photog vest and a "Swarovski" ball cap. He kind of looked like he was dressed for "Concealed Carry Guy" magazine cover art. It reminded me why I don't dress like that...except on match days.

Ironically, he could just as easily have been an actual photographer. But who'd believe THAT? :D
 
I CC OWB too. I also wear tee shirts or overshirts that are relaxed fit. I was made one time, by a Deputy Sheriffs Officer(a friend). He walked up taped on my Sig 220 grips and said "damn good to see someone would have my back". In my area ( very very small) the law enforcement officers know that most of the CCW permit holders shoot and are proficient with their carry weapon. Thank goodness for small towns.
 
1) Yes. I threw my leather jacket on over a tucked shirt and went to a gas station in the middle of the night. Popular hangout for the sheriff's deputies since it is right in the middle of their zone. One of them simply asked if I had a permit, to which I replied "yes." Neither one asked to see my permit, license, or pistol.

I got made once again helping a lady change her tire. She asked if I was a cop... Didnt seem to bother her, and she later asked how hard it was to get a permit.

I'm sure I've been made on more occasions, since I've made folks but didn't say anything. I'm 6ft tall, 150 lbs, and carried a 5" 1911 under an untucked T shirt.

2) No. If it is noticeable, its not a big deal in western NC.
 
All the time, but I carry open. There is nothing in WA law (where I live) that makes printing or even exposure illegal, and doing so does not threaten your CPL. Knowing that, why would I care if I was 'made'?
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I reached up with the wrong hand in a well known Western Washington shopping mall . Upon exiting the mall I was confronted by every cop within 12 miles . I had no idea I had been made until being confronted .

The "officer" that disarmed me and cleared my weapon had no idea how to clear a 1911 . None of the officers that spoke to me wasted any time giving their opinion on condition one carry . Eventually one of the overpaid civil servants came forward and took the weapon from the puzzled and tentative officer in order to clear it . HE WIPED THE SAFETY WITH HIS RIGHT INDEX FINGER INSIDE THE TRIGGER GUARD WHILE POINTING THE WEAPON DIRECTLY AT ME . I managed to quickly duck out of the way resulting in being sat on while in hand cuffs for not following instructions (remain still) . Despite the incompetence of the detaining public servants no rounds were discharged and I with my unloaded pistol were released pending "investigation" .

I was long , loud , direct and impossible to ignore when talking to the police chief , city council and city prosecutor . It took them three months to follow through with the county and state to have my cc reinstated .

Open carry indeed .

I have been extraordinarily careful of my carry habits since . My concealment options decreased to the point where I need to partially undress to access a carried weapon . In subsequent years I have paid for this fiasco by having to submit to rigid cautionary procedures by approaching LEO . It seems my ID is forever tagged with " usually armed , approach with caution " . I have seen the output of the inquiry personally due to a sympathetic LEO otherwise I would have never known .

This incident occurred December of 1991 . The most recent "conversation" I had with local LEO was early this year . I was approached with no less than three patrol cars and four officers over a license plate light . I spent nearly 20 minutes handcuffed , face down with a foot in the small of my back while my vehicle was searched , so I was told , for weapons .

and so it goes .

~kop
 
1. Have you ever been made while carrying? Was it a problem?
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Just once...stubborn nephew headbutted my glock. His parents don't make him listen. He now headbutts everyone but me.
2. Is it really that noticeable? I can see it when I stand in front of the mirror, but that's because I know it's there.
Click to expand...

No one will notice more than you. If I do get made, I really don't care. But in the land of gigantic droid phones, pocket knives, pocket tools, giant key rings, large people that are naturally lumpy and any other number of things that causes bulges...I have a hard time believing you can look at a bulge and just know it is a gun. Even if I do have a small bulge, so do 90% of the people around me.

I also believe the public is VERY clueless. I've ran into walmart after an IDPA event and forgotten to throw on my cover shirt. That left a glock 19 exposed IWB (t shirt tucked in) along with 3 mags I hadn't bothered to take off. Either no one noticed the black gun against my black shirt or they didn't care. Likely both.
 
^^^ Yikes!

A LOT has changed in WA since 1991, including some lawsuits won or settled out of court for open carry. I can understand your apprehension though, especially when you're at the mercy of a half dozen knotheads.

I still carry openly and haven't had any problems in the last few years.
 
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