Giving and receiving hugs while conceal carrying

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rlj174

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Sorry for the sappy post here but I'm fairly new to conceal carrying.

Over the Holidays while receiving a hug, a person (female) grabbed around my waist and realized I was concealed carrying. No big deal as it's my wife's good friend, however now I'm always thinking about it.

About to head out to a friends b-day party and I'm sure I'll be hugging numerous people through the night, most people I know fairly well however some are just people I occasionally see.

How do you'll handle the "look" when someone realizes "something" around your waist?
 
When hugging, it helps to carry appendix. Most of the "friend hugs" don't end up touching your gun unless you're REALLY friendly ;)

If you're carrying at 3-4 o'clock, when you go to hug someone, make sure that you keep your arms low, which means the other person should have their arms higher. This should keep their arms/hands off your waist and gun.
 
So far I don't think I've hugged somebody that I actively wanted to keep that information from. These days everybody in the family knows I carry...for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year I was open carrying anyway.

But the best bet is to put your gun-side arm low to block them from landing on the pistol (for IWB on the belt anyway)
 
Low elbow on your strong side. Let/guide/force their arm to go over yours.

This takes a bit of getting used to for men, especially taller men, as we're used to hugging folks a bit shorter than us, so our arms naturally end up above theirs.

But keep yours low, like you're going for hugging their waist and keep your arms down/elbows in.


Or always keep your hands full and just give a friendly and amusedly apologetic look and nod. Like, "Shucks, sure wish I could hug ya but I've got this danged aardvark... whatcha gonna do?"
 
Sam1911 said:
Low elbow on your strong side. Let/guide/force their arm to go over yours.

This takes a bit of getting used to for men, especially taller men, as we're used to hugging folks a bit shorter than us, so our arms naturally end up above theirs.

But keep yours low, like you're going for hugging their waist and keep your arms down/elbows in.


Or always keep your hands full and just give a friendly and amusedly apologetic look and nod. Like, "Shucks, sure wish I could hug ya but I've got this danged aardvark... whatcha gonna do?"
Click to expand...
+1

Arm that would draw the gun (assuming 3-6 O'clock) goes low, weak hand goes high.
 
Ahh, the classic "is that a snub nose 38 in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" conundrum...
 
I've noticed that hugging is highly regional and highly dependent on the scene.

I see a lot of "bro-hugs" around here, just goes along with high-fives and fist bumps it seems.

And certain religious traditions (probably mostly Protestant) seem to foster a sort of touchy-feely hugginess where new folks and regulars too are always greeted with big welcoming hugs. To be too stand-offish would be awkward. (Hence the "sorry my hands are full" gambit. Works great with kids who suddenly simply must be carried, though that looks odd when they're over about 10 or so. :))

Now the funny thing is that the most hugs I ever get are among friends in the shooting community and primarily at big matches where we're all catching up after not seeing each other since the last big match. That can look amusingly like a tactical-ed out version of a highschool reunion -- hugs aplenty! But then, there's armloads of weapons around so keeping it concealed is a moot point! :D
 
I suspect many of us don't hug folks who'd be surprised or otherwise concerned that we're carrying a concealed handgun. I personally don't care for people who aren't really good friends attempting to hug me.

One can always demure, saying, sorry, I have an ostomy and there's a ... you know ...
 
I got in the habit really early in my "carrying career" of making sure MY arms went underneath HER arms, so I was hugging her around the trunk and she is hugging me around my neck.

Very few people carry a gun around their neck.
 
Don't shower and you don't have to worry about it. :eek:

Seriously though, I don't make it a habit to hug people who don't already know that I'm carrying. The biggest problem I have is when the grandkids run up to hug me, more than one of them have banged their head into my gun. I've started getting more adept at guiding them away from it, but sometimes they'll surprise me in the store or somewhere like that.

Matt
 
Offhand high, stronghand low. Kinda backward from what most right handed people do, but it effectively blocks the the hug-er from reaching the waist on the carry side.
 
thanks for the amusing advice. Keeping strong arm low seems to be the way to go.........
 
I've had family go to put there hand on my carry side hip and put their hand right on the pistol. No one has said anything. I try to keep my choice to a small j frame in a low ride El Paso rig. With bantam grips, I doubt you think gun. Not that anyone would be surprised with me, but I hate making hosts feel weird about me carrying. This past Christmas I experimented with a g19. Never again. Lots of bending over to distribute gifts etc. I just adjust my carry choice to the occasion. That air weight sees a lot of family functions. Sport coats help, but not in the AZ summers. I alternate between a g26, a g19 and a 642 airweight centennial. Dress accordingly and keep those arms low and control their arm placement.
 
Just went to a memorial service for a person my wife and I have known for 25 years. We've been to their family's marriages, funerals and Christmas parties and they've been to ours all that time but I've only been carrying for the last 10 years.

Twice at this memorial was I hugged (thereby patted down) by a couple of those family members who were little kids the last time I saw them. They are grown up with their own kids now.

I think I'll follow the above advice in future about keeping my right arm low when receiving a hug.

Thanks
 
Our church is the "huggy" type. Some folks know I carry, the majority don't. Shake hands when at all possible, when a hug in incoming, strong hand low, just like Sam said. There's no other really good way to do it that I'm aware of.
 
Sam1911 said:
Low elbow on your strong side. Let/guide/force their arm to go over yours.

This takes a bit of getting used to for men, especially taller men, as we're used to hugging folks a bit shorter than us, so our arms naturally end up above theirs.
Click to expand...

This is true. I'm taller than all my female friends, and besides my dad and my brother, females are the only ones I hug. ;) Most everyone I'm actually comfortable hugging knows me well enough to expect me to be carrying, though I did have an unexpected hugger bump her hand into the grip of my gun once. but she is elderly, knows I like guns, and very conservative politically. So whether she realized what she bumped or not, she didn't react.

I am not a terribly social person to begin with. I'm also very claustrophobic and have a natural aversion to touching anyone I'm not romantically involved with. Getting into a Chevy Suburban for a work function field visit is like seat belting myself into a train headed straight to the 7th circle of hell. Social work gatherings for bimonthly meetings is a nightmare. Everybody's breathin all the air!

I tend to keep most people at arm's length. It's my personal comfort level. Hugging is rare for me. Fortunately though I have a wooden heart, that pumps dust. It makes a lack of personal contact feel normal.

If someone hugs you and notices you are carrying, I recommend humor.

"Do you have a gun?"
""Of course I do. Don't you?" "Do you need to borrow one?"
 
I feel sorry for you folks that give a hoot, if your friends/neighbors/acquaintances/coworkers find you are armed.
 
Yes. Poor us. It does suck to be a lousy, quailing, coward who cares if people suddenly discover a gun in socially compromising situations.


... :scrutiny: ...


Actually, there's lots of reasons one might want to be armed but not want to announce it, or have that fact discovered suddenly. If you are so macho -- so very much the man in charge -- that you can simply walk out of any situation where that would be an unhappy thing, unconcerned about any possible repercussions, or social, employment, familial, or even legal damage that might cause, well bully for you! We bow to your awesomeness.
 
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