My First Time Being Uncomfortable Being Around Someone Carrying a Gun

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slowr1der

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I've never understood why anyone would feel uncomfortable around someone who chooses to carry a gun. I've been carrying both open and concealed for years. However, tonight I realized experienced why some people may be uncomfortable. While standing in line waiting for food I happened to be behind a guy open carrying a Glock in a shoulder holster. He had a large knife on his hip, another knife on the other side, two magazines on the shoulder holster on one side, and a Glock with a 22 round magazine sticking out of the bottom on the other side. None of that would have bothered me at all. The problem was the shoulder holster. It was open at the end and I could see that the barrel was literally pointing directly at my face as I stood in line behind him. This made me extremely uncomfortable. I guess I've never really been around anyone that has used a shoulder holster, but this seemed like a horrible idea. As the gentleman interacted with the employees I became even more uncomfortable that he was carrying a gun, but that's really beside the point.

Does anyone else have a concern with how the gun is pointed when in one of these holsters? I'm not really okay with someone carrying a gun in a fashion that it's aimed directly at the face of anyone behind them. Hopefully I don't get ridiculed for being anti gun here, but this is the first encounter I've had like this and I wondered what everyone else's thoughts on this were?
 
It's a shoulder holster.

There's not much getting around that unless you have one with a vertical draw, which can be uncomfortable with many firearms. Just comes with the territory. Would it have made you feel any better if there was a tiny bit of cloth over that muzzle or a t-shirt?

No reason to be worried IMHO. that guy sounds like he was exercising his right to carry, no problem with that methinks.
 
Not really, it would have made me more comfortable if it had been pointed down. I guess I've never worn a shoulder holster so I didn't realize that they had it pointed at the face of anyone around them. I guess I was just shocked by it more than anything.
 
Can you cite an incident where a holstered pistol (not being handled) spontaneously discharged?

Have you considered that anyone carrying a firearm (horizontally) in a purse, fanny pack/other also is 'sweeping' you (if that is your concern).

Or that if someone carry in a vertical belt holster bends over, they can also 'cover' you.

Maybe your neighbor has a firearm on his/her bedside table at night. Is it pointing at your home/residence.

Honestly folks, at what point is a firearm considered safe? And do some folks make too much of "Never point the muzzle at anything you don't wish to destroy"?

IF the man had been handling the weapon, then YES...there would be reason for concern. I 'recognize' some folks get the heebie-jeebies anytime they see a muzzle pointed their way (regardless the condition of the weapon) but I guess I will never 'understand' it.

For what its worth, next time you find yourself in that position, take 1/2 step to either side. Problem solved.
 
My thoughts are that I can't abide folks who don't follow the rules of gun safety, and I don't feel safe around them. I don't care if the gun is in a holster, if someone muzzle sweeps me, holster or not, I will inform them of my feelings on the matter.

There's good reasons why shoulder holsters are banned at many ranges and in most competitions. One is the reason you noticed, the other is that you have to muzzle sweep a lot of area when drawing to bring the weapon on target.
 
I will keep this short, since you really want to focus on the muzzle issue. But this much hardware on the outside and with what you hint is an attitude from this guy, I would be wary of the guy regarding his mental state. People can carry and be ready for problems without walking around looking like Rambo.

He probably scared a bunch of people who now think worse than before about "gun nuts". Right or wrong, I suspect most people look at someone like that and think he is either nuts or an adolescent who has to show off his manhood and enjoys the "attention" he gets.

And yes, I would be uncomfortable looking into a gun barrel. A more usual carry posture would have made more sense. I really appreciate those guys at the range who are safety nuts, and now I get why my father was always so absurdly (as I saw it when I was a teen) safety conscious. He was right.
 
AD and ND both originate with a finger on the trigger. I have never heard of a spontaneous discharge.

I come home and take my carry off my belt and put it on the kitchen counter. I have never thought about walking past the muzzle on it. With no finger on the trigger it seems fairly safe but then maybe I am just delusional.

On Rambo with the shoulder holster, it was already said, sidestep and carry on.

YMMV
 
Shoulder holsters pretty much suck. That is one reason why, if you don't conceal it, it points directly at people which can unsettle them. But the big problem is that you are essentially forced to muzzle sweep a very large area to draw. If he were to draw when you are standing behind him, now he's pointing a loaded gun at you and probably sweeps 180* of his surroundings just to bring it up in front of him.
 
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Look at it this way. If he had been wearing a jacket you'd be happy in your ignorance.

To me this is much like people getting all upset seeing the hammer back on a 1911.
 
Cannibul said:
Look at it this way. If he had been wearing a jacket you'd be happy in your ignorance.

To me this is much like people getting all upset seeing the hammer back on a 1911.
Click to expand...

I don't see it as particularly similar unless the 1911 with the hammer back is pointed at their head for some reason
 
A simple sidestep would get your face out of line with the barrel. I have been behind someone with a covered shoulder holster and done the same.

The only time I personally feel comfortable is an overly unsafe act. For example I watched a customer purchase a new Glock, ammo, and holster at a store. Okay. Loads it up right there at the counter, twirls it around his finger by the trigger guard, and puts it in the holster. I was busy watching this happen while looking at the features of a safe at the far end of the store.
 
Flintknapper said:
Can you cite an incident where a holstered pistol (not being handled) spontaneously discharged?

Have you considered that anyone carrying a firearm (horizontally) in a purse, fanny pack/other also is 'sweeping' you (if that is your concern).

Or that if someone carry in a vertical belt holster bends over, they can also 'cover' you.

Maybe your neighbor has a firearm on his/her bedside table at night. Is it pointing at your home/residence.

Honestly folks, at what point is a firearm considered safe? And do some folks make too much of "Never point the muzzle at anything you don't wish to destroy"?

IF the man had been handling the weapon, then YES...there would be reason for concern. I 'recognize' some folks get the heebie-jeebies anytime they see a muzzle pointed their way (regardless the condition of the weapon) but I guess I will never 'understand' it.

For what its worth, next time you find yourself in that position, take 1/2 step to either side. Problem solved.
Click to expand...

Pretty much sums up my thoughts on this also. I carry a 1911 in a shoulder holster all the time. Not only is the trigger covered, but the retention strap makes so the hammer cannot fall. Sweeping others with a holstered gun is much more common that folks think......because most of the time the gun is concealed. Sweeping folks as one unholsters a gun is also more common than folks think. 'Ell, even if the muzzle is pointed down and the gun discharges, the risk of ricochet off a hard surface is always there and posses just as much of a threat.
 
Ive been uncomfortable around some people with guns. Its about them as individuals primarily. Because I like guns doesn't mean anyone else that has a gun is automatically a good guy somehow.

Having a muzzle in my face doesn't appeal to me, but holstered is only part of the problem. The draw, if its used, is a part of the problem. Theres a reason such holsters aren't allowed in action shooting. People don't have perfect trigger finger discipline, despite their firm belief that they do. The video about the guy drawing from a serpa holster, to prove how it can be used safely at speed without unconscious trigger interaction is a good example. In slow mo, he got his finger on the trigger on the draw and never realized it. It made great play when posted online. It showed the exact opposite of what he intended.
 
I often cite gunshows as an example of muzzle tolerance. Anyone who has been to one knows where many of the displayed guns are pointing.
I probably would have been more concerned with the carrier give the OP's description.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
And do some folks make too much of "Never point the muzzle at anything you don't wish to destroy"?
Click to expand...

No. Never. There can never be too much made of proper gun handling.

On the other hand, once a gun has been holstered it would be only courteous to obscure the muzzle if the muzzle may be on axis with another's eyeline. This is only common sense.
 
slowr1der said:
The problem was the shoulder holster. It was open at the end and I could see that the barrel was literally pointing directly at my face as I stood in line behind him.
Click to expand...

Had a Texas city Detective have one of those shoulder holsters on to once while I was in line. He had no coat on and badge on his belt.

I was tempted to put chewing gum in the muzzle.

Deaf
 
The owner of a gun shop I worked at had a holster like that. I avoided being behind him.

And, anyone who ridicules you about this is a fool & fools should be ignored.
 
Look at it this way. If he had been wearing a jacket you'd be happy in your ignorance.
Click to expand...

And this is why they don't advertise what parts they use in hotdogs...
 
@ john g c 1

We are on the EXACT same page.

I see the man wearing FAR too much in the open as a very likely wackadoodle [ NO other explanation for his 'gear' ].

That would cause me to NOT be in his company,as if he decided to "act out" then my only reason for being there was I ignored basic survival skills ---- DONT BE THERE.

And yes,seems there was a choice = LEAVE.
 
Shoulder holsters are banned at many ranges and in most competitions because the muzzle isn't always pointed down range while its owner is handling it. It's not being handled, aimed or pointed at you in the check-out line of a super market. A belt holster than has a severe back angle does the same thing.
Two knives, etc sounds like the guy is a tick paranoid. Or he's carrying all that stuff mostly because he can vs needs to.
"...they don't advertise what parts they use in hotdogs..." Isn't so much the parts as it is all the other stuff they put in an American Sausage. snicker.
 
Don't be that guy.

If you are disabled, had your hips blown off in 'nam or have eaten so many Cheetos that belts don't work then fine. Do what you've got to do.

Otherwise shoulder holsters are a galactically bad choice.

Reasonable people can debate the pros and cons of open carry. But I doubt there will be many takers for the "id like everyone I meet to think I'm unsafe around firearms" position
 
we are conditioned to think 'don't point the gun at anything you aren't willing to shoot' but we fixate on the muzzle rather than the human hand.

Being in a shoulder holster untouched by human hands is no different than the gun being in a gun case. If some guy stands behind you with say a pistol in a factory gun case (plastic box) the gun muzzle probably IS pointing right at you, and a thin bit of plastic isn't going to stop the bullet. It's equally risky...but I bet you don't think twice about that.
 
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