Spotting someone carrying

[testosterone]

saw this on digg

http://i.imgur.com/geXpa.jpg

I know I read a white paper that talked about behavior of someone who carries. The paper was pretty specific about how we can have an excessive pre-occupation, constantly touching your sidearm ensure its still there, that sort of thing.

 

[iiibdsiil]

Cell phone, wallet, or a few other things could cause the same actions out of people. Interesting though.

 

[Dulvarian]

I do the same thing when I have my cell phone in my pocket. Turns out, the SOB carry I normally use is very secure. It also will not rust away in mere seconds if wetted, nor will it fail to function if it gets water on it. My cell phone on the other hand...

Think of it like sleight of hand. You simply move other things around and keep attention other places than where your gun is. If I am checking where mine is, I can lean back against something, which is very natural. If I need to adjust, I can tug up on my jeans or give a very obvious wallet check/readjustment.

There was a thread on here the other day about carrying a 1911 'mexican style'. The constant adjustment is one of the give-aways. However... if you gun is long enough or your jeans are riding low enough you can give yourself a fairly obvious 'package adjustment'. Turns out, concealment is really akin to stage magic. All about misdirection.

Misdirection is all about paying attention to where other people are focusing their attention. Which is a very valid mental exercise to work on. Wouldn't really matter if you had a G36, a Kimber Custom Super Awesome 1911 for carry, a snubby revolver, or even a freaking howitzer in your pocket. If the goblin gets the drop on you, there isn't a single magic wand in the world that will will let you draw from concealment and fire before he squeezes the trigger of the gun already pointed at you from three feet away.

The best thing to do for getting out of those 'showing' habits is to have someone that knows you carry watch for those signs. That helped me immensely when I first started carrying. Oh, and on those pictures, the only one that showed an actual holster appeared to be the shoulder rig.

 

[wishin]

I'm guilty of jacking up my pants all the time because of the Hi-power on my hip. So what?

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Wasn't there something posted on here a long time ago about the tendency for people who carry guns to also have a folding knife clipped in their front pocket as well?

As for me, some of those things seem like rookie mistakes. But I know I personally never carry anything in my right hand. I'll load every bag or item in carrying into my left arm/hand just to keep the right hand free. That also goes back to my military training and the saluting etiquette though. As far as other signs, though I don't think they are all exactly "he's got a gun" signs, but smart tactics learned in the military and police academy and just CCWing; I try to never use urinals in restrooms, always stalls, and preferably the farthest most concealed stall. Never sit with your back to the door of a restaurant. Try to be out of the way and able to survey the entire establishment. Do a quick scan of an entire parking lot when exiting a building. Keep track of exits when indoors. And whenever i go into a party store I try to memorize the appearance of everyone else inside too. That's not all gun related, but they are tactics I think gun owners, cops, etc employ much more than your average person.

 

[EddieNFL]

What is a "party store?"

 

[Avenger29]

Remember, a lot of these are going to primarily apply to people who carry without holsters, they will hold the gun or touch it to make sure it is there...or newbies who are nervous

New CCWers need to get used to carrying...around the house at first then out in public.

And remember most people are completely oblivious to everything around them, so sheeple aren't likely to notice you. Even OCers have noted that nobody pays attention to the gun.

What is a "party store?"

Around here, it's a liquor store.

 

[Magic_Man]

I haven't been carrying long & I already forget it's there half the time.

 

[Erik M]

I have wondered if nervous nancy's have noticed that i dont take my light jacket off when shopping. Thats because theres a model 92 with hi-cap magazines in a shoulder harness under that hoodie. Oh well, let them worry.

 

[yelohamr]

I OC, so mine is easy to see, but most people don't even notice it.

 

[Jim_100]

I think most people notice nothing around them let alone me adjusting.

 

[JKimball]

That's a pretty good list. I found myself thinking, "yep, I do that." Especially the bracing the gun with the arm while running across the street or something.
Kudos to the NYPD detective that put that together.

 

[wishin]

Remember, a lot of these are going to primarily apply to people who carry without holsters,..............

An interesting side note: In Georgia, legal concealed and open carry must be in a holster! Go figure.

 

[John Wayne]

"Party Stores" usually are liquor stores which also sell lottery tickets, discount cigarettes, incense, and porn so you can get all of those things in one trip. They also tend to get robbed frequently, because of their location and the fact that many people pay cash there.

 

[EddieNFL]

"Party Stores" usually are liquor stores which also sell lottery tickets, discount cigarettes, incense, and porn so you can get all of those things in one trip. They also tend to get robbed frequently, because of their location and the fact that many people pay cash there.

That's what I was thinking. I don't get out much.

 

[SSN Vet]

where I come from, a party store is just another name for a convenience store...
beer, wine, cigs, open late...

not necessarily a liquer store.....

we called them, "liquer stores"

go figure!

excessive pre-occupation, constantly touching your sidearm ensure its still there

Halmarks of either a newby or someone with a poor rig.

 

[essayons21]

Here in Virginia, an OC state, its a bit simpler to spot someone who is carrying

 

[MachIVshooter]

I do the same thing when I have my cell phone in my pocket

Car keys for me. Horribly paranoid about losing them.

 

[War Squirrel]

That's very interesting. I was in a books-a-million and I sat down in the floor to skim some gun magazines. This other fella sat down on a bench to read a handgun magazine. He was wearing a stupid looking vest and sitting very far forward, so I walked around behind him as I got up to leave to see if he was carrying. He had quite a lump on his back right side pushing against the vest.
I'm glad though. In the RKBA world, the more the merrier.

 

[The Highlander]

While not CCW, I used to carry my edc/sd blade in my right pocket, but I'm not a fan of the exposed clip and feel it isn't all that secure in a crowd so I'd usually rest my hand on it. Now I have a new system rigged up where it is attached in my waistband. I had my girlfriend use her sewing machine to doctor up a little sleeve that the knife rests in at an angle so that it can be quickly drawn and won't bother me when I sit down. I'll have to dig up a camera so I can drop some pics on you guys.

 

[racine]

CCW

I don't know what the sign of a veteran CCWer is but I've been practicing CCW for 12 yrs and I'm still conscious of what position my body is in. If my wife is with me I'll always do the initial "...am I printing?" question and make adjustments before going out in public. I'm still guarded about where and how I'm packing (ever aware of bars, post offices or fed bldgs). I believe in preparation and the element of surprise.
I will always remember several years before 9/11, I was on a plane to Denver and watched this tall, stocky young fella in a white t-shirt and jeans flying on the same plane. He stood out because he was packing IWB with a Sig xxx and blatantly printing with a snug shirt. I was envious because I did not have a license yet but furious that he appeared to be boasting blatantly with that Sig. Even at the passenger pickup he was doing all the wrong things to show off his Sig. I figured out he must have been LE but it just reinforced that arrogance I saw in some LE in the past( I used to party with some of them though I am not LE).
I'm not sure about the folding knife clip hanging on the pocket being a giveaway as here in the south, many carry knives that way. When I lived in the Pacific NW, it seemed that most shooters carried knives that way at the range. I've carried a pocket knife that way long before I became a (competitive) shooter. Now I actually hide my knife in my pocket when I'm in public-sort of prefer the concealed concept.

 

[ChaoSS]

I regularly check my wallet, my cell phone, my keys, and my knife. If I some day add a gun to that list, no one is going to notice the extra swipe, and I doubt anyone could really tell the difference between the phone swipe and the gun swipe, or between the gun in your pocket and the box of cigars or other relatively heavy item in your pocket. Many of these things apply to anyone carrying anything of a certain weight range, not just guns, and so apply to many more people, and are thus not reliable indicators.

 

[archigos]

I think I'm pretty good about not doing most of those things, though I know that I do have a strong tendency to turn my gun side away from others.
For me, what is more significant is actually the way that people carry themselves. Most people - myself included - seem to carry themselves differently when they are CCing. I was in a bar at some point in North Carolina and, overhearing somebody's conversation (about something irrelevant), came to the suspicion that another man at the bar was carrying. Out of sheer curiosity, I kept my eye on him for a few minutes, and eventually he shifted his posture such that I could make out the small bulge of a rounded grip, probably from a J-frame or something similar, carried right side IWB. The guy didn't give me any bad vibes or anything, so of course I just sat and kept eating without saying anything. I had kindof thought of, merely as a favor, mentioning to him that I noticed, but figured it would definitely catch him offguard and probably wasn't a wise idea.
I guess the moral is - there's more than our movements to adjust/favor/protect our gun/gun side - but I have absolutely no idea how to be conscious of this shift in demeanor. Ideas?

 

[zombienerd]

I'm a leftie and carry at 9 o clock IWB... If I want to check if it's there, I just brush my forearm against it while walking normally. I do this to build it as habit, to avoid using my hand, which would be obvious.

I do usually re-tuck my shirt whenever I get out of my car to make sure that nothing is showing... I suppose this could give me away...

 

[SiRed91]

Hmm, I'm just not one who cares too much about seeing if others carry, or if Im printing a little or if I give myself away to people by adjusting....I dont know...I just dont mind.

I got fitted for a new suit today and took off my over shirt and the gun was right there for the guy to see, and he never said a word or asked any questions.