Reminder that off-body carry is a caution

[Erich]

Just got a call from my brother. He's at a state park in Indiana (admission charged at a gate up front) with his two sons (5 & 9) and lady, and he ran across a sling pack sitting on a bench. He had a suspicion and looked inside: there was a pistol. (He said it was a Springfield Armory but I didn't press him beyond that.)

Called me and said, "What should I do?" (My brother carries and knows how to handle guns. He didn't want to just leave it there because he was afraid a kid might get into it.) I told him to pull the magazine, rack the slide and lock it open, and put it back in the pack, then take it to the cashier at the gate up front.

They were making their way to the gate when a super-panicked guy ran up to them on the trail: he was VERY relieved to get his pack back.

Whew!

I hope the owner of the pack tells a lot of people and they all learn vicariously from his bad experience.

[SnidelyWhiplash]

It's not all that uncommon for on-body carry to suffer similar mistakes. When a LEO there was occasionally an officer who had to use a public bathroom and doing so necessarily means removing your duty belt...sometimes to be left behind. The same goes for using a restroom and not wanting to have your sidearm rest on the floor...take it out of the holster and put it between your legs in your underwear.

Even though we're supposed to know better...sometimes it happens.

[Walkin Horse]

A friendly reminder I saw once

[Rubone]

Fisherman friend of mine found a tackle box with a S&W M&P 9mm in it along with assorted lures, etc.
He was way back in a wilderness area flyfishing when he found it and hadn't seen another person all day. No ranger stations or anything else nearby. I think he still has it, never fired it, and at a loss. I told him if it is a concern see if a LEO will run it for him, the owner may have reported it stolen. Or he may have been so embarrassed he wrote it off.

[03hemi]

Thought it was illegal to carry in a state park?

[Bald1]

It’s illegal in NY State Parks. Yet you can deer hunt in New York State Parks. Go figure

[SGT ROCK 11B]

Originally Posted by Erich

Whew!

I hope the owner of the pack tells a lot of people and they all learn vicariously from his bad experience.

Most men will never admit they made a mistake. Its Human Nature

[67tempest]

Stopped in a Porta-Potti at the Knob Creek machine gun shoot and found someone's pistol belt rig hanging on the wall. The thought of keeping it never entered my mind. I took it with me when I left and turned it in at the range office. I never took the pistol out of the holster so I couldn't say exactly what handgun it was. I hope the owner was re-united with his/her rig.

[Oldsalt66]

One of the most pertinent shortcomings of off body carry for women, is that criminals are most likely to make a grab and run attempt on their pocketbooks either making their gun inaccessible during the encounter, or running off with it entirely.

[RM Vivas]

The number of times folks have left their piece in the restroom is astonishing.

I think Robert Blake said that the night his wife was killed he had returned to the restaurant they had just left because he forgot his gun.

Smart guys will take their gun out of the holster, sit down to do their business, and then rest in the "hammock' of their underwear. Hard to forget it that way!

I do know one incident where a guy hung his off-duty Glock on the coat hook on the back of the door. hen he retrieved the gun he accidentally pushed it upwards, causing the hook to press on the trigger causing the gun to discharge into the ceiling, Recoil drove the gun back and the guys hand reflexively pushed forward. Repeat. Repeat. Etc. Wound up putting a dozen shots into the ceiling in a few seconds.

Best,
RM Vivas

[robertrwalsh]

I HATE off body carry. Of course that isn't the same thing as temporarily getting setting aside your piece to get rid of some used food.

[Farmer17]

I was riding my 4 wheeler with a buddy at a local ATV area by the lake and saw a backpack on the trail I thought about picking it up and turning it in, but figured it fell off another 4 wheeler and the owner would soon notice and come back for it. When we pulled up to the trailer a young guy on a dirt bike rides up and yells "hey mister you lost your backpack". He had seen me stop by and thought it was mine and handed it to me. I looked inside to see if there was any owner information and there was a locked cell phone, a baby Glock, and many other items. Things bounce a LOT on a 4 wheeler and I would really be nervous with a loaded Glock bouncing around in a bag with other stuff. I told him to ride straight to the park entrance and turn it in and tell them there was loaded gun inside, which he did. An OKC police officer was driving by a little later and I flagged him down and told him about it and was going to check to make sure it got to the rightful owner.

[TheTinMan]

Originally Posted by Oldsalt66

One of the most pertinent shortcomings of off body carry for women, is that criminals are most likely to make a grab and run attempt on their pocketbooks either making their gun inaccessible during the encounter, or running off with it entirely.

Yeah, I had the brilliant idea one super hot and humid summer day of carrying in a small, 1 strap shoulder pack. Went to the grocery store and set the pack where women typically set their purses - in the cart. Took about 90 seconds for me to conclude “bad plan”. I felt conspicuous walking through the store pushing a cart with the pack over my shoulder but I wasn’t about to leave it in that cart.

[71vette]

Originally Posted by 03hemi

Thought it was illegal to carry in a state park?

Sidearm carry is legal in Indiana state parks.

[Erich]

Originally Posted by 71vette

Sidearm carry is legal in Indiana state parks.

God bless America!

[BC38]

I had a similar experience ONE time when I had only been carrying for a year or so.
I was carrying in a fanny pack, which I removed to have a seat on the "throne" in a public toilet in a park.
I left it behind but I realized it within about a half hour.
By the time I got back there it was gone.
So I went to the local police station and was very relieved (and embarrassed) to find that the person who found it had turned it in.
I learned a lesson and it has never happened again in the 35 years since.

[ISCS Yoda]

In the world of agreeing that off-body carry is definitely problematic and I do not do it I must admit that there was a time that I did it regularly. I had my local cobbler sew two sections of seat belt material in the inside and on the outside of a soft briefcase that I used to carry everywhere. Outside for strength - sewed completely around - and inside connected to the outside but looped for hooking a holster into it. I had long forgotten it until I read this thread.

This goes so far back that it predates metal detectors in courthouses and I know this because I used to carry that briefcase to court on a regular basis. Further, much to my chagrin, on one occasion the defendant I had to interview was so bad that I had to interview him inside the jail that was attached to the courthouse and there I sat, in a roomful of goblins, with a loaded Chief's Special inside my briefcase. So that really dates this story for sure!

Only once was I ever separated from that briefcase (not counting leaving it in my truck - another no-no from decades ago) and I left it in a meeting room where a friend found it and looked inside. She was mortified, if not terrified. I came looking for it just in time.

Sometimes these experiences do not have negative results but they did teach me to never do it again.

And then almost 20 years later they passed concealed carry....but by then I never had a weapon off-body and I was never without my mousegun (Beretta 950BS) which morphed over time back into a J-frame and small 9mm pistols.

Thank for the memories! Totally forgotten until today!

[Muss Muggins]

There aren't many agencies that can't speak of an officer who left his/her pistol in a restroom. Our agency developed a one hour block during initial training that covered doing your business in public . . .

Edit: It was taught by the only officer we had that had done so (to the agency's knowledge), who happened to be a firearms instructor . . .

[Erich]

Originally Posted by ISCS Yoda

I used to carry that briefcase

Good point. I've got a story that I won't be telling except around a campfire . . .

[CH4]

Originally Posted by Walkin Horse

A friendly reminder I saw once

I plead the 5th!

[Kevin J.]

Originally Posted by RM Vivas

I do know one incident where a guy hung his off-duty Glock on the coat hook on the back of the door. hen he retrieved the gun he accidentally pushed it upwards, causing the hook to press on the trigger causing the gun to discharge into the ceiling, Recoil drove the gun back and the guys hand reflexively pushed forward. Repeat. Repeat. Etc. Wound up putting a dozen shots into the ceiling in a few seconds.

Best,
RM Vivas

That would be bathroom bump stock.

[ImDrRichard]

Originally Posted by SnidelyWhiplash

It's not all that uncommon for on-body carry to suffer similar mistakes. When a LEO there was occasionally an officer who had to use a public bathroom and doing so necessarily means removing your duty belt...sometimes to be left behind. The same goes for using a restroom and not wanting to have your sidearm rest on the floor...take it out of the holster and put it between your legs in your underwear.

Even though we're supposed to know better...sometimes it happens.

Unfortunately, this is more common than one might think. I've personally heard too many stories that "two days later I realized my holster was empty. Then I panicked and finally remembered I had unholstered it to use the toilet. I went back there and of course it was gone."

[BC38]

Originally Posted by RM Vivas

...I do know one incident where a guy hung his off-duty Glock on the coat hook on the back of the door. hen he retrieved the gun he accidentally pushed it upwards, causing the hook to press on the trigger causing the gun to discharge into the ceiling, Recoil drove the gun back and the guys hand reflexively pushed forward. Repeat. Repeat. Etc. Wound up putting a dozen shots into the ceiling in a few seconds.

He hung his gun up on a hook by the trigger guard?!?
Who in the world would ever think that was a good idea?

[Super Trucker]

Originally Posted by RM Vivas

The number of times folks have left their piece in the restroom is astonishing.



I think Robert Blake said that the night his wife was killed he had returned to the restaurant they had just left because he forgot his gun.



Smart guys will take their gun out of the holster, sit down to do their business, and then rest in the "hammock' of their underwear. Hard to forget it that way!



I do know one incident where a guy hung his off-duty Glock on the coat hook on the back of the door. hen he retrieved the gun he accidentally pushed it upwards, causing the hook to press on the trigger causing the gun to discharge into the ceiling, Recoil drove the gun back and the guys hand reflexively pushed forward. Repeat. Repeat. Etc. Wound up putting a dozen shots into the ceiling in a few seconds.



Best,

RM Vivas

Actually smart guys fasten their belt near their knees and never remove the gun from its holster.
If they are concerned about those looking under the wall they can take the elastic part of their drawers and pull it over the grip, this also keeps gun oil out of their drawers.

A gun that doesn't leave a holster is very hard to have a ND with.

[Muss Muggins]

Originally Posted by BC38

He hung his gun up on a hook by the trigger guard?!?
Who in the world would ever think that was a good idea?

Like many things in law enforcement, it’s hard to explain to somebody who never had to actually deal with it. I don’t expect you to understand . . .

[Smoke]

I don't do off body carry. I've seen too many women leave their purses behind and I have a neighbor who had her pocketbook stolen out of her shopping cart in the time it took her to grab a Loaf of bread off the shelf.

I've never seen a CSPD cop in a public restroom. It never came up but it was a rule at every CSU/City facility I ever worked at that the employee restrooms were available to the police.

When I was working as a Rover I knew all the single occupancy restrooms on my route. I always went to one of them and put my handgun on a towel right in front of the door.

I don’t mean to offend but you'd have to be pretty dumb to put anything inside the trigger guard of a loaded handgun unless you were ready to shoot.