Concealed carry tips and suggestions!

Excellent replies so far. Carry the biggest gun you can shoot accurately and quickly. Learn what you ammo can and can not do. I sometimes carry my LCP and EVERYTHING changes when I carry that small. That is a gun for a "Dear Lord, get me out of here in one piece - please". If something starts, I go the opposite direction. My wrists are not what they used to be and I afraid my .45 days are numbered so I carry a 9mm. I know what I can and can not do with it, tactics are a little different but the best gunfight for YOU is the one that you ARE NOT in. If you survive it will be an afterthought to all the ****, legal and otherwise, they you will go through when all is said and done. The expression "It's better to be judged by twelve than carrie by six" was said by a person that has not been there against a prosecutor trying to make a name for himself.
 
I have read many good words of wisdom.

I recall at the concealed class to never draw unless you plan to shoot and never tell the aggressor you have a gun. Strange but you can be sued for making a threat.


Russ
 
Be realistic about your carry gun. A friend of mine got a .45 Springfield XD Tactical with a 5" barrel that he intended to carry concealed when he got his ccw. He got his permit but never carries. It's just too inconvenient to him to carry a gun that big and when he goes out it stays locked up at home.
My snubby goes with me everywhere, everyday.
 
Not my experience but one I've gleaned from the news - never shoot to warn or wound, never shoot to kill. The only reason to shoot is to "stop a threat." Period. I've seen a couple of cases, both female, both being abused. They shot the idiot who was abusing them and then said "I was just trying to warn him" and "I was just trying to scare him." That is assault and or negligence. They got prosecuted by idiot prosecutors who didn't think about justice, only, "can I get a win?" I kept thinking "If they had just said, "I was trying to stop him from hurting me and I shot him on purpose" they would have had a much better defense and the "negligence" aspect would probably have been neutralized.

Then there is the Zimmerman lesson - don't do anything that smells like vigilantism or following someone. If you do that while legally carrying a weapon you look like a nut case. You may not be a nut case but to most of the public you will look like one. Zimmerman may well have been in fear for his life and being beaten, but the rest of his life he will be considered a vigilante.

I'm not a lawyer, my legal advice is worth nothing, exactly what you paid for it. I'm no expert on CCW. But I've seen these people get shafted (in my opinion) and it appears they had a way to stay out of trouble.
 
I'm loving the replies, as ProtectedOne said "you can always learn more" and that is what I'm doing reading this.

Be aware of your surroundings!! This goes hand in hand with don't go somewhere you don't belong and best gunfight is the one you're not in. look up "colored code of awareness" and follow it!
 
If you are involved in an incident, keep your phone call to 911 short and simple. First: Request and ambulance to your location. Second: Give your info (name, "I have just used my hand gun to defend myself", what you're wearing).
 
You always hear, "carry the biggest gun you can always carry." It really is important to always carry. This should be a habit/duty/religion not a passive thing you do when you feel like it or when convenient. Caliber, weight, velocity are all important factors when it comes to calculating ballistics and advertisements, but keep in mind the humble 22lr has saved more lives than superman.
 
Find a holster or holsters that work(s) for you and your body type. Everyone is different and our shapes and sizes vary greatly. Just because trainer X advocates a kydex appendix IWB holster, doesn’t mean you need (or even would want) to carry that way. Likewise with IWB in general. It can be uncomfortable and doesn’t work for everyone. No shame there. If a belt holster works for you, run with it. Do not get caught up in the latest tacticool style of carry that you see on YouTube or read in the forums. Rather, find the best method(s) for you and the gun(s) you carry and practice presentation and firing from that/those holster(s).
 
Make sure your family knows what to do when the SHTF. Having them screaming or even standing next to you when you draw can get them hurt or a taget.

Mine know that if I draw or tell them to move they get to the nearest exit or behind cover. With small children and cars, My wife secures inside with our child while I put things in the trunk. This makes them semi-safe where I don't have to watch them as well as my surroundings.
 
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"One is none. Two is one." - Clint Smith
With adrenaline pumping and small-motor skills rapidly deteriorating, one can probably draw a second piece faster than one can reload, especially in the case of a J-frame.
 
Take time practicing unholstering your gun (unloaded-of course) from whatever holster you're using to conceal carry. A lot of IWB holsters are shaped so that only the grip is exposed above the pants line, and trigger is shielded. When under stress I noticed it would cause me to not get a firm grip on my gun right away. After practicing every night, I finally got it to where it was second nature and now know exactly how to grab it and unholster quickly with a firm, confident hold. Time is of the essence. You want to be able to have your finger on the trigger in a split second, not in seconds.
 
You are not the Lone Ranger, Harry Callahan or Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
Real life is not movies or TV, especially when guns are involved.
If you feel like you've grown 6 inches and gained 50 pounds of muscle when you holster your weapon and head out the door, you ought not be carrying. Go looking for trouble and you WILL find it.
 
2ndAmendmentNut said:
You always hear, "carry the biggest gun you can always carry." It really is important to always carry. This should be a habit/duty/religion not a passive thing you do when you feel like it or when convenient. Caliber, weight, velocity are all important factors when it comes to calculating ballistics and advertisements, but keep in mind the humble 22lr has saved more lives than superman.
Click to expand...

Considering superman is a ficticous character, that would be zip, right?
 
ferretray said:
Considering superman is a ficticous character, that would be zip, right?
Click to expand...

A fictitious character that ducks when you throw a gun at him, but bravely stands there for all the bullets to bounce off. :D

Yeah, yeah the .22 is better than nothing. Hallelujah Reverend Rimfire! I know that if all I was carrying was a .22 I'd be doing a whole lot of staying home. I'm not volunteering to get shot with them because I know they have a great potential to kill and do damage. I just prefer something that might stop the lion before he eats me for breakfast. What happens after breakfast isn't of much consequence nor consolation to me if I was the main course. Bring enough gun to handle the attacker without him handling you.
 
Rpg said:
You are not a LEO.

You don't have a Lone Ranger badge.

A gun is not a magic wand: waving it around doesn't make people do what you want. In the final analysis, all you can do with a gun is shoot it.

Be sure you have adequate shooting skills, with your CCW gun. Those skills must be the ability to hit, from the leather quickly.

Be very very familiar with the gun you carry. Your objective is to make center-mass hit at 7 yards in 1.5 seconds from the holster.

Don't put yourself in stupid situations. Don't insert yourself into bad situations. Learn from Zimmerman.

Unless you have a lot of money and want to give it to a good lawyer, let the LEOs do their job. Your cell phone is almost always a better first line of defense than your gun.
Click to expand...

To add a bit to the above theme and very good advice, I would suggest that folks consider their CCW ticket as an option, not a requirement. I basically disagree with the carry all the time concept for civilians. Carry / possess when it suits you and don't find yourself feeling "naked" without your piece.

I was a peace officer in a high population state and in all my years that I could carry, I carried only about 1/3 of the time off-duty. More importantly, in my entire life, including many years as a patrolman and later a detective, I never experienced any situation off duty, where I needed a gun or wished I had one on me. And I worked shift work, which meant that I often went to the store, gas stations, liquor stores and was out-and-about late at night. This includes late night dates in major metropolitan centers and deserted parking garages and walking down dark side streets. Never a problem.

Just going into all this so one might put CCW and all that it goes with it, into perspective. Where I live currently, I can legally keep a concealed loaded firearm in my car and can also CCW outside the city or town limits -- it is also a "must issue" state. I just never felt a compelling need to carry. However, as I age, and understand that I may now appear more vulnerable to a would be mugger or carjacker, I am re-thinking my need/desire for a CCW permit. But these days, I'm not going to convenience stores late at night on my way home from work. I'm generally veged-out in my recliner at night.
 
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You can't be a hothead. If you are a tough guy that likes to fight or mix it up more power to you, but you have no business carrying. You need to suck it up, swallow your pride, and walk away if you are confronted with a physical altercation (ie. fist-fight). Getting into tussle could lead to either A) you getting whipped and pulling your weapon in anger, or B) your angry opponent getting ahold of your weapon...neither will end well.

Oh yeah, and if you want to avoid people picking fights with you, avoid bright red sneakers!! (Sorry Sip, couldn't resist!)
 
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