Off body carry!

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One of my wife's friends called up and had a conversation with Mrs Lakesider. She is licensed to carry in this state and in fact carries a lot. She is a petite woman (mid 50s) and mostly carries in her pocketbook, its one of the ones designed for carry.

She was at a restaurant yesterday with a couple of her friends and as one of the others picked up the whole tab, when the meal was over left her bag hanging on the seat back.

According to her it took her a couple hours to realize she did not have her bag and of course her little pistol. Her cell phone in the bag so she was incommunicado. Returned to the restaurant and the manager recognized her and gave her bag to her. He said as a rule we do not open items like that until after we close so we did not know who to contact.

She thanked him and rewarded the busboy that found it and the manage did remark it was a bit heavy. She left the place and all was well.

Situations like this are the reason I'm loath to recommend off body carry unless its the only resort.

PS as this was NYS a good chance due to the gun in there her permit would be revoked just because it was out of her control.
 
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Quite a few years ago, my wife and I were eating at a northeastern Arizona restaurant, finished eating and started on the road to our motel, which was about 30 miles away. We were almost there when my wife spurted out that she had left her purse in the restaurant. She had her carry gun in the purse.

This was before cell phones, so I whirled the car around and went hell for leather back to the restaurant. It took almost half an hour.

The bartender had retrieved it and kept it under the bar, knowing somebody would probably be back for it. The purse was still zipped and the gun was still in it. We were damn lucky - that could have turned into an all-nighter.

I have used a day planner case for off-body carry, but after that incident, I have done that sparingly and very carefully. Here's a pic of that rig -

John

 
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Examples of this are too numerous to count.

Locally I can think of at least 3 detectives and one police chief who left guns in restaurant bathrooms, and that wasn't even 'off-body' carry!!

How many women put their purse in the shopping cart at the store? Turn your back and it's gone.

Off-body carry is never optimal, and requires hyper-vigilance... which rarely happens.
 
It does not have to be off body carry, I once used the restroom in a convenence store, and laying on the toilet paper holder was a handgun, left there by the previous user. It was loaded of course, so I unloaded it, and turned it in to the store clerk. I can only assume it's owner returned looking for it.
 
Many years ago a buddy went out to celebrate a police department promotion w/his wife and a few friends. He took off his service revolver, put a jacket on top of it in a chair, and took his wife onto the dance floor. When he came back to the table it was gone. He was not demoted but our rules said he had to pay for the gun & city holster. I can’t recall if we ever got it back.
 
Off body carry is always a risky proposition. Long before the concealed carry laws were passed I used to carry a Model 36 in a soft briefcase in which I had the interior "rebuilt" to enable a holster to clip inside. It was my business briefcase and I, too, once left it after a meeting but a friend picked it up and it was held for me until I came back for it. Only the lady friend had peaked inside and she was all kinds of terrified. :rolleyes: Originally from the NE and guns scared her speechless. :D

For many years I carried a 2" Model 10 in a leather "Bible case". I used to leave it in my truck on the front seat or dashboard. Somehow I knew it was never going to attract attention.

Anyway, I don't do these things anymore and haven't for a very long time. People see me carry briefcases or soft bags/backpacks and think I have a gun in there. I never do but if they think so it's okay with me....
 
As more and more states sign into law permit less carry , I wonder how many open carry theft attempts or actual thefts there will be?
 
Women like to carry in their purse because it's familiar to them and therefore less cumbersome than wearing a holster, but seeing as a purse is often the first thing that a thief will snatch from a woman since that's where she keeps her money, it's a poor choice.

Unfortunately, in my experience, it's a hard habit to break, especially if you're dealing with a women who doesn't wear clothing that can easily accommodate a holster of any kind. The best you can do is make some suggestions and hope that one of them appeals to them or at least gets them thinking of alternatives until they can figure out a better method of carry.
 
Examples of this are too numerous to count.

Locally I can think of at least 3 detectives and one police chief who left guns in restaurant bathrooms, and that wasn't even 'off-body' carry!!

How many women put their purse in the shopping cart at the store? Turn your back and it's gone.

Off-body carry is never optimal, and requires hyper-vigilance... which rarely happens.

Even if there is no gun in the purse I see many women leave their open purses in the baby seat section of the cart and turn away from it and look on the shelf for their whatever, purse wide open. I always bring it to their attention how fast some skinny little junkie can reach his hand in and grab n go. Most are thankful, young & old both. I could have taken wallets many times if I were a thief.
 
Don't carry this often, but have done so in the past. The gun in it at this time came with it. It is a Colt Model 1903 Hammer in .38 ACP. Other pistols or revolver could be substituted as the owner desires. Considering the .38 ACP is the daddy of the .38 Super, I do not feel under gunned. No one seems to notice it and it goes well at church and church functions.
 

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Off body carry is a bad, bad idea. Don't do it!

In 2003 I made a left turn against a flashing red arrow. Of course FHP was on the overpass above me, lit me up immediately. I'm "suit and tie" rep at the time so.... Trooper says "where's your weapon?" "Console." Backs off, calls everybody. 5 black and tans later, runs the #, returns revolver and says: "Permit says license to carry, next time have it on you." Away they all went leaving me with my $115 ticket. Ain't done that since. Joe
 
That’s insanity. Thankfully, Missouri’s CCW laws allowed carry in the car without a permit from its inception. . .
In 2003 I made a left turn against a flashing red arrow. Of course FHP was on the overpass above me, lit me up immediately. I'm "suit and tie" rep at the time so.... Trooper says "where's your weapon?" "Console." Backs off, calls everybody. 5 black and tans later, runs the #, returns revolver and says: "Permit says license to carry, next time have it on you." Away they all went leaving me with my $115 ticket. Ain't done that since. Joe
 
Quite a few years ago, my wife and I were eating at a northeastern Arizona restaurant, finished eating and started on the road to our motel, which was about 30 miles away. We were almost there when my wife spurted out that she had left her purse in the restaurant. She had her carry gun in the purse.

This was before cell phones, so I whirled the car around and went hell for leather back to the restaurant. It took almost half an hour.

The bartender had retrieved it and kept it under the bar, knowing somebody would probably be back for it. The purse was still zipped and the gun was still in it. We were damn lucky - that could have turned into an all-nighter.

I have used a day planner case for off-body carry, but after that incident, I have done that sparingly and very carefully. Here's a pic of that rig -

John



Classy kit
 
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In 2003 I made a left turn against a flashing red arrow. Of course FHP was on the overpass above me, lit me up immediately. I'm "suit and tie" rep at the time so.... Trooper says "where's your weapon?" "Console." Backs off, calls everybody. 5 black and tans later, runs the #, returns revolver and says: "Permit says license to carry, next time have it on you." Away they all went leaving me with my $115 ticket. Ain't done that since. Joe

Five marked units responded to a guy with a CCW permit? Maybe if you had something nice they were gonna try and buy it from you?
 
When situation required, I have carried a handgun w/ extra ammo in my briefcase. This has been the case when serving pastoral appointments where there was genuine likelihood that I would need to protect myself, staff, etc. Have done this during normal working hours. Have always done this when in the office after hours or late at night. Have not ever had an occasion where I have ever not had my briefcase in my control. It's not just the pistol, etc., it's that the contents of that briefcase are critical to my work and virtually irreplaceable. Sincerely. bruce.
 
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