Have you ever HAD to expose your CW?

[Ruark]

I was just wondering how some of you have handled situations where you had to, or almost had to, expose your concealed weapon. Say you're wearing it under a tropical shirt or jacket or vest, on your belt, and you stop by the store to buy some milk.

Suddenly, a little old white haired lady smiles and asks if you'd help her get that water bottle off the top shelf for her, she can't reach it. You know that if you stretch up there, it will pull up your cover and expose your weapon. Other shoppers, some with kids, are nearby.

You're at somebody's house, not necessarily a close friend, and they're typical gun-phobic soccer-mom yuppies. The light bulb goes out. "Oh, can you please help me replace that bulb?" And it's the same situation. Several other people in the room, maybe with kids.

What do you do? Just expose it and whatever happens, happens?

[spacemanspiff]

I'm blessed with being short so no one asks me to reach up high for them.

[pax]

I have long believed that every woman who carries a gun on her body should also carry a purse with an empty ccw compartment. It's my emergency backup plan in case of an incipient wardrobe malfunction -- smile sweetly, excuse myself to powder my nose, and slip the gun into my purse while I'm in there.

What a guy should do in an analogous situation, I have no idea. Man bag, anyone?

pax

[40-82]

Yes, if I'm traveling I generally have some sort of bag with a few extra guns, but I've generally avoided calling it a man bag. My girlfriend calls it my diaper bag. As to the original question maybe I could help with the light bulb or the grocery item on the high shelf by turning my body in a way where the gun under the shirt wasn't as obvious.

I've run into a worse situation the temptation to show a concealed weapon when I shouldn't. A while back this Judge from Bristol, England was traveling in front of the farm with a tour group. Their van broke down and I helped them get it going. As I was working on the van, the Judge commented on how nice I was and how terrified he had been of traveling in America, which he envisioned as an armed camp with people resorting to gunfire at the slightest slur on their honor. After he said that I was very tempted to lift my shirt and show him my only slightly concealed Colt Single-Action with the British Proofs. My shirttail only went halfway down my holster, not the way I usually carry a gun in public, but since the road ran through the middle of the farm, and I hadn't planned to see anybody until I saw the people with vehicle problems, it seemed good enough for the situation. The Judge never saw the Colt, and I would have only upset him if I showed it to him.

He was a completely decent man. His views, as probably mine do, reflected his place and time in the world, but still I wonder if I were sharper if I might not have turned the situation into a opportunity to show him that there were decent people in the world who habitually went armed.

[ClydeFrog]

In my state, the "oops, my holstered firearm is exposed" issue has been resolved by formal changes to the statues. You can not fully open carry but a sworn LE officer can't arrest you because your weapon is briefly in view.
In my opine, if you don't want to risk having a holster or gear being seen, just say; "no, Im sorry, I can't help you."
Carrying a concealed firearm in public means you need to be discreet & responsible.
If moving around, bending or being in close contact with others is a major problem, then buy a small frame gun & tote it in a ankle rig or pocket holster.

[Stevie-Ray]

I've had it exposed in just the way you describe on several occasions, because I carry OWB, under a shirt, but am also cursed to be 6'4" tall. Once, a woman said "thank you," quickly, and left like her rear-end was on fire. On another occasion a woman whispered "ooh, you're showing," I responded, "whoops," and covered it while she giggled, another simply said, "thank you young man," making me feel quite good, as she certainly wasn't much older than I. On that one, I didn't know it was exposed until I looked at it, which I always do when I've been stretching in any unusual way. I don't worry about it, though I admit there are certain protections in my state that may not be there in others.

[GJSchulze]

It has only happened once and I was lucky. I was a vendor at an event. I was crouching to arrange something under my table with my back facing the lobby. A man came over and whispered to me that my gun was showing. He then said that his son had seen it and said to him "Daddy, he's got one just like you!"

[Bob Wright]

My covering garment is either a vest or jacket. If I stretch, my holster is exposed, not my gun.

Now, the offended person usually has no power of arrest, he/she must call the police and swear out a warrant. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the police cannot make an arrest in such cases without actually seeing the infraction.

So they have "probable cause?" You by then could have stashed your gun at home.

Bob Wright

[curt.45]

I reach with my left hand, but I'm so ugly that I'm usally the last person anyone asks for help.

[Corrections Cop]

The only time I can think of was when I was at Home Depot, and I was reaching up for some lumber, and I noticed after I was done that my outer shirt had came up and exposed my pistol I was carrying IWB, I think maybe the lumber guy saw it but did not say anything, and I fixed it right away. Lucky that here in MI you can open carry in a lot of places, so that helps too.

[Koda94]

What a guy should do in an analogous situation, I have no idea. Man bag, anyone?

pax

Pax, for some events I place a nylon case in a small backpack (EDC bag?) with a padlock on the two zippers and if need be can place the firearm in there. Its not theft proof but that's not the point and it does prevent anyone that might look in the pack from being able to open the case.

[G. Gunman]

A few years ago I was waiting with my sick wife in a hospital emergency room; it was well after midnight - You know, the time when all the drug addicts start to show up.

Yes, I was armed; and uniformed hospital security personnel were not around when a group of young males started to became rowdy and boisterous. I wasn’t just armed; I was heavily armed; but, 'Rambo' I definitely know how NOT to be. When these boys (young 20’s) started to act up, I did everything in my power to become part of the furniture; however, when I reached to change the channel on the TV, just one of my speedloader pouches - Which I carry @ 1:30 on my strong side - very briefly showed from underneath the lapel of my Hawaiian cover shirt.

Now, while none of the nurses could stop these young fellows from throwing chairs around an emergency room full of sick people, the briefest look at (what I had previously thought to be) an innocuous pouch on my belt caused one of these guys to suddenly freeze. Then he elbowed the guy next to him; and, next, all of them suddenly shut up and sat down!

True, none of them stared at me; (They became such, 'good little mice'.) but I was amazed, and immediately reminded of just how careful you really have to be when you don’t want others to know that you’re armed. (All that kid saw was one fully-enclosed speedloader pouch; and he, instantly, knew what he was looking at!)

A middle-aged woman sitting across from me asked, ‘What did you do?’ I replied, ‘Absolutely nothing!’ She said, ‘Well, you must have done something because they’re afraid of you.’ The point is that printing or exposing the fact that you’re armed - in any manner - can happen really fast, and in spite of your best intended efforts to conceal the fact.

This time things worked out for the better; but at other times they may not.

[southjk]

Being 6'6" I do get asked occasionally to reach something for others. I don't worry about showing since OC is also legal here so I won't get in any trouble but I do understand that there are time we'd prefer others not know we are armed.

This has happened to me only once so far. I was taking my daughter to summer camp and we had taken her to her cabin to get her bed set up and clothes put away. We were done and were standing around about to say our goodbyes when my daughters friend's Mom asked me to tuck in the fitted sheet on the far side of the upper bunk since she couldn't reach it. All those thoughts went through my mind in an instant. What do I do? I'm sure to show and there are other parents and kids around including the counselor. Do I say no? That would be rude. Her husband is a police officer and standing right there too so I figured he could diffuse any situation if any were to arise. So I tucked in the sheet and if anyone saw anything, no one reacted. Whew.

[OPC]

I was just wondering how some of you have handled situations where you had to, or almost had to, expose your concealed weapon. Say you're wearing it under a tropical shirt or jacket or vest, on your belt, and you stop by the store to buy some milk.

Suddenly, a little old white haired lady smiles and asks if you'd help her get that water bottle off the top shelf for her, she can't reach it. You know that if you stretch up there, it will pull up your cover and expose your weapon. Other shoppers, some with kids, are nearby.

You're at somebody's house, not necessarily a close friend, and they're typical gun-phobic soccer-mom yuppies. The light bulb goes out. "Oh, can you please help me replace that bulb?" And it's the same situation. Several other people in the room, maybe with kids.

What do you do? Just expose it and whatever happens, happens?

Funny, it's those types of scenarios that are the reason I prefer IWB that lets me a have a little more range of motion without exposing the firearm.


One might try a little white lie and feign injury: "I pulled a muscle in my side and cannot reach up that high, let me find you a clerk."

[madmo44mag]

I was in a restaurant once and had to reach over the table for the salt / pepper shaker and did not realize my shirt had risen above my pistol butt. (IWB Holster)
The waitress walked by and leaned over and said softly “your guns showing” and walked on by.

One thing I have noticed is most people never notice unless it is just blaring in your face type of situation.

Being in a gun friendly state as I am most people don’t give it much thought and those that do typically don’t say anything because Texas is a gun friendly state.

Never had anyone other than a 10 year old tell his mom “That man has a gun” because the shirt I was wearing that day printed a “LITTLE” when I sat down.
Funny thing was his mother response. “Is it a Glock?)

[jcwit]

I'm blessed to live in Indiana and have no reason to concern myself if my carry piece becomes exposed.

[Nick_C_S]

Amazingly, in California - yes, California - incidental exposure is not illegal. Excessive episodes of incidental exposure reported to your county sheriff can result in revocation of your CCW permit, however.

P.S. I seriously doubt if I'll ever find myself in the home of a gun-phobic soccer mom yuppy. Plus, if I'm ever invited to a friend of a friend's home, I won't carry. The piece will stay locked in the car.

And no man bag - EVER!