Concealed Carry Saves Lives!

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-83337910/

Thankfully, the blood spilled from a criminal firing indiscriminately at a crowd. A CCW holder, acting quickly in defense of himself and others, fired on the criminal quickly incapacitating him, and likely saving innocent lives.

I’ve been carrying a Glock 26 for a long time, as it fits me well, is easy for me to manipulate and conceal, and ballistically 9x19mm has a proven track record of stopping humans from doing whatever they were doing before they gained 115-145grains of lead at a time.

Recently, redditor SCAxman put the whole story of 9x19mm as the modern defensive round in a nice neat package for us all. Repost with permission from reddit /r/guns.

I wrote a short story that explains the invention of .40 S&W and its rise to popularity despite its obvious shortcomings in a form simple enough for everyone to understand.

…

So a long time ago some FBI agents got into a fight with some bad men. These bad men had big guns and lots of guns and the FBI had old guns that were tired and floppy.

Because the bad men had better ideas about fighting, the FBI lost and was sad.

Some of the FBI agents said, “We’ll never be sad again if we buy new guns and lots of guns! Better guns than even the bad men had!” and they talked and talked and talked until one agent stood up shouted,

“Ah-hah! 10mm!”

You see, until then, the FBI’s guns were all 9mms, big and small. It was the clever thinking of the very special agent to notice that 10mm is even bigger than 9mm, and if they FBI bought new guns and lots of guns they would have better guns than all the bad guys ever would.

…

At first, everyone was very happy, and who wouldn’t be with new guns and lots of guns?

But 10mm is more than just one mm bigger, it’s also one mm meaner and one mm tougher. 10mm never plays nice.

Soon everyone got into a scuffle with 10mm and before you knew it, the FBI told 10mm to go home and stay away from their new guns and lots of guns.

But then what mm would they have? Could they ever go back to 9mm? They wouldn’t be able to use their new guns, not a lot of them. They didn’t want to use their old guns, because they were tired and floppy.

So they talked and talked and talked until one agent jumped up and shouted,

“Eureka! 10mm Short!”

For you see, 10mm had a little brother, Shorty the Forty. Forty knew his big brother was tough and gruff and that made people not like him, so Forty always did his best to play nice.

…

But the other FBI agents weren’t too keen to play with Shorty the Forty. “But he’s a 10mm,” they all said, “and they’re very gruff and rough, tall and short.”

Shorty the Forty was a little sad. He wanted to have new friends and lots of friends. His parents, Mr. Smith and Mrs. Glockina were a little sad, too.

Shorty the Forty had a lot of growing up to do. Maybe when you’re older, they all said.

…

Every summer his parents would take their sons somewhere new, in the big cities and small towns, but the 10mm family wasn’t always welcome. Mr. Smith was old and Mrs. Glockina was loud. In short, they were rough and tough, too.

Eventually 10mm grew up altogether. Mr. Smith and Mrs. Glockina and Shorty the Forty all cried and laughed and hugged 10mm good-bye, and they made a lot of noise the with each hug and each kiss.

Shorty the Forty knew he was going to miss his big brother, even though he was loud and sometimes a little buff and tough, even compared to Shorty. But he also knew this meant he was just a little more grown up, too.

…

But while all this was going on something very strange was happening, in big cities and small towns everywhere…

“CRACK!” went the cities, and “CRACK!” went the towns.

“BLACKS!” shouted mayors, policemen, and “BLACKS!” screamed the Crown.

King Fingers knew what was wrong and knew how to fix it, and he fast pointed his digits at 9mm widgets.

…

Soon the whole kingdom was up in the air, with people in cities and counties pulling out their own hair.

“They use their 9mm widgets to turn blacks into crack!” shouted the people in the cities. “Take away the 9mm and there will be no more crack!”

“We use 9mm widgets to stop blacks in their tracks!” shouted the people in the counties. “Take away the 9mm and the crack won’t ever, ever go away.”

And for the first time in a long time, 9mm was scared. Because was he nice and not rough, 9mm had friends from here to there and everywhere.

…

Remember, 9mm was even friends with the FBI for a very long time. 9mm was friends with the cops from DC to Rome, and played with guns made by all including Colt and CZ and wherever guns played at home.

But it was also true that 9mm was friends with TEC-9s and Uzis and for some reason MAC-10s, the guns white people knew were for blacks to make crack.

So King Fingers rapped hard with his staff and banned the TEC-9s and the Uzis and MACs. The people in the cities shouted with glee and said rap, rap, rap, harder on crack!

…

Crack! went the ARs and Crack! went the AKs, Crack! went the Norincos and Steyr AUGs and Crack! went the Galils.

But there was more for the king to do still. The king called all his wizards and had them cast a spell on all the guns in the kingdom.

The King’s wizards cursed all the folding stocks and flash hiders and bayonet lugs and everything else the people who cheered him on asked him to curse.

King Fingers even cursed all the magazines that held so many bullets–no matter what they were for. 9mm, 10mm, even the littlest 5.7mm magazines were all cursed by the king.

That’s when Shorty the Forty decided he needed to fight back.

…

For you see, 9mm and Shorty the Forty had a lot in common. Over the years, 9mm and Forty even became friends.

While things in the kingdom were all mixed up, while the Crown was just starting to rap with it’s staff, 9mm decided that it didn’t want to be tired and floppy any more.

One day, 9mm worked up the courage and asked Shorty the Forty how to be rough and tough and gruff.

Forty was surprised and said, “All these years I wanted to be more like you. People don’t want me to be so guff and rough.”

So they agreed. 9mm would teach Shorty the Forty to play nice and Forty would train 9mm to be big and strong. And that is how their friendship started.

…

9mm trained and jabbed and sparred with Forty until he got tough and buff, while he taught Shorty the Forty how to be polite and make more friends.

“10mm doesn’t have to be so rough,” 9mm explained. “See, I’m not as buff as you but I can do at least as much work as you when you’re not being mean and tough.”

“Good,” said Shorty the Forty. “Because I’m going to save all the 9mm magazines in the kingdom.

9mm gasped.

“But we’re going to need a little help from my parents.”

…

The king didn’t dare curse the magazines of the guards, the police, and the FBI agents, of course. They would have been too angry and turned their back on him, and he liked it too much when people cheered him on.

In fact, as part of the spell cast on these magazines, the mags of the guards, the police, and the FBI agents, well they could never be cracked.

Shorty the Forty knew, that with the help of his parents, he could pull the biggest trick of them all. He could get the guards and police and FBI agents to give away their magazines to all the people in the kingdom.

You see, Mr. Smith and Mrs. Glockina make magazines.

…

“I want you to make magazines for me and trade all the guards, police, and FBI agents for their 9mm magazines,” Shorty the Forty told his parents.

“I don’t know,” said Mr. Smith. “You’re a 10mm. 10mms are rough and guff and tough.”

“Maybe you’re right,” said Forty. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ll just go play alone,” he said.

His parents were amazed. “Shorty, that wasn’t gruff or tough at all,” said Mrs. Glockina. Did you learn that from 9mm?” she asked.

“He sure did, Mrs. Glockina,” said 9mm. I think Shorty’s all grown up. He’s ready.

…

“Now in order to win this fight, people have to think you’re tougher than me,” said 9mm.

“That won’t be hard at all!” said Shorty the Forty. “People already think I’m mean as it gets!”

“But remember, don’t be rough or tough or people won’t want to play with you.”

“I know. You’ve taught me a lot.”

“You’re ready for this, Forty. You’ve got the power to stop this mess,” said 9mm. “You’ve got real stopping power.”

…

In no time flat, Shorty the Forty and 9mm got to work. They went to every guard house, police station, and detective agency in the kingdom.

One by one, they got all the officers and even the FBI agents to give up their 9mm widgets. They were all convinced that Forty was the best thing ever.

“You’re the toughest and gruffest cartridge on the block,” said the guardsmen, who liked Shorty the Forty because they wanted to be rough and tough, too.

“You’re real sweet, Shorty,” said the guardswomen. “You’re the nicest 10mm we’ve ever met.”

And without fail, they all traded their 9mm widgets for new Forties, and Shorty couldn’t be happier. Because they new the old widgets wouldn’t go to waste.

9mm and Mr. Smith and Mrs. Glockina collected all the magazines until…

…

Until they had enough magazines for everyone in the kingdom!

The people rejoiced, they loved the big magazines and could see that 9mm wasn’t tired or floppy at all, he was even nearly as tough as Shorty was!

All the people’s happiness and excitement grew and grew and grew, until it became a powerful magic of its own.

With the people’s enchantment, King Fingers’ spell eventually faded to nothingness and all was right in the land for many years to come.

…

The end.

…

But wait, what ever happened to Shorty the Forty and his best friend 9mm?

As people learned how strong and not tired and floppy 9mm was, he became just as popular with them as Forty is with the guardsmen and guardswomen of the land.

In fact, 9mm is making friends with the guards and the police and even the FBI agents all over again. What’s in the past is all but forgotten.

And Forty is still around today, just not as tough or rough or buff at all.

So you should just fucking stick with 9mm because you get what, five extra fucking rounds per mag? Jesus, do I have to write a story about counting, too?

…

The end again.

…

tl;dr .40 S&W exists because of racism and marketing.

.40 S&W used to be a lot hotter and there was a case for it. Just the same, it got popular because Glock and other manufacturers convinced cop shops that .40 S&W was the next level stopping powah so they could buy back the used then hi-cap magazines and flip them to the public for a huge profit during the AWB.

Today it’s down-loaded for LEOs who can’t handle the extra recoil. 9mm is better than it ever was. It’s size-efficient and over-pressure loads go toe-to-toe with mainstream .40 S&W and a couple of other popular service pistol cartridges. And you get as many as five extra fucking bullets per mag FFS.

Link to ABC13 site with story.

Tl;dr Dudes argue at restaurant, one of them gets pissed, goes out to car, comes back shooting. Armed citizen converts active shooter to inactive.

A fantastic writeup on the hows, whys, and thought process of street robberies, by www.ar15.com member BurnedOutLEO, reposted with permission of the author. Original posting Feb 4, 2012. Well worth reading at the source, for additional commentary and discussion.

——-

Lately in GD(AR15.com General Discussion) we have had two different board members find themselves looking down the barrel of a gun along with the GF of another ARFCOMMER in street robberies. Also Blitz308 got shot all to pieces last year.

While many say it is better to be lucky than good, no one is lucky every time. In this post I am going to attempt to provide some insight into street encounters. Other may have different viewpoints. I am not here to argue. I will say some of the comments I have seen posted in the threads about this sort of matter make me realize that while some ARFCOMMERS are clearly street veterans others are not. This is really for those who are not.

Background

First, my info. I worked in the street of one of America’s most violent, dangerous cities for 15 years. I usually worked in the worst part of that city. I spent 15 years in patrol. I liked patrol. It was wild. Most of the time I worked in areas covered in ghetto. By that I mean large housing projects combined with run down slum housing. I have worked all shifts. Later I became an investigator including a robbery investigator. I have spent countless hours in interrogation rooms talking to hold up men. I know them. I am still an investigator but have quit playing the Robbery game because my family was starting to forget what I looked like.

The Enemy

Some may object to me calling hold up men “the enemy”. You can call them whatever you like. I can assure you however they are as deadly an enemy as you will find anywhere but the battlefield. Even many soldiers probably lack the viciousness and utter disregard for life most hold up men possess.

No one wakes up in the morning one day and decides to become an armed robber. It is a gradual process that requires some experience and desensitizing. Before a man will pick up a gun and threaten to kill people who have done him no harm in order to get their usually meager possessions he has to get comfortable with some things.

He has to get used to seeing others as objects for him to exploit. He has to accept he may be killed while robbing. He has to accept the felony conviction for Robbery will haunt him all his life. He has to accept he may need to kill a completely innocent person to get away with his crime.

This is a process that starts with stealing candy at the corner store as a child. It progresses through bigger property crimes that may also involve violence. But one day G gets tired of selling his stolen property for nothing and decides it would be better to steal cash. Cut out all that tiresome sales stuff.

Keep in mind many petty thieves, auto burglars, residential and commercial burglars, paper thieves, and hustlers will get to that point and decide not to become armed robbers. Most will. It is a special group of outliers who decide threatening to kill people for a few dollars is the way to go.

Once a man starts armed robbing he has crossed a line most won’t. Don’t forget that when you are looking these bastards in the eye. Their decision to kill you is already made. Your life means nothing to him. Only his does. His sole motivation for not killing you is he doesn’t want a murder case. He has already accepted he may pick one up though.

We hunt hold up men around the clock once they are identified. We send teams of fire breathing fence jumper/door kickers to find them. We will bring their mother to the office and convince her she is going to jail if we don’t have Junior in our office in an hour. We have her call her son crying hysterically for him to turn himself in before she is arrested and held without bond as a material witness and her home seized for harboring him. Most of the time they won’t. Fuck their own momma.

We will hit all Juniors friends and family’s houses. We make it so no one will harbor him. He is so hot no one will let him in their house or even talk on the phone with him. We put money on him so he knows he is right to be betrayed and set up. We do this because of one thing.

That thing is they WILL kill someone if they keep robbing. That is why the city is willing to pay all the overtime. They don’t want the murders. Think about that when you see Junior coming. The more robberies he does the closer he is to killing someone. Maybe you.

The guys who hit you on the street are gang members. They are Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, Crips, Sureonos, many others. They do not see themselves as part of society. The street is all they know. They don’t expect to live long or stay out of prison. They take a delight in your fear and suffering. They are warped individuals for the most part. They can be extremely dangerous.

One time we were locking up a hold up man and having a conversation about how they target their victims. I was saying they pick easy ones, another guy was saying they preferred easy ones but would take anybody.

I pointed out a uniform Officer there was an NFL size guy to that hold up man. Frankly the dude was a monster. I asked hold up man if he would rob him. He said “If I needed the money”.

You

Chances are good you are a law abiding person except for maybe a little light weed smoking and maybe driving a little drunk every once in a while. Most of your life you have been taught to be nice and don’t point guns at people. You are the exact opposite of your enemy who was taught just the opposite. Remember a lot of street life is like prison life. Who’s the man is everything. Violence is the currency of the street.

You do not possess total disregard for the lives of others and do not want to kill anyone. You are concerned about the ramifications of shooting someone. Your family, your possessions and finances on the line. Your enemy has none of these concerns.

The laws that keep you from carrying your gun in bars or where ever mean nothing to your enemy. Your reluctance to shoot someone works to is advantage. His greater experience in street violence and the element of surprise is on his side.

Everyone should call their local FBI office and get a copy of Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted. When it first came out it was ground breaking because it demonstrated to academics and other elites what street police knew all along. What did it show in interviews with cop killers? Nice guys finish dead. That’s right. Most of those offenders commented that the Officer they killed set himself up to be killed because of reluctance to use force early in the encounter.

You can probably find it on line now. A lot of the victim Officers were a lot like a lot of other people, normal people. They were the opposite of their enemy.

Am I advocating becoming the enemy? No. I am saying the person who is robbing you has certain traits, attitudes, and background. That is all.

Dynamics of Encounters

Hold up men target victims on the street in an impulsive, opportunistic manner. They see someone and make a quick judgment call on whether to rob them. The time between when you are targeted and they are on you isn’t long. Therefore, situational awareness is everything.

If you see G coming you are in good shape. If you don’t you will be the victim who says “He came out of nowhere”. No he didn’t. There are many tricks to watching out but simply watching your back is the main thing. Watch your back. If you do it enough it becomes second nature and you won’t even realize you are doing it.

Watching out is great but unfortunately many self defense courses stop there. You have parked you car in a well lit area, are aware of your surroundings, and looky here, here comes three guys across the parking lot and they start to kind of fan out.

When you lock eyes with G the very first thing you need to do it indicate you have a weapon. It doesn’t matter if you do or not. If you are a woman put your gun hand in your purse and keep it there. If you are a man fan your shirt or coat tail with your gun hand. Make it clear to dude you are mentally prepared to draw and making sure your gun is clear. This will many times result in an about face by dude. It is the single best robbery avoidance tactic IMHO.

Not long ago I was walking down the sidewalk in my town to go get my car. I was holding a folding chair in my gun hand. A car slow rolled past me with 4 heads in it. The guys in the back seat turned around as they went by looking at me. They went a little farther and U turned in the street.

Here they come back. As they started to slow down I looked at them with as contemptuous a look as I could muster and switched the chair to my left hand and flicked my shirt tail with my right hand. They just drove on mad dogging me.

In another case I was at a Christmas party and walked a girl to her car about 3 am. As we said our good-byes two guys were walking across the parking lot. One went behind a dumpster. I though he was peeing. He came out from behind the dumpster with a bottle.

As they got closer I stepped clear of that girl and unzipped my jacket at those two guys. When I did the guy threw down the bottle and they walked by cussing at me. If someone challenges you after you indicate you are armed say “I don’t have a gun”. Then they will know you do.

Here is an opposite story. A girl my brother knows was walking her dog when a guy approached her. She was polite. Mistake. He talked to her about the dog and said she had pretty hair and reached out and touched her hair. She did not slap his hand down or aggressively object. Mistake. He asked her if her dog bit and she said “No”. At that time he slapped the shit out of her, drug her into a wooded area, and raped her.

The answer in the street is always “No”. Can I ask you something? No. Do you have a cigarette? No. Can you tell me what time it is? No. The answer is always “No”. Don’t be nice. Stop the encounter as soon as it starts.

When to Draw

Despite warnings I often see on the Net I have yet to encounter an instance in which a hold up man called the police to report his intended victim threatened to shoot him. Thugs do not want to come into contact with the police. They may already be wanted or realize chances are good they have been identified in a recent robbery. Or what ever. They are not going to call the police if you draw on them.

Supposed two guys are approaching you in a parking lot and do the classic fan out maneuver. You indicate you have a weapon by clearing your gun hand and fanning your jacket at them. They are not discouraged. DRAW!

I am not saying you should pull your gun out, assume a Weaver stance, and scream “That’s close enough motherfuckers!” What I am saying is draw your gun and hold it beside your leg as you start to move to cover. I am very fond of telephone poles. Anything will do though. They will see this. They will remember they have to be somewhere else. They will not call the police.

Then you can just put your gun back in the holster and go back to whatever you were doing like nothing happened. Why? Because nothing did happen. A happening is when shots are fired.

Do not hesitate to draw. If you are somewhere you are supposed to be and someone appears who is not supposed to be there like a closed business show him the end of your gun. Could it be Mother Teresa looking for her lost cat behind your closed business? No it is some motherfucker up to no good. He won’t call the police to report he was prowling a location when a guy ran him off.

When to Shoot

The time to shoot is immediately upon seeing his weapon. You are not a police man who has to try to arrest the guy. No need to scream at him. No exposure while you yell for him to drop the gun.

In deer hunting the experienced hunter takes the first good shot. May not be the perfect shot but it never is. Novices pass up a doable shot waiting for a better shot and then the deer is gone. Take the first good shot you are offered. Hopefully your alertness and hostile cues will prevent you ever having to fire. But once you see his weapon, shoot.

If a guy is coming at you with a gun in his hand shoot him. Shoot him right then. If you don’t shoot first you may not shoot at all. I have known more than one person who was shot and received life changing injuries and also shot their attacker. Their only regret was not shooting sooner. Like Bill Jordan said “Nothing disturbs your enemy’s aim like a slug delivered to the belt buckle area”.

Guns and Weapons

The handgun is the best weapon you can carry easily. I understand it is not always possible to have one due to laws, restrictions, whatever. I am not telling anyone to disregard laws about carrying weapons. Each person has to decide for themselves what they are comfortable with. I will say there is no substitute for a pistol when you need one.

Also if you can not be trusted with a pistol after a few drinks you can’t be trusted with a pistol period. Booze is liquid bad judgment no doubt but it shouldn’t make you into a damn moron. If you are a moron sober I don’t know what to tell you.

Types of guns and ammo are always debated and probably always will be. I have seen people shot with all common calibers. My conclusion is if you hit someone between the collar bone and the tip of their ribs three times with anything, they are handled. Bigger is better but something is better than nothing. Get your front sight on his shirt and stay on him as long as he is standing with whatever gun you have.

Just have a gun with sure fire ammo. Draw early and fire immediately upon seeing his weapon. That course of action is about all you can do to up your odds of ending things favorably. Guns like the Ruger LC9, SIG 239, Glock 26/27 are examples of guns small enough to carry but with enough power and capacity to be useful. Do not be afraid to use a French Lebelle if that is the only gun you have. A gun is a gun. I like a Glock 19.

Training

We all want the best training. It can be expensive if you are having to pay for it and it can be hard to find the time to do it. There is a whole lot of BS out there. What can you do? First, pistol handling is not rocket surgery. If you will learn the basics and practice on your own you can be fine. Smooth draw, quick pairs, reload. If you know those things well you can be OK.

I know a young man who shot down two hold up men in 2010 at very close range while he and his GF were walking home from the store. He in Wyatt Earp like fashion ignored the fire coming from the gunman and killed him and wounded his accomplice. He nor his GF were injured. He like many was willing to give them the money until he picked up on nonverbal cues that because of his GF they were not quite satisfied with the money. He had a Glock 27.

He had only the most basic of training in gun handling but did do some draws and some dry fire a couple times a week and live fired maybe once a month. That basic skill combined with knowing what to do was enough. He shot at the first possible moment despite having let the guys get the drop on them. When the gunman turned his head because a car drove by that was the opening. A split second is a long time sometimes.

Work on some one hand shooting at close range. That is a skill not as popular as it once was and you want to use two hands when you can. Often you can find yourself doing something with your off hand though so be able to shoot with one hand out to 5 yards or so.

After

If it comes to pass you are forced to shoot someone do not feel bad. When the police come just tell them a guy threatened you with deadly force and you were forced to fire. I know there are bad police out there in some parts of the country who don’t support self defense. I can’t help you with that.

Do not talk to them until you have your attorney present. Now most young guys don’t have an attorney on retainer and you may have no idea who to call. That is OK. You will figure it out but in the mean time don’t talk about what happened other than to say you were forced to fire. You don’t have to be an asshole just remember wait for your attorney.

Hopefully you will not give a statement for a couple days. Remember if you are put in jail that doesn’t mean you are charged. Most places can hold you 48 or 72 hours on a felony before charging you or letting you go. Breath deep and get an attorney.

Expect to never get your gun back. You may get it back one day but maybe not. Do not buy expensive guns for the street. Buy yourself a nice sporting gun if you want a nice gun. Keep your street guns basic. The factory Model 10 Smith and the GI 45 have done a lot of work over the years and aren’t fancy.

Worlds

We all live in different worlds. My world is filled with felons and gang members. Violence is common place. No one would be surprised if one of their friends called and said they shot a hold up man at a place of business or parking lot. In the past when I made calls the fact that the guy who is beating his GF is also on parole for 2nd degree murder flavored my world.

You may live in a smaller, less violent place where shootings seldom occur and it would be a rare to shoot a hold up man. I envy you and will be moving to a place like your town as soon as I can.

But be advised no matter where you are a hold man is going to be about the same. Whether he is a home boy or a guy who just exited the interstate into your town and needs some quick money. He is going to have a vicious streak and no regard for your life. Treat him like he treats you.

Giving them the money, doing what they say, all that may work but there is no guarantee. If you have never read Jeff Cooper’s book The Principles of Personal Defense I suggest you order a copy immediately. It is a short book but summarizes a lot of important things.

Last year we had a trial here regarding an armed robbery that occurred. Three or four guys took a young couple from a parking garage near a college out by some railroad tracks where they raped, shot, and beat them. Their lives will never be the same.

The lesser thugs all turned on the trigger man at trial. The trigger man’s statement in the paper was after all that had happened he felt like he was a victim. Think about that. That is the mindset you are up against.

———–

Hopefully you never find yourself in a situation where you have to apply this advice and information. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

tl,dr

Pizza delivery driver gets held up at gunpoint, forced to ground, shoots attacker. Attacker arrested, accomplice fled in driver’s vehicle.

News article about incident. 

Follow up, employer states they will stand by employee, offered reassignment to store position and counseling.

Bonus! Another pizza delivery driver in the area robbed at gunpoint the following night.

Stay safe, be prepared, make wise decisions.

tl;dr, Pastor was firing maintenance employee at church, employee pulls firearm, starts shooting. Pastor draws, incapacitates employee, who is was hauled off to the hospital to reconsider his life choices.

All things considered, it worked out as well as it could have. No injuries to the intended victim (pastor) who successfully defended himself, and no bystanders injured as well. Work place violence incidents don’t typically turn out this well, usually there are at least two bodies when it’s over, the intended victim, the perpetrator, and often a bystander or two.

Be prepared, be aware, and be wise in the choices you make.

This article was taken from a posting by reddit user BromeoAndCooliet, with permission of the author, who is fat.

My body type:

Weight: 270 Height 5’6

I see this question all the time “I’m fat but how can I has cheeseburger AND ccw?”

Well here’s the realities:

As an overweight person, it may be fractionally easier to conceal – but you’re always going to be disadvantaged if you’re out of shape versus in shape. That’s just how it is, you cannot argue that mobility is not a worthwhile trait to have when carrying and if you’re fat you just can’t get your ass going fast enough. Writing down what you eat, switching to drinking only water, and even a cheap 64$ weight bench from Wal-Mart will take you further than you think they will. Here’s this this is what I do. It doesn’t take much of your time and you’re already big, so why not turn some of that into strength? I started out squatting 20 pounds, and am now up to over 160.

Therefore my most important rule of fat guy carry is: Lose Weight

Where to carry?

This is the part where people think fat guy carry is awesome. “You’re so fat you can literally carry anywhere.” Well slow the fuck down there Randy and quit munchin on those burgers. The thing about being fat is once again, YES, you can hide your gun better. But it’s going to be a pain in our already large asses to get to your gun in certain places.

Here’s a fat body I’ve drawn in paint marked with areas that I as a fat guy like and don’t like to carry:

Legend: Red = Bad. Orangish = ? Possibly consider. Green = PERFECT.

Shoulder holsters: No, they’re a hassle even if you’re skinny and if you’re a very obese barrel chested mother fucker you’re gonna be grasping for your gun like a turtle on it’s back. (well maybe not exactly but it’s a good mental picture)

Small of back carry: No, we’re fat, our pants slip a lot until we start to lose weight. You know your buttcrack shows literally all the time because you’re plagued with “White Man Ass” and you haven’t been doing your squats.

Appendix carry: No, you’ve got a fat belly, you can put a gun there but you’re going to be uncomfortable and it’ll take you a lot longer to access it because you’re fat.

Pocket carry: Maybe, if you have a smaller gun, and you need deeper concealment because of work or something. I only carry a Glock 19 and haven’t needed to go any smaller.

But Bromeo, where is the ideal carry location on porpoise shaped bodies like ours?

Answer: It’s on your hip, about 3:00-4:00.

Why? Because your love handles may be fat, but they’re not overbearingly fat like your belly is. You can set the cant of your pistol so that it rests high and against your love handle. This means your gun sticks out fractionally more but you’ll be able to access it and it isn’t in a spot where your shirt rides up as long as you practice basic CCW rules, ie learn to squat and dress appropriately mother fucker.

So now you know you should lose weight, and where, in my opinion, your best carrying option lies. Onto:

Here is me:

Reminder: 5’6, 270

This is where my gun sits, a little past 3:00. I tucked my shirt around the Glock because I’m fat and my belly fat doesn’t come out unless I’m being photographed for the Gunnit calendar.

This is what my gun looks like on my fat body, when I have a t-shirt on. (AKOU47-74 fat guy shirt for reference).

Gear set up:

Hanks Amish Belt. This was on sale when I got it and I’ve consistently vouched for it. A good belt is a good investment this one is an inch thick and holds back my meaty girth like the The Wall and it’s Ravens stood against the White Walkers for thousands of years.

Foxx Hybrid Holster- When I was first looking at CCW I saw this holster posted, and while there may be other holsters I’ve thought looked cooler this one has never failed me, and I’ve got no reason to replace it until it does. I paid the extra 6.99 for low profile clips, which in my opinion, are completely worth it. If you’ll note there’s different spots in the holster to set your J hooks or metal clips to get the cant that your fat body needs.

Clothing:

I buy pants one size higher for more comfortable carry. I normally wear a size 40 pants, and that is what I carry most comfortably in. However, I wear size 38 with no holster, and though I can cram a holster in there you might as well spray paint me red and leave me in the sun like a hot can of Dr. Pepper to explode because it’s not comfortable.

Following basic CCW opinions, you should be fine with whatever T-shirt you wear normally, providing that you don’t all of a sudden feel like exercising in the middle of Wal-Mart doing Jumping Jacks. But who are we kidding? You’re fat and Jumping Jacks aren’t even on your mind because they put a new McDonalds in the Wal-Mart and you can drive your hover cart right inside!

However, Duluth Trading Co has some options you might like. For instance, in my state open carry is legal, but if I travel to any of the other nearby states I can’t do that, in fact, if my gun even shows outside the waistband that can be counted brandishing. So for an extra bit of protection I throw a button up shirt over my T-shirt. Because no one wanted to see your favorite Mountain Dew moo moo anyways.

Now let’s be serious:

If you at all ever doubt your mental status, do not carry. I’m PHYSICALLY fat which puts ME at a disadvantage when carrying, but if you’re MENTALLY unhealthy that puts everyone at risk. If you take medication know how it affects you. For instance, I take blood pressure medication – which can make you drowsy, and is a risk when operating – anything – even gats. However, there are medications out there that can fuck you up, and if you’re fat your chances are probably higher you’ll be on some type of medication for SOMETHING. Remember the goal of CCW is to be safe. So be safe.

Take care of yourself, hit the gym, do your squats, watch your food and practice. Remember this is just fat guy CCW advice to other fat guys wanting to CCW. These are things I’ve experienced, and maybe it can save you some money or make you better prepared.

Concealed Carry Saves Lives, and that happens every day. This blog has been updated a mite bit more infrequently than that, so steps are being taken to fix that. Management of the blog has been moved to Mitch Gerlinger, of MOA Targets, LLC, purveyor of fine AR500 targets and target accessories.

CCSL is also looking for guest bloggers for technical writing, and will be posting more news articles as they come through.

Thanks for sticking with us, and we’re looking forward to wrapping up 2014 and having a great 2015.