Questions about Carrying in WA after my CPL: What now?

[megasupermagnum]

You get over worrying about carrying in time. I swear the more you open carry, the more other people do. I normally conceal, but if I'm about to go somewhere like the range, or hunting, just wandering in general, you bet I open carry. Next day there is a good chance I'll find someone also open carrying. You can beat the reasons for any carry method to death. To me I conceal most of the time for one simple reason. I don't want those who do not like firearms to be uncomfortable. As weak as that sounds, you are always at a huge advantage when people like you.

IWB is worth trying. I have yet to meet anyone who ever did it for more than a short while before giving it up. I've never known anyone who carries IWB every day for years on end. I must have given it a month or two, and 3 holsters before I realize I hated it. If I'm wearing jeans, I use an OWB holster strong side. Sometimes I'll pocket carry. I made a decision to choose holsters that worked with the clothes I already wore. I wasn't about to become "vest guy" at 21 years old just so I could conceal a handgun. Most of the year I wear nothing but a T shirt, and there are holsters that allow you to conceal medium frame revolvers under a T shirt. I far prefer my 3" SP101, but I can just about conceal my 5" barrel GP100. The bottom of the holster shows when bending over. A 4" K frame is doable.

[VariableRecall]

Check out Sneaky Pete Day Planner , I-Phone cases and other "sneaky" ways to conceal a firearm . I have a Sneaky Day Planner that is just the ticket . Get creative with how you carry ...there is more than IWB and OWB .

Louisiana has always been an open carry state with NO permits required .
The small business I ran for 40 years I allowed open or concealed carry... there are even some restaurants that give open carry discounts on your bill .
Louisiana isn't like the rest of the country ...yet .
Gary

Those Sneaky Pete Holsters are quite nice! A little more oriented to subcompacts and compacts but they are quite stylish!

[725]

Get your legal questions answered from your State Police or similar agency. Most frequently I carried my model 10 (20 yrs. +) stuck inside my pants waist under the belt. It got so natural I would frequently forget it altogether. Do RIG it every day before you go to bed. When working plain clothes, I would wear a shoulder rig depending on what was called for, for that day. Concealed means concealed, so act accordingly. Private property rules are the purview of the owner, so do as requested. If this means not patronizing the joint, don't give him your money, and go somewhere else. Good luck and use your head. You'll be fine.

[MrWolf]

Wearing a nice vest during cooler months is an easy way to get used to daily carry. Plenty of nice ones to choose from. Everyone is different and thankfully you get to choose what suits you. Some of those vests are pretty sharp for a younger guy. Good luck and do what YOU are comfortable with, not what a bunch of older folk think.

[VariableRecall]

Get your legal questions answered from your State Police or similar agency. Most frequently I carried my model 10 (20 yrs. +) stuck inside my pants waist under the belt. It got so natural I would frequently forget it altogether. Do RIG it every day before you go to bed.

What exactly do you mean by RIG? Take it out of the holster and secure it?

[Bazoo]

MSM, well here I am. I IWB carry daily, have for years. About 3 years or so. I carry a 1911 A1 in a Desantis dual carry II with the thumb snap removed. It took some adjustment and trial and error to get comfortable. I carry it pretty butt forward similar to the galco fletch holsters angle. And I carry it at the 3:30 position. I find it more comfortable than OWB so far because I've been able to adjust my angle to suit me. If I can find or make an OWB holster to match the angle then it'll probably be more comfortable. Honestly I forget about it most of the time.

[CarlMc]

Get your legal questions answered from your State Police or similar agency.

I have to say this, but police are some of the least informed when it comes to gun laws. Truly sad. You pretty much have to be a gun guy to have a decent chance of remembering all the laws. Even worse when various citizen's initiatives with stupid authors confusing the hell out of things.

https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9.41.010
at the top click the 9.41.040 to get to the next section. It goes for quite awhile

[Bazoo]

I personally don't open carry much unless I'm with others also open carrying. First is it's just easier to let my shirt fall over it. And second is I don't want the attention. Be ready to answer questions if you open carry. I've had everything from "what's that a 9mm?" to "I want to carry a gun, how do I get a license" to "are you a cop?". The wife had someone ask her once "why are you carrying that gun , you afraid someone's gonna get ya?". Had an old man come up to me once and say "you know your hammer is back", I replied "the safeties on".

Then there is the folks that used to run the gun store in town. They insisted open carry while legal, would land you in a confrontation with the police. They said there used to be an old guy in town that always carried a peacemaker. So the cops couldn't stop him because it was legal, but they asked him to look at his gun. When he produced it for show and tell they arrested him for brandishing. I don't know how true that is, Or the details.

The point is, open carry will draw the people of all sorts. Though I've never had someone scream "he has a gun!"

I also don't have any bumper stickers on my car or wear gun relocated clothing.

[megasupermagnum]

MSM, well here I am. I IWB carry daily, have for years. About 3 years or so. I carry a 1911 A1 in a Desantis dual carry II with the thumb snap removed. It took some adjustment and trial and error to get comfortable. I carry it pretty butt forward similar to the galco fletch holsters angle. And I carry it at the 3:30 position. I find it more comfortable than OWB so far because I've been able to adjust my angle to suit me. If I can find or make an OWB holster to match the angle then it'll probably be more comfortable. Honestly I forget about it most of the time.

My guess is you are much skinnier than me. My body is perfect for a revolver OWB, it is like they were molded just for me.

As for comments when open carrying. If I had to put a number on it, I would probably say I do it 10-20 times a year. Not very often. I can't remember a single comment I have ever gotten. Seeing others open carry, I can't recall anyone ever being asked anything either. While not common in rural MN, open carry is very much accepted here. You probably would not get the same result in Minneapolis.

[Bazoo]

VR, you can try IWB carry by making a simple holster from a string. It's called an OSS string holster. I looked but couldn't find a video or pictures with my limited searching capacity with the phone. Long story short you take a piece of shoe string or cord about 8" long. Tie the ends with an overhand knot to make a loop. You pull the loop behind your belt and back through itself so it attaches to your belt. Then the resultant loop is your holster. You stick your barrel through that and down into your waistband. You experiment with the initial size of loop so the resultant holster loop is small enough that the cylinder doesn't go into it.

It's a good way for an expedient holster. The OSS used it so if they had to ditch their gun they didn't have a holster on which would give them away if caught.

[Bazoo]

I am fat sir. I Never looked, so it's possible I have it tucked behind a fat roll unknowingly.

[VariableRecall]

My guess is you are much skinnier than me. My body is perfect for a revolver OWB, it is like they were molded just for me.

As for comments when open carrying. If I had to put a number on it, I would probably say I do it 10-20 times a year. Not very often. I can't remember a single comment I have ever gotten. Seeing others open carry, I can't recall anyone ever being asked anything either. While not common in rural MN, open carry is very much accepted here. You probably would not get the same result in Minneapolis.

I'm 6 foot 1, 270lbs. Definitely want to lose some weight but I'm probably going to be bulky rest of my life. I'd say my current OWB holster fits me nicely, but the length as you see from the two photos that I've posted earlier that it sticks out a bit. I don't think I would pay much attention to it but the scary parts of the Model 10 are almost completely concealed under the holster.


Here's my Model 10's profile outside my body but inside the holster. almost the whole revolver is sheathed in the holster, which is exactly what I want out of a holster that provides protection to the piece inside.

[Bazoo]

Those uncle mikes holsters are better than nothing but they suck for comfort compared to a fitted leather holster. The weight of the gun is not distributed well with the UM holster, and it flops around too much. More butt forward cant is much easier to conceal too, the UMs is too vertical.

[megasupermagnum]

Yes, those holsters are more outdoor style, meant for open carry, they hang low. I like holsters that slightly cant the butt forward, and ride higher. I like the cylinder of the revolver right over the belt, that is where it fits me perfect. My legs are bigger, and I have some love handles, but I have a cylinder sized spot at the belt line. I'm 6'5" 315 pounds, ex football player. Not full on fat, but not thin at all. I have a spot just behind my hip that is perfect. I'm left handed, I would call it about 8 or 8:30. That would be 3:30 or 4 for a right hander. I think I was born with a spot molded just for a revolver. I carry my Sig P220 too, but my favorite holster for that had a thick layer inside, so it is sticking nearly 1/4" off the belt. My revolvers I like to hug real tight.

[VariableRecall]

Those uncle mikes holsters are better than nothing but they suck for comfort compared to a fitted leather holster. The weight of the gun is not distributed well with the UM holster, and it flops around too much. More butt forward cant is much easier to conceal too, the UMs is too vertical.

I can agree with the vertical orientation being a little uncomfortable. For $20 instead of $70 or something it's doing a great job! The Fobus Holster that I have is the type with a belt-loop and it's clearly designed for duty belts instead of pants belts, but I can take the shifting around for a little extra stand-off when it gets hot.

I'd agree about the butt-forward cant as well. The Belt-loop piece can be oriented in any direction you could very well want. It's a tad oversized since it could fit Rugers and other slightly larger revolvers, but I think it was a good purchase. It's a little more competition holster than concealment.

[Bazoo]

I'm 6'5" and 360. When I was 270, I was pretty buff. Lord for those days again, but I'd had to have missed a lot of fine meals, and that ain't something that suits my fancy.

VR, I gave it some thought. You could use your current Uncle mikes holster for a temporary IWB holster experiment by attaching it to your pants inside via safety pins. That way you could experiment a bit in your home and see if IWB suits you before purchasing.

Another thing you can do, which I have done with my wife's uncle mikes holster. Put the holster on a string for a bandoleer holster. I used a rifle sling but you can substitute paracord. All you'd do is find a length of cord that goes over your head and shoulder and put it through the holsters belt loop, tie the ends together to make a large loop. It flops some but it will give you an idea if you like that mode of carry. You could also use it as an alternate under coat holster to a shoulder rig.

[Murphy]

I can't answer the original post in regards to the law's of the state in question. I can say this though. I've carried handguns on and off for close to 50 years now (started in my senior year of high school). You'll hear the term 'holster box' and a whole lot of us have them, if they've been carrying long enough.

Several things dictate how well one can conceal a handgun on the person. The handgun itself of course being the first issue. Some of the small, compact 380's & Micro 9's are extremely easy for most to conceal. Where as a 2" J frame 38 Special would stand out like a sore thumb. Next to size is the season of the year. Handguns I can easily conceal during winter months, there's no way I could during summer months. We dress around our handgun to keep it concealed. And lastly, we're all configured a bit differently. A person of size (this means love handles hanging over your belt), can tuck a small handgun inside the waist band and the excess body size covers it. Thus the holster box. One goes through numerous holsters trying to find what works best for them. Good luck.

Murphy

[Bazoo]

That's exactly right Murphy. I've been carrying concealed something like 12 years. Tried many different things.

I've carried smith and wesson 4006, 642 j frame, glock 22, 1911 in both 5" and commander, keltec pf9, bersa thunder 380, Ruger GP 100 in 357 and Super blackhawk 4 3/4" 44 magnum. The latter, I made a pancake holster for and it conceals okay for a fat man.

I've tried IWB, OWB, small of the back, and pocket carry. I've carried in a fobus paddle holster, galco combatmaster, several IWB holsters, Springfield armory brand copy of the galco, cowboy Cheyenne holster. The pf9 had a clip like a boot clip so no holster needed.

It took me a while to figure what works for me, and what's comfortable. I find 3:00-3:30 more comfortable than anywhere else. I also find it more concealable with a bit more butt forward cant than most holsters have.

[megasupermagnum]

I almost forgot about the belt. For light guns, you can often get away with a standard belt. In your case, I think you will benefit greatly from a gun belt. Check out 30dollargunbelt. That is a brand. The $30 leather belt from them would work well. I have the slightly more expensive steel core model, and do not regret it at all. There is very little sag, even with full size N frames and Redhawks. The extra width also spreads the load. You don't have to cinch them so tight. They really are worth the money.

[Bazoo]

I agree, I am wearing a galco cop belt. I need to replace it as it's soft.