Concealed Carry Corner: Carrying a Backup Gun
Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we took a look at what to do when you're traveling with a handgun. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I want to take a closer look at the idea of a backup gun. For a time, people carried a backup gun fairly often and there were even IDPA sessions that were exclusively dedicated to using your main along with your backup gun. As guns started to have higher capacities, we saw a decrease in backup guns, but recently, there has been another resurgence in the popularity of backup guns. Let's take a closer look at carrying a backup gun.
Why Carry a Backup Gun
For some of you reading this article, you’re probably asking yourself why people even carry a backup gun. Having a secondary or backup gun is fairly popular and a regular occurrence with law enforcement officers. If there is a situation where you get thrown to the ground and can't draw your main gun, sometimes having a secondary in your pocket or an ankle holster can be faster than trying to draw your main handgun. Others have explained it as a good way to be able to arm a spouse in case of an emergency by passing off their extra smaller gun to them. You could call it a force multiplier in the event of a dangerous situation.
Having a small backup gun, whether that’s a snub-nose revolver or a small semi-auto like a Glock 43, will allow you options and offer a backup plan if something happens to your main handgun. Backup guns can oftentimes be carried in a few different positions, whether that's in your front pocket, in an ankle holster, or something like a small of the back holster. There's always been the classic “New York Reload” where instead of reloading your primary gun, you switch to your backup and continue in the fight. It may not be for everyone, but it's certainly an older concept when it comes to concealed carry.
Problems Carrying a Backup Gun
The idea of a backup handgun has been around since the dawn of firearms themselves. Early cowboys would have multiple revolvers as an alternative to taking the extra time to reload in order to stay armed. This was still true during the age of the revolver during the 70’s and 80’s, but with the rise of the higher capacity double-stack pistols, the popularity of carrying a backup gun has decreased over the years. The simple facts are that they can be relatively heavy and the odds you'll need a firearm in self-defense are incredibly low. Having a malfunction while in a self-defense situation is even lower, so the chances you'll need a backup gun are almost zero.
Police officers carrying a backup gun makes sense just off the fact that they are at a much higher probability of facing a defensive or dangerous situation where they may need another option. The average civilian should avoid any conflict at all because of their concealed handgun, where deflection and defusing the situation takes top priority. If you need to draw your firearm, it’s a worst-case scenario and the odds you'll need a backup gun are even less. They can be cumbersome depending on the holster and gun type. There used to be a valid reason to have a backup firearm, but with today's machining processes and quality, there's not a ton of reasons to carry a secondary handgun concealed.
What's Best For You?
One of the best parts of this country is having the ability to carry a concealed firearm, which doesn't limit you to the number of handguns you have on your body at a given time. For people who truly love guns and want to try out carrying a backup gun, I think you should give it a shot and see how things go. With the overall quality of handguns today, I would absolutely choose to carry something like a Glock 48 with a spare magazine rather than an extra handgun.
The only time I have ever carried two handguns is when I regularly carry my 1911s with a small Smith 340PD as a boot gun in an ankle holster. Thats more for fun and the fact I love firearms than a necessity. I don't think it's an absolute must anymore, but if you choose to carry a backup handgun, it's your right to do so in this free country, which is what makes it so special.
Overall Thoughts
If you ask me on a given day if you should carry a backup gun, I will almost always say no. The average person just going on with their day and being law-abiding absolutely doesn't need two handguns on their person concealed, but if you choose to do so, there are a ton of options out there, whether it's pocket holsters or ankle systems. Do you guys carry a backup gun? Let me know down in the comments below. If you have questions about carrying a backup gun or firearms in general, feel free to shoot me a message on Instagram @fridgeoperator. Stay safe out there and we will see you next week for another edition of Concealed Carry Corner.
TFB’s Concealed Carry Corner is brought to you by GLOCK
I'm an avid shooter and love educating whether it's at my job or in the shooting community. I'm an average joe that really loves talking with other people about firearms and other passions.I'm active on Instagram on @fridgeoperator.
More by Matt E
![[SHOT 2026] Magpul New Releases](https://cdn-fastly.thefirearmblog.com/media/2026/01/21/23481/shot-2026-magpul-new-releases.jpg?size=350x220)
![[SHOT 2026] MK Machining Showcase ‘Straightbull’ Rifle](https://cdn-fastly.thefirearmblog.com/media/2026/02/02/11211/post.jpg?size=350x220)
![[SHOT 2026] Olympus Arms Launch New Carbine & New Ammunition](https://cdn-fastly.thefirearmblog.com/media/2026/01/26/23431/post.jpg?size=350x220)
Comments
Join the conversation
Simple principle: Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. And why stop at a second firearm? Carry a knife, baton, other impact weapon, pepper spray, even a taser, a whistle. The real question here is what threats are you likely to encounter. The threat should dictate the weaponry. Ever thought about some handcuffs or flexcuffs? What if you need to restrain someone? What about an IFAK? If you carry concealed, you probably also have weapons at home to defend yourself there. What about the places between your home and work, store, school? If you are attacked on the street, will your EDC weapons enable you to fight your way to the AR15 in the trunk of your car?
Matt does a good job of articulating credible reasons to carry a backup gun (not just weapon retention), but he missed two. One is, if you've had to fire rounds at an assailant, you'll be left with a half-empty or empty gun. Jeff Cooper always carried a spare mag for his 1911 so, in his words, "I always have a full gun." Since so many TFB-ers seem to think carrying an extra mag is too much work, or stupid, maybe an extra gun is the way to go. That way if your assailant has buddies (and they always have more than you do, since they always have money and drugs)), and those buddies come to assist or avenge him, you're not defenseless.
The other reason is this: When someone has a gun pointed at them, their eyes lock on the gun, and their bullets follow their eyes. That's why it's not uncommon for people involved in gunfights to be shot in the gun or the hands. (There are studies on this, you can look it up.) Besides having your gun disabled, you may also have your hand disabled, so if you carry a backup you should carry it where you can reach it with either hand, and you should practice shooting it with your "off" hand. It's an emergency tool, right? What's more of an emergency than losing the use of your primary hand in the middle of a fight?
But as always, it's America, and you can go to your church while I go to mine.