Concealed Carry Corner: Common Carry Mistakes

Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we talked about some less-than-lethal options and which ones are best for your daily life. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I want to touch on a few things I’ve seen countless people do when they either start carrying a concealed firearm or have been for a while. I’ve run into a few people who practice certain aspects but never thought of why they choose to continue these methods. Let’s take a closer look at some of the common mistakes people make when carrying a concealed firearm.

Empty Chamber

One of the oddest ones when it comes to carrying a concealed firearm is carrying Israeli style or carrying with an empty chamber. This is way more common than most would realize, but when people start carrying, there’s a real fear of the gun going off while it's concealed on their body. I remember feeling this way when I was walking around an outdoor market about 15 years ago. I had this odd feeling that the gun might go off at any moment, causing a scene in public. I had real anxiety about it for the first couple of weeks, but after some time with my Glock 26, I knew it was safe and there was no fear of it going off. This is the cause of feeling uncomfortable with a loaded firearm on your body. It’s a perfectly normal phase to go through, but it shouldn’t last for longer than a couple of weeks.

Carrying without a round in the chamber creates more of a liability than an asset to you when it comes to self-defense. Recently, I was with my girlfriend and we got on this topic. She said she didn’t carry one in the chamber because she would just rack one into the gun when she needed it. What most people don’t understand is the lack of time you’ll have in a self-defense situation. Typically, if it gets to the point where you need to draw your gun, you’ve completely run out of time. This means you won’t have time to rack the slide, and in most cases, our brain loses many fine motor skills under fight or flight situations, with most people even forgetting under stress to flip the safety off before trying to pull the trigger. Keeping things simple and as ready as possible really does make a difference. For people who want to carry with an empty chamber, I always encourage them to practice at home before trying to go out with a gun. Having a base level of confidence with a loaded firearm is much more valuable than having a gun that’s unloaded in public.

Feeling Emboldened By Carrying Concealed

One of the most dangerous things you can do when starting to carry a concealed firearm is to feel like you can go into any situation and be the aggressor because you have a firearm now. This is the completely wrong way to be, and legally, you can find yourself in a world of hurt where you get charged rather than it being self-defense. When it comes to carrying a concealed firearm, you have one of the most powerful tools available to keep yourself safe. This often makes you the most dangerous person in a given room because you have a firearm, and with that power comes an overwhelming responsibility to avoid conflict. Drawing your firearm means you failed to avoid and deter from a given situation.

Having that firearm should push you to be the most passive and respectful version of yourself because you have such a powerful tool that, if used, has drastic consequences. There is sometimes a mindset with some people where a firearm automatically makes them a tough guy, when in reality, it should be the complete opposite. Carrying a concealed firearm should be one of the biggest deterrents for conflict, and you should be motivated to de-escalate rather than trying to overcome a conflict.

What most new people who conceal don’t always understand is that if you show your firearm to someone in a conflict, that action is brandishing, which is illegal in many states. You cannot show your firearm as a form of intimidation legally and it won't take long before you learn the negative results of that choice. I’ve seen this happen before in metro Detroit and the person who legally carried the firearm was the one who escalated the situation and ultimately went to jail that day. Making poor choices while concealing a firearm is a serious mistake that can result in jail time and huge fines.

Overall Thoughts 

These are just two of the most common mistakes out of a very long list. I will probably do more of these further down the road, but these are the two biggest issues when it comes to carrying concealed. People who carry with empty chambers make themselves a liability rather than an asset. It's important ot face those fears head-on and work through them rather than be comfortable with carrying on an empty chamber. The other crowd of people who feel emboldened by carrying a gun need some self humbling to understand what the real point of carrying a concealed firearm is in today's world. The idea that you become a tough guy overnight because you are able to carry a gun is downright the wrong idea.

What other common mistakes do you guys see in the gun community when it comes to carrying concealed? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. If you have a question about carrying concealed 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