there are plenty of people just like you that are realizing the importance of exercising your
right to safely own a firearm and know how to protect yourself but you don't know where
to begin. instead of rushing out to the local gun store and buying what's popular let's think about
your particular situation and what makes sense for you. that way when you do buy your firearm you've
thought through how you're going to carry it how you're going to use it and you've done what makes
the most sense. now for the ABCs of concealed carry that you should be considering. a accessible
so you want to make sure that it's easy and quick to draw when you need it. b bearable make sure
it's comfortable if it's painful to put it on or to wear it you're not gonna do it. c concealed
make sure that it's hidden. by law in most states you have to do that even if you have a permit for
a concealed carry and someone sees it or it's exposed you can still get in trouble with it.
now here in Texas we have open carry which means I can literally walk down the street with a 44 mag
on my hip and it's legal. I however choose not to. for me I'd rather have a firearm hidden until I
need it and I don't need to put a bull's-eye on my back for the bad guys. okay first situation
let's talk about standing or walking. I'm going to show you several options and go through the ABCs
of these. the first one is a shoulder rig and as you can see it's very concealed if I'm wearing a
coat. now in hotter climates you don't always want to wear a coat or it's going to be uncomfortable
so you got to think about how bearable it is. accessible though it's very quick to reach in and
pull in this case a Glock 23. the other benefit of this particular model is I can carry two
spare magazines as well just in case so that's the shoulder rig. the next one let's talk about is an
inside the waistband holster. now there's an index carry up here which some people like. it's very
quick if you think about grabbing it very quickly. I prefer to carry a 4 o'clock carry these days
so as you can see your shirts down it's concealed pull it up and quickly access in this case an XD.
there's no accommodation for extra magazines here but you can easily buy something like this that's
a little belt mounted for spare magazines the third thing in this outfit is going to be a pocket
carry so I can quickly pull it's accessible it's bearable it's comfortable to throw in a pocket
and this is a little snake slayer. now it's only a two shot but it's a 45 long colt so it's got
plenty of kick and it's still better than nothing if that's your only option. okay next situation
you're not wearing quite as much clothes that's easy to conceal maybe you've got just some running
shorts on out of the park whatever it might be there are still options you can have. first of
all you should always have at least a knife right because not to replace a lot of firearms so that's
something that you can carry that's still very accessible comfortable and concealed and is better
than nothing. now in terms of firearms for this particular situation I have a wrap around and it's
something that's very accessible again using the Glock as an example. now I only do I have
this but it also holds a spare magazine and it's bearable right. I can wear it comfortably doing
whatever I'm doing and it's also concealed so that meets all our criteria. the other holster option
I haven't talked about because I don't use it if some people like to do an ankle carry. now for me
I don't like it because I don't like the idea of having to reach down that far and make that much
motion and let the bad guy know that I'm reaching for something but it's just another optional throw
out there. again you have to figure out what works best for you. okay next is driving. driving is a
little bit unique your body is not straight it's bent and you have unique obstacles such as seat
belts to worry about it so let's think through the options we just looked at and how they're affected
by being in this situation. if I have a shoulder rig then again using my glock as an example by the
shoulder rig it's still very easy to draw right so it's still accessible no problem. however if
you're doing an appendix carry if you're doing a four o'clock carry anything else really is gonna
be a lot more difficult so what I tend to do is if I'm not doing a shoulder rig and I'm using
one of the other options I'll simply lay it on the floor. I can reach down and access it barely
moving my torso in a car like this or you're fairly close to the ground. now on something
where you're sitting up a little higher there are different devices and accessories you can buy that
might give you different mounting positions for the firearm so again it's a new situation to think
about. now I'm also a motorcyclist which gives me yet another situation to consider I'm not a
moron I would never ride in shorts and no shoes or flip-flops of course but for what we're doing here
it's fine so let's think again about the ABCs right the shoulder rig is going to be highly
accessible everything great and even if it's hot outside often on a bike you're wearing some
kind of protective jacket so it's more likely the shoulder rig you'd be a good choice. an appendix
carry I have tried it and it still hurts because the barrel is just driving into your thigh. it's
just not comfortable for me anyway on the way I ride 4 o'clock carry is a little bit added peril
in this case. the main thing is the C component to conceal. if it's back there and your shirts
blowing in the wind it's not going to conceal your firearm so that's one thing to consider worst case
would be the firearm flies out your holster when you hit a bump so again a new set of situations
to consider. ok next situation to consider is home defense and let's be honest this is one of
the main reasons a lot of people buy firearms in the first place so you may not have to consider
bearable or concealed but you still need to think about accessible and you need to consider the new
situation. you're gonna wake up in the middle of night you're gonna be half asleep and you're
gonna be fumbling around for something so it's got to be easily accessible and it's got to be
effective. you need to think of everything from the kind of ammunition you're using and just do
everything you can to make sure you minimize stray rounds and they are affected with your firearm so
as far as the pistols go this is what I used to keep next to the bed. a Glock doesn't have an
external safety on it so I don't have to worry about that whether that's on or off. the other
thing I like about it is I put Trijicon sights on this one and so seeing in the middle of the night
is tough enough especially when you're just woke up but the trijicons give you a step up at least
in trying to be accurate with your aim and I'll demonstrate that. hopefully you can kind of see
the two little green dots and there's one on the front too that's not quite showing up here but
anyway it gives you three dots across that you can line up on your target. ok so let's say we think
about variables and I need to grab my firearm so again thinking about the situation it's gonna be
dark right. what I have here this is what I choose is to use one of my rock and load cases by the bed
it's guitar-shaped so nosy neighbors nosy maids they don't need to know there's anything in there
except a guitar and because I play guitar it's more believable in my case - it's a solid safe
way american-made case these are available on my website. you can check out the link below but all
I have to do is grab this and I can easily grab my pistol which as I said is no longer my first
choice. now that I can grab is that they are so the reason I prefer an AR for home defense now is
that the EOTech optics available are amazing for target acquisition. you have more rounds without
reloading and very importantly you have a longer barrel right so that long barrel is going to mean
more accuracy when you're shooting is even more important when you're in the home so one of the
bandages to this a shorter barrel is nice for going around your house because it's in tight
corners in that but any of these options are great so this is something I consider but the
other thing than to think about is other logistics right and this is why it's important to just think
through your situation and how you might use or need your firearm so let's say that I run out but
I'm like well I don't know there's a whole whole bunch of people out there and I may need more and
I'm in a pair of shorts I may not be able to put on a belt or throw something in a pocket so like
reach in here and I can pull one of the spare mags it holds. I can put them in a little utility belt
that I keep by the bed throw that over a shoulder and then I can run with that so just again
thinking through your situation what's going to work best for you hopefully this information was
helpful and you now have a better idea of what to think about before buying your firearm these are
the ones I used in the video in case it's helpful to you as you decide what's best for yourself.