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Found myself in an awkward situation the other night, thought I'd share:

I've had a CHL for a few weeks now, and am getting back into the habit of packing 24/7 (used to carry all the time on the PD, a few years back). The last couple days I'd been fighting off a nasty cold, so I stopped by CVS on my way home from work to get some cough drops.

My carry gun is a G30 with Don Hume IWB clip-on rig worn at 3:30 - nothing fancy. Whenever I'm in a vehicle, especially at night, I always pull my cover shirt up and tuck it behind the gun for easy access while seated. It's very easy/discreet to re-cover as needed, and much more convenient than moving the entire pistol/holster around like many folks do.

Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, I wasn't feeling the greatest and just wanted to get home. I pulled into the store parking lot, got out of my truck, and started walking toward the entrance. About halfway there, it hit me... I forgot to cover my gun Now of course it feels like everyone within a 3 block radius is staring at ME, so I just tried to cover up without making it too obvious. No one in the crowded parking lot seemed to notice, and no SWAT team showed up, so I guess I got away clean. Nothing like inducing a little panic in public to liven up an otherwise uneventful evening

I am sure most CHL holders have their story of the first time they forgot to conceal and their reaction. I am pretty sure my reaction, although I would try to make it as smooth as silk, would end up looking like I was having a seizure in the parking lot trying to get covered back up. Glad you werent taken down by SWAT team over some cough drops.

bullseye10x wrote:Found myself in an awkward situation the other night, thought I'd share:

This does present an interesting dilemma. I cannot access my carry handgun while seated in the vehicle. I made a decision based on what I do when working a Bodyguard detail and I am driving. I have always carried in a shoulder holster when driving as a bodyguard specifically because I cannot access a pistol at 3 o'clock.

So, I decided I would keep another handgun accessible in my vehicle while I am driving. Keeps me from forgetting to re-holster or re-cover the gun on my person.

I jumped out of my truck at the cleaners one day, took three steps, and had the same realization Bullseye did. Scared the bejabbers out of me. As in his case, no one actually noticed, there were not that many people around. Like TXinvestigator, I now keep a second gun handy but concealed in the truck just for when I am driving around.

elb

I just hope there's no one reviewing security tapes of the parking lot from that evening :)

I've done that a time or two. It can be embarrassing. In order to be afoul of the law, you have to be found to be intentionally exposing your weapon. Don't worry about the security cameras. It's not the law you have to worry about, but the gun-hating libs.

I walked into the bank the other day with a zip-up jogging jacket covering my IWB holstered pistol. Planning to keep the jacket zipped, I walked up to the clerk and forgot about that for a second and as I started to talk to him I unzipped the jacket! Remembering I had a gun, I quickly zipped it back up again and continued to start the conversation. He didn't seem to notice how uncomfortable I had made myself!