Concealed is concealed

[mr.72]

Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk with one of my band mates at church regarding concealed carry. Just for background: I play lead guitar and sing in the band in a large church (~6K members), I play four to five services per week and I am relatively high-profile. I am featured on 20-ft video screens all the time, and on streaming video of our services on the net. Seen by thousands of people every week. Soon enough we will probably be on TV.

My band mate just finished his CHL class and sent in his app last weekend. He bagan quizzing me about if I carry, if so how often, where, etc. Unfortunately it turns out that his CHL instructor told them in no uncertain terms that carrying at church was illegal. Great!

So I told him I carry frequently, pretty much anywhere that it's not prohibited and as long as my clothing allows (like, not when swimming, for example). Then eventually he asked if I was carrying presently.

I should note that he plays in the band and plays standing directly behind me, 4-5 services a week, for something like 6 years now. For the past year, I have been carrying my Kahr CW9 in my FIST K3 at every church service. He and I have had numerous conversations about CHL and guns, talked about going shooting together. He knows I have a CHL and I am an advocate of concealed carry. This is no surprise for this guy.

I told him I was carrying. He said "what? where?" I pointed it out, he reached out and touched the grip through my shirt. Then he said "wow, I never would have thought you were carrying". I asked if he hadn't noticed in the past year, and he said he never ever suspected.

So, ladies and gentlemen, you don't have to "dress around the gun" in order to effectively conceal. I wear jeans that fit, shirts that are not at all baggy or loose, and a regular "non-gun" belt. No vests, no fanny packs, no cover garment. Nothing special. Just a $40 kydex holster and a compact pistol. Even people who have very regular contact with me over an extended period of time don't know. My wife has to ask most of the time. Don't believe the hype.

[joe817]

That's a great testimonial mr72. Thanks for sharing.

[blc]

Wow, that's awesome!

I asked my wife yesterday on the way home from church, "So.... where was I carrying today?" She had no idea, and had just spent 7 hours in close proximity to me.

[Crossfire]

I asked my wife yesterday on the way home from church, "So.... where was I carrying today?" She had no idea, and had just spent 7 hours in close proximity to me.

WOW! And I thought OUR preacher could just go on and on....

[joe817]

I asked my wife yesterday on the way home from church, "So.... where was I carrying today?" She had no idea, and had just spent 7 hours in close proximity to me.

WOW! And I thought OUR preacher could just go on and on....

[mr.72]

I wonder if the kid still to this day wonders where it was

It's like that quote from "In the Line of Fire"...

I am pretty confident that nobody knows I am carrying if I haven't told them, and even those who do know do not know that I am carrying nearly all of the time. My wife has asked me many times, enough that I know that even she doesn't know it's there until I confirm it.

[The Annoyed Man]

Mr. 72, I had virtually the exact same conversation with one of our drummers about four weeks ago, and he asked me if I was carrying right then. I answered in the affirmative, and he said "Where?" I turned my left side to him, where I had a Kimber Ultra in an MTAC holster under my shirt and pointed to it through the material. He asked what caliber, and I said ".45 ACP." He started laughing, because just like with you and your friend, I have been standing pretty much directly in front of this guy's drum kit for the past two and half years, and he had never noticed a thing. Tuesday before last, I took him to the range for the first time in his life. We started him on .22 pistols. By the end of the day, he was shooting a Model 29 .44 magnum quite well. He never developed a flinch at all. But his favorite gun to shoot was anything on a 1911 platform, including my little Kimber. On the Friday following that range trip, he told me he had gone to Euless Guns and Ammo and had put 50% down on a Kimber Pro Carry II. He turns 21 on the 30th of this month. (This guy is some kind of musical savant. Not only is he one of the finest drummers it has ever been my privilege to play with, he also plays guitar and keyboards, and he's been that good for a while now.) On that day, he is going to go in and pay for the rest of the pistol and take it home. When he gets home, he'll be starting the application process online for his CHL. Then he's going to be giving Crossfire a call to take the class.

Quite a remarkable transition.

[Tass]

I was in a gun shop recently and was being urged to take a CHL class....I guess the .380 was well concealed!

Tass

[boomerang]

See. Nothing to worry about.

Concealed means concealed.

[JJVP]

Unfortunately it turns out that his CHL instructor told them in no uncertain terms that carrying at church was illegal. Great!

I hope you set him straight regarding the carry at church. Only illegal if 30.06 posted. Wonder what else his CHL instructor got wrong.

[jmorris]

... For the past year, I have been carrying my Kahr CW9 in my FIST K3 at every church service...

Ha! We're twins. Well, almost. CW40 in a K3 and I've carried for about a year. You don't say if it's leather or kydex though.

And the only one at church who has said anything about the clip knew I carried anyway. Do you wear a jacket or anything over it?

[blc]

I asked my wife yesterday on the way home from church, "So.... where was I carrying today?" She had no idea, and had just spent 7 hours in close proximity to me.

WOW! And I thought OUR preacher could just go on and on....

Oh yeah... guess that would seem strange to most! We have kind of a long service (+/- 2 hours) but a lot of that time is a fellowship meal we have after the service (kind of like an old-fashioned Baptist potluck).

Don't mean to disrupt the proper subject here. Carry on.

[atxgun]

I went to the range with w/ a buddy a while back. We met at his place and carpooled. We both brought a fair amount of our own collections. I made some quip about how I wondered if we got pulled over with a 13 guns in the car, or what ever the amount was. He laughed and we went our way. Afterwards at his house while we were cleaning the gear, he recalled my previous count and was like "are you carrying now?" I lift my shirt to show the IWB at about 4 oclock. (Keep in mind I've known him for years and recently took his own CHL class and we were in his house so I didn't have a problem making the revelation).

My like the ops story he was completely awestruck that he couldn't previously tell.

Something similar happened at another close friends house that I had let know about my CHL status.

I remember when I first got my plastic I was so worried about printing or being "outted"

[mr.72]

... For the past year, I have been carrying my Kahr CW9 in my FIST K3 at every church service...

Ha! We're twins. Well, almost. CW40 in a K3 and I've carried for about a year. You don't say if it's leather or kydex though.

K3 is Kydex. The leather version is the "#4". FWIW I think I am going to order a leather snap-loop to replace the ill-fitting J-hook on my K3 (drill out the rivets and put in Chicago screws).

And the only one at church who has said anything about the clip knew I carried anyway. Do you wear a jacket or anything over it?

Just a shirt tail. Usually it's a sort of casual fashion-type button-down shirt and maybe a third of the time a T-shirt (graphic T, you know), with jeans.