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Dekansnowman,

As I think on it all, it seems less about WHAT you say and more about HOW you act.
I dont think that youd need to say anything, just remain calm. If you treat it like its no big deal chances are so will anyone who might notice it.
Simply re-covering, re-adjusting, or (God forbid) picking the gun up off the ground and re-holstering confidently without saying a word or with a smile and a nod would do more than any explaining. Treat it like you just dropped your wallet or car keys.

When people will start to freak out is if your acting sketchy, sneaky, nervous, making sudden movements, running off.....just generally acting like your guilty of something. Unintentional brandishing is NOT illegal, so why act like youve just commited a crime? Most people (especially in TX) arent going to say anything. IF they ask you can explain that your licensed. A good ammount of people understand CHL's and wont give it a second though.

If they start going berserk keep your calm. Again, you have done nothing wrong. If your calm and the other person is off their hinges anyone paying attention is going to think the loudmouth is the idiot, not you. Hell, someone might come to your aid and tell the tattle tale to quiet down and that its no big deal, I sure would for a fellow CHL'er.

Cell phone is the most convenient for me. Flashlight or multi-tool works too. I have had my cover garment blow open and people look right at my IWB carried gun and either not notice or smile. Results may vary in other areas of the state and country.

My theory is simple. if you know me well engung to hug me, then odds are good you know what I got hidden.

I actually had an (almost) example of this recently. I was helping the wife make a delivery to a community college, for her work. When it came to unloading the truck, I stayed in there, handing things down and said to the folks there (college staff) - "Sorry, but I can't carry these inside the building without divesting myself of certain items." To which they replied "We don't mind if you're carrying".

Easy one.. "I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you"

I've only been carrying for a few months and I've already been asked what that was under my shirt.

I was at a friend's house (who didn't know I had begun carrying) with some of her friends whom I didn't know. We were in the kitchen chatting and she went to get something from the refrigerator. The kitchen was a little cramped, and when she turned to close the door to the fridge, we accidentally bumped into each other and her elbow contacted the edge of the grip to my XD 45 (IWB about 3:00). She caught it with her bone, and it caused her a bit of pain. She looked at my hip and asked if I had a steal hip. Since I knew her, but not her friends, I took her aside away from the group (I didn't know how any of them would react) and told her what she had hit. She made a mental note not to try to jab me in the right side and the evening continued without incident.

Actually, it turns out that her friends there were 2A friendly. I don't know if any of them were carrying, but we did have a short conversation on the difficulty of finding .45 ACP recently of types of firearms that we liked and didn't like to fire.

shootthesheet wrote:Cell phone is the most convenient for me. Flashlight or multi-tool works too.

I like the multi-tool idea. It really is one, in a way, and people probably did not get a good enough feel of your gun to know multi-tools do not have those dimensions.

RJ

Just tell them asking questions will provoke "it", and this:[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVZUVeMtYXc[/youtube] will happen.