Search found 12 matches

by 03Lightningrocks
Wed Dec 25, 2013 11:48 pm
Forum: New to CHL?
Topic: POLL: Ever been spotted?
Replies: 74
Views: 9986

Re: POLL: Ever been spotted?

We better be careful. I think we might be walking the line with some of our posts above. Maybe best we get back to the poll question so we don't get the thread locked. ;-)

I pocket carried at my son in laws parents home today. His whole family was there. They aren't anti gun but they don't carry or even talk much about guns. Few of them hunt. I carried my new S&W 442. Did the hugging thing. Nobody was the wiser. Like I said before though. My immediate family doesn't think any different about carrying concealed than they do a wallet. I didn't have to worry about being snitched out. I really don't see how anyone can be outed when they pocket carry. That seems like a pretty deep conceal to me.
by 03Lightningrocks
Sun Dec 22, 2013 3:39 pm
Forum: New to CHL?
Topic: POLL: Ever been spotted?
Replies: 74
Views: 9986

Re: POLL: Ever been spotted?

Oldgringo wrote:I've been hugged a time or two and got the "look", but have never been told or asked.
Me too, but I really am not sure what "the look" was for. Did I smell funny? Did I accidentally hug a wrong body part? Was the hug not really wanted but I had forced my hug upon an innocent bystander"? One just never knows. :mrgreen:
by 03Lightningrocks
Sun Dec 22, 2013 2:34 pm
Forum: New to CHL?
Topic: POLL: Ever been spotted?
Replies: 74
Views: 9986

Re: POLL: Ever been spotted?

drjoker wrote:At my Wally walk, only on the fisrt day that i ever carried. I was adjusting my rig in my car and the lady in the parking space next to me saw it. I do all my adjusting at home now.
I had a similar thing happen to me. I was parked out in the "no mans zone" of an Academy parking lot. Not a vehicle within fifty yards of me. I had just purchased a box of new self defense ammo. I was topping off my half full magazine being careful to keep it low. My Glock was laying on the passenger seat of my truck. I look up and a truck with two guys in it drove up out of nowhere and stopped right at my passenger window. They had seen I have some damage on my door and were trying to drum up some auto repair business. Meanwhile, all my business was just out in the open for them to see if they just looked into the seat area of the truck.
by 03Lightningrocks
Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:01 am
Forum: New to CHL?
Topic: POLL: Ever been spotted?
Replies: 74
Views: 9986

Re: POLL: Ever been spotted?

jmra wrote:
estes9294 wrote:I was at a political action committee dinner party at a local restaurant awaiting election results last month. I was carrying my Beretta Nano IWB at 3:30 with a tucked in polo shirt loosely bloused over the belt line. The election results were delayed due to court house buffoonery and the restaurant was set to close. So we moved the party to a nearby hotel bar. I left my weapon in the car due to the “red 51%” sign. A school board member approached me after I had been there a few minutes and asked me where my weapon had gone. He told me he saw the IWB clips at the restaurant and wanted to find out how I got it comfortable. He had been trying to wear one but could not get it comfortable. As a general rule, people are not nearly as observant as you fear they will be when you start CC. Relax, be safe and be comfortable with your weapon. Isn’t that the reason most of us carry.
Welcome to the forum.
I think most people observant enough to notice and informed enough to know what they are looking at are going to be like minded. As long as someone isn't carrying somewhere they shouldn't, exposed clips is no big deal at all.
I was not sure what to make of that. It seems if the school board member was familiar with concealed carry, their would be no question being asked about why he put his firearm away while sitting in a bar with a red 51% sign.
by 03Lightningrocks
Sun Dec 01, 2013 2:18 pm
Forum: New to CHL?
Topic: POLL: Ever been spotted?
Replies: 74
Views: 9986

Re: Ever been spotted?

JSThane wrote:
03Lightningrocks wrote:
JSThane wrote:I said "yes," because while I can't -prove- it, I'm fair certain that was the reason I got pulled over on a felony stop a few years back. Not that the cops knew anything about a gun; someone (I suspect) saw it while in a store, knew the cops wouldn't do anything over "man with a concealed gun who is doing nothing but buying something," and made up a story that I'd just smashed car windows and stole license plates in the parking lot of the store. The officers were a bit taken aback when they found out I was carrying (although not startled; I WAS in Texas after all) and truly surprised when they found I had done nothing at all, other than buy Gatorade.

The employee that made the bogus call was NOT pleased when the cops went back after finding everything was kosher and "chided" him for making a false report. Nor was he pleased when he found out I had called his corporate offices to complain. I don't believe he works for that corporation any more as a result, which is probably the reason behind his bogus complaint to my department several days later (the kind officers informed him not only had he made a false report, but that it was against another LEO, and from which department :banghead: ).
That is not a yes to the question. Wondering if you were outed because someone thought you were breaking into cars is not a yes for these purposes but does help to make the point that most folks are not actually outed but are a bit paranoid about being outed when they don't know for sure that it happened.
The "breaking into cars" story was what the dude told the cops when he called 911. However, while he very specifically described me, my car, and my mother (who was with me), he did NOT actually see anything at all when he "looked into the parking lot" and "saw" me breaking into vehicles. He admitted this to me, later, and presumably to the responding officers. All he saw, period, was that I was in the store, and then I was leaning against my own car, and that's what he told me when I saw him later. However, "there's a dude leaning on his car in the parking lot, and I think he might have a gun" won't get the cops to come screaming up with gumball lights and woo-woo box blaring. However, "there's a dude smashing car windows and stealing license plates and stereos, and he has a gun" will. He needed -something- to get the cops out there, and quickly. It's all inference, but it's the only thing that makes sense to me.
Then your answer is no.
by 03Lightningrocks
Sun Dec 01, 2013 12:58 pm
Forum: New to CHL?
Topic: POLL: Ever been spotted?
Replies: 74
Views: 9986

Re: POLL: Ever been spotted?

mgood wrote:
03Lightningrocks wrote:So if we subtract all the yes answers that were actually speculation and not based on the words, "is that a gun you have there? ", I bet we have zero. A person nodding at you DOES NOT mean it is about your gun. A person bumping you and saying excuse me is normal, gun or not. But it seems when we are carrying a gun, we tend to think it is about the gun. Not one single person said a total stranger saw their gun and said the words "gun" . I have been known to smile, nod, wink... Heck ... even say howdy to strangers all the time. I wonder if any of them thought I saw a gun on them?

That sure tell us all something about actually being spotted vs thinking we have been spotted.
:iagree:
I bet it is similar to a person having three beers at lunch and then thinking the cop they see in the car next to them while driving home knows about the beers. I also notice folks newer to carry tend to think they are spotted more often than folks who have been carrying awhile. I bet there is also more guilt associated with carrying a gun for a new carrier or even a person newer to guns. This may be why a person might assume its the gun getting the "re-assuring nod" rather than a simple gesture of hello.
by 03Lightningrocks
Sun Dec 01, 2013 12:42 pm
Forum: New to CHL?
Topic: POLL: Ever been spotted?
Replies: 74
Views: 9986

Re: POLL: Ever been spotted?

So if we subtract all the yes answers that were actually speculation and not based on the words, "is that a gun you have there? ", I bet we have zero. A person nodding at you DOES NOT mean it is about your gun. A person bumping you and saying excuse me is normal, gun or not. But it seems when we are carrying a gun, we tend to think it is about the gun. Not one single person said a total stranger saw their gun and said the words "gun" . I have been known to smile, nod, wink... Heck ... even say howdy to strangers all the time. I wonder if any of them thought I saw a gun on them?

That sure tells us all something about actually being spotted vs thinking we have been spotted.
by 03Lightningrocks
Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:40 am
Forum: New to CHL?
Topic: POLL: Ever been spotted?
Replies: 74
Views: 9986

Re: POLL: Ever been spotted?

chasfm11 wrote:
Purplehood wrote:If I have been spotted I have never had it brought to my attention.

To be honest I think that I have gotten rather lackadaisical in regards to worrying about bulges or other indicators that I may be carrying. I have carried concealed so long and in such blatantly "obvious" (To me) carry-methods that I no longer worry much about it. No one seems to pay any attention at all.
:iagree: When I first started carrying, I made sure that there was no hit of a bulge. Then, I was OK if there was a little bulge. Now, I wear shirts where, depending on how I'm standing, there is definitely a bulge. I just make sure that there isn't a profile of the grip.

Hugs remain a greater concern. There is much more of a chance that someone hugging me will put their arms where the gun would become obvious. I always lead with my weak side and haven't had a problem. The good news about IWB carry is that not much of the gun sticks up above the belt line so even it a hugging situation, the chances for exposure are very low. I figure that I am ever outed, a hug is going to do it. Touching the handle of a pistol is a lot different than seeing something under a shirt.
I agree with what you posted about the hugs. I have a tendency to do the same as you and lead with my weak side when "hugging" is required. Your post made me think about another situation I tend to lead with my weak side. If I am in a crowd and trying to make my way through I not only lead the push with my weak side, I also will keep my right arm hanging over my weapon to prevent a stray hands, people squeezing in from behind or even a pick pocket away from my weapon. The State Fare Was a good example of this. That place had areas I could hardly get through the crowds. I won't be back for another twelve years... but that is a different topic.
by 03Lightningrocks
Sun Nov 24, 2013 7:37 pm
Forum: New to CHL?
Topic: POLL: Ever been spotted?
Replies: 74
Views: 9986

Re: Ever been spotted?

JSThane wrote:I said "yes," because while I can't -prove- it, I'm fair certain that was the reason I got pulled over on a felony stop a few years back. Not that the cops knew anything about a gun; someone (I suspect) saw it while in a store, knew the cops wouldn't do anything over "man with a concealed gun who is doing nothing but buying something," and made up a story that I'd just smashed car windows and stole license plates in the parking lot of the store. The officers were a bit taken aback when they found out I was carrying (although not startled; I WAS in Texas after all) and truly surprised when they found I had done nothing at all, other than buy Gatorade.

The employee that made the bogus call was NOT pleased when the cops went back after finding everything was kosher and "chided" him for making a false report. Nor was he pleased when he found out I had called his corporate offices to complain. I don't believe he works for that corporation any more as a result, which is probably the reason behind his bogus complaint to my department several days later (the kind officers informed him not only had he made a false report, but that it was against another LEO, and from which department :banghead: ).
That is not a yes to the question. Wondering if you were outed because someone thought you were breaking into cars is not a yes for these purposes but does help to make the point that most folks are not actually outed but are a bit paranoid about being outed when they don't know for sure that it happened.
by 03Lightningrocks
Sun Nov 24, 2013 12:39 am
Forum: New to CHL?
Topic: POLL: Ever been spotted?
Replies: 74
Views: 9986

Re: Ever been spotted?

Yeah.. That is my point. It is just weird to ask someone about what they have in their pocket or even on their belt. If I saw a bulge in someone's pocket, I would not ask if it was a cell phone. I can't imagine anyone assuming that lump is a gun. With only 2% of texans having a CHL, I bet most folks don't even know they can get a CHL. Even fewer would think "gun". Even if they bumped into it. They would have no clue the hard object was a gun. There are many more things they would think of first, if they even gave it a second thought.
by 03Lightningrocks
Sun Nov 24, 2013 12:19 am
Forum: New to CHL?
Topic: POLL: Ever been spotted?
Replies: 74
Views: 9986

Re: Ever been spotted?

TexasCajun wrote:Been a year and a couple of months for me & nobody has made mention of noticing me carrying. I'm probably more likely to be outed by a thump when I'm in church if I forget to sit down in the pew slowly.
Even a thump when you sit down does not tell people you have a gun. It could be anything making a thump. I have heard a lot of thumps and "gun" never crossed my mind. I wonder sometimes if some of us might be assuming other folks will know that thump or lump is a gun because we know we have a gun.
by 03Lightningrocks
Sun Nov 24, 2013 12:16 am
Forum: New to CHL?
Topic: POLL: Ever been spotted?
Replies: 74
Views: 9986

Re: Ever been spotted?

Some 32 years of carrying, six with a CHL and nobody has ever said a word. Not even people who know I carry. I think most of them forget about it. Maybe because I never made a big production of it. For me and mine it would be like asking someone if they were wearing underwear.

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