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Charles, I will completely agree 100% that open carry in a shoulder holster, even with a "safe" gun and good holster appears dangerous and unsafe to the uninformed. I will even throw out there that as a *guideline* that those of us that carry guns should try to avoid scaring the uninformed sheep of the world. It is bad form and creates a negative attitude.
As a matter of courtesy and diplomacy, you are %100 correct. In fact, it is highly unlikely you will ever see me OCing because of this.

(As a side note, it would be interesting to see if people cared if the end of the holster was enclosed and you couldn't actually see the barrel)

My point in bringing up the discussion was to question whether this fear (like so many gun fears) has any basis in reality.

As to being behind somebody with a shoulder holster, it would depend. If it was Bubba and he looked like he was carry his home gun-smithed 1911* with the hair trigger and JustAboutToFail(tm) sear in an Uncle Mike foam rubber holster, I would certainly move. If it was a squared away looking guy with a Glock or some other modern handgun in a solid piece of leather or kydex, I really wouldn't care. Once again, if either of these guys was carrying concealed with a jacket, I wouldn't even know. I guess we'll see in January... I'll probably end up behind Bubba and not even notice his shoulder rig under his giant blubber covered arms. :)




*I'll readily admit I'm not cool enough to carry a cocked and locked 1911. I think they are awesome and admire the history, but I think that there are so many other options available now that carrying a SA 1911 with the hammer back is not really necessary. But more power to those of you that do. If so, I hope you have one that hasn't been tuned to the point of being unsafe.

TXBO wrote: "Do not distort firearms safety rules"? Putting caveats on rule number 2 is a distortion.

Either a gun in a holster is safe or it is not. If it is not, (assuming IWB/OWB) then why do you want to shoot your truck or car, sofa or anyplace else you might sit? Unless you are standing at attention all day long on grass or soft dirt so that there is no fear of ricochet and never on the second floor of a structure that might have somebody on the lower floor, you have violated rule 2. We know bullets go through drywall and plywood with no problem.

So either it applies to a gun in a holster and therefore you probably break it all the time or it does not.
Please make up our minds.

Are we truly discussing safety or perception and appearance of safety?

Charles L. Cotton wrote: I responded to your comment that no one was "swept" with a muzzle if the trigger was covered by the holster. This simply is not the case. When the muzzle points at a person, that person has been swept and that violates one of the cardinal gun safety rules.
Chas.

Well can disagree on this and Kathy disagrees with you too.

http://www.corneredcat.com/article/hols ... our-rules/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Charles L. Cotton wrote:

android wrote:

OlBill wrote:RULE 2

BTW, covering the trigger may not be the end of the story. For striker-fired weapons it is, but not for hammer-fired handguns. Those handguns need to be secured with a strap that is between the hammer and firing pin because a sear an fail. I know, I had it happen.
Chas.

Yes, I understand what is a "safe holster" for some guns may not be for others. I hope everyone here is responsible enough to use a safe holster for the type of gun they carry and that they carry modern firearms that have passed the FBI drop test. To do otherwise is very irresponsible when "safe" guns are readily available. Why would you carry a handgun that will fire when dropped?

Do you ever expect the firearm on your belt to accidentally discharge while holstered in a safe holster? If so, why would you carry it?

I don't have a dog in the fight and I don't own a shoulder holster, but the only time a shoulder or appendix holster become "more dangerous" than any other holster is when the gun is being drawn.

I will acknowledge you have a much higher chance of shooting the person behind you, or your leg if you aren't careful vs. grazing your leg or shooting your foot which we know happens with belt carry sometimes.

If you never know the person in front of you is wearing a shoulder holster because they're wearing a jacket do you feel unsafe or do you only feel unsafe when you can see the barrel? This seems to be more about "feelings" to me rather than whether you are really safe or not. That puts it into anti-gunner territory where facts are ignored.

OlBill wrote:RULE 2
NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY

I don't flag. I don't like being flagged.

A pistol in a holster that properly covers the trigger isn't sweeping or flagging or muzzle covering or whatever you want to call it.
It's an inert object with regards to safety and gun handling unless you put your paws on it.

No different than sitting with an appendix carry holster or tying my shoes with a gun on my side and passing my arm under the barrel.