Possibly exposed at Academy

[sjfcontrol]

Act like you are doing what you are supposed to be doing. If you act nervous, people react. If they react, they call the authorities. If you act nervous in front of the authorities...you end up being an Ex-Costco customer.

Fixed it for ya.

[PeteCamp]

Either he didn't see exactly what it was, or he didn't really care.

Feeling somewhat evil today, and seeing that no one else posted it, I will. Being one of the highly trained Academy employees, he might not have really known what it was.

[Fangs]

This thread reminds me of the story someone posted here before about the gentleman whose jacket blew open as he was walking into a store, revealing his handgun. In response to a lady's shocked gasp he replied something along the lines of, "This is Texas, ma'am. Get over it."

[Dave2]

Act like you are doing what you are supposed to be doing. If you act nervous, people react. If they react, they call the authorities. If you act nervous in front of the authorities...you end up being a Costco customer.

Exactly!

This applies to more situations than this too. Although it did not work, my step-dad & I tried to walk out on court at the Toyota Center to greet the players as they came in. We had floor seats, 2nd row, and there was no one in front of us. I told my step-dad, "lets go greet the players".

"Are we allowed?"

"Just act like you're supposed to be there & no one will question you."

Well, a security guard saw us! ;) She asked us to go back to our seats, no harm no foul, but I've done things like that before by simply ACTING like you're supposed to be there. It's called social engineering! ;)

That works pretty well when you're loading in band gear, too.

[MojoTexas]

Confidence is everything. Like everyone else has said, you have a right to be legally armed, and if you are confident, then other people pick up on it and don't worry.

Also, nobody in a store that sells guns is likely to freak out over someone having a concealed handgun. The liberal hand-wringing anti-gun types aren't the type of people that get jobs at Academy.

[VoiceofReason]

or he didn't really care

Considering theguns, hunting, fishing and general outdoors stuff available in Academy, plus this is Texas, I think the employee wasn't concerned or didn't see it.

I agree this is Texas and most people don’t really care unless you act suspicious.

I believe someone has seen my Kimber three or four times and no one has said a word about it or called law enforcement. I am trying to be more diligent about not allowing the wind to blow my vest open for the world to see the stainless 45 in my shoulder holster.

[rbrecount]

I've been in Academy many times, and carrying concealed, usually to buy ammo or fondle yet another gun. I think the 'greeter' is supposed to watch entrants for weapons. Only once did he do that, when I carried the whole gun case in to get the gun repaired.

I've noticed too that most people are intent on their own business and not paying attention to what I'm wearing or that I might be 'printing'. The cop in the mall is supposed to be doing that and one needs to check for proper concealment.

[Jumping Frog]

TBH though most people are totally blind to the whole idea of CHL. People just aren't looking for it. I'd love to as a hypothetical experiment strap a 1911 OWB and walk through the mall... my guess is 95% of people would not notice or if they did wouldn't really think about it.

In Ohio, where open carry is legal, I have often worn a 1911 or other full size service pistol in an IWB holster, shirt tucked in behind the gun, and grip exposed above the belt. I've carried that way in grocery stores, Walmart, Target, shopping malls, convenient stores, everywhere. In years of doing that, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times someone visibly noticed. 99.99% of people are clueless.

Carrying here in Texas, of course, I am more careful about keeping it concealed. But if my gun was accidentally exposed there is no way I would worry about it.

[glbedd53]

I carry a 3-1/2" 1911 OWB, for about a year and a half now and I've never had any indication anyone has seen anything. I usually carry it in a Bianchi 82 Carrylok so the lower part of the gun is covered by the holster but I wonder how the law applies if the holster got accidently exposed but not the gun itself. The holster is black and I doubt it would be noticed anyway.

[Katygunnut]

I carry a 3-1/2" 1911 OWB, for about a year and a half now and I've never had any indication anyone has seen anything. I usually carry it in a Bianchi 82 Carrylok so the lower part of the gun is covered by the holster but I wonder how the law applies if the holster got accidently exposed but not the gun itself. The holster is black and I doubt it would be noticed anyway.

I think you would be fine in Texas, because as I've learned since my OP in this thread, it is not illegal to unintentionally flash a gun.

To (what I think is) the point of your post, I'm not sure if there is a distinction between a holster that has a gun versus one that is empty when it comes to intentional failure to conceal. I would assume that I have no duty to conceal an empty holster. Not sure if that changes by virtue of the fact that the holster contains an (otherwise concealed) gun.

[johnson0317]

What is your source for "unintentional" flashing being OK? That is my belief also, and I think the state legislation on it agrees, but I was looking for some sort of case law that backs it up. Needless to say, almost all new concealed carry people worry way too much about flashing or printing, at least at first. My plastic should be in the mail in the next 30 to 45 days, and I have no doubt I will be doing the shirt tug all of the time to start with.

Does printing accidentally count as unintentional flashing?

RJ

[Teamless]

What is your source for "unintentional" flashing being OK?

I don't have the source handy, but to be against the law it has to be "Intentional Failure to Conceal"

Does printing accidentally count as unintentional flashing?

Printing is NOT illegal.
Would I knowing carry a weapon that printed badly enough that someone would know it was a gun, NO, but it is still not against the law to print

[MasterOfNone]

What is your source for "unintentional" flashing being OK?

I don't have the source handy, but to be against the law it has to be "Intentional Failure to Conceal"

The source is PC 46.035(a):

A license holder commits an offense if the license holder carries a handgun on or about the license holder's person under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, and intentionally fails to conceal the handgun.

Does printing accidentally count as unintentional flashing?

Printing is NOT illegal.
Would I knowing carry a weapon that printed badly enough that someone would know it was a gun, NO, but it is still not against the law to print

Though the term "printing" is not used in the statutes to determine failure to conceal, neither is "showing" or "making visible." Because the offense is "fails to conceal," we have to interpret it in terms of the definition provided of "concealed handgun":

"Concealed handgun" means a handgun, the presence of which is not openly discernible to the ordinary observation of a reasonable person.

If one is printing so badly that the gun is "openly discernible to the ordinary observation of a reasonable person," he has failed to conceal. If he has chosen to carry in a manner that prints so badly, he has intentionally failed to conceal.