Recently, I had a long ride in the car and remembered that I carried my concealed carry handgun on the back of my love handle. This resulted in a dull throb in my lower back that’s been hounding me for the past day and a half. This lead me to want to list off the pains a lot of us concealed carriers put up with. In no particular order…
#1: Emergency bathroom pit-stop stalled by “gun free” signage
Where I live, private property owners and business owners absolutely have the right to restrict who is allowed to carry on their property. My favorite example of when this really bites me in the proverbial rear is when I have to make an emergency pit-stop. For my job, I have to travel quite a bit. We’ve all been there. Something doesn’t sit right or coffee was a particularly dark roast and it’s like this little red flashing light goes off. You have five minutes – max – to find a restroom. Go figure if that closest place just happens to have a “gun free” sign.
While it’s not my proudest moment, I’ve definitely blown past those signs on my way to hit the bathroom. As much as I’d like to oblige, I think the business owner would be far less pleased to see what happens if I wait another minute longer.
#2: Post-Holiday meal leaves less room for gun
Every Thanksgiving, my wife and I go to her mother’s house for the family meal. It doesn’t matter how good I’ve been in terms of diet or exercise, there’s no way I’m leaving that meal without needing to loosen a notch in my belt. The most uncomfortable part about that is my concealed carry pistol tends to already add an inch and a half to my waistline. During the ride home from Thanksgiving, it’s straight suffering to try to get home so I can get my gun out of my holster and in the safe.
#3: Three hour car ride with gun in holster turns into three hour “toss and turn” come bed time
I love it. Whenever I hear about concealed carriers lugging around near full-sized pistols, I just wonder how many of them drive around with them. For my job, I have to drive between locations of company buildings. The company I work for prefers if I don’t openly carry and that particular day, I was in a rush so didn’t get a chance to take my gun out and put it in the center console. I had to drive three hours to a certain location and figured I’d take my SIG SP2022 as a carry gun. Don’t get me wrong — I love carrying a compact! Fifteen rounds just feels right in terms of capacity. However, after driving three hours to the building and three hours back, my lower back was killing me! I wore a Crossbreed IWB and the Crossbreed IWB naturally fits me around 4-4:30. It was comfortable enough at the time that I thought nothing of it and I honestly prefer carrying my concealed pistol on my body versus in the center console so I figured I was moving in the right direction. My wife had to tell me to take two ibuprofen after she got sick of me shuffling around at two in the morning.
#4: Momentary panic caused by the right gun in the right holster
Most recently, this happened with an Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 3.0 holster and a SIG SAUER P238. It’s a very small gun in a very comfortable holster. I forgot I had my gun on! While shopping in Walmart, I had a moment of panic that maybe I forgot to put on my gun that morning. A quick pat served to remind me that no, indeed, I had not forgotten it and it was right where I put it last. I can’t even claim senility on that one. It was just a case of having a very comfortable holster and a slim, small micro-compact pistol.
#5: Someone hits your gun by accident
The best part about being a concealed carrier is no one has to know. If done right, I can conceal a pistol on me and go the entire day without anyone even noticing. It’s great! The bad side of that is that because no one knows, there’s awkward moments when someone finds out by either pressing in for a hug, jokingly jabbing at my gut, or even accidentally brushing past me.
It almost always results in that shocked look in their eyes before they usually move past it. I’ve never had someone press the issue but I know it’s just a matter of time. I’m undecided as to whether I’ll tell’em or simply switch subjects and try to move on.
If you think I missed one, feel free to put it in the comments below. And, as always, carry on!
