Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of awesome tactical clothing and stuff great for showing off at the range. In everyday life, however, it’s better to blend in as a concealed carrier than to stand out. A concealed carrier is a hard target. He or she is armed, pays attention to his surroundings, and keeps a defensive mindset everywhere he goes. Let’s take it to the next step — learning to blend into the crowd.
When you see incidents where an armed robber comes into a convenience store or gas station and is neutralized by a concealed carrier, it’s usually because the armed robber didn’t immediately identify that person as a concealed carrier. After all, why would a man intending to live another day discount someone he can obviously tell has a handgun?
Dressing like the crowd is pretty easy. You don’t have to upgrade your wardrobe. It’s as simple as not wearing clothing that identifies you as a likely concealed carrier.
Pretend you’re the bad guy for a moment. For whatever reason, you’re heading into the local convenience store to rob the clerk. You know he may be armed but other than that, you don’t think much about the customers. If you look mean enough, everyone will do what you say.
You head into the gas station store and you see the clerk, a sheepish-looking 18-year-old with pimples on his face and then there’s a guy with an NRA hat and a jacket with a Glock logo. Who do you think you’re instantly more concerned with in that scenario?
And now there’s real life to consider. In a mall in Texas, recently, two armed robbers attempted to hold up a jewelry store. A Good Samaritan attempted to intervene and he was shot. A concealed carrier, who up until that moment evaded their attention, was able to draw his gun and shoot one of the robbers. The first Good Samaritan was killed. The concealed carrier was very seriously injured, as was one of the robbers. The second robber raced through the store, indiscriminately firing upon individuals as he fled.
Blending in can buy critical moments for you to act. It could be something as harrowing as attempting to neutralize two armed robbers or, more pragmatically, seeking cover for you and your family.
Remember: a concealed carrier’s main job is his own protection and that of his family.
In these hard situations, it pays to not stick out in the crowd. Wearing tactical clothing, sporting gun logos, these are all quick ways to come to the superficial judgement that you’re a potential threat to bad guys. Maintaining situational awareness of your surroundings is important but it cannot account for everything. It’s in those unfortunate circumstances that it pays to be concealed in the crowd.
Not every concealed carrier will ascribe to this philosophy. That’s perfectly fine. However, for those who aren’t interested in being the hero and are simply interested in protecting themselves, this may be a helpful consideration.
