Hide ‘N Seek
Winter Months Are Perfect For CCW
Dave isn’t auditioning for a part in ‘Yellowstone,’ he’s just outfitted for a
day of chores in the Pacific Northwest, while covering up a carefully concealed .45-caliber pistol.
Winter months in the Pacific Northwest, upper Midwest and in the far Northeast are for concealed carry, and for that purpose, most people I know have more than one holster and preferred mode of carry.
I have two basic rigs for packing any of my .45-caliber pistols, whether my compact Kimber, a Colt Commander or my custom-built “Street Deuce” full-size pistol, and they all disappear quite nicely under a down vest, denim jacket or parka.
I learned recently from the Washington State Department of Licensing that more than 694,900 of my fellow Evergreen State residents are licensed to carry. Whether the anti-gun politicians who seem to get re-elected around here like that or not they’re, stuck with it.
Under his jacket, Dave is hiding an emergency survival tool, in this case
a Model 1911 custom job built by the late Richard Niemer at Schuetzen
Pistol Works more than 25 years ago.
By the end of this year, if the numbers continue climbing as they have, more than 700,000 active Washington CPLs will be in circulation. We’ll see if this translates to a decline in crime, or maybe a decline in the number of people willing to commit crimes for fear of getting plugged by their intended victim.
It will definitely mean the smallest western continental state with the second highest population will be rather well armed. For a politically “blue” state, this is a stunner.
At this writing, the state had issued more than 55,000 new licenses since January. Figure in the rising violent crime, including homicides, in major cities and this is a reason people all over the country are arming up; somewhere in the neighborhood of 22 million nationwide — not including the number of people in 25 states with permitless carry who are now packing without the need of a permit or license.
That’s an impressive number of armed private citizens. They evidently were tired of “defund the police” efforts around the country, so they’ve done something besides vote last month. Their ranks are expanding, in Washington and across the country.
My Personal Rigs
When I’m packing one of my semi-autos, it’s either in a rough-out IWB holster or in a simple belt slide rig I originally put together about 10 years ago.
The latter is a basic setup with an open bottom, so it accommodates any 1911-type handgun or a Browning Hi-Power. I knocked one together for a retired actor friend of mine who subsequently told me it was the fastest holster he’d ever owned.
Last summer Dave was out in the mountains, where his little belt slide
rig kept a Lightweight Commander close at hand. At the time, he was in an
area where black bears were causing problems with campers.
Sadly, I lost the original a couple of months back, or rather, I should say it “vanished” from somewhere in the bedroom. So, I simply grabbed a couple of pieces of scrap leather and knocked together another one.
Unlike the Yaqui Slide, this semi-pancake rig holds the gun flat against my side, front and rear. My sidearm just vanishes under a cover garment.
For concealed carry, I learned years ago simple is better. The “minimalist” approach works and I’ve always got a pistol in the event it’s needed. Otherwise, it’s just there — out of sight, out of mind.
Concealed Means Concealed
If you’re packing in the winter, it’s fairly easy to hide a sidearm. Over most of the country, except for the Deep South and Southwest, cover up with a jacket or vest and most people will be oblivious to the presence of your gun.
Nobody in your immediate surroundings should know you’re armed. Don’t flash it, be careful about telltale “printing” and don’t carry in such a way that your gun might be revealed if your cover garment is blown open. Put something in your outer pocket to prevent this.
There were times in the past I was carrying an N-frame Smith & Wesson Model 57 in an old Safariland shoulder holster under a winter parka in a shopping mall during the Christmas season. I wouldn’t try that in the summer months.
Kimber’s Compact is a nifty little sidearm, which literally disappears
under a light jacket or vest. Size matters in a social setting.
If I’m heading into a social setting, I can plan ahead by carrying my compact Kimber with its shorter butt and slide. That little pistol is remarkably accurate, even with 230-grain FMJs, so I’m never under-gunned.
For the next few months, concealed carry will be easy. Cover garments are the norm. Find a good holster to fit your gun, carry with confidence and do it discreetly.
Slam Dunk
A couple of weeks ago, this column mentioned a court challenge to the new concealed carry law in New York State.
Two judges — Glenn T. Suddaby, a George W. Bush nominee to the Northern District of New York, and John L. Sinatra, Jr., a Donald Trump nominee to the Western District of New York — handed down rulings amounting to a smackdown.
Suddaby’s ruling declared major tenets of the law to be unconstitutional. Sinatra granted a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the section of law banning guns in places of worship by declaring them “sensitive places.”
These cases are not over, of course, but the decisions so far give a pretty strong indication how the post-Bruen court proceedings will unfold. The Supreme Court is watching, and so is every gun rights group in the country.
Over the past 14 years, we’ve seen three major high court rulings all reinforcing the proper interpretation of the Second Amendment, that it protects (rather than grants) an individual fundamental right to keep and bear arms notwithstanding service in a militia.
The Bottom Line
There’s a burglary suspect in Franklin, Ohio who is walking around painfully, and sitting very gently on the softest chair he can find, because his attempted caper early last month ended with a bullet wound in his bottom.
According to WXIX and Fox News, the 36-year-old suspect was breaking into a private residence in Warren County when it became painfully obvious he picked the wrong victim. The unidentified homeowner quickly figured out he wasn’t expecting company at 3 a.m. on Nov. 2, grabbed a gun and bonked this bad guy in the butt.
So, instead of getting away with some loot, he took a slug to the posterior. Published reports say the homeowner was not in trouble, but the suspect sure is. He’ll be able to limp into court, facing a burglary charge.
The Bottomless Line
We didn’t make this up, because Joe Biden is far better at making up stuff than the Insider ever could hope to be.
That appears to be the determination of Washington Post Fact Checker Glenn Kessler, who recently awarded the president with the dubious distinction of receiving a “Bottomless Pinocchio” for repeatedly telling fibs.
At the WaPo, a Pinocchio is so-named in recognition of the little wooden puppet whose nose grew when he told a lie. Kessler hands out anywhere from one to four Pinocchios, depending upon the degree of the fib. But Biden is such an accomplished tall teller that he earned a limitless supply of Pinocchios, and it’s not something to celebrate.
Joe’s canards cover everything from the price of gas to the perpetual myth that Republicans are somehow going to destroy Social Security.
But when it comes to whoppers, his repeated claims about the Second Amendment and gun control at the time the Constitution was written got him into trouble with Kessler more than a year ago. Biden persisted in telling anyone who would listen there were limits on the kinds of guns people could own, and on the people who could own them.
Kessler did his diligence and stuck Biden with four Pinocchios at the time. Now, he’s got an endless supply.
