When it comes to carrying a gun in locations that either frown upon or perhaps arbitrarily prohibit carry by law-abiding citizens, we’ve all heard the common refrain: concealed means concealed. Indeed. That works well.
But what happens in other venues that have trained security to watch for people who fit certain profiles in an effort to keep guns off the property? Or venues that employ metal detectors? There are strategies for both types of locations.
First, a few caveats. Let’s first toss out merchants who post their properties as gun-free zones. In many states, those signs don’t have the force of law behind them. It’s up to you how to know if that includes your state and how to handle those situations.
If you’re like me, you generally seek out competitors who don’t post their locations as “disarmed victim zones.” Locally, one chain of auto parts stores posts “no guns” signs. You don’t want my gun? No problem. Across the street is a competitor. Even if I have to wait an extra day for the part, it’s a win not to patronize the hoplophobic bigots who are skeered of good guys with guns.
Legal loopholes
For states where the these signs do have the force of law behind them, watch carefully. If they don’t satisfy the requirements of the law or regulations in terms of the positioning, size, layout, or location of the signs, they usually won’t have the force of law. In Illinois a few years ago, I humiliated a local church where someone had gotten a little carried away with the scissors and chopped off the bottom part of the Land of Lincoln’s official “no guns” sign before affixing it to the door.
It happened at a debate in front of some young people whose eyes had glazed over when we talked about all the rules and regulations behind carrying guns in public in our state. The kids didn’t care about those boring details, so I explained how those little things make a big difference in the real world.
“For example,” I said, “the sign on the door outside where I came in was non-compliant. As such, I’m carrying my concealed carry gun today. If anyone barges in here and tries to hurt any of you people or me, I have the most effective tool with which to fight back in a meaningful way. Bad people with evil in their hearts won’t find easy victims here.”
Suddenly bored students’ eyes became wider and alert. The reporter from the local dead tree publication almost fell out of her chair, she leaned so far forward, eyes even bigger than the kids’.
My admission scored headlines for three or four days in the local paper, along with local television news coverage, as the local media sensationalized my “bold” statement about carrying “illegally.” Here’s the story where the Illinois State Police conceded that what I’d said was correct and I was legally carrying.
From the Bloomington Pantagraph . . .
Ignoring a sign banning guns on private property in Illinois could lead to a misdemeanor charge, but the signs must comply with state guidelines for the ban to be enforceable.
State police responded Tuesday to an admission from the executive director of Guns Save Life that he brought a handgun into the former Bloomington Junior High School on Sunday where he was meeting with students of the McLean County Diversity Project.
Note the key word: the former Bloomington Junior High School.
John Boch told the group he believes he can ignore gun-ban signs if he believes the posting fails to comply with state police guidelines related to the concealed-carry law. Boch said later that the lack of a black line along the bottom of the the sign makes it non-compliant, even though there is a border around the other three sides.
Not exactly. I stated pretty clearly and assertively that if the sign isn’t compliant, it lacks enforceability.
State police said deviations from the sign approved by the agency are not allowed and could be considered unenforceable.
When asked if one part of a border could make a sign noncompliant, Sgt. Clare Pfotenhauer said, “It could be perceived that way.”
Jeff Schwartz, director of the Diversity Project, said he told Boch ahead of the meeting that the building was posted as a no-gun zone. Schwartz, who works in the building but does not own it, said Boch “was perfectly within his right, given the signs are not compliant.”
In other words, watch for defects in the time, place, and manner of announcing “no guns.” These can provide loopholes to avoid legal sanctions if you’re detected and police become involved. Of course, concealed means concealed for most of us. No one would have ever known if I hadn’t announced that I was carrying that day.
Another example: Shopping malls are usually posted on the common entrance doors, but the anchor stores are rarely posted…so enter through the anchor stores. Even if they have firearm-sniffing dogs (as some now do in higher crime areas) that catch a whiff of your Hoppes No. 9, tough noogies. “Do I have a gun? What? No guns? What are you talking about? There was no sign where I came in.”
Not standing out/keeping a low profile
In other situations you have to weigh the pros and cons of entering a facility that is property posted under the laws of your state. Some states have very punitive penalties for carrying unlawfully in “prohibited” locations. Others, like Missouri, have tons of prohibited locations, but will only tag you for a fine for trespassing if you refuse to leave. (That may have since been relaxed with constitutional carry.)
By the way, if you’re carrying in a venue where your gun is not welcome and are confronted about it, don’t argue. Don’t admit to anything. Just leave…immediately.
If you run into metal detectors at entrances, that’s a good time to receive an important phone call and duck out to take it. Other cutting edge venues will have those Evolv detection systems. Those systems cost big bucks and are increasingly showing up at college venues, public schools, and hospital ERs. Oftentimes you can bypass them by entering through non-scanned entrances, particularly to gain entry into hospital ER / ED waiting rooms. And given those who frequent ERs, the waiting rooms there are a good place to find yourself in the middle of a melee when gang violence “victims” arrive for treatment.
While places like hospitals might be low-risk locations inside (aside from ER waiting rooms), the neighborhoods outside may be sketchy at best. Hospital parking structures have quite a reputation as being criminal-friendly with suboptimal lighting and lots of corners for creeps to loiter waiting for potential victims. Criminals know that many medical professionals have nice jewelry, expensive phones and probably some cash in their wallets. Ditto for visitors.
The same applies at smaller sporting venues. You’re almost certainly not going to encounter an armed robber at a minor league hockey game, but going to or from the game? That’s another story altogether.
When you carry, do what you can to avoid standing out, especially in locations that employ trained security to watch for potential gun carriers. If you’re on Beale Street and looking for a place to eat, don’t wear 5.11 “tactical” pants, black boots and sport a blade clipped to one front pocket and a flashlight clipped to the other.
You might even want to avoid nylon tactical belts and instead get 5.11’s leather belt or something similar to it. Definitely don’t rock your GLOCK t-shirt, jacket, or hat. If you like baseball hats, buy a well-worn “Zebco” hat from the thrift store. Or maybe a Bud Light cap (well, maybe not) or one for your favorite sports team. In short, use some common sense in what you wear.
Dial back the head on a swivel thing a little bit, too. Try to look a little less like a sheepdog and a little more like a regular person. In other words, play the sheeple.
And for the love of all that’s holy, don’t carry in an outside-the waistband holster with a snug-fitting shirt. Carry a smaller-framed gun in an inside-the-waistband rig, perhaps even with fewer reloads. My wife once told me my reloads print more than my gun. Ladies, you might consider a discrete CCW purse.
Also, make darn sure you’re comfortable and confident enough with your carry gear that you’re not constantly touching or patting it, worried that someone’s going to see it. A trained person will see that “reassuring touching” and know something is under your shirt.
More on “Do your clothes, belt & shoes scream, ‘I’ve got a gun?'”
I’ve switched from tactical 5.11s entirely because they scream “I’ve got a gun.” For low-profile casual wear when I may duck into less-permissive environments, I like LA Police Gear’s jeans. They fit in very nicely, have a contemporary cut and they have a couple of extra pockets and some extra space around the waist for your carry piece and low-profile inside-the-waistband mag pouches if that’s how you roll. For me they don’t offer a place for my backup piece, but life is all about compromises.
For everyday, I bought a whole new ensemble of pants after losing 45 pounds and six inches around my waist. I opted for LA Police Gear’s “Atlas” tactical pants that are lower-profile than the 5.11 classic pants and a fraction of the price. I like them, but while they don’t scream “GUN” like the 5.11s do, they’re still “cargo” pants to the trained eye.
With a nylon tactical belt, boots and a knife and flashlight clipped to your pocket, they still make it pretty clear to anyone with half a clue that you’re packing more than just your wallet. So conceal the belt, ditch the tactical boots and wear hiking boots instead. Unclip your toys and look like any Joe Blow. Knives clipped to pockets correlate to more alpha males and females who may have a gun. That goes double for a flashlight.
Other ways to “fool” people include wearing a t-shirt with some writing on it. Entice people’s eyes to read your shirt rather than trying to discern what’s on your belt line. Brighter-colored t-shirts work really well. Anything to distract the eye. Even wearing a graphic t-shirt under a pullover where you can maybe see part of the writing or design, but not much. Again, make people try to figure out what your t-shirt under your main shirt says instead of looking for unnatural bulges. Ladies have it fairly easy here. They can pull off the distracting the eyes to other regions of the upper body far more easily than guys can.
Beating metal detectors
Metal detectors require motivated and trained people operating them to work. Government facilities usually employ trained people and are very difficult to beat.
Private venues, or city or county facilities with ad-hoc “security” for the occasional event? That’s another story altogether.
Minimum-wage people using hand-held security wands for those who can’t get through the detector without setting it off oftentimes don’t really care. Especially if they’re rushed and it’s chaotic with people everywhere. Doubly so if they’re inexperienced. If you’re not required to ditch your belt, you can oftentimes secret a very small, deep concealment piece behind the belt buckle. When Mr. Detector goes beep at the belt buckle, lift your shirt and show the operator what they expect to see.
Be prepared to walk out of busy venues before you get to the magnetometers if you notice security folks are on their game.
Ladies can sometimes put a blade or small pistol inside their bra and blame underwires for “hits.” No sane non-government security person is going to touch someone’s privates. They might ask you to leave, but that’s fine.
In my travels, I’ve even been to a few places where the metal detectors are strictly for show. A certain riverboat dinner and performance cruise in the Show-Me state had such a deal. “Hold your phone and keys over your head,” they said as they paraded people through in a conga line, one after another. My LCP Max rode behind my belt buckle while I carried most of my metal, including my big-assed folding knife, in my hands. Given that virtually everyone set off the machines nobody even gave me a second look.
Yeah, I left the knife unclipped once past the magnetometers.
Baby strollers and wheelchairs also have lots of places to slip defensive tools past haphazard security checkpoints. A friend of mine who worked high in state government in Illinois years ago alongside Lisa Madigan. He carried a gun to work in a fanny pack strapped on his wheelchair and never had anyone give him (or it) a second look. And for the record his office was behind a wall of detectors.
Once past the metal detectors/security checkpoint, you can move your gun to a more comfortable location on the body in a restroom stall.
And again, it’s not like you’re going to need a piece inside the venue, but the parking lots outside can provide lots of opportunities for criminal mischief.
A few years ago, my wife’s best friend asked me to walk her naive 17-year-old daughter to her car after her big musical play performance in Bloomington. Mom knew the surrounding neighborhood could be sketchy there later at night. I got the teen to her car a couple of blocks away and noticed she immediately got on her phone. Gotta check those socials, you know.
I opened her passenger door, startling her, and told her to lock her doors as soon as she gets into the car and to drive somewhere else before checking her phone next time. She sighed and thought I was just being paranoid.
The next day mom called thanking me profusely as two other cast members were robbed in the adjacent parking lot at about the same time. I don’t know if the teenager learned her lesson about locking her doors and maintaining situational awareness (probably not), but she got home safely that night.
Concealed means concealed…and be polite
Generally speaking, if you conceal well you’re never going to run into quizzes about what you carry. I had one of those experiences at a place a couple of summers ago where a pair of squared away uniformed security approached me as I emerged from a restroom before rejoining the family to go into the facility. (I won’t name the facility publicly because they have good cause to be worried about Islamic terror attacks and their security was pretty squared away.) These guys could have passed for law enforcement sporting crisp uniforms and good gear including GLOCKs. “Sir, do you have any weapons on you?”
I sheepishly pulled my baby Gerber folding knife out of my pocket. It’s about two inches from stem to stern. “I have a little knife…”
“Just keep it in your pocket and we’ll be good,” the head guy said.
“Thanks. Appreciate you guys doing your jobs. Be safe.”
I’m guessing my clean-cut appearance and pleasant demeanor certainly went a long ways to assuaging their concerns. At the same time, it had never happened before. But I was wearing 5.11s and black boots. I only had myself to blame for fitting the gun toting profile. Thankfully they didn’t pursue the matter to find my Glock and spare mags on my waist. Again, the clean-cut appearance and submissive demeanor no doubt tilted the scales in my favor.
And while I was reasonably certain I wasn’t violating that state’s carry laws in terms of prohibited locations, they could have bounced me if I’d been discovered. That would have been a bummer for the wife and kiddos.
Jb, you know darn well the Israeli fellows didn’t hassle you because you didn’t fit the profile. The only reason that the state of Israel still exists is because they profile. The United States doesn’t and that’s why you had the things happen here like happened the other day with a man with Molotov cocktails shouting Aloha snAkbar and free Gaza. And wouldn’t you know it his name was Mohammed. I’m with ann barnhardt on this:
https://www.barnhardt.biz/?s=Islam+must+be+destroyed
ɪ Qᴜɪᴛ ᴍʏ ᴏꜰꜰɪᴄᴇ ᴊᴏʙ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ꜰʀᴇᴇᴅᴏᴍ ᴏɴʟɪɴᴇ: ʜᴇʀᴇ’ꜱ ᴍʏ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏꜰꜰɪᴄᴇ ᴇɴᴠɪʀᴏɴᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴅʀᴀɪɴɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ᴇᴍᴏᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟʟʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘʜʏꜱɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ, ꜱᴏ ɪ ᴅᴇᴄɪᴅᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴀ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ. ɴᴏᴡ, ɪ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ᴏɴʟɪɴᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇᴀʀɴ 219 ʙᴜᴄᴋꜱ ᴘᴇʀ ʜᴏᴜʀ ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇ. ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱɴ’ᴛ ᴀɴ ᴇᴀꜱʏ ᴊᴏᴜʀɴᴇʏ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴛᴡᴏ ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ, ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ᴘʀᴏᴜᴅʟʏ ꜱᴀʏ ᴍʏ ʟɪꜰᴇ ʜᴀꜱ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ!
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