I posted this in another thread but since it is being asked directly, feel that it might help some of you who are still searching for an answer; not sure if this is a good one, but it is another line of thought.
I carry much of the time. Sometimes concealed and other times discretely in an IWB holster at my 4 O’clock (I'm careful when bending down to pick something up). By discretely, I mean in the IWB with the grip forward, it doesn't stand out as it would in an OWB holster. The IWB offers enough modesty that with a shirt that is not firmly tucked into my waistband most people still don’t notice it. Many people tend not to notice something they aren't expecting to see. Call them 'condition white'.
I also try to be more aware of people around me so that someone will not sneak up on me and attempt to wrestle my gun from me. I tend to turn so that the piece is away from them. My holster is not a retention-type, since the IWB gives me the closeness I feel necessary.
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I’ve been asked about carrying my gun a few times by people who do not understand why more and more people are now carrying and have come up with a good thread to make the people understand what it is for. I IMMEDIATELY ask them if they have car insurance and they tell me that it is the law that they have to have it. I then ask them if they have insurance on their house. They tell me that it is a good idea to have that, too. So then I ask "ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO USING YOUR INSURANCE/FILING A CLAIM ?"
They think for a moment and tell me that they never want to have use it.
At that point, I tell them that THIS, pointing to my gun, is insurance and I, like you, hope to NEVER have to use it, either.
The light goes on and they begin to understand why I carry. I then explain that violence and terror DO NOT MAKE APPOINTMENTS and can show up/happen anywhere, anytime or anyplace and to ANYONE. I tell them that is what insurance is for – better to have it and never use it than to need it and not have it. YOUR insurance comes into play AFTER some type of incident happens. Mine can quite possibly prevent an incident FROM happening. Yours is REactive, mine is PROactive.
Sometimes I have been asked if I'm a LEO. I tell them "NO. I'm retired."
Both statements are true. I'm not a LEO. I'm also retired. It's all in how YOU interpret what I have just said. So far nobody has asked which department I retired from. If someone does ask, I'll tell them that I retired from the Department of Defense. That should satisfy them, if leaving them a bit confused.