tattedupboy
Thank God I'm alive!
While I was at work earlier today (I am a security officer), one of the customers was a guy I know (I have tutored him at my other job) who owns his own security company. We immediately struck up a conversation and I then noticed his sidearm, which was not in a holster, but rather, just stuffed butt forward inside the waistband of his pants at approximately the 5 o'clock position.
I commented on it, saying that carrying that way with a round in the pipe is unsafe. He responded that he has never carried a handgun in a holster and that he has been carrying this way for 20 years and has never had a problem. He also told me that the weapon he was carrying, a Sig Sauer (he did not say which model it was), cost $1,500 and had a safety, so there was absolutely no chance of an unintentional discharge, according to him.
When I explained to him that safeties can and do fail and that carrying this way was dangerous due to the fact that there was nothing covering the trigger, he said that everyone has their preferences and that this was his. He also hinted that his twenty years of experience compared to my relative youth (I'm in my 20s) meant that I was in no position to tell him what is or is not safe or effective. He went on to say that holsters slow his draw, to which I responded that the purpose of a holster was to provide the desirable balance of speed of draw and safety, and that it takes practice, (which I have had plenty of with the Level III Serpa I just purchased for my Glock 22) for someone to be able to draw quickly from their duty holster.
He told me that if SHTF, he is prepared to kill if necessary, something I found to be rather curious, due to the fact that his sidearm was butt forward at the five o'clock position; think about it, how in the world is this a fast draw? The scenario he presented was that if someone came into my site shooting, my holstered handgun would put me at a disadvantage compared to his unholstered one. I responded that this would be the case whether the guard's handgun was holstered or not.
Lastly, I asked him if any of the security companies he had worked for in the past had a problem with him carrying his handguns this way, and he told me no. I could only think to myself, "Inf**kingcredible. How in the world does any security company worth its reputation allow its guards to walk around carrying their firearms this way?"
Overall, I can't quite say that this was a learning experience, but I can say that it is frightening that there are actually people out there, both security guards and ordinary people, who carry loaded guns unholstered either in their pockets or in the waistbands of their pants. It's a shame that I'm 20 years (give or take) this gentleman's junior, yet I know far more about proper security protocol and safely carrying guns than he does.
I commented on it, saying that carrying that way with a round in the pipe is unsafe. He responded that he has never carried a handgun in a holster and that he has been carrying this way for 20 years and has never had a problem. He also told me that the weapon he was carrying, a Sig Sauer (he did not say which model it was), cost $1,500 and had a safety, so there was absolutely no chance of an unintentional discharge, according to him.
When I explained to him that safeties can and do fail and that carrying this way was dangerous due to the fact that there was nothing covering the trigger, he said that everyone has their preferences and that this was his. He also hinted that his twenty years of experience compared to my relative youth (I'm in my 20s) meant that I was in no position to tell him what is or is not safe or effective. He went on to say that holsters slow his draw, to which I responded that the purpose of a holster was to provide the desirable balance of speed of draw and safety, and that it takes practice, (which I have had plenty of with the Level III Serpa I just purchased for my Glock 22) for someone to be able to draw quickly from their duty holster.
He told me that if SHTF, he is prepared to kill if necessary, something I found to be rather curious, due to the fact that his sidearm was butt forward at the five o'clock position; think about it, how in the world is this a fast draw? The scenario he presented was that if someone came into my site shooting, my holstered handgun would put me at a disadvantage compared to his unholstered one. I responded that this would be the case whether the guard's handgun was holstered or not.
Lastly, I asked him if any of the security companies he had worked for in the past had a problem with him carrying his handguns this way, and he told me no. I could only think to myself, "Inf**kingcredible. How in the world does any security company worth its reputation allow its guards to walk around carrying their firearms this way?"
Overall, I can't quite say that this was a learning experience, but I can say that it is frightening that there are actually people out there, both security guards and ordinary people, who carry loaded guns unholstered either in their pockets or in the waistbands of their pants. It's a shame that I'm 20 years (give or take) this gentleman's junior, yet I know far more about proper security protocol and safely carrying guns than he does.
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