The Ten Commandments of Concealed Carry

[opsspec1991]

The Ten Commandments of Concealed Carry were first written by Massad Ayoob. Carrying a gun is a serious commitment both to yourself and concealed carry pistol in purseothers. The Ten Commandments give you good rules of thumb to think about as you get ready to purchase a conceal carry weapon or even if you have been carrying for awhile.

The Commandments are:

1. If You Carry, Always Carry - You never know when something might happen. It could as easily be in your local supermarket parking lot instead of late at night in an urban area. Make sure you establish practices so that you always pick up the gun on the way out.

2. Don’t Carry If You Aren’t Prepared To Use It – Deadly force means deadly force. Don’t think you are going to be able to threaten someone out of a situation. If you pull it, be prepared to use it.

3. Don’t Let The Gun Make You Reckless – There is always someone badder, tougher, and smarter. Use situational awareness to avoid a situation.

4. Get The License! – I know, I know the 2nd Amendment gives you the right. At the same time, do you want the hassle and legal expense to fight this. If you are convicted and become a felon, your life has changed dramatically.

5. Know What You’re Doing – You need to understand your weapon(s) – what are the capabilities are and limitations. Understand and follow the Four Rules of Gun Safety.





6. Concealed Means Concealed – When you flaunt the weapon you have just given the bad guy the edge. By letting others know you conceal carry you give them power over you and they may lead you into situations you should not be in. This means friends and co-workers too.

7. Maximize Your Firearms Familiarity – Practice, practice, practice. Dry fire, live fire, flat range, simulations. You can never be smooth or fast enough. Think ahead about what could happen, plan out what you will do and practice for these situations.

8. Understand The Fine Points – Know the laws of your city, county, state. Know what to do at a traffic stop, know what to say when someone accidentally sees your piece.

9. Carry An Adequate Firearm – Carry a gun you can handle. A single shot derringer is not going to do you much good. On the other hand, a Desert Eagle in the hands of a 110 pound woman without adequate training is a danger to her and others around her.

10. Use Common Sense – Always look to deescalate the situation and for situation avoidance. Be deadly serious.

Video:

 

[Rhino]

know what to say when someone accidentally sees your piece.

Piece of what?

 

[Peggy Reist]

I go a step further on number 1. I put it on when I get dressed in the morning. In the case of a home invasion, you don't want to be scrambling for your gun. Or when I'm outside, I don't want someone getting between me and the house.

 

[wolf_fire]

I agree with Peggy, and I'm trying to figure out his rule #6. Apparently open carry is not smart to Mas. Hmmmm, all those cops doing it wrong.

 

[telpinaro]

Same thing here... agree with both Peggy and wolf_fire. What is #6 about?

I'm going out on a limb and assuming open carry is a completely different issue. I suppose if I'm carrying concealed I'm doing so because I don't want people to know about it (not that I actually care whether friends/family know or not)... but the only "power" I'm coming up with is a scenario someone else used as an example (albeit for a reason why he didn't open carry): if I'm in a store that's getting robbed and a friend I'm with knows I CC, they may decide I need to do something to stop the robbery even though I've determined it's only about money and I'm not going to interfere, and I suppose that could lead to trouble. That's pretty much all I've got. Can't really see any of my friends dragging me around so I can be a vigilante on their behalf. Not sure what other situations he could be referring to...

 

[NavyLCDR]

Same thing here... agree with both Peggy and wolf_fire. What is #6 about?

Massad Ayoob is just trying to rationalize a prejudice against open carry that has no basis in reality and people like opsspec1991 will just blindly follow along and assume it applies to everyone, everywhere. When you have no factual basis for such an opinion, some of the rationalizations are bound to make no sense at all. For such a proponent of the "element of surprise" and not drawing attention to oneself, opsspec1991 sure seems to have a need to gain attention by repeating other person's postings as his own thread openers.

 

[kelcarry]

It is easy for those who seem to spend 24/7 worrying about everything and anything. We all have our priorities over our life and the way we live it. Whether those 24/7 ers believe it or not, there is another world out there where people smell the roses and live a fruitful, full and safe life---statistics do not lie--the odds of a "problem" are slight and if you follow situational awareness, the odds of a problem drop to almost zero. I do not know about any others but I am 72, and have never, ever,ever, ever even had to think about a firearm. Then again I have been blessed with an above middle class life in areas that have nurtured me and given me success, retirement at 59 and always been safe. That does not mean that tomorrow I meet that "big what if". Personally, I have a CCWP, I CC when SA says I should, and I live my life without a hint of worrying about what is around the corner. Wrong? Right? Reckless ? Responsible? That is my decision and it has served me well for many years. G-d Bless to all of you. I can only wish that all of you live safe and live a long life and only write on forums and have firearms that only are used for the friendship and support that range practice with friends provides us.

 

[leadsender]

Open carry for a police or Law Enforcement officer should be expected. It sort of goes with the uniform. Open carry for an officer that is under cover or a detective does not make much since. If you want to OC do your thing. If you don't want to OC don't. I read those rules and still follow them to this day.

 

[apvbguy]

Mas is a smart guy about many things, he is an AHOLE about many things, take his advice fwiw

 

[wolf_fire]

Open carry for a police or Law Enforcement officer should be expected. It sort of goes with the uniform. Open carry for an officer that is under cover or a detective does not make much since. If you want to OC do your thing. If you don't want to OC don't. I read those rules and still follow them to this day.

Yes, but according to the all-knowing Mas... this gives the bad guy an edge. Why would do that to our police officers, but the rest of the public should hide their firearms in shame?

I will now stop being sarcastic. The deal is, the BG has the edge anyway, because he knows whether or not he will commit a crime before any of us do. However, open carry can be a deterrent to the would be criminal so he decides not to do his crime when you are around.

 

[Firefighterchen]

#4 the most unpatriotic reason

Sent from my HTCONE using USA Carry mobile app

 

[Johnny Dollar]

I agree with Peggy, and I'm trying to figure out his rule #6. Apparently open carry is not smart to Mas. Hmmmm, all those cops doing it wrong.

He didn't say anything about open carry he is specifically discussing concealed carry. I think his point is that is you look like you're trying to hide your gun and doing a piss poor job of it that would raise more concern than if you were open carrying.

 

[Johnny Dollar]

It’s interesting to me that the main people that ***** about people “trolling the open carry forum” are the same people that are over here making a discussion about how to concealed carry a gun out to be some kind of anti open carry screed.

It’s also interesting to me that some of the same people (Yes NavyLCDR I am calling you out) who ***** about the anti open carry troll would show up on THR and jump in on a thread about possibly brandishing a firearm and start bashing concealed carriers and “the vaunted element of surprise” why does the word hypocrite seem to be bouncing around inside my skull?

 

[apvbguy]

I call open the season on trolls, no bag limits, no stamps or licenses required

 

[Johnny Dollar]

I call open the season on trolls, no bag limits, no stamps or licenses required

And when you open your own forum you can do that

 

[apvbguy]

And when you open your own forum you can do that

I just did, and it is always open season for libturds

 

[Rhino]

He didn't say anything about open carry he is specifically discussing concealed carry. I think his point is that is you look like you're trying to hide your gun and doing a piss poor job of it that would raise more concern than if you were open carrying.

You're right on the first part, but wrong on the second. What he meant is don't be a show-off. It might help if everyone actually goes to see what Mas originally said instead of just assuming his intent.

10 Commandments of Concealed Carry | Tactical Life

He doesn't take a very firm stand against open carry. He thinks it's probably a bad idea, but not for the reasons people have assumed here. He makes no mention of giving the 'bad guy' a tactical advantage of any sort, as some have claimed here. He thinks open carry is not a good idea because it tends to hurt our cause among people that we're trying to win over to our side on the gun rights issue. He also thinks it needlessly puts you on the defensive side if someone calls you in as a 'man with a gun'. Some would of course argue that expressing the right overrides the concern of those in the public who might overreact in such a way. No matter which side of that argument you fall on, it's been brought up enough times here that there is absolutely no doubt that the point is indeed debatable. So even though some here may disagree with Mas on that point, he's hardly taking a stand that is extreme or radical in any way, nor is it unusual even amongst those who carry guns. You may not agree with his opinion, but he is entitled to it, and you should respect it just as you would the opinion of anyone here who states a similar, rational opinion, even if you don't agree with it. At least he isn't being arrogant, condescending or insulting about it, like some we've seen here before.

 

[NavyLCDR]

He doesn't take a very firm stand against open carry. He thinks it's probably a bad idea, but not for the reasons people have assumed here. He makes no mention of giving the 'bad guy' a tactical advantage of any sort, as some have claimed here. He thinks open carry is not a good idea because it tends to hurt our cause among people that we're trying to win over to our side on the gun rights issue. He also thinks it needlessly puts you on the defensive side if someone calls you in as a 'man with a gun'. Some would of course argue that expressing the right overrides the concern of those in the public who might overreact in such a way. No matter which side of that argument you fall on, it's been brought up enough times here that there is absolutely no doubt that the point is indeed debatable. So even though some here may disagree with Mas on that point, he's hardly taking a stand that is extreme or radical in any way, nor is it unusual even amongst those who carry guns. You may not agree with his opinion, but he is entitled to it, and you should respect it just as you would the opinion of anyone here who states a similar, rational opinion, even if you don't agree with it. At least he isn't being arrogant, condescending or insulting about it, like some we've seen here before.

I don't agree with his opinion due to the fact that the reality that happens for me when I open carry daily is that the vast majority of comments/encounters with the public about my gun are positive. The vast majority and most vehement negative responses come from Ayoob's concealed only followers who claim to be "pro-gun"

 

[r1derbike]

Piece of what?

Rhino, you did it again! This time with sticky sherbet stuck to the screen. Stop it! I wanted to eat that Sherbet!

BTW, nice hat in the video...got to do some brim work on mine to be worthy.

 

[wolf_fire]

He didn't say anything about open carry he is specifically discussing concealed carry. I think his point is that is you look like you're trying to hide your gun and doing a piss poor job of it that would raise more concern than if you were open carrying.

Mas has been notoriously against open carry, which is why I brought up #6. Read the other part in #6: By letting others know you conceal carry you give them power over you and they may lead you into situations you should not be in. This means friends and co-workers too.

Therefore, he is saying do not discuss firearms in any way shape or form with anyone else. If you talk about firearms, your friends and co-workers may lead you into situations you should not be in. Really? So this entire forum should be shut down according to what Mas says. I'm sorry, the man is not the be all and end all of firearms.

If his point was what you interpreted it as, then he did an extremely piss poor job of conveying that idea, because that's not what he said at all.