Practical daily carry question

[dunndw]

Been wondering this for a while, and now that I've learned that the booze ban only applies to "on premise consumption" the question comes to mind again.

What do you do with your carry piece when....nature calls and you're in a public restroom. Now the stand-ups I don't see the problem.
What do you do with your carry piece when it's time to have a sit down about it and you're in Wally World?

[johnharris]

point it in a safe direction?

[dunndw]

I'm more wondering about someone coming in and seeing the weapon. It would be in full view with the large gap between the wall and floor.
Don't really want it wandering around on the floor anyway.

[johnharris]

True, I typically use a pocket holster and it stays there.

[SomeGuy]

One trick I have heard, is to place it in the webbing the pants make between your ankles.

It is out of site, and you won't make a cop mistake (leaving it in the stall and leaving). I should note, I have never tried that trick. I typically wear when carrying have large pockets on the chest area I can stick the gun in.

[Tim Nunan]

One trick I have heard, is to place it in the webbing the pants make between your ankles.

It is out of site, and you won't make a cop mistake (leaving it in the stall and leaving).

I use this technique and haven't had a problem. Keeps the firearm out of sight yet available.

[dunndw]

Might be a bit TMI...but now from personal exp. I can say that seems to be the best solution

[MCFooter]

I think it will depend on you carry method but with IWB I just leave it in position. Being careful to hang on to in while moving. I don’t want to be picking mine up from the floor or even worse washing it off.

[reef347]

One thing to take note of.. if you have a belt holster only, be careful when you are standing at the jon (or trying on clothes or.. whatever you are doing that requires undoing your belt). Hang on to the end of the belt because the heavy gun may weigh it down enough to pull the belt out of the first loop or two and then slide off the belt crashing onto the floor.

[molonlabetn]

I sit there and twirl it on my finger of course!

But seriously, I am so anal-retentive and paranoid that I rarely use public restrooms... When I have to though, the gun rests on my pants, between my feet. And I keep it covered as much as possible.

Who told you to ask? And why do they want to know?

molonlabetn

[David Lewis]

Been wondering this for a while, and now that I've learned that the booze ban only applies to "on premise consumption" the question comes to mind again.

What do you do with your carry piece when....nature calls and you're in a public restroom. Now the stand-ups I don't see the problem.
What do you do with your carry piece when it's time to have a sit down about it and you're in Wally World?

I know this is an old topic (I was deleting spam-bot posts that brought it to the top), but...

WalMart, Target, & many other stores have "family restrooms". They're single-user (well, there's room for kids, which is the reason they exist), and really are rooms, with a door, real privacy, & relatively secure. They're what I use whenever possible.

David

[S&W29]

I have a question about condition of readiness. Lets take the 1911 for example. I have always heard that it is very inadvisable to carry a 1911 under condition 2, i.e, a round in the chamber and the hammer down. Is this still an issue with semi-autos with a firing pin safety? Do any 1911 manufactures make 1911's with firing pin safeties ? Maybe Springfield Armory??

[Lemonhead]

I have a question about condition of readiness. Lets take the 1911 for example. I have always heard that it is very inadvisable to carry a 1911 under condition 2, i.e, a round in the chamber and the hammer down. Is this still an issue with semi-autos with a firing pin safety? Do any 1911 manufactures make 1911's with firing pin safeties ? Maybe Springfield Armory??

I have a Springfield 1911-A1 mil-spec. You can't engage the safety unless the hammer is cocked. Honestly I prefer my Glock or XDm with no manual safety.

[TacticaLogic]

The question of being able to safely carry "hammer-down" on a semi-automatic pistol depends upon what model of pistol you are carrying...

The original 1911, the 1911A1, and the Colt series 70 (and all clones) have a small (read as very fragile) notch on the hammer that will keep the hammer from resting on the firing pin - it holds it about 1/16th of an inch off of the firing pin. If you use that notch, it is safer than actually letting the hammer all the way down, but either way there could be a problem. With the hammer resting directly on the firing pin, any energy striking the hammer will be directly transferred to the firing pin. That was the reason for that small notch. The problem is that "fragile" notch will easily break if the pistol is dropped and lands on the hammer. The hammer could then stike the firing pin and, though unlikely, cause the weapon to discharge. I say "unlikely" because the hammer would not have as much inertial force as it would if the hammer were being released from the fully cocked position. The inertial force of the hammer moving quickly and striking the firing pin is what causes the weapon to discharge. Now... There is always a possibility of the pistol hitting "just right" on the hammer to cause the notch to break and the pistol to discharge - but like I said, it would have to land "just right."

Liability issues caused Colt to address the so called "problem" and the Series 80 models were introduced. This model incorporated a small lever that was activated by a pull of the trigger. This lever, in turn, pushed upward toward the slide, and pushed up on a firing pin block. When the firing pin block was pushed up by the lever, the firing pin was free to move forward (once struck by the hammer) and strike the primer of the cartridge in the chamber. I do have a Series 80 and found the mechanism to be a "pain" in that it just complicates stripping the pistol. In looking at the mechanism while removed from the pistol, I decided that I would no longer put up with the hassles of it. I simply did not "re-install" it when I reassembled the pistol. I installed all of the same parts that existed in the Series 70, and left out all Series 80 parts. What I found was that it was like performing a "trigger job" on the pistol. And it makes sense... Less moving parts equals less friction equals smoother trigger. I later worked the pistol over with different springs and a Videki adjustable trigger. It now has a trigger of which Col. Jeff Cooper would have been proud. As he described the perfect trigger, he stated that it "sounds like a glass rod breaking." I didn't understand that statement until I finished the trigger job on my 1911... Once I tried it though, I knew what he meant.

Outside of 1911 pistols, almost every other semi-automatic pistol on the market today is going to incorporate some "drop safety" of some sort. Beretta, S&W, Glock, Springfield XD Series, Sig, H&K, Taurus... They all do. One I can't specifically address is the BRNO made CZ75 and all of its clones. The CZ75 pistol is a great design from a reliability standpoint and has been copied by many, including the Sphinx which is marketed by Sabre Defence here in Tennessee: http://www.sabredefence.com/commercial.php?focus=sphinx These are some high priced Swiss made pistols, but I wouldn't complain about having to carry one!

Hope this helps!!
Mike