COVERT CARRY AND DRAW
August 8th, 2006 by Syd
By Gabe Suarez
We have little regard for tradition when it comes to winning a fight, or training to do so. Take the example of the handgun. We carry this little blaster with us because its small and esay to hide. Likewise it is much more convenient in many social circles than a Kalashnikov.
Take traditional concealed carry. Much of the common held thought involves a strong side holster with off-side ammo pouches, carried on a heavy leather belt (or Nylon Tactical) hidden under a photographer’s vest. Such attire, while technically legal (the gun IS covered), is hiding nothing. Understand that there is definitely a tactical reason to hide the gun far and above the legal requirement to do so. The legal requirements are tactically uninteresting, we want to know the combat reasons why itâ??s important.
Simply speaking, much of today’s popular CCW attire marks you as gun carrier, and an adversary seeking to dominate an environment that you occupy will simply shoot you first. Consider a bank or other high profile location. Bad guys come in and look around. There, standing in the midst of a bunch of Gucci wearing yuppies are you, bedecked in your Royal Robbins fighting suit, Wilderness Black Tactical Belt, NRA cap, and GSG9 boots. Who do you think will bear the brunt of their example making today? A surprise attack on your part is much better than a forced reaction to their attack, don’t you think?
Be low profile friends. Before you step out the house give yourself the once over in the mirror. Do you look like a regular guy on his way to run errands in town, or do you look like a keyboard commando fresh out of the pages of Special Weapons and Fantasies magazine?
Another issue is the draw. Much of the training involving the defensive application of the handgun has involved keeping it in the holster until the very last minute and then explosively drawing and shooting. That’s fine on a shooting range when attempting to pass a test or drilling school drills for proficiency, but is it the best idea when you find yourself in the middle of a terrorist takeover or robbery?
The human eye is drawn to quick movement, and while your lighting draw may get one or at best two, if there’s a third bad guy things will become difficult very quickly. Perhaps a better solution in some cases is the surreptitious draw. My studies indicate that many old-time gunfighters practiced subtle methods of getting the gun into the hand in a very low key and unobtrusive manner.
Fairbain, I understand actually spent time learning sleight of hand tricks to enable him to produce a pistol like a rabbit out of a hat. We may not need to go that far, but some time spent on deploying the gun s-l-o-w-l-y and hidden from the eyes of the enemy may pay off big dividends one day.
This can be done on the range by turning the body away from the target so the body mass hides the action of drawing. Similarly, anything carried in the hands can aid the hidden draw like a newspaper, a carried coat or other articles. Practice carefully and with an open mind.
Along those same lines, the ability to hide the gun with a coat or the hands, or anything else, may avoid “mistaken identity” shootings arising from inexperienced good guys responding to the shots and associating the gun visible in your hand with “Bad Guy”.