Tag Archives: self defense

Open Carry v. Doofus Carry

A video is circulating on the Interwebz now about an unfortunate situation in which a man’s gun was snatched from him in a gas station. He chased the thief and was subsequently shot with his own gun.

Although I am not a fan of Open Carry, let’s analyze the situation in a little more depth. The proximate cause of the snatch was that he simply stuck his gun in his back pocket unconcealed and then walked into a crowded environment where a bunch of lowlifes were coming and going.

As a result, a ne’er-do-well nonchalantly walked up behind him and simply grabbed the gun out of his pocket.

The carry technique the man was using is more correctly described as “Doofus Carry,” having two parts. There’s no back story to the incident but it wouldn’t be surprising to find that his usual carry technique is in the side door pocket of his car. If so, then when he pulled into the gas station and saw a bunch of lowlifes going in and out, he decided to stick his gun in his pocket when he went in. He probably didn’t stick it in the front of his waistband because he had a striker fired gun and was concerned about ‘shooting his junk off.’

Sticking a gun in a back pocket is not the same thing as having it in a proper holster attached to the belt.

Image courtesy of Galco Gunleather.

If my hypothesis is correct, it leads more credence to something the late Pat Rogers often said:

“Your car is not a holster.”

To reiterate, I’m not advocating Open Carry. But, if you’re going to carry a gun, at do it right. Have a decent holster and belt. Use it all the time when you leave home. If it’s uncomfortable and you don’t like wearing it, get a better holster or consider getting a more comfortable gun. “Your gun should be comforting not comfortable” is possibly the most ridiculous statement that’s ever been made about firearms.

The one good piece of advice in these retellings is that if your gun does get taken from you, Let it go. https://www.patreon.com/posts/let-it-go-107811846 The thief is now armed and you’re not. Chasing the felon means you’re going unarmed to a potential shooting. That’s a Serious Mistake. Don’t be foolish and assume the thief isn’t familiar and experienced with guns. As this incident shows, that’s the formula for a Negative Outcome.

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Off Body Carry Incident

Parks, a legal gun owner, said he took a handgun out of his glove box and got out of his car, keeping the gun at his side.

Self-defense: No charges after fatal shooting in Kroger parking lot that left school protection officer dead

https://www.wthitv.com/content/news/Officials-set-press-conference-to-provide-updates-on-road-rage-shooting-at-a-Vigo-County-Kroger-572099771.html

I’m not much in favor of keeping guns in glove boxes, door pockets, etc. but the idea that doing so will certainly lead to your demise is not true either. Many, many incidents have a build up to them, perhaps more than don’t.

Parks then shot Martin twice and called 911.

Note also that the defender fired two shots from his handgun and did not, in fact, need to fire two full magazines of ammunition to kill his attacker.

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