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My Concealed Open Carry innovation

9K views 65 replies 22 participants last post by  Phil1979 
#1 ·
Given that legal open carry seems to look less and less likely by the day my mind has started wandering back to methods of concealed open carry.

My first stab at the topic was rather unwieldy. It involved modifying a nylon flap holster like this one:

Handgun holster Gun accessory


The idea was to add a bit of material here and there to cover up the open areas and ensure the gun was completely covered up. In theory it should not be necessary to completely cover the gun as tons of unlicensed people in Florida have been convicted for unlawful carry of a concealed firearm when part of the gun was visible. That should set precedent that if most of the gun is hidden and only a tiny part peeks out, it's still concealed. But the more covered the better.

The problems with that idea are many:

  1. It's a clunky and slow holser
  2. You probably already have tons of quality holsters and don't want to buy another one
  3. Lots of different models needed for different guns, and even then you still have a cruddy generic fit holster
  4. Transitioning to regular open carry is not feasible without switching holsters
  5. Probably lots more things

So about a week ago, while looking at one of my Safariland ALS holsters, an idea popped into my mind. Today I went to Walmart, found a suitable article to make the thing from, and just a little time with a sewing machine and I had a prototype.

Open Carry:
Handgun holster Gun accessory Airsoft gun Pocket Belt


Concealed Open Carry:
Handgun holster Gun accessory Belt Airsoft gun


Advantages:
  1. Inexpensive
  2. Portable (crumple it up and keep it in your pocket)
  3. Easy transition from open carry to concealed open carry
  4. Could theoretically fire the gun even if you drew the gun with the thing in place (untested)
  5. Allows use of existing custom holsters as long as they sufficiently cover the front and rear of the gun

Especially if the proposed change, from "brief display" being legal to "temporary display" being legal, were to go into effect, as long as you have the "COC sock" (pronounce it how you wish - lol) in your pocket it's easy to argue that you had the gun covered at one point, and it is temporarily uncovered right now, and can easily be covered again.

I dunno.

Thoughts?
 
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#2 ·
Also available with "reservoir tip." ;)
 
#6 ·
Good for tiny guns (I have one for my DB380) but not for real guns. And wouldn't solve any of my particular use cases where OC would be desirable.
 
#5 ·
Well, you have to admit, if this is legal (and it would seem that it would be) then it very vividly illustrates the stupidity of the law. But yes, stupid solutions for stupid laws.

I can think of one situation where I'd actually use this. Getting off from armed duty, in full uniform and duty belt. Don't want to transition to concealed (due to lack of appropriate gun, holster, and shirt to change into), but want to stop and do something on the way home that isn't one of the permitted things to do while "traveling armed". Slip the sock over the grip, voila, you're concealed. As a practical matter nobody bothers us when we're in uniform anyway, but this would make you completely legal.

I'm not suggesting it is a replacement for legal open carry - but it might fill in some gaps. Like I think Rvrctyrngr says when he's at work he carries openly and might need to do an errand or something and doesn't switch to concealed. Sock it and no worries.

I dunno - I'm just annoyed with the legislature and my brain is wandering.
 
#10 ·
Yes, I think a pull tab (or reservoir tip :)) would be a good idea. I think if it were made of reasonably stretchy material you might could even leave it there and draw and fire if you absolutely had to - though that would certainly be less than ideal.

It's not so much a practical thought as a pissed off response to the likelihood that Florida will yet again be left sharing the company of a handful off commie states (plus South Carolina) when it comes to the topic of open carry. I can see where I might use it here or there - but mostly in situations where nobody would give a damn about my gun anyway.

If a decent number of people actually started to rock out with their COC sock out it would be interesting to see what the public response would be. I'm sure anti-gun Sheriffs like Gualtieri (my opinion) could be counted on to oppress. Not sure what the overall response would be.
 
#17 ·
Good to hear someone is considering a commercial product. I think Glock might have an issue with the name though. I kinda like "COC Sock" myself - but my wife shakes her head in disapproval every time I say it. :)
 
#19 ·
I would hope open carry would pass one day even tho I would not practice it much. I want the advantage of surprise!!!!

I have 3 Sneaky Pete's and love to wear them when appropriate. However, there are some places that restrict guns and have a cop patrolling the lobby......not sure a Sneaky Pete would work out under those circumstances. But I have worn them in restaurants, churches, movie theaters, shopping trips without as much as a second glance from anyone.
 
#22 ·
Can we make the "COC Sock" out of tin foil?

I propose that all CCW holders set a date each year to openly carry, (er, I mean, COC-Carry) in the manner pictured above.
Doing so would call attention to just how preposterous the current prohibition against open carry really is.

To hedge our bets, I further propose that 5%-10% of COC-Socks be sterile. (i.e., no gun under the hood).
That should make things a bit more interesting?
 
#29 ·
And here I was contemplating the COC Sock as a modified mode of appendix carry, but at 12:00 with a slightly left cant for right handed shooters and vice versa for south paws. :rofl
 
#30 ·
To keep the equipment warm on cold days? :grin
 
#32 ·
It's an interesting idea.

By the letter of the law, it is legal. Who is going to be the test case? :grin
 
#33 ·
I can't say I'm really behind the sort of demonstration linked here since I think it will do more to alienate the general population. I believe it reinforces the stereotypes that the tourist based lobby uses to keep concealed carry illegal and would have a negative effect on our rights, but it's been done before in TX:

http://www.ammoland.com/2017/03/open-letter-florida-senator-steube/?utm_source=Ammoland+Subscribers&utm_campaign=13e39dc60d-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6f6fac3eaa-13e39dc60d-7178301#axzz4b2Y8juZz
 
#36 ·
Ah. That must be the Glock Sock that Rvrctyrngr referred to earlier. My idea wasn't really geared so much toward protest as just finding a way around the law for those times when it would be very inconvenient for me to concealed carry in the normal way. I put my prototype COC sock in my car so I'll always have it with me should the need arise - and I do intend to use it.

For protest purposes the Glock Sock is interesting. Kind of like the same purpose as the open carry fishing events, but you can do it everywhere - not just while fishing. Unlike fishing however I doubt many non-gun-people would walk up to someone wearing a Glock Sock and chat them up. On a fishing pier I would expect that even a non-gun-owner might walk up to someone who is obviously fishing and say "hey, what's up with the piece?" - opening the door for a little education.

I'd be interested to see how the Glock Sock gets removed. Definitely looks like there is no way you could draw the gun without popping the sock off first - but if it's primary purpose is protest then that matters less. For protest purposes it'd probably be best to have an inert blue-gun under the sock anyway just to further push the point if accosted by LE. How stupid would they look after threatening to arrest you for open carry when the sock is finally removed showing a blue gun - conclusively PROVING that the "gun" was concealed. A couple videos of that would be useful evidence in any trial that did arise from someone actually carrying a firearm under their Glock Sock.

The think that's good about the Glock Sock is it completely covers the holster - including the sides and the muzzle end. This prevents even a tiny peek at the gun which makes it perfectly effective for protest purposes.

Me? I just want to do what I want to do without running afoul of the law. I want my openly carried firearm to be legally-concealed, but still readily usable. I don't care if anybody notices the sock at all. I think my prototype lets me do that. It's mostly going to get used while in uniform in a full duty rig, and nobody cares about the gun then anyway. I doubt they'll even notice the sock and if they did, and they asked about it, I'd say "oh, we cover our guns like that when we're off duty".
 
#34 ·
So, in Texas they had this form of protesting and today they have open carry. Here in Florida, where we haven't protested in this way, we don't have open carry. Hmmmmm?
 
#35 ·
You're assuming that the protests are what resulted in the change in the law; I maintain that the law was changed in spite of these demonstrations. Legislators are not swayed by such antics; they respond to calls, letters and lobbyists. You think guys wearing dildo hats and assless chaps marching in the streets are what brought about legalized gay marriage?
 
#41 ·
I just spent a week in Texas, saw not one person open carrying. This was told to me, look for the 30.07 signs right by the front door. They mean something there. After that I started looking. Most places had them, gas stations, grocery stores and food establishments etc. We went from Houston to Galveston. I asked a few fellow NRA members why not open carry. Response was why advertise. Good point in my book. Yeah I want it here but as an option.


ETA we drove, all those states are open carry, Never saw one in those either.
 
#42 ·
Had an interesting conversation with a LEO friend who saw my holster peeking out from under my motorcycle vest.... he said he could see my gun and could arrest me... I said "doubt it"...
He said "no, I can see your gun, and you are standing at a bar, I could arrest you"

"I doubt it"

Sensing he was getting serious (and slightly full of himself), I pulled back my vest revealing....... an empty holster, as I left my gun in the saddlebag (hard locked variety).... Then again said "I doubt it"
 
#49 ·
I've been faced with that a few times. Once it was demonstrated I could articulate a good reason why I could not be attested for the "alleged crime", the LEO simply broke off the engagement. Most LEOs know that arresting someone who knows the law on a BS charge will not go well for them in the end. Yes, you might take the ride, but their bosses look down on busting people who can articulate their innocence in an indisputable way. The bosses hate bad press (and lawsuits).
 
#51 · (Edited)
I have told you the story about the time I was having a conversation, with a nice LEO, on the side of the busy roadway. After telling the nice LEO that I would be happy to show him my registration BUT, it was in the glove-box under my gun... we worked out the details as to how I was going to retrieve my registration. After showing the nice LEO, my current registration he proceeded to explain to me the requirement that if I was going to carry a gun in the glove compartment... the glove compartment had to be locked!! I speculate that by the time the nice LEO got home that night that he had forgotten the statutes that I referred him to... 790.25/790.001.

I'm not a LEO, and I'm not an expert in police procedure, but I think that if I was confronted with a registration in a glove box under a gun, and I had the least fear that the gun might be used against me, and since I already had the driver standing at the back of the vehicle, I might just let DAVID do the work of checking for a current registration. But that's just me.

Anyone else ever had a decal stolen??

An apparent violation, followed by a routine stop, of a clueless and innocent man... escalating to a threatened felony arrest...it all happens so fast.
 
#56 ·
I still do not understand why open carry has not be re established in Florida. We had it...no "blood in the streets" scenario was present.....no mass panic from screaming anti gun people....it just went away without real justification actually. With all the Republican controlled sessions in this state, we never got it back and yet......the same politicians re elected over and over. Seems like we the voters of Florida are the reason this infringement on our rights continues. We have never demanded our elected Republican officials act like they are for the people and they are from the political party of constitutional freedoms!!
 
#57 ·
Because we have no real power and they know it? :dunno

I mean we do, but I think they know that the alternative is the Democrats, so what can we really do to them? Once upon a time I thought Ms. Hammer wielded a big stick on Capitol Hill. Maybe those days are passed.
 
#60 ·
I just read in another gun forum that Tennessee is trying to get constitutional open carry passed and seems like there, as here, a few Republicans are the problem.
 
#62 ·
I once thought I had typed 'tights' and it turned out, later unfortunately pointed out by other people, I had typed 'tits'. I was younger and more single minded in those days. :grin
 
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