Don’t tell me you’re carrying, or show me for that matter

It’s happened to me on several occasions. A friend of mine will come up to me in public and say something along the lines of “hey, check this out,” then proceed to show me their gun. It’s always someone new to concealed carry, well really new. Wisconsin has only had CCW for a little over two years, so most of us are pretty new to it. I means weeks new.

They want to show me their newly acquired carry gun, or just show me that they are now carrying. They lift up their shirt and point while smiling proudly, breaking the cardinal rule of concealed carry, well half of it anyway; Always Carry, Never Tell.

I don’t really need to see your side arm, and I’m sure all the others around me in the café didn’t want to see it either. That’s right. Someone I know from a local Gun Club, a type of guy I refer to as a Gun Range Commando, showed me that he was carrying when he walked through the door of the local café while I was there having lunch. Some old lady almost choked on her club sandwich when she gasped at the scene.

While that was the most dramatically public incident of this nature for me, it is far from the only. A few other have done similar moves, but with a tad bit more subtlety. I do appreciate my friends letting me know they are now carrying and I’m truly glad they are. But there is a better way than announcing it in public.

There was also one that was a bit unnerving for me.  A friend actually pulled out his gun. He was both new to concealed carry and had a brand new handgun on him that he was pretty excited to get. So excited he pulled it out of his holster and waved it in the air!

This took place in the local gun range club house, after a youth shooting event I helped out with. We had just finished cleaning things up from the event. I sat down at a table and was just starting to enjoy my cheeseburger. When my friend came up beside me and said “hey, check this out,” lifted up his shirt and pulled his new Springfield XDs 45 out of its holster. Why does this seem to always happen when I’m eating?

When I gasped and nearly started choking on my cheeseburger, he calmly said “don’t worry, there isn’t a round in the chamber.” Normally I handle these things calmly, but this one ticked me off. No I’m not going to rant again about not carry with a loaded chamber. I came mildly unglued about the “don’t worry, there isn’t a round in the chamber” comment because it violates one of Colonel Cooper’s Four Rules of Fire Arm Safety: All Firearms Are Always Loaded.

The worst part was not only he did this after a youth event where we spent most of the time promoting safety to the kids; but he did this in front of his own two kids! I remained calm enough not to yell at him in front of his family, but I did stress my disapproval. I suggested we step outside to look at his gun and then I took that opportunity to remind him of some safety rules in private.

I was not trying to be a “Safety Nazi” or anything like that, but I can’t stand to be around people who take the basic rules of firearm safety for granted. Sweeping half a room of people with a handgun’s muzzle while saying “don’t worry, there isn’t a round in the chamber” is just a plain bad idea no matter who you are.