Firearm carry options

A

AL45

New member
In New Mexico, open carry is legal as is concealed carry of an unloaded gun. Concealed carry requires a permit. I have thought about trying the unloaded conceal in one pocket and the ammunition in another pocket. Anyone else carry this way?
 
IMHO carrying an unloaded gun is a very bad idea for a number of reasons, not least of which is that someone could take it away from you by force, potentially putting a functional weapon into very wrong hands.
 
I really don't understand the reasoning to having to have a permit to carry unloaded concealed. It is not a weapon at that point no more than carrying a rock. However, on the off chance you'll encounter a situation where you'll have time to load your pistol than by all means get the permit.
 
AL45, is there some reason you can't get a carry permit? If so, and carrying unloaded is your only option, it's at least an option.

Why keep the ammo in a separate pocket though? I think that just adds an extra step.

In addition, see if there's a legal definition of "unloaded" in your state's law. For instance, I believe a black powder revolver in many states is considered unloaded if the hammer is down on an empty chamber, since the chamber is what's loaded. It's possible they view regular revolvers this way.
 
I'd start the process of getting your permit right away. If the permit fees are an issue, open carry until you can the funds together for your permit. I don't know all the laws in New Mexico, but here in Indiana, you can carry an unloaded gun without a permit. But you can still get in legal trouble if your unloaded gun and ammunition are within reach when you are in public. Double check all the laws very carefully if you are going to carry an unloaded gun in one pocket and a loaded magazine in another.
 
I'm a fan of OC where permitted, so to me there isn't really a problem here. That being said, with a permit only costing $100, there's little reason not to obtain one so you can carry any which way you please.
 
There is nothing preventing me from attending a CCW class and getting a CCW license. I was just curious as to your thoughts on unloaded carry. There are people around here who carry open, but at this point, I don't want to draw attention by doing this. If the "bad guy" is targeting me, I can see that the unloaded carry will not work. But if I am merely in the vicinity of the "bad guy" I can't see it taking very long to insert a magazine into the gun. In other words, unloaded carry will work in some situations, but not all.
 
AL45 said:
...if I am merely in the vicinity of the "bad guy" I can't see it taking very long to insert a magazine into the gun....
Click to expand...
It could take the rest of your life.

AL45 said:
...unloaded carry will work in some situations, but not all....
Click to expand...
But you can't know ahead of time if your problem will be a situation in which it would work, or a situation in which it would not.

That's sort of the point. Anything like carrying an unloaded gun expecting to be [perhaps] load it in time to deal with whatever you need to deal with involves some sort of trade-off. If you're going to do something which makes it slower to put your gun to use, if you need to, will you be gaining something important enough to accept whatever handicap you'll be giving yourself?

  1. The point of a fast draw is not speed for its own sake. It's simply that if you do need your gun, you have no way to know in advance how much time you'll have in which to put it to use.

  2. When it comes down to it, it's really not a question of quick draw or fast draw. It's a question of how long it can take us to perceive the threat, determine the need to fire, deploy our gun and engage the threat with accurate fire, having made the decision that shooting is warranted.

  3. So how much time will we have in which to do all of that? I have no idea and neither do you. It's going to all depend on what happens and how it happens. We might have lots of time, or we might have very little. We simply can't know in advance.

  4. If we can't get done what we need to do in the time circumstances allow us, we will not be happy with the outcome. Good training and diligent practice can help reduce the time we need to be able to effectively do what we need to be able to do. And since I can't know how much time I'll have, I'd rather not give up time if I can avoid it.
 
Use a shot timer. Surefire offers a free shot timer app for iphones, so that or having a friend use a stopwatch function and call beeps may work. Time your process of getting the weapon in play from a realistic carry arrangement. It will be ugly.

Get your chl and training. One day, it'll all make sense.
 
So wait, if i lived in NM I could openly carry a loaded gun all I want, all day long. However, to conceal a gun I'd have to get a permit and carry the gun unloaded? Doesn't really make much sense to me.
 
There seems to be done confusion. In New Mexico without a permit you may:
Open carry.
Or you may conceal an unloaded gun (probably put in place to make transportation legal).
If you want to conceal a loaded gun you need a permit.
 
Concealed carry requires a permit. I have thought about trying the unloaded conceal in one pocket and the ammunition in another pocket. Anyone else carry this way?
Click to expand...

No, not a good way to carry, and concealed carry is concealed carry whether the gun is loaded or NOT. So carrying as you describe is in violation of law
 
There seems to be done confusion. In New Mexico without a permit you may:
Open carry.
Or you may conceal an unloaded gun (probably put in place to make transportation legal).
If you want to conceal a loaded gun you need a permit.
Click to expand...

Ahh, that clears it up for me. I thought the OP meant that with a permit you may conceal carry but it must be unloaded. Made not a lick of sense to me. By all means get your permit to carry. There is no reason to carry an unloaded weapon unless you are just transporting it from A to B for some reason. Don't carry it unloaded and expect to use it for self defense.
 
I am not a fan of open carry. Where I live in Nevada it is legal as well, but I don't do it for a few reasons.

A lot of Europeans come through my town on their way to or from Death Valley Ca. A lot of them are not accustomed to seeing someone dressed like a common worker carrying a sidearm. When they see a gun, they get tense. It is not my intention to create an uneasy feeling in anyone, so I carry concealed with a permit. Little do they realize that the slob standing near them,(me), makes them safer from crime than anywhere else. Unless someone needs to know, they don't know. I do not require special attention from everyone around me. I am not saying that people who do open carry are looking for attention, but I do know that when I am in a store and I see an open carry, I do keep an eye on them. I don't want this type of scrutiny for myself.

Also, if a bad guy, (or anymore a terrorist), comes into an area carrying concealed, who is the first person that they will shoot? Yep, the open carry person looking at something else.

We don't have a lot of violent crime in my town. There are a lot of people here that carry concealed. All the local bad guys know this, so if they go into a business to rob the place, they have no way to know if they will be shot by one person or ten.
 
Last edited:
Why keep the ammo in a separate pocket though? I think that just adds an extra step.
Click to expand...

Can you reach into both pockets at once?
If not, it STILL takes two times into a pocket to extract both the gun and the ammo

It does seem foolish though to carry an unloaded weapon and have to reach into a pocket when you already feel threatened
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top