It's OK to print

As far as the law is concerned (assuming you're legal to carry) you aren't brandishing or anything else remotely illegal if someone happens to call you out on being armed.
Click to expand...
In Florida that is a misdemeanor and you can, and probably will, lose your permit
 
Expose your gun in MA and you are going to jail for brandishing. I don't know how "printing" would affect things, but I'm going to go with it being like exposing the gun itself.
 
WOW. Tragically BAD advice.

In MN where I live, it is not illegal to print, but in other states I have lived in it is very much illegal.
 
You don't have to use thunderwear or one of the other unbelievably uncomfortable carry methods in a paranoid belief that Mrs. Cravitz at the grocery store is going to faint on isle 2.
Click to expand...

Agreed. There's a lot of "concealed means concealed" getting tossed around here. Well as long as we're pulling out meanings, "Concealed Carry Permit" means you are permitted to carry concealed. It doesn't say you have to. In many places, Open Carry, is legal without a license.

If it's legal where you live, and you should have already checked out all of those laws before you even began to consider carrying, than go for it if you feel like it.

I dress to look and feel nice. I wear my weapon accordingly. I DON'T base my whole wardrob around my weapons. If I am wearing jeans and a polo/t shirt, I'll wear an OWB and the shirt goes over the weapon. If it comes up, I don't really care. When I wear a coat, it stays concealed better. But I wear the coat cause it's cold, not just to hide the weapon. If I am dressing up, I wear a 5.11 holster shirt, simply because having a holster on looks awkward with dress clothes.

I honestly don't feel some need to stay concealed at all costs. If the clothes I wear conceal the weapon, great. If not, great. I'm neither ashamed or scared.


As an aside, it's strange that in Texas, the land of "everyone has a gun" printing is illegal, but here in Michigan, a veritable USSR by comparison, prinitng is OK as long as you're allowed to carry concealed in the first place. Go figure.

I had about a 15 minute conversation about applying to become a police officer with 2 officers at a 24hr gas station at about 2am a few nights ago. I had my Walther in an OWB outside my shirt, but with an open coat over it the whole time. Either they didn't see or just didn't care, but I had no problems.
 
A very educational thread for me. I live in Virginia, so I was completely unaware of laws in other states such as Texas mandating "full concealment."
Since it's open carry here I'd face no legal issues if I printed.
Mind you, once I do get my CCW, I'll make every effort to carry discreetly, but what with all the things people have hanging off their belts these days I'm not going to worry too much if I bend over the wrong way and there's a visible bulge in my shirt.
When I bought my 92 FS I half-jokingly asked the dealer for a bag so I "didn't scare the citizens." He said "most people won't know what it is, and the ones who do won't care."
As for deranged ex-felons seeking veneance or gangbangers wanting an early Christmas, I'm not going to worry about those scenarios AT ALL for two reasons: they are so remotely unlikely as to be laughable, and secondly, I'll have a gun! :D
 
printing

I have spotted a couple of LEO printing. Fewer citizens or I didn't care (I don't view average joe as a threat) I find it unlikely anybody is looking that close at my figure to know or care about what is what under my clothing. Much ado about nothing. Behavior will give one away faster than printing. :D
 
I've seen more than a few people who I was pretty sure were carrying. Then their guns would 'ring' and they would answer them. Not every funny lump is a gun.
 
Last edited:
As an aside, it's strange that in Texas, the land of "everyone has a gun" printing is illegal, but here in Michigan, a veritable USSR by comparison, prinitng is OK as long as you're allowed to carry concealed in the first place. Go figure.
Click to expand...
I don't know what they'd be able to do in Michigan for mere "printing" since there is no law against open carry here.
 
Just to clarify, it's not illegal to accidentally print in TX. The statute requires that the gun be concealed from normal observation. If you made a reasonable effort to conceal then it's not an issue if a gust of wind blows your shirt flat against the gun and it shows. But the initial post on this thread makes it sound like it's ok to print even if you know that your gun is easily detectable. That may be legal in some places, just not in TX.

Whether or not it's a good idea in the places where it's legal is another story altogether.
 
The more I read this forum, and some of the questions and advise given, I can see why we have a problem with guns. Half of you have no business owning or carrying, my dimes worth.
 
The West Virginia Code states:

61-7-2(10) "Concealed" means hidden from ordinary observation so as to prevent disclosure or recognition. A deadly weapon is concealed when it is carried on or about the person in such a manner that another person in the ordinary course of events would not be placed on notice that the deadly weapon was being carried.
Click to expand...

This Code is the one I'm mostly concerned with and I believe it's well stated. If someone sees your piece in the "ordinary course of events," then you are not concealed and are subject to the consequences. Punishment for printing is another story. The worst situation might be considered "brandishing" by a zealous officer and would be a misdemeanor if prosecuted.
 
My 1911 prints* in a few of the shirts I wear, but you know what? It makes me look just like every other yuppie with a cell phone on a belt clip under my shirt with an IWB holster.;)

*By 'print' I generally mean that there is a noticable out line of something under my shirt, but not what that something is.
 
Well yougun,
Still think it's okay to print?
The more I read this forum, and some of the questions and advise given, I can see why we have a problem with guns. Half of you have no business owning or carrying, my dimes worth.
Click to expand...
Please explain.
 
You guys are a odd bunch. Didn't anyone ever teach you that there is a difference from cover and concealment? No matter what you do, if you are "concealing" a pistol it will print. Some way some how it is going to put an odd shape to your body. According to some here the very act of legaly carrying a pistol would therefore be illegal bucause you just told the world you are carrying.

If you read the laws, most will be the same. It is only considered brandishing if you let any part of the pistol become visible. The LAW says not one word about "printing". Now if you would please excuse me, I have to go do some black friday shopping. I hope no one bumps into me on my carry side while bucking the crowds.......
 
Boris, that has to be one of the more naive posts I have read in a while. This isn't an issue of cover and concealment. We are not talking about hiding versus ballistic protection. And no, not all concealed firearms print. There you are mistaken.

Many forms of carry do result in printing, no doubt. However, they should not result in printing that makes the object being concealed be recognized for what it is.

If YOU read the laws, you will find they are not all the same. For example, many states don't consider a visible gun to be brandishing, but some do. As for laws not mentioned the word "print" or "printing," you are probably right, but in some places like Texas, if the printing is such that the gun can be recognized as a gun during normal observation, then it is not concealed and hence is illegally carried (by a CHL holder).
 
No matter what you do, if you are "concealing" a pistol it will print
Click to expand...
I'd lay odds that I could show two pictures of myself wearing the same button down short sleeve shirt on a summer day, and you could do nothing more than guess as to which one had me concealing a .45 ACP OWB. Likewise, two pictures of me in business attire. In which one am I carrying a .32 Kel-Tec in my front pocket?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top