Safe concealed carry around the children

M

MadAnthony

Inactive
New CCW permit with questions about safe carrying around the kids.

I have appreciated learning from the excellent threads here about pros/cons of firearms with or without safety, carrying with 1 chambered, and the importance of training.

What I have not found is much discussion to the unique issues involved in carrying around kids. Specifically, in the context of everyday parenting activities young children tend to accidentally bump, kick, hit, and head butt their parent from time to time (at least mine do and my girls fancy themselves as princesses not ninjas). My (and my wife’s) concern about carry is that the kids tendency to accidentally strike me will lead to thier unintentional contact with the trigger, resulting in an accidental discharge.

My plan is to carry Glock 19 in CrossBreed Supertuck, although I have not committed to this equipment yet, because of these safety concerns. Advice on safety is appreciated.
 
If you carry in a holster which covers the trigger (which the SuperTuck will do), you shouldn't be concerned that normal activity with kids will cause it to discharge. The biggest concern is having the gun drawn by a feisty kid so you might consider a holster with a safety strap and a gun with an external safety.
 
I think having a talk with your kids about it is more important than what your carrying the gun in.

Id also make sure they understand that its family business, and not to be discussed outside of the house and immediate family.
 
I think having a talk with your kids about it is more important than what your carrying the gun in.
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I'll second that, my boys (ages 4 & 7) both know I carry. They see the handgun on me all the time. Occasionally they'll ask why I need a gun, to which the usual response is to protect my family they also know not to touch any gun without permission. It has never been discussed outside of our home even though I never specifically pointed out that it shouldn't be discussed outside the home, probably because there's never been a time in their lives when I didn't carry. I do not carry around the house however more for my own comfort than for any other reason. But if I did I'd be more concerned about one of the boys banging their head on it when we were rough housing than I would of them actually pulling it from the holster or making it go off accidentally. Any holster that covers the trigger should be fine for protecting from an accidental discharge and any with a retention strap will keep it in the holster. Even though I don't carry around the house, I always have a firearm within close reach and they're secured from little fingers.

Stu
 
"gun safe" kids, Massad Ayoob, training...

This topic comes up often on gun/tactics message boards.

I do not have any little tykes so I'm not a parent or expert but I'd suggest buying a copy of Massad Ayoob's book about teaching safe & proper methods around children & untrained adults.

Ayoob, www.MassadAyoobgroup.com is a top rated instructor & use of force expert.
In short, I'd store firearms unloaded & keep all ammunition seperate in a secured area or container. I would also not have kids around any firearms loaded or unloaded unless a trained adult was with or near them.
As for holstered or concealed weapons, I would teach them not to touch or even say anything about them at all.
I read of an event in NW Florida of a gun owner who left a loaded Glock pistol in his vehicle. His 2 kids went out to his truck, took the pistol out, played with it and had a tragic accident. :(
The same goes for drinking, medications & drugs. Don't be unstable or intoxicated around firearms & ammuntion. Be an example to kids and follow all safety rules. Kids will pick up on your behaviors and learn to respect firearms too.
ClydeFrog
www.NRA.org www.Bookfinder.com www.gunvideo.com
 
Carrying on your person with a proper holster is far safer for you and you children. If worried about then see it or finding it you might think about going to a smaller pocket pistol (also in a pocket holster), pistols like the Kel-Tec P11 (9m/m 10 & 12 round mags.) or a S&W 642 (.38 spl.) work well for pocket carry and what I carry around my grandkids. If they bump it (and they have) the just think it junk grandpa has in his pockets.
 
And now for something completely different:

The simplest solution to the specific problem described is to not carry one in the chamber.

Another simple answer since you apparently haven't bought the firearm yet is to purchase an XD or XDM. In addition to the same kind of "trigger safety" that the Glock has they also have a grip safety much like a 1911. So barring an extremely unlikely full safety failure they could never cause the firearm to fire simply by bumping it.

Combine all of the above with a quality holster that covers the trigger and you get about as safe as humanly possible in a firearm.


Another option would be something with a very long Double-Action trigger pull like the Kel-Tec P3-AT. It is all but impossible to accidentally fire a P3-AT even if you just carry it in your pocket with no holster at all.
 
I agree with the majority of the advice already given. I don't especially approve of carrying a Glock, of course. I prefer a 1911, with multiple-redundant safeties, but so be it. Irrespective of your choice of firearm, your holster should completely cover the trigger so that it CANNOT be accidentally bumped or actuated. This is doubly important with a Glock, on which the only safety IS the trigger.
 
I have raised 3 kids and have always had guns around the house and have had a carry licence over 38 years. I took each kid out at age 4 and helped them shoot a 22 so they know what a gun does. I never let them play guns and paint toy guns at eachother. As the girls got older I never let them bring a boyfriend in without me in the house.
They would never grab a gun from my holster and my guns have never hopped out of my holster.
Train the kids about gun safety at a young age is key.
 
If this is a concern, get a pistol with an active manual safety and a grip safety. There are also holsters with clips on the top to help prevent children getting their hands on them.

As importantly don't forget good gunsafes for when not carrying.
 
I don't keep one in the chamber when I'm home. If I lived in an absolute crime infested neighborhood maybe, but for my situation the chance for an accidental discharge while wrestling with my children is greater than pure evil kicking in my door and killing me before I can chamber a round.

Can you imagine watching your child twitch and bleed out because of your action?
 
I think your selection of equipment is good. Your primary concern, especially with a pistol where the only safety is on the trigger, is that you have a nice, rigid, holster designed for that pistol. It should stay rigid when the pistol is withdrawn and not allow anything to protrude into the trigger guard area (i.e. no cheap canvas or nylon gunshow specials, no old, worn out leather holsters). The Crossbreed Supertuck appears to meet all the criteria of a good holster; but I don't own one so it is tough to judge.

The Glock is a remarkably solid safe design. If you don't pull the trigger, you won't have a problem. You do want to watch out for drawstrings, clothing, etc. getting bunched up in the triggerguard when holstering. You don't get any points for holstering fast - take your time.

If you decide you aren't comfortable with the trigger being the only safety, then there are a number of designs similar to a Glock that include additional safety devies such as a grip safety (Springfield XDM) or manual safety (S&W M&P, Ruger SR9).

The simplest solution to the specific problem described is to not carry one in the chamber.
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The problem with not carrying with one in the chamber is that you need two hands free in order to bring the pistol into action and you may not always have that luxury. I can point to several self-defense shootings where the shooter was using one hand to fight off his assailants so he could even reach his pistol or where he was hit in his hands/arms before he could draw the pistol.

You could always choose to carry in Condition One outside the house and Condition Three inside the house; but that is going to mean loading every time you exit the house and clearing every time you enter. That would concern me for these reasons:
1) you occasionally get high primers or other weird ammo issues.
2) every time you handle a pistol outside of its holster, it is a chance to show your human nature and be less than perfect in firearms safety - a plan that minimizes how often you handle the firearm unholstered also reduces your chances to have a mistake.
3) round setback means you'll have to rotate your carry ammo more frequently and adds expense.
4) Doing this over the course of several years, there is a near 100% probability that at some point you'll have the pistol loaded when you wanted it unloaded and unloaded when you wanted it loaded.

For all of those reasons, I think that getting a good holster and keeping the pistol on your body is a better strategy than carrying without one in the chamber.
 
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The simplest solution to the specific problem described is to not carry one in the chamber.
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It's a bit more complicated than not carrying one at all, and just as useless if you don't have both hands free if you ever need it.
 
All you need is a good quality holster that covers the trigger guard and has some retention feature. Wrestling with the kids? Cops wrestle with grown men all the time and guns rarely just fall out of the holster.
 
My children all all adults but all of my grandkids know that papa carries a gun. I don't allow my guns to be a mystery to them, and he ones that are old enough to comprehend have all been given the lessons on the do's and don'ts regarding firearms. With that being said, quality holsters that cover the trigger and have some sort of positive retention, and a little common sense will eliminate the hazard of a little one coming in contact with your weapon.
 
I knew this one was coming and could have predicted it almost word for word....

jimbob86 said:
It's a bit more complicated than not carrying one at all,
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Carrying a gun is ALWAYS more complicated than not carrying a gun at all, so that is a pretty useless statement. Do you perhaps mean it is more complicated than carrying one in the chamber? I would agree, but it is a pretty minor difference compared to blowing a hole clean through your childs head.

and just as useless if you don't have both hands free if you ever need it.
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True. And not having one in the chamber is the most useful thing in the world if the hammer falls while wrestling with your kids. What else you got?

My response was to the OP's STATED CONCERN. His concern was safety while around children who might be kind of rough and could conceivably accidentally pull the trigger on his gun. I addressed that concern specifically with multiple solutions. Not having a round in the chamber happens to be by far the most effective short of not having any ammo in the gun at all or not having a gun period. If you believe me to be wrong on this point then please point out an alternate method of carry that is safer.
 
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