Concealed Carry Corner: Important Skills For Carrying Concealed

Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we talked about the different levels of carry gun maintenance and the best procedure for regular maintenance. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I want to look at some of the most important aspects and skills when it comes to carrying a concealed firearm. I was recently out to dinner with a friend and started talking about the most important aspects of carrying concealed for the regular everyday person. Let’s take a closer look at some important skills for carrying concealed.

Concealed Carry Corner @ TFB:

Shooting and Drawing Skills

When it comes to actual shooting, the two big skills that need to be focused on are the ability to draw from concealment and the actual process of firing your handgun effectively. If you find yourself in an unlucky situation and there’s no route for escape, the knowledge and skill to quickly draw your pistol and put accurate shots on target is one of the most important skills to have when facing a life-threatening situation. When it comes to training with your firearm, 85% of the skills you need to work on can be done just simply by dry firing at home.

Whether it’s drawing and presenting your firearm, working on reloads from your pocket, or clearing cover garments while drawing, putting in just 15-20 minutes a week can drastically improve your skills when it comes to drawing and getting your handgun on target. Some people complain about heading to the range to practice their shooting skills due to the cost of ammunition and the amount of time it takes to effectively train. The truth of the matter is you can practice the vast majority of skills without firing a single shot. Of course, you need to actually hit the range occasionally to practice the other skills like recoil management and grip while firing rapidly. While shooting and drawing are incredibly important, I would argue there are even more important skills when it comes to carrying a concealed firearm.

Situational Awareness

Arguably one of the most important skills to have when carrying a concealed firearm is the ability to see a potential threat at a distance and actively avoid them rather than getting into a confrontation. The old saying goes “You survive 100% of the confrontations you don’t get into.” Every person who carries a concealed firearm should have this way of thinking. Having a concealed firearm is a massive power and should be treated with a great deal of respect and responsibility. Having situational awareness isn’t easy to come naturally for everyone, but with a bit of practice looking for things that seem out of place in your environment can go a long way.

Society today has become focused on cell phones and being occupied in public. If you really start to look at people out in society, you will see most don’t have a single clue what happens around them. Simply staying off your cell phone and having a general idea of what occurs around you in public can give you an advantage over others who have their face buried in their cell phones. This became very apparent when I recently spent a few days in Metro Detroit where everyone walked down the street completely focused on their cell phone rather than their surroundings. Having even a basic understanding of situational awareness can help avoid a situation entirely and keep you safe as a result.

Physical Fitness

One aspect we don’t talk about often is the idea of being even semi-physically fit. Whether it’s being able to quickly get your loved ones out of danger if a situation happens, or even moving as quickly as possible to cover if there’s some sort of active shooter. Other situations may happen where people fight and you have to have enough stamina to break up a struggle or fight someone off of you.

Like I said earlier, having enough physical strength to run short periods and the ability to move is one of the responsibilities you have as a person with a concealed firearm. I understand not all older individuals can improve their fitness but if you are 21-55, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be actively trying to better your physical fitness or at the minimum maintaining your ability to do any sort of quick cardio you may need to do in an emergency.

Overall Thoughts

When it comes to carrying concealed, the obvious things are practicing your shooting skills like drawing from concealment but some topics are even more important like situational awareness and taking care of yourself physically. The goal when carrying a handgun is to actively avoid confrontation and avoid any trouble by all means necessary. Having the awareness and physical ability to run or defend yourself in a scuffle is part of your personal responsibility as a concealed carrier.

It may be an unpopular opinion but I think it’s important to think about when you throw on your carry gun and head out of your house every day. Let me know what you guys think about being able to have situational awareness and physical fitness down in the comments below. If you have a question about carrying concealed or firearms in general, feel free to shoot me a message on Instagram @fridgeoperator. Stay safe out there and we will see you next week for another edition of Concealed Carry Corner.