Concealed Carry Checklist

September 2, 2020 by Online Carry Training

Even seasoned every day concealed carriers can overlook important things. This checklist helps beginners with concealed carry and handgun safety.

Select a Wise Concealed Carry Weapon

When you are looking for an everyday carry firearm, do your research. Ask others whose opinion you trust. Visit a reputable gun shop. Try several guns. Look for one that is the right size for concealed carry. Find a durable, simple-to-use firearm made by a assemble concealed-carry rigs for two guns I haven’t worked with before but reputable company with good customer service and proven reliability.

You don’t need to spend a fortune to get a weapon that is rugged and reliable. Check out this article: “7 Tips for First-Time Handgun Buyers.”

Get a Concealed Carry Permit

Before you start to carry your weapon, get a concealed carry permit. Fortunately, many states now accept online concealed carry training from approved providers like National Carry Academy. You may take your certificate and apply for a Virginia Non Residents’ Permit. It is accepted in many states.

Practice Situational Awareness at all Times

Situational awareness may well save your life. At the very least, it will help you avoid dangerous people and places.

Armed or unarmed, we should be cautious, ever on the alert. It’s a good strategy to scan and assess our environment.

Situational awareness is knowing what’s going on around. Although it sounds easy, it requires practice, keen observation skills, and focus.

Make Sure Handgun Training is Current

Your training should be comprehensive and include certain key topics, fundamentals, techniques, and handgun safety. Since things change and people often forget what they learned, continued education and training is important.

Refresher training of things like practice drills and repetitions ensures that bad habits don’t creep in.

Know Concealed Carry Laws

It is important to know state and municipal concealed carry laws. Does your state have a Stand Your Ground policy or Castle Doctrine laws? Does your state have Concealed Carry Reciprocity with other states? Where can you carry legally?

Aim for Every Day Carry

You’ve got your equipment. You’ve applied for a Concealed Carry Permit. You’ve taken training on how to use, clean, and maintain your firearm. Why not carry wherever you can legally do so? That weapon isn’t going to do you much good locked in a gun safe.

Any place, any situation has the potential to become dangerous. If you’re not comfortable carrying your weapon then make sure your holster and gun fit and practice wearing them until you’d feel naked not carrying.

Avoid Patting and Adjusting

There are several reasons concealed carrier beginners adjust or pat their gun. They may be unaccustomed to wearing it and it feels funny. This can be remedied by wearing your gun, belt, and holster around the house until it feels as familiar as your shoes.

Some rookies are afraid their weapon will fall out of the holster. This won’t happen if the holster fits the gun like a glove. If it doesn’t, you need to find a holster that envelopes your weapon.

The other issue is worry about concealment. Choose over shirts that reliably cover your weapon. You may have to invest in longer, looser over garments. A good source is UnderTech.

Practice… Practice… Practice

Whether dry firing or live firing, you need to practice every day.

First, hire a qualified instructor to teach you the fundamentals. Then, design your practice plan with specific drills to help improve identified skills or areas needing improvement. There is no shortage of demonstration material. Try these basic drills.

Practice With Your Every Day Concealed Carry Gun

When you train and practice, make sure you are using your everyday weapon, holster, gun belt, and ammunition. You want repetitions to facilitate muscle memory kicking in when the situation is stressful. For good practice outdoor drills, try this video.

Purchase a Good Fit Holster and Gun Belt

Don’t make the costly mistake of buying an expensive weapon and then putting on a cheap holster and gun belt. It is important to purchase a quality-made holster from a reliable manufacturer. Make sure it is designed specifically for your weapon. This will ensure your holster is custom-fit for your carry handgun.

With the right holster, you should be able to draw and re-holster your gun smoothly and efficiently.

Before you buy, decide where on your body you want to carry so your gun is concealed but easily accessible.

Your gun belt must support your handgun. It is as important as your holster and weapon. Opt for a belt that is rigid, high quality, full-grain bull hide leather. It is strong and resilient, durable, and comfortable.

Make Sure your Weapon is in Good Working order

Your weapon is a tool. You need to know how to disassemble, clean, reassemble your firearm. It should be cleaned after every use. Efficient cleaning and checking for problems will become natural after many repetitions. Take a course or ask a trusted mentor to show you how to clean and troubleshoot repairs.

Get Cleaning Supplies

Daily carry handguns need to be cleaned every night. They get dirty. Lubrication runs off or evaporates. You don’t need to spend a fortune on cleaning supplies. Your kit should contain a cleaning rod, brushes and a barrel jag. A good starter kit is Gun Boss Pro’s Real Avid.

Set up Secure Storage

Part of being a responsible gun owner is securing your weapon when you are not carrying it. Invest in a secure storage device. A good choice is GunVault’s MV500 Microvault.

When you first start to concealed carry, there are a lot of things to consider. Use this list as a start, adding items as you go and don’t forget to review the some of the most common mistakes people make, at all levels, when concealed carrying.