Frontal Carry
The problem is not the holster, it's the human
Some folks believe appendix carry is a new thing. It’s not. Back in the day I understand it was common for folks to shove their revolver down behind their belt on the front of their body somewhere between their hip bones. I’ve also read about folks carrying a single action revolver that way while also leaving the loading gate open to keep the revolver from falling deeper into their pants. So, the idea of carrying a handgun on the front of your body somewhere between 9 and 12 and 12 and 3 is nothing new. What is new are the holsters to make this easier and the notion that if you carry any other way you are a fool.
I won’t carry a handgun appendix style or between 9 and 3, and I often get called a Fudd because of that. The name calling does not bother me, what does bother me are the folks too caught up in how frontal carry can improve their draw by a tenth or two of a second, or how it makes handguns easier to conceal, or how cool it makes them look, that they just blatantly disregard the danger they can put themselves in. I strongly suggest you watch the below video now or after you finish reading this article.
First, let me say this: Carrying a handgun in a frontal or appendix position is safe; like they often say at Gunsite Academy, “A holstered gun is a safe gun,” and this applies all the time. Well, except maybe if your holstered gun is a SIG P320. (Sorry I could not resist.)
Guns are not dangerous—humans are. For example, let’s say you walk into a room and see a gun on a table with the muzzle pointed toward you. You would not panic. However, if you walked into a room and saw a human—any human, even your bestest buddy—holding a gun and it was pointed at you, that would make you uncomfortable. The reason that would make you uncomfortable is because humans—even those with good intentions—do stupid shit. The problems or dangers associated with frontal carry are not the holstered handguns, it’s the humans taking them out of and putting them back in the holster.
At the risk of stating the obvious, Rule 2 of gun safety—which in my opinion is the absolute most important rule—states, “Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.” If you never fail to observe this rule the worst that can happen is embarrassment. My question to you is, what are the exceptions to this rule? Is holstering a handgun in a frontal carry holster an exception? Is drawing a handgun from a frontal holster an exception? Granted, depending on your physic, you might be able to do both and never point a gun at yourself by orientating your body in some sort of weird position. However, if you do point it at yourself, you will very likely be pointing it at things you really and most definitely do not want to destroy.
The proponents of frontal carry argue that they take great care when holstering their handgun by making sure their finger is off the trigger and that the gun slowly finds the holster and its resting position. Good for them, that proves their IQ is at least above room temperature. But when drawing the handgun from the frontal position those same folks do it as fast as possible. Admittedly, holstering is probably riskier because of the potential of leaving the finger on the trigger and it coming into contact with the holster. However, drawing the handgun immediately precedes putting your finger on the trigger. If you get a bit ahead of yourself—if your finger is too fast—there is a potential for a loud bang you will never forget.
The proponents of frontal carry also argue that this is a training issue and that they spend hours conducting dry fire exercises holstering and drawing to avoid any life changing bangs. I believe them; social media is full of folks demonstrating their blistering fast draw strokes from frontal holsters. The problem is humans do stupid shit all the time. Humans make mistakes every day. They bite their tongue, they trip and fall on a clean floor, they bump their head on stuff, cut themselves with knives, hit their thumb with a hammer, and hey wreck automobiles. On average there are about 16,000 auto accidents a day in the United States. Some of those accidents are caused by shooters who spend a lot more time driving than they do shooting. You are most likely to have a mistake doing something you are very familiar with, because you are more careful doing the things you are least familiar with.
All of this is exactly why Rule 2 exists. It’s not because a gun might go off on its own when it is pointed at something it is not supposed to be, it’s because there is the possibility that a human will make a gun go off accidentally or negligently. In fact all four firearms safety rules address humans instead of guns, because guns need humans to be dangerous.
As frontal carry became a popular thing, I did the due diligence to investigate it, and I worked with Blue Guns to see how it would work for me. I know my potential for mistakes—especially under stress—and it quickly became abundantly clear it was a stupid idea. There are of course influencers and trainers out there who speak on this subject as though frontal carry is the last word in practical concealed carry. They cite concealability, speed of draw, and retention during hand to hand strugglers as good reasons for it. There are also those who speak out against it. Noted firearms trainer Ken Hackathorn described the practice as potentially being a “decocker,” and was blasted for it. They called him a Fudd too, but just ignored the cases where decocking and ball busting have occurred.
I’m not going to dive into the tactical aspects, because tactics are a situational concept, but also because most importantly they are not as important as safety. Frontal carry is a form or Russian roulette some shooters are playing daily. The gun and how it’s carried is not the risk, the risk is the accident prone human who interfaces with it. Where your gun is carried is not the issue, it’s where the bullet might go when you fuck up that matters. Most every carry position comes with some risk of human failure; all I’m suggesting is that you evaluate your carry method based on what that bullet might pass through when you do the stupid shit humans so often do.
Effective, safe, and practical concealed carry requires an adjustment in lifestyle, mindset, and even wardrobe. If those are not things you are willing to accept, concealed carry might not be the thing for you. I’ve been carrying concealed for more than 40 years and my preferences lean toward a holster position of between 3 and 4, a pistol with a manual thumb safety or a revolver, and a cover garment that is split in the front to allow for easy one-hand access. Sometimes I’ll make exceptions, but from a safety and practical application standpoint, for me this is the approach I feel the most comfortable with.
If you believe otherwise and prefer frontal carry, for fuck’s sake be careful or you may never fuck again. Pardon the profanity but sometimes it’s necessary to get the point across, because some folks ignore logic almost as often as they make mistakes.
This is an update to the above video form the guy who shot himself drawing from the frontal position. IF YOU CARRY IN THE FRONT YOU SHOULD WATCH BOTH VIDEOS. And, if you think you’ve trained so much it will never happen to you, you’re a fool.
Been carrying a J-frame AIWB for a long time, but will not carry anything else there.
It just does not pass the smell test does it?