CARRY-2
The right way.
From “Dirty Harry” and “James ‘Sonny’ Crockett,” to just about every cop show since Dragnet, the shoulder holster has had an iconic presence in TV and movies. As a kid, I’d occasionally catch a glimpse of a real shoulder rig worn by one of the truck drivers who worked for my dad. I can’t recall brand names, but they were all vertical-carry types usually holding large revolvers. I don’t think the Teamsters union approved, but those guys had to make deliveries in some pretty rough neighborhoods.
Fast-forward just a few years to my days in the USMC. I found myself using a shoulder holster to hide my M9 or unauthorized Glock under my flak jacket and sometimes under my cammies — my CO never had a clue.
When I was selected for the range staff, the senior range master told me to always wear my vest and also said I was going to see things that would make me want to quit. He said, “You’ve always signed up to shoot with the guys who are squared away. Wait to see how some of these guys handle weapons and shoot; it’s why I want you to always wear your body armor.”
The very first day I worked a department shoot I was approached by a very senior detective wearing a funky looking shoulder rig. “Who authorized you to use this type of holster?” I asked.
He replied, “I’d been having trouble wearing a belt holster, so I got it at the gun show.” It had nothing to do with him being 50-plus pounds overweight. Before the first shot was even fired the senior detective violated every range safety rule at least twice — just during the serial number verification alone.
I’m not down on shoulder holster for cops; they have their place for sure. Sitting on a long surveillance, a quality, well-fitted shoulder holster can be a really great thing.
If I had the space here, I’d run down the complete outline on how to correctly use a shoulder holster. I could go through draw-from-concealment back to re-holstering safely without scaring the crap out of everyone around you, or worse … shooting yourself. We’ll cover that later. But since this column is about carry options, I’ll stick to the carrying part and focus on a few critical shoulder holster concepts.
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