Unless they are looking to attempt to grab your gun.People are seriously just not observant enough to notice whether you're carrying or not.
Didn’t dissuade these guys.People who want to rob a gas station or something could see that you're armed and target you first.
I don't have any facts to back this up because they aren't necessary.
However, one could argue that the sight of the pistol could be a deterrent.
I'm not getting into that argument, though.
I'm just explaining the theory.
Unless they are looking to attempt to grab your gun.
I would have probably just done what is instinctive and reactive in that situation and not lost a second of sleep over it.A few years back, I had a lady in Home Depot put her hand on my concealed pistol (outside my concealment garment) and I quickly clamped my hand on her wrist.
At the time she was (unnoticed) behind me while we were both in line at the cash register and all I knew was someone had their hand on my pistol, so pulling it out wasn't going to happen, but I was startled to find someone's hand on my pistol even if 'outside' my concealment garment or not......
To top it off, she acted pissed when I grabbed her wrist announcing she wasn't going to steal from me.
I took my hand off her wrist as started to pull away.
What the hell she was doing with her hands on me remains a mystery.
People who want to rob a gas station or something could see that you're armed and target you first.
I don't have any facts to back this up because they aren't necessary.
However, one could argue that the sight of the pistol could be a deterrent.
I'm not getting into that argument, though.
I'm just explaining the theory.
I know the theory, I'm just asking those who claim that OC makes them a target to provide evidence to that over the past 3+ years Texas has allowed it, or in any other state that does the same.
My point is there is no proof that OC means a criminal will target a person first. I will concede it's also tough to prove how many instances the presence of someone OC'ing stopped a potential crime, but there has been numerous scientific studies that concluded criminals prefer unarmed victims, so the correlation can easily be made.
Given that police officers in uniform are rarely robbed, I believe that it's more of a deterrent than a vulnerability.
But most importantly, I see OC as a political statement concerning an inalienable right.
I have seen at least three news reports of OCers having their handguns taken from them IN TEXAS since OC became legal.
Many, many police officers are killed with their own handguns. Not as many from holstered handguns now that retention holsters are so common
I agree with both of these, but 3 is a rather low number, and I'd be willing to wager that situational awareness wasn't up to par for the OC folks in the news.
The police issues are something else entirely. They're having to confront the bad guy directly, and if they decide to resist, then the chance of them trying to go for the pistol can be high.
I suggest not holstering your head in your ars as a good first step.
I would like to say the whole snatch your gun chicken little-ism is alarmist BS. For the most part it is, but I have to admit it almost happened to me. This said I have open carried for over 40 years [AZ native] and never once had an issue out of uniform. Frankly its because most people never even realize you're carrying unless your rocking a high point in the cheapest sagging POS nylon holster with a walk like John Wayne swinging your arm wide over the weapon screaming look at my bad ars self.
The time it happened to me I was escorting an inmate thru the county hospital and a prisoner another agency had there took advantage of his escorts flirting with a nurse and tried to get my weapon. My holster required a straight vertical draw stroke so between my practicing proper retention technique in the crowded hall and his pulling back and almost down all he got was a broken nose from a nice lateral hammer fist blow to go with the rest of his cuts and bruises he was there for. That and I'm pretty sure he sheit his self because 3 or 4 other officers from other agencies all drew at the same time and he realized just how fruitless it would have been if he succeeded. The only officer surprised was the one escorting him. I mentioned that officer might consider chasing skirts off duty especially when escorting a prisoner they had to fight with to begin with.
This is rare but shit happens. Any decent modern holster that limits how you present the gun to a specific stroke will probably be all you need. That is most quality modern holsters.
One very important thing, and I think it's a much more important part of the discussion. I have seen more than a couple brands of holsters, Fobus crap comes to mind, get completely ripped away from its mounting system in snatch drills. A couple rivets in cheap plastic is a recipe for disaster. Do your research on this. You dont need a level 12 kevlar reinforced holster that can do double duty as a repelling rig, nor should you carry in a holster you are not completely acquainted with cause you may just find you cant get your own weapon out. As with most things somewhere in the middle is just fine.