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At least once a month, I read somewhere - in a gun magazine or on a gun forum - about how wearing "tacticool" clothing or one of those "shoot me first" concealment vests makes us a target for the bad guys. The general idea is that the bad guys, seeing someone wearing cargo pants, a concealment vest, a fanny pack holster or - God forbid! - an openly carried sidearm, will open their armed robbery by shooting the person(s) committing that particular fashion faux pas.
However, in my admittedly limited experience, most of the folks who commit armed robberies are not the most observant of folks. To illustrate my point, let me describe a case that happened in a nearby city:
A few weeks ago, around ten o'clock in the evening, a young man wearing a bandana over his face and brandishing a handgun pushed his way between the people waiting in line at a convenience store and announced his intention to rob the place.
The surveillance video very clearly shows the amazed and puzzled look on the face of the clerk, who looked at the two men at the head of the line as if he expected them to do something. And "do something" they did - they grabbed the robber's arms, wrestled him to the floor and put him in handcuffs.
What the video also clearly shows is that the two men at the head of the line - who the robber pushed aside as he strode to the counter - were uniformed police officers who had the word "POLICE" printed on the back of their jackets in white block letters.
In conclusion - while it is possible that a criminal will spot an armed citizen because of a telltale bulge or a "tacticool" concealment vest, the probability of that happening is very low. If they don't notice uniformed police officers - and this is not an isolated occurrence - they probably won't notice a discreetly armed citizen.
Jim
However, in my admittedly limited experience, most of the folks who commit armed robberies are not the most observant of folks. To illustrate my point, let me describe a case that happened in a nearby city:
A few weeks ago, around ten o'clock in the evening, a young man wearing a bandana over his face and brandishing a handgun pushed his way between the people waiting in line at a convenience store and announced his intention to rob the place.
The surveillance video very clearly shows the amazed and puzzled look on the face of the clerk, who looked at the two men at the head of the line as if he expected them to do something. And "do something" they did - they grabbed the robber's arms, wrestled him to the floor and put him in handcuffs.
What the video also clearly shows is that the two men at the head of the line - who the robber pushed aside as he strode to the counter - were uniformed police officers who had the word "POLICE" printed on the back of their jackets in white block letters.
In conclusion - while it is possible that a criminal will spot an armed citizen because of a telltale bulge or a "tacticool" concealment vest, the probability of that happening is very low. If they don't notice uniformed police officers - and this is not an isolated occurrence - they probably won't notice a discreetly armed citizen.
Jim
