Concealed Carry Awkward Moments

[miamimoe]

Love the pic!

In high school in the '80s one of my freinds had grown up in Isreal. One of his vacation pics was of 2 off duty female Isreali soldiers walking down the beach in Haifa in bikinis & combats boots with m16s and a bandoleer of mags slung. Wish I had that picture but he never would give it up.

Sexiest damn thing you ever saw!

Jay

We saw the same thing back in 73. I was stationed in Turkey with the USAF and we took a tour.

We have a picture of a very young feamale soldier waiting alone at a bus stop outside Jerico, miniskirt, sandles, empty shopping bag, and Uzi.

When I was in Israel in 1979, I was quite surprised when I saw people carrying guns everywhere I went.

These were not concealed weapons. They were wearing pistols in a holster, or rifles slung over their shoulders. Out in the open, for everyone to see.

Shopkeepers. Bus drivers. Restaurant waiters. Schoolteachers chaperoning children on a field trip. Everyone was packing heat.

I guess it was a culture-shock thing. I wasn't expecting this, but after a couple of days, it started to seem normal.

That is still the case today. Concealed carry here is pretty meaningless, as people carry openly. It's very common, and there are soldiers almost everywhere packing M-16's or Tavors. There are also a lot of cute girls carrying rifles; sometimes I wish I was younger.

Why carry weapons inside a church? Why?

I attend a synagogue that receives threats of violence with each major holiday. The place needs to be swept for bombs and has off duty police outside. Members are not dissuaded from carrying-the head of security just wants healed members to let him know so they know who to count on, just in case. Sadly, the Nazis are not all gone.

Ditto, here. Back in the states, during the high holidays, we were on notice by the local police to keep our eyes open for wing nuts. We had off-duty police, and a good number of the members of the congregation were armed, just in case. It's terrible to think about, but there are some really insane people in this world who would enjoy shooting up a place of worship.

 

[Mako72]

There are also a lot of cute girls carrying rifles; sometimes I wish I was younger.

I'm guessing one is very careful with pick up lines when they can butt stroke ya!

Jay

 

[waynejitsu]

Notice all of the mag well's are empty, no mags and I do not see any. I would feel better with a Katana or baseball bat than an empty gun.
Maybe I am missing something, but after enlarging the pic, I noticed ALL were empty, uncharged, no "real" protection.
"Maybe" they were airsoft or paint ball guns, LOL!!

 

[Clovis Man]

Notice all of the mag well's are empty, no mags and I do not see any. I would feel better with a Katana or baseball bat than an empty gun.
Maybe I am missing something, but after enlarging the pic, I noticed ALL were empty, uncharged, no "real" protection.
"Maybe" they were airsoft or paint ball guns, LOL!!

I'm guessing one is very careful with pick up lines when they can butt stroke ya!

Beat me to it! An unloaded rifle is still deadly, in the right hands. I recently read about an incident in Iraq where a Marine KILLED an enemy combatant with a horizontal buttstroke.

 

[Mako72]

Notice all of the mag well's are empty, no mags and I do not see any.

Look at the one on the left. She has two mags strapped together and slipped over the pistol grip on her rifle. I don't know their protocols but its possible they are on base. I believe even some of our bases and buildings in combat zone you still have to be unload for safety. Here is a picture of some in uniform, you can't see the weapons but you can see how they carry their mags.

View attachment 156910

Jay

 

[Groat]

I believe even some of our bases and buildings in combat zone you still have to be unload for safety.

You're supposed to unload and clear your weapons before you enter the base in a combat zone. Everybody in the convoy gets out of their trucks, goes over to a bunch of clearing barrels and clears their own weapon. Only then can you proceed into the base. When I was overseas, my instructions were that we were supposed to be amber (magazine loaded, chamber empty) when in a convoy as well.

 

[instpasr]

Some industrious soldier came up with this mag pouch that is strapped to the butt stock of the rifle while you're carrying it around on base. I'm hoping those females all have their mags on the inside of the stock.

 

[Groat]

Some industrious soldier came up with this mag pouch that is strapped to the butt stock of the rifle while you're carrying it around on base. I'm hoping those females all have their mags on the inside of the stock.

Those are the best. I found mine needed a zip tie to keep it nice and tight, but it worked great on my M4 for the whole deployment. Kept that one required magazine out of the way but within easy access range.

 

[dpm802]

That is still the case today. Concealed carry here is pretty meaningless, as people carry openly. It's very common, and there are soldiers almost everywhere packing M-16's or Tavors. There are also a lot of cute girls carrying rifles; sometimes I wish I was younger.

Can we assume that when we see an Israeli carrying a gun, they are off-duty military personnel? Or do the civilians arm themselves as well?

 

[instpasr]

I had one on my big stick with a zip tie also but because I was dual armed I just carted the M9 on base with a mag in the well and a spare in my back pocket. My blouse tended to cover my holster so it was easier to go amber that way.

 

[Amer]

Some industrious soldier came up with this mag pouch that is strapped to the butt stock of the rifle while you're carrying it around on base. I'm hoping those females all have their mags on the inside of the stock.

It kind of looks like the girl in the white top has something strapped to the inside of the butt of the rifle.

 

[mattface]

Can we assume that when we see an Israeli carrying a gun, they are off-duty military personnel? Or do the civilians arm themselves as well?

If we see an Israeli between the ages of 18 and 21 (20 if they are female) we can assume they are military personnel.

 

[dpm802]

If we see an Israeli between the ages of 18 and 21 (20 if they are female) we can assume they are military personnel.

While this is true, that's not the question I was asking.

When I was in Israel, I saw people in civilian clothes carrying guns and rifles ... and they were in ALL age ranges.

Likewise, there were soldiers in uniform that appeared to be upwards of 60yo. And these were not high-ranking generals ... just ordinary, lower-level enlisted personnel. While a sexagenarian soldier might not be fit for combat, they were assigned to guard duties, supply and admin tasks.

 

[mattface]

While this is true, that's not the question I was asking.

When I was in Israel, I saw people in civilian clothes carrying guns and rifles ... and they were in ALL age ranges.

Likewise, there were soldiers in uniform that appeared to be upwards of 60yo. And these were not high-ranking generals ... just ordinary, lower-level enlisted personnel. While a sexagenarian soldier might not be fit for combat, they were assigned to guard duties, supply and admin tasks.

While I don't actually know the answer to your question, it seems to me that making assumptions about someone's active military status in Israel based upon wether they are openly carrying a weapon, is probably no more likely to be wrong than making assumptions based upon the fact that they are say wearing jungle boots with their civvies. Damn near everyone HAS been active military at some point, and a lot still are. I don't see where making assumptions is ever advisable, but you've got better than averages in Israel if you assume someone is in the military.

 

[Gravy]

Can we assume that when we see an Israeli carrying a gun, they are off-duty military personnel? Or do the civilians arm themselves as well?

It's my understanding that the civilians arm themselves as well, in which case it will most likely be a concealed handgun.

 

[Doc4]

I am reminded of the old comical "personal ad":

SWM, 34, seeks SWF, 19-28, with fishing boat and trailer. Must be willing to clean and cook fish; ability to start campfire an asset. When responding, please include photo of boat and trailer.

 

[miamimoe]

Seeing as I live in Israel, I will try and set it out:

1. The girls out of uniform without magazines are off duty, therefore no magazines. They may also be in "Tironoot", which is basic training. They do not receive magazines until they have finished their training. However, unless they are at home, or on a base (in their room), they are required to carry their weapons at all times.

2. The girls in uniform are carrying the standard "street" load of 2 30 round magazines each. Every soldier on duty who is assigned a weapon is required to have ammunition at all times, even on their way home. Combat loads depend on your unit and duty.

3. If you see a solider in uniform with a sidearm, he/she is an officer. Israeli soldiers do not carry sidearms, even in combat, except the special units.

4. Civilians are allowed to carry sidearms with a permit from the police. In more dangerous areas, they receive, and carry M-16's. Depends on where you live.

 

[mmack66]

Had a lady in church throw her arm around me in a hug unexpectedly, arm did not make it down in time and her hand landed right on my Glock.

The look she gave me was real interesting till I explained it was legal.

She and her husband now carry.

There has to be a custom title in there somewhere.

 

[Go West Young Man]

I bet everyone was very polite to each other.

You've obviously never met an Israeli!

 

[mattface]

OK, here's my concealed carry awkward moment, which I think tops most anything mentioned here so far in spite of the fact that I've never owned or carried a realfirearm.

When I was 13(ish) I bought a single shot pump action BB pistol one summer. My parents didn't know I had it, and wouldn't have allowed it if they had. I was into playing "spy", and also needed a convenient way to smuggle my contraband weapon in and out of the house, so I made a homemade shoulder holster out of some naugahyde material, elastic, and a snap fastener gun I found around the house. it was really an impressive little holster, not even considering it was hand crafted by a 13 year old using odds and ends.

I would wear the pistol under my jeans jacket when my friend and I played spy. I was a bit large for a 13 year old, and my friend was a bit small, so although it didn't occur to me at the time I was likely to be taken by adults for a much older teenager. One day we were playing spy in the local DPW lot. We liked that lot because it had a tall brick wall around it that was fun to scale, and drop down inside the yard and duck behind piles of gravel, all while humming the mission impossible theme song. On this particular day we did this while one of the local police cars was fueling up at the gas pump in the DPW lot. Another thing that did not occur to us is that although our innocent game of spy might be very obviously a game to us, to that cop it looked like we were a couple of teenagers sneaking into the DPW to steal gas. When we saw the cop, we ducked under the gate and ran away, but then we didn't really know what to do from there, so we just decided to walk down the street like nothing had happened.

Well the cop saw us and decided to arrest ME, and not my friend, because presumably I looked like a young hoodlum, and he like an innocent little kid. He put me in the back seat of the cruiser, and there I was sitting there with something that it suddenly occurred to me looked quite a bit like a gun! Then a moment later the cop brought me back OUT of the car and decided to frisk me. I think it was more about giving me the full scare treatment than about procedure, but of course he found the BB pistol, as well as my swiss army knife. I think he was more than a little dumbfounded to find a BB pistol in a shoulder holster, but they took me to the station, and my parents were called, and the cops asked if they wanted the bb pistol back, and my parents said no, so they crushed it in a vice.

Obviously in hindsight I can see just how stupid and dangerous the game I was playing was, but at the time I was literally on the cusp of childhood and adolescence, and was just a little too sophisticated for my own good, but not sophisticated enough to realize it. It didn't help anything that I looked older than I was. Anyway that was by FAR the most awkward concealed carry moment of my life, and I sincerely doubt I'll ever top it.