Carrying with a toddler

[paherne]

Honestly, I've been thinking really hard on it. It's so new though and I don't generally like to being an early adopter. I'd rather let someone else suffer working the kinks out.

I have an old Colt Defender that's basically NIB sitting in the back of the safe I was considering. It came from the factory with edges you could shave with and would need quite a bit of work (time + $) to get to where I would be comfortable carrying it.

I've never really liked AIWB when I've tried it in the past. I think the gun and holster would need to be as thin as possible (Shield) for it to work for me.

For the past four months (since walking began) I've been carrying either a J-frame on my ankle in a Renegade holster or a Kahr P380 (mine works...so far) in my pocket. We were standing around when Christmas shopping a couple weeks ago (I was holding her hand) and she pulled up my pant leg in a very public place trying to inspect the 442 on my ankle. One of the reasons I'm rethinking what I'm doing.

Hell, I've even started thinking about carrying a fanny pack which is something I never thought I would consider. I figure with a little one in tow I might be able to pull it off. The only guys I ever saw carry those were at the beginning of my career and they usually had matching M-frames, a mustache, and a bad haircut to go with it.

Bro, I've been where you're at. My daughter, who is now 21 and wants to carry, was about four when this incident happened. I was shopping, intently trying to pick some item off a shelf in the Burlingame Lunardi's when I noticed that an older lady, mid 60's, just down the aisle was looking at me like I was a serial killer, the look of revulsion on her face was palpable. I was wearing a G19 at 3 o'clock in a pancake holster, covered by a flannel. I hadn't noticed that my lovely Erin had lifted up the tail of my shirt, exposing the G19. I quickly realized what was going on, told the lady I was an off-duty cop and badged her. I then turned to my adorable daughter and asked why she had lifted up my shirt, she told me, "I wanted to see your cool gun, Dad." We had an interesting conversation after that about why she shouldn't do that, or tell people I was a cop. That was a little difficult, because her best friend was my K9 partner, whom she loved and went to her preschool, etc and she wanted to tell everyone about him.

Carry like you would normally carry. Be prepared to kick your kid to knock them on their ass and get them out of the line of fire if you ever skin your pistol. As they get older, teach them the four rules and NEVER deny your kid a request to look at one of your guns. I have 3-4 loaded guns lying about the house and have since I bought the place 23 years ago. My kids treat them like the dangerous objects they are. They could look at any gun, any time, but they had to recite the four rules and show me they could unload the pistol, rifle or shotgun, on demand. Both of my kids have their own guns, now. I took them shooting and guns held no mystery for them. They comment about bad gun-handling in movies. Recently, a local cop had his house attacked by a crazy guy who broke out his windows and threatened his family. He was not able to get to his gun in its locked safe before the guy chose to walk away. Both of my kids, 17 and 21, would have reacted differently and would have had the means to do so. That's all I will say about that. Raise your daughter right, train her up and make her, "Not a victim."

[sikiguya]

I have a p365 sas. It has no primer drag on the cases. They have finally fixed the striker issues. But hey what you wants.

However for pocket carry and to be around kids, I would suggest a S&W 442. That is about a 10 lbs trigger pull. I don’t see the kid pulling that off.


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[JAD]

That is about a 10 lbs trigger pull. I don’t see the kid pulling that off.

Kids master the da pull by putting both thumbs against the trigger, which points the muzzle at their chest or face.

No gun is safe around kids before they’re ready to be safe. All guns are on your person or locked away.

[sikiguya]

Surely, I am not suggesting leaving a loaded revolver around kids. But interesting point with kids. I have seen kids crack the kid proof latches, outlet covers, and pill bottles.

Personally, with my kids being teenagers, I have always kept them in locked pistol safes around the house. These have the simplex lock on them. I trust mechanical locks for this purpose. Too many time, I have gone to an electronic lock safe and have dead batteries.


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[medmo]

I like your thinking with the manual safety. My youngest is now 26. When I had toddlers I mostly carried a S&W 6906. DA trigger and manual safety.

[LJP]

I am going to preface my comments with a little bit about my own life to justify where I’m coming from...

I have two toddlers (2 & 3 y/o), and I have taken the Citizens Defense Research “The Armed Parent/Guardian” class with Melody Lauer. That is a fantastic class that addresses a lot of carrying while being responsible for a small child.

I have been carrying concealed for over two decades, and pretty much have carried AIWB exclusively for the past decade with either a G19 or S&W M&P9 2.0 Compact. With the proper holster (I like JM Custom Kydex) I have absolutely no concerns about my gun being inadvertently fired by toddler hands or playing. And yes, I’ve carried my kids around and horsed around on the floor with them.

I would not explore things like guns with external safeties or small gun pocket carry if that’s not what you’ve already been doing. One of my personal rules is that when I’m with my family, their safety is my primary mission. Therefore, I carry the largest gun that I can comfortably and safely that I am the most capable with. For me, that means I don’t rely on my J-Frame only when I’m out and about with my kids. If I’m by myself, those are odds I’ll take. But if I’m responsible for protecting my kids against kidnap or other potential dangers, then I want the best weapon that I am most capable and most accurate with. YMMV.

As far as kids and safety, I have two gun safes. A big one in the basement and a quick access long gun safe bolted into my bedroom closet. If my gun isn’t in my waistband, it’s in the safe. My kids have expressed some interest in what my gun is, but for right now, I’ve simply told them that it’s a tool that Daddy carries to keep us all safe. I keep it concealed both inside and outside the home, so there haven’t been a lot of questions yet.

If your interested, my AAR of the above mentioned class is available at:

https://civiliangunfighter.wordpress...il-27-28-2019/

[KevH]

The two autoloaders I've spent the most time with in my life have been the 1911 and the Glock by far. I've been shooting both since about 1994 and am perfectly comfortable shooting either. I'm also comfortable with J-frames, the S&W M&P and the SIG P-series, but the two aforementioned guns are by far the warm handshake of an old friend. Manual safety, striker, single action trigger, etc. Don't care. The differing manual of arms don't bother me. It doesn't take too much time to transition for me. For what it's worth, most of my time has been spent shooting Glocks for the past few years.

I would never leave a gun sitting around with a kid. That's not my reason for the manual safety. It is for if she is poking around on me and somehow if it gets unholstered I have an extra second to get it away from her before tragedy strikes. She isn't a wild child, but there is lots of goofing and playing and hanging off me.

The whole "I can grapple and keep a gun away from adult so can definitely keep it away from a kid" is a bunk argument to me. It's apples to oranges. I've spent way too much of my life having to do d-tac drills focused on keeping my gun away from or taking it away from others. We naturally become more defensive and aware as other adults get near us or too close to our "comfort zone." We are used to letting our kids hang off our bodies and they live and function in that same comfort zone. It only takes a second for them to unholster a gun or expose it at a poor time.

I've been thinking about it all weekend and I'm really focusing the following:
- M&P Shield 2.0 with manual safety
- Glock 43X
- Glock 48

I think I'll try a Tenicor holster with one of those and see how that works. AIWB has never worked for me in the past, but I think it's time to give it another go. Whatever it is has to be thin. When I've tried carrying a Glock 26 in that position in the past it looked like I had a colostomy bag or some weird giant growth there and was generally uncomfortable.

[M2CattleCo]

Being fully confident a toddler can't disarm me isn't bunk.

It's reality.

[Cookie Monster]

The two autoloaders I've spent the most time with in my life have been the 1911 and the Glock by far. I've been shooting both since about 1994 and am perfectly comfortable shooting either. I'm also comfortable with J-frames, the S&W M&P and the SIG P-series, but the two aforementioned guns are by far the warm handshake of an old friend. Manual safety, striker, single action trigger, etc. Don't care. The differing manual of arms don't bother me. It doesn't take too much time to transition for me. For what it's worth, most of my time has been spent shooting Glocks for the past few years.

I would never leave a gun sitting around with a kid. That's not my reason for the manual safety. It is for if she is poking around on me and somehow if it gets unholstered I have an extra second to get it away from her before tragedy strikes. She isn't a wild child, but there is lots of goofing and playing and hanging off me.

The whole "I can grapple and keep a gun away from adult so can definitely keep it away from a kid" is a bunk argument to me. It's apples to oranges. I've spent way too much of my life having to do d-tac drills focused on keeping my gun away from or taking it away from others. We naturally become more defensive and aware as other adults get near us or too close to our "comfort zone." We are used to letting our kids hang off our bodies and they live and function in that same comfort zone. It only takes a second for them to unholster a gun or expose it at a poor time.

I've been thinking about it all weekend and I'm really focusing the following:
- M&P Shield 2.0 with manual safety
- Glock 43X
- Glock 48

I think I'll try a Tenicor holster with one of those and see how that works. AIWB has never worked for me in the past, but I think it's time to give it another go. Whatever it is has to be thin. When I've tried carrying a Glock 26 in that position in the past it looked like I had a colostomy bag or some weird giant growth there and was generally uncomfortable.

A little bit of a side point and maybe talking about ego.

I now keep all my guns except the carry pistol unloaded.

There was three different times I went to the big gun safe and it was unlocked or opened. Loaded shotguns and rifles in the safe. My boys were only 3 at the time and they aren’t roaming around pulling guns out of safe but I due to sleep deprivation or plain inattention or just being stupid I grabbed something out and didn’t lock it and forgot. But someday they will be curious and unsupervised and then I think worse case.

So one more layer to ease my mind. Magazines are there to take care of issues if I need to and hopefully those 3 seconds won’t get me killed in the streets or dirt road that I live on.

Maybe a tangent and maybe I am just not up for the task and can’t be on point ever moment of the day that I need too. I won’t let my ego and bravado and just believe my tactical excellence at all moments will solve it all. Life is hard, you make mistakes, and kids will surprise you every fucking day.

[KevH]

Being fully confident a toddler can't disarm me isn't bunk.

It's reality.

Didn't mean to come across like a jerk if I did, but I'm not talking about disarming. I'm talking about lifting a cover garment, a kicking foot hooking and popping a gun out of its holster, or heaven forbid, a little finger getting near a trigger.

I've already had the gun on my ankle messed with. I've had my phone fiddled with more than once and random crap while I'm distracted by the rest of world wind up in my shopping cart at the grocery store.

Maybe you're much better at toddler wrangling than me (you probably are...I'm still pretty new at this), but these are the types of things that concern me.