Yesterday a mother in Idaho left her purse unattended in a shopping cart beside her toddler and the boy found the firearm in a concealed pocket and shot his mother in the head. This is a tragedy which sadly could have been easily prevented. Had the purse been in the possession of the mother instead of in the cart beside the child he would not have had access to the firearm and she would probably be alive today. I believe the rule which needs to be stressed here is to never become separated from your firearm. It’s simple when you are carrying a concealed holster, the firearm is on-body, but things get more sticky when you carry off-body. Today there are many ways to do this, probably the most common is in a purse or backpack. If you are not holding the purse or backpack you have no control over the firearm and may as well not be carrying in the first place. It is difficult enough to draw a pistol from concealment off your hip, but now you will have to get into that purse or backpack to retrieve the firearm and then bring it into service. How will that ever be accomplished if your bag is sitting in a shopping cart half an aisle away?
Whenever someone carries off-body they have several things to think about, the first of which is to never become separated from your firearm. This means to always carry your purse or bag on your shoulder so it is under your control. There are several other things to consider, but today let’s just hammer home one rule, maintain constant possession of your concealed firearm!