Open carry Walmart (courtesy she who must not be named)

TTAG reader BG writes:

“A friend from Indiana said his niece was at an Indianapolis-area WalMart recently and took this picture of a lady she saw while shopping. Yes, disturbing on so many levels. Does this gal think she’s open carrying? Conceal carrying? Does she think the gun distracts from the fact her crack is showing? At least it appears to be in a holster… She’s not doing the 2nd amendment world any favors by being this kind of example of a gun owner  I can tell you this; if we were both reaching for the last loaf of bread, I’d sure let her have it!”

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146 COMMENTS

  1. When I had a BB gun my parents said “Be careful or you’ll shoot your eye out with that”
    When you grow up, I guess it’s “Be careful or you’ll get your ass shot off”

  2. Let’s just hope she’s an off duty, undercover narc for a neighboring county or something. I really doubt it, but I guess I can hope, right?

    Wheelgun

    • The only thing she is guilty of is a little nudity. Distasteful, Yes. I am just glad the woman is carrying a gun, concealed or open. Even less women carry on their body. She’s doing two things the gun culture needs more of. There’s no reason to hope she is a cop. Is she a bad example of a gun owner? I don’t know if I would go that far.

      • I know who this is!!!

        This my best friend’s mom who makes makes money on the internet! You know, the one who has been out of a job for a while but last month her pay check was $something or other just working on the internet for a few hours.

        She can’t stay in front of that webcam all the time.

      • Only thing I see maybe wrong is if she is carrying openly, she should really be using a retention holster. With it out and behind her like that it could be grabbed by someone she can’t even see.

    • No worse than any other part of the country. At least we(I’m assuming you live near or in Indy) live in a state where people understand and exercise their 2nd Amendment rights. Basically, what Chris Mallory said.

  4. The tattoos are not called “tramp stamps” for nothing. She’s probably not particularly worried about much beyond feeding that carcass anyway.

      • I like girls with tattoos and tramp stamps like this. It lets me know that they are willing to make decisions that they will regret later on in life.

        • The danger is that they may already have made some bad decisions and messing around with one of them may be a really bad decision for you, disease-wise

        • “I like girls with tattoos and tramp stamps like this. It lets me know that they are willing to make decisions that I will regret later on in life.”

          There I fixed it for you.

        • Nah, if that was the case, she’d be pushing the results of the mistake around in the cart, as it screamed.

    • Tramp stamps are the tattoos just over the butt crack. Something to stare at in doggy, I suppose.

  5. OK. That’s like the opposite of a hot Israeli super model.
    I kinda threw up in my mouth a little bit.

  9. Seems like the butt (the one on the pistol) is facing the wrong way. I know women have better shoulder rotation than men, but wouldn’t this be an awkward, uncomfortable draw?

    • You ever tried to carry and draw with your pistol like this? I CC this way all the time. Much easier rotation to draw and get to aim point for me.

    • That’s the recommended orientation as far as I know. Facing the other way would cause you to sweep your entire lower torso every time you draw. More of a cant would certainly help.

    • Sounds like you watch too much tv. There are enough reasons not too. But I’d recommend getting firearms education from intelligent, real life professionals, listen to the reasoning from both sides, take the best away from it, and make your own decisions.

      • I don’t watch TV at all Arod and you’re right there are plenty of reasons not to.

      • Arod529, I don’t have a TV. I seldom watch movies. I have gotten more than my share of competent professional instruction. And your assumptions about me would be irritating if I could be bothered to take you seriously.

  10. I thought the Second Amendment applied to all of us, not just those who dress or act the way you want them too. I seem to remember a series on a certain blog about “non-typical” gun owners, some might do well to remember that we are all different and don’t need to fit the same mold.

    • Excellent point. There’s a heavy whiff of body shaming and class snobbery here. Just how prosperous and pretty do you have to be before you get to enjoy human rights?

      That said, she really needs to buy a holster and learn to conceal. It’s like underwear. I wear it. I assume you wear it. But most of the time there’s no good reason to display it on purpose or by accident.

      • Say what you will, but people make choices as to how they present themselves. My guess is that a picture like this is not something you would see at the local Neiman Marcus. If you are going to dress a certain way, expect people to react in a given fashion. If this same woman had been dressed in a business suit with the gun concealed, reactions would be very different. It would be the same person but people would see her differently.

        It goes back to the conversation a few weeks ago about Trayvon Martin. Irrespective of color, if you dress and act like a “gangster” punk, you are going to be viewed as one and people will act accordingly.

        • Ah, so there’s a minimum beauty quotient required if you want to have civil rights.
          And women especially had damned well better look pretty all the time or else.
          Peddle that somewhere else.

        • “dressed in a business suit with the gun concealed, reactions would be very different”
          Yeah.
          The photo wouldn’t exist because she’d look just like an unarmed victim.

          Would I prefer she looked / dressed more ‘average’? Sure.
          But as others have said, the only thing she’s really doing wrong is not having a good belt which stays up around her waist & supports the pistol.

          Open carry deters crime.
          Concealed carry forces you to respond to the attack once it’s underway.
          I’d rather the criminal left me alone, instead of being forced to harm him to save myself.
          OC is often more comfortable and easy, and is definitely faster to access in an emergency.

          But it’s _your_ choice, just like it’s my choice, just like it’s her choice.

    • Agreed. This woman may not be tacticool whizbang neato with a $200 tuckable hybrid holster, but she is minding her own business while being prepared to throw down should the need arise.

      That the gun isn’t realistically going anywhere. Is this mode of carry advisable for running-jumping-climbing trees? No, not if you want to keep your hogleg about you. Is it adequate for walking around with a grocery cart? I think so.

      • Everybody’s making fun of her, which is odd. We’re the ones losing minutes of life looking at and discussing a less-than perfect chick with an adequate gun and decent holster. And we’re supposedly pro-gun. She went home that night and said to her partner, “You were, right, honey. It worked. I got them to take my picture. They couldn’t resist. It’s getting thousands of page views! The satin dress would have never sufficed.”

    • Keep that in mind next time you see a black man with his pants sagged low. 2A applies to all citizens.

        • Pants down low… It’s been rumored that it’s a Prison advertisement that he’s open for business. Homee I’m ready for you.

          As to fashion statement NO Mom failed to teach you how to dress your self right and dad (the seaman doner ) was never home.

    • Agreed. If I saw this woman, she would be a “curiosity” for me, but I’d get over it in about 1.2 seconds. There’s nothing inherently wrong with what she’s doing or who she is (assuming open carry is legal where she is) and I’ve got more important things to do.

    • I agree with A. Nuran. I also agree I would prefer to see a well dressed women, but if she was not showing the gun how would you know she was armed? I also thought that in this country it was everyone’s right to look, dress, and in some states open carry any way they wanted.

  13. What a bunch of judgmental old ladies some of you are. It may have been a toy she just took away from her kids. If it’s real, then GOOD FOR HER – carry on and carry always.

    • If they put that toy back on the shelf I’d not buy it!

      Note to self increase quality control on toy purchases for children, emphasis on really fresh (disgusting) odors not recently from China..

    • Poor, but the possibility of missing and grabbing a handful of something else might serve as a deterrent to some.

      Yes, people have been a bit harsh above, but showing buttcrack in public is a bit rude.

      • I don’ think her butt crack is showing, I believe what you see is the natural leather from her holster that’s almos the same color as her skin.

        Again, I’m pretty sure she’s carrying an IWB holster, you can see the hooks on her belt. She probably just needs a gunbelt and a looser fitting top to conceal properly.

        • Agreed. That’s not her body you’re seeing, it’s the edge of the holster. I don’t care if she gets a looser shirt or not, that’s her decision. She does need a better belt, however.

        • I try to admit when I’m wrong, and I think this is one of those times. On closer inspection it does look like a skin-toned IWB holster. You can even see the one of the belt clips if you look closely. As long as they have legal OC there, I have no cause to cast aspersions.

  15. Eh I agree poor taste in clothing choices but shes a “normal” person exercising her right to carry and desensitizing the public. I’m okay with it of course I would not wear a gun like that non retention without it being covered but that’s just me.

    Or maybe it does have a snap, its hard to tell from the photo

  16. Doesnt Indy allow open carry??? if so the only problem i see is her horrible fashion sense and those rolls she is failing to conceal.

      • Call me a redneck, but what exactly do we consider civilized here again? I live in Florida (obviously) and flip flops, a T-shirt and cargo shorts are the only thing I will wear when not at work or attending a official function.

        Butt crack asside, not everyone can afford bespoke Brooks Bros. suits and Dolce & Gabana. I see little benefit in deriding a person who is carrying. Hell, she might even be a visitor here. He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. We can’t all be pretty all the time, but if possible we should all be carrying all the time.

  17. Looks like there’s at least an even chance that’s in a holster – and if she’s legal, what’s the problem? Is the right to keep and bear arms only for the young, trim, and attractive among us?

    I’m not a big fan of open carry, but it wouldn’t have helped much if she’d pulled the tank top down over the butt of the gun. And many people believe that off-body carry is a much less favored approach to carry . . . so what should this person do, if she wants to avail herself of her 2nd amendment rights?

  18. Crack-carry? Which one of you TTAG’s is this? I dont advise it.

    I’m not too sure why some people choose to holster their gun in the small of their back? Even with a proper holster its still a ridiculous place to put your weapon…

    • Seriously? Lots of plainclothes cops carried this way for decades. I started carrying my LCR in this position a few months ago. For me, it’s the most comfortable IWB method going. No problem with the draw and re-holster either. YMMV of course.

      • Hm, I usually see people OC in the small of their back(which I still think is ridiculous, eyes in the back of their head?). CC in the small of back is a bit better, but not by much.

  19. First, I’m not going to say anything about body types…the 32″ jeans I wore 20 years ago haven’t fit me in a long time.

    I believe she is wearing a holster, either a Crossbread Super Tuck (a personal favorite of mine) or something simlar. You can see the hooks on her belt. I typically wear mine more at 4 O’clock (rather than her 5:30ish) which maximizes concelment and puts the butt of my G30 in the palm of my hand without dislocating my shoulder.

    I’m not sure about the legality of open cary with a concelment holster (here in Texas as gun friendly as we are, open carry is verbotten)…or if she’s trying to conceal and failing badly. I normally wear mine with a large long t-shirt or with a loose golf shirt tucked in.

    • The difference in placement between men & women has to do with body shape and comfort.
      I’ve seen many men carrying at 3:00, which for me would be not only uncomfortable but make drawing difficult, as the grip would be digging into my ribs.
      Hips, ya know. Curves, even.

  23. My main worry here is that the gun looks awfully easy for an assailant to grab. Unless she has very good situational awareness, I would worry about someone coming up behind her and taking the gun away.

    • Same thing I was thinking. If its not in front then at least hide it as while she is reaching for bread someone could disarm her in a second. Already seen a crazy man snatch a kid at walmart this year with mom right there.

  24. Oh ,I get it.

    You only have the right to keep and bear arms if you’re packing a Glock/Sig/1911 in a kydex holster with a trendy 5-11 cover garment.

    Otherwise , you can just turn in your guns to the police department and walk around unarmed, because you just aren’t worthy of having your Constitutional rights.

    This post is a black mark on TTAG and all who agree with it. Its tragic enough that millions of hoplophobes insist that people aren’t qualified to carry weapons for personal defense. I’m disgusted to see many on this website agree with that sentiment.

    I don’t give a darn if she’s stark naked with a belly holster. That woman has the unadulterated right to carry whatever weapon she feels best to defend herself and her family. That right is paid for in the blood of our veterans who’ve died to protect our Constitution. Please don’t dishonor their sacrifice by even tangentally suggesting this WalMart shopper should be disarmed, or not carry her weapon.

    • I don’t think anyone is suggesting that she not be allowed to carry her weapon. Comments center around her choice of clothing, body art, and the specific manner she chooses to carry the weapon.

    • No, just get a proper holster and put you weapon where you can easily retain it and not have it easily stolen by someone.

    • +1, with the caveat that I don’t think anyone here wants her disarmed; the snobbishness however, is a wee bit repugnant to me.

  25. Indianapolis area is a rather vague description. You can be half way to Bloomington and still be said to be in the Indianapolis area. You can’t tell what she looks like and she is probably in no worse shape than many of the OFWGs who make up the TTAG readership. The bottom line is despite your personal preferences in women she is exercising her right to carry and I support that.

    • ^^ This

      Just because she doesn’t fit into the (probably fairly large) mold that the majority of the readers on this site do doesn’t mean we should tear her apart. Poor taste by TTAG and some readers.

  26. Ya’ll are going to eat a lot of humble pie if she’s a fellow TTAG reader and Person Of The Gun.

  27. Here’s the scenario. Someone approaches her with a kife demanding money/sexual favors. She instantly reacts, grabs the gun and pulls it from it’s holster. The front sight hooks her thong resulting in and instant front-to-back wedgie. In pain she flinches shooting herself in the ass.

  28. For shame TTAG. Especially after claiming to want to increase female readership. It’s unlikely that all ‘women of the gun’ look like fate-of-destinee over on the sidebar. Personally, I’ll be open carrying the first day it’s legal in TX and I doubt I’ll lose much weight by then.

  29. So….we’re really going to look at a Walmart and make blanket statements about Indiana residents? Which state was the first to allow lifetime concealed carry permits? Oh yes, It was Indiana. We like our guns here. This is no different (and frankly, probably better scenery) than any other Walmart across the US.

    • I like my Wal-Mart scenery on weekdays it’s average. But on weekends there’s lots of ILLEGALS with Anchor babies, oh and the Dreamers. Dang Packing Plants..

  30. @ Robert F. – could you design an image overlay for posts like this for the future? Something along the lines of “The following post doesn’t represent the gun community – it is for our elitist readers only.” would be great.

  32. If she isn’t breaking the law, I have no problem with it. Sounds like the person who took the photo is a hoplophobe and got their panties bunched.

  33. First of all, good for her. Second of all GOOD FOR HER. I cannot tell what she is carrying but looks like a model 1911 wood stock, and it looks pretty snug in there. Fine choice.

    When about of gun enthusiasts are complaining about open carry then we have a long way to towards “normalization.”

    You will NEVER see that in Maryland, without a good and substantial reason. How about some equal time for all the other women at Wal-Mart who were NOT carrying but probably should have been.

    • You’re welcome to your opinion, and to make decisions for yourself.
      But there are advantages to open carry.
      1) prevents crime, instead of requiring one to respond to an attack in progress
      2) easier access in an emergency
      3) comfort
      4) normalizes & educates

      OC is not always the right choice, just as cc is not always the right choice.
      It depends on the person & the situation.
      If someone is concerned about their situational awareness, or ashamed of exercising their right to self-protection, or not sure about the laws, or not willing to discuss their choice with people they meet, or even is simply not a friendly person, concealed carry makes more sense.

  36. At least she’s not an anti. If we dismissed every gun owner who wasn’t in excellent shape or had less than ideal fashion sense, our numbers would diminish in a measurable way.

  37. What’s wrong with you people? What you see above is the recommended form of carry for all Mensa members in Indiana.

    • Mensa takes no official position on firearms.
      Members are smart enough to figure out how to carry safely.
      Would you think it’s acceptable to make a snide remark about any other minority?

  39. Every so often I read something on TTAG that make me think, “WTF? Are we all on the same team?” This is one of them. Here is a picture of a woman open-carrying a handgun in an IWB holster. Nothing more. Want to whine about open-carry vs. concealed? Fine. Lots of opinions on both sides. Neither side can claim theirs is “best.” Got an opinion on retention holsters? OK. Not everybody likes them. I don’t carry in one, and NEVER will. Everything else is petty, elitist bullshit. I’m ashamed Robert let this be posted on TTAG, and the loser comments on here about “toothless shoppers” or tattoos (I don’t like them, but to each his own.) are beneath the gun-owning community.

    We get all bent out of shape when anti’s generalize all gun-owners as fat, middle-aged white rednecks, and then I see gun owners slam another gun owner because she doesn’t fit their ideal body type or “station in life,” or “That’s how the Mensa members” carry. What a bunch of losers.

  40. What she’s doing would be totally legal here in Delaware. It is uncommon to see people OC but they do it, I saw a guy at 7-11 a couple of weeks ago with a gun on his belt. He bought chewing tobacco, OH THE HORROR!

    If you saw that woman without a gun down her pants, none of you would bat an eye. It is easy to be critical, but everyone has the right to bear arms regardless of their class, manner of dress, what have you…

    I think what is more disturbing than the fact that she is packing or how she’s doing it, is the emerging voyeuristic nature of our society. I absolutely hate that you can’t go anywhere without wondering if someone might photograph you. It hasn’t happened to me, but I was told a story by a friend regarding someone they knew who was a “ginger” that traveled to the UK.

    People, especially young girls, would snap photos and laugh at him in public. At first he didn’t understand what was going on, because he was a normal looking person who happened to have red hair… but even after he realized what was going on he still never fully understood what the hell was wrong with these people.

    There is just something very wrong with humanity in general and the base tendency to cast bigoted judgement on people. Walmart is a modern bazaar that by its very nature attracts people from ALL walks of life and I really think they should consider banning photography in their stores, because it is getting ridiculous.

  41. Shame on all the gun supporters here who mock this lady for practicing her 2nd amendment right while looking a certain way. Disgusting how we treat each other.

    You suck robert.

  42. Way to make an impression on that female shooter demographic you guys were shooting for. To the infantile commentators above, thanks for making the TTAG community look like a bunch of children. If you guys are what the public sees the people of the gun as, we’ll be disarmed inside of a decade.

  43. The only thing she is guilty of is a little nudity. Distasteful, Yes. I am just glad the woman is carrying a gun, concealed or open. Even less women carry on their body. She’s doing two things the gun culture needs more of. A bad example of a gun owner? I don’t know if I would go that far.

  45. So what if her pistol is showing or hidden. Unless you know for a fact
    she is not permitted to carry a firearm and not wanting to assume that
    because it is holstered chances are good she is legal all you have is a one
    sided story.

    Is this The Truth About Guns or one of those celeb gossip sites?

    • They’re trying to do both actually.

      I wonder if they realize how dirt poor and ugly many gun owners are, especially by today’s standards? The bourgeois, elitist gun owner takes for granted what the working man brings to the cause of 2A rights. Without the implied threat of rampaging commoners, 2A would have been gone long ago.

  47. Its okay in IN to open carry.

    Now if she was a 10 it would be okay right?

    Id rather she pack more towards 3:oo other than that Its you guys who put her in the light even more.

    • Newsflash: men & women are shaped differently.
      Women have things called hips.
      Carrying at 3:00 would make the muzzle push away from the body & the grip poke into the ribs.
      Or in an IWB holster, the muzzle would dig into the hip (probably painfully) and the grip would still be in the ribs.
      Comfort is a personal decision.
      Aside from recommending (for safety – injury prevention) that one not carry directly on the spine, as long as you can access the pistol when needed & be safe about it, I don’t care where you put it.

  48. So much BS about her looks etc… The real discussion should be about how she is carrying.

    It is open carry in a conceal carry holster. It is sloppy and ridiculous. There is no reason to iwb for open carry, and is even less comfortable. It is not that she is doing anything wrong per say, but makes me question her experience, intelligence, and skills in regards to firearms. If she was using and owb holster, I wouldn’t have put a second thought in. As is though, it just seems like she doesn’t really know what she is doing.

    But hey, she is isn’t using doing the backwards Hollywood grip carry in small of back with no holster, so it’s not all bad.

    • Actually , I can give you a perfectly logical reason to open carry in a concealed carry holster, 2 even. First, not every one has the money or time for the proverbial drawer full of holsters, they choose one that works and stick with it. Second, if you always carry the same gun in the same place in the same holster, covered or not, you will always know exactly where it is and how it will present. My mode of carry depends almost entirely on the weather but I prefer an IWB hybrid at 3:30 for all carry. Since I tend towards dark clothing even open carry is fairly unobtrusive, as long as the grips are dark.

  50. I think it’s great that she’s carrying, and I agree with the many other folks above who have noted that not everybody looks like they stepped out of a 5.11 calendar photo-shoot. Nor should we have to — if you can legally carry, and do so safely, then nobody should look down on you for exercising your rights. Ever.

    I also wouldn’t go making unfounded assumptions about her weapon-retention skills. Ever consider that she might have a few years of jiu-jitsu or aikido training, and be perfectly capable of breaking multiple arm joints on anyone foolhardy enough to try to take her gun?

  52. Come on, it’s Walmart. What do you expect? I see people that look and do stranger things every time I’m at Wally World.

  53. Damn it, RF! A bloke cannot just unsee something!

    Even were I to fire up the blowtorch and burn my eyes clean, I’d still have the memory of that as one of the last things I ever saw.

    I’ll grant you that it’s no centerfold of Feinkenstein, but it’s on the same order of magnitude.

    Ugh! Yuck! Bleah!

    • EDIT: To be clear, I’m no soma-type bigot, although I will admit that saggy-pantsers are a pet peeve of mine.

      The main bother, however, is that her li’l friend is exposed to grope ‘n’ grab and that should she need it in a hurry she’ll have an extra opening down there.

      And the gun will of course get the blame.

  56. I wonder how many of the critics wives/girlfriends are less attractive than the subject of their ridicule.

  57. Mayella Elizabeth Andrews, wheah have you been?!?

    Aw, ma! Ah was jus’ shootin’ the sh¡t down at Wal*Mart.

  60. I don’t have an issue with how she’s carrying, I have an issue with her thinking she looks good in that outfit.

  61. If she were an Israeli supermodel, every male blue-balled virgin on this site would be saying…”I don’t see a gun. Ha ha, LOL, snort!”

    Good on her.

  62. For shame TTAG. This is more like the sort of thing responsible adults chastise errant teenagers for doing. For the under 30 crowd tattoos are more normal than not, her clothes are trendy in a sedate way, she’s carrying a few extra pounds and she’s already a leg up on anyone not packing heat. So let’s think this through: She’s a typical mostly average American woman for her demographic except that she packs serious heat. I say rock on and good on her.

    As for the retention concern, what proportion of crimes start with someone disarming an open carrier as opposed to the crimes they don’t commit because someone in the area is obviously armed? Is retention a factor? Oh yeah, is it more important than having a gun in the first place? No way.

    • Looking at her bearing I suspect she is a LEO or military. Most real woman cops don’t look like Kate Beckett or Ziva David. They look more like this woman. Now from my experience most women case officers do look like Annie Walker.

  64. I told you to show more CLASS not a$$!(or crass)

    I live in Indiana and think that may be MY Wal-Mart…lol.

    All jokes aside, I’d rather see it in a holster but live and let live.

  65. Pitiful, but not surprising. Walmart stores are VERY permissive to gun carrying, and it has come back to bite them. As I’ve chronicled at the Walmart Shootings blog, there have been at least 10 incidents with legal conceal carry gun owners carrying their guns at Walmart in the past year and a half (including accidents and intentional shootings), not to mention the continuing litany of shootings that are occurring (it’s up to 44 shootings so far this year at their stores, not counting all the non-shots-fired incidents, which include at least 38 armed robberies). http://walmartshootings.blogspot.com

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