Here is a tactical no no. It is not cool to have a CCW badge displayed. If you are that guy and no one has told you, it looks goofy. Let’s just remember the reason that we have CCW permits; for Concealed Carry!!! The other day at the Nashville Gun Show I saw way too many people wearing these. Let’s run this over.
If you are trying to conceal your weapon it is not cool to let everyone know that you have one. Secondly, you just might get in a situation where someone may think you are a cop, which you are not. You are citizen with a gun, but you might be accused of impersonating a police officer. I know we all wanted to be cops growing up, but this is not even close. Leave the badges to the professionals. Finally, everyone who knows anything about fighting, combat and survival immediately knows you are a pretender. So keep some respect among your peers. Better to be thought of as wise, than to wear a CCW badge and be confirmed a wannabe.
I can warn of something that should be a big concern if you are thinking of getting a CCW badge. If any civilian accuses you of impersonating a cop, real cops will take major offense, it’s a felony so they are aggressive, and if you actually possess a badge when they approach you on this accusation (whether legitimate or not) simply having the badge in your possession will be probable cause in their eyes to detain and or outright charge you. Having the badge is a very poor idea. It limits you rather than enhancing you. There is only one reason to have the badge, that is in the aftermath of a shootout when perhaps you want to look like a good guy in the heat of matters. Very remote chance of ever happening and you can still use other methods to achieve this if it does. Chances are very high you will have to show your credentials to a cop if you are pulled over and this might happen many times in your life. Any cop seeing this badge (on a traffic stop) is not going to be impressed AT ALL. He or she would be more impressed not seeing one next to your CCW ID.
I’m wondering what would be a good alternative. There are way too many stories of CCW holders being arrested and harrased. This situations come about when citizens see a gun (open shirt, falls out of a jacket, wind blows your jacket open, etc.) and then call the cops. They will come with weapons drawn and will tell you to get to the ground. If not a badge, how about your ccw permit in a plastic holder next to your gun? I’m more worried about the average joe and dealing with the police. If most of you aren’t aware of, most police are NOT in favor of CCW for civilians and you can bet you WILL get hassled.
you are wrong (atleast in my area) I am head of our neighborhood watch program and 99% of the police officers are for ccw holders. So lets be fair, maybe the cops in your area are not for it but a recent poll tqaken show that the majority of police are in favor of it
Thanks for your comments. The post is not talking about whether or not cops are for or against CCW. It simply is a discussion about wearing a CCW badge. I agree with your assessment that cops generally have no issue with the CCW permit itself.
Thanks for the comment Mario. You bring a few good points. One of the things we all have to be responsible for is making sure CCW works for you. You must try different rigs and cover garments that make the gun invisible. Try them on and let your spouse, girlfriend, or buddies see if the gun prints. I always do that with a new holster, gun or cover garment. It has to work. If your gun falls out, you didn’t maintain awareness. That is your responsibility.
If you are unfortunate enough to have the police confront you, be honest and forthright. Accept that they are going to ask you to lay down. They may disarm you. They are just doing their job. As a former sworn LEO, I never had a problem with anyone having a CCW, and truthfully I can’t remember any of my fellow officers having an issue with it. Remember, the guys with the CCW are the good guys. I never worried about anyone telling me they had a gun. It was the times I found one on someone that didn’t disclose that information.
The ultimate point of CCW is to keep it concealed. If I fail to do that, I deserve any of the hassles that come with it until I get it worked out. Work hard at maintaining a good rig that will meet your needs.
Ok. Yes, the CCW is tacticool and not practical. But what’s all this about police not wanting citizens to have guns? Not true, at least, not where I live.
I’m in Arizona where it’s a very normal thing for citizens to carry. It is perfectly legal as soon as you turn 18 to carry unconcealed and then when you turn 21 you can get your CCW permit. If you ask most cops here, the citizens who have the diligence to take the class and get the permit are almost always the good guys and are more likely to be on their side. I have met a few cops who don’t agree with that, but they are usually bureaucrats and not street cops.
In general, cops do not harass citizens with permits here. If you have police contact, for example, during a traffic stop or a check-subject due to some ignoramus calling the cops upon glimpsing your weapon, they simply tell you not to reach for it and check your permit out. No big deal. If they do remove it from your person for the duration of their contact/conversation with you, so what? It’s basic officer safety, and you get it back and can reload it when they walk/drive away.
The only reason I can think of to get a CCW badge is if you somehow find yourself watching a cop get pinned down by fire from multiple opponents and have the training and motivation to go in and back him up, he’ll be less likely to see you as another opponent. That is, IF he sees your little badge at all, which he may not be likely to under such stress.
Heather,
Good points. Thanks for commenting. I agree with you and feel like most of the LE community backs up your points. I also appreciated what you said about motivation. Taking a class may give you the training, but until it happens you won’t ever know what you are going to do.
Those things just leave a bad taste in my mouth. Terrible idea…
Someone is mad at you for whatever reason. He starts to come toward you, and is obviously MAD! Would you rather pull back your garment exposing your legal CCW Badge, or pull your weapon? Personally, I would rather have him see a badge and back off.
Robert,
Thanks for your comments. Having worn a badge, it really does nothing to stop someone who is mad. Cops get hit and assaulted all the time.
By the time he’s close enough to see that badge , he’s close enough to put hands on you before you can clear the holster.