A lot of people have guns that you can’t see. This is called “concealed carry.”
Unfortunately, there are many concealed carry myths and misunderstandings. But the good news is that these myths are easy to debunk.
Here’s what you should know.
Myth 1: Getting a Hidden Gun Permit Is Easy
Some people think you can easily get a permit to carry a concealed weapon. But that is 100% false. The truth is that in most states, permits are not easy to get.
Here’s why:
States make applicants pass strict background checks first. Also, you must take special classes and training. And you have to prove why you actually need a hidden gun. Some states, like California, have extra strict laws, so permits are challenging to get there.
So, while a couple of states have simpler rules, most concealed carry permits are not easy to get. You can’t just walk in and walk out with one. That idea is definitely a myth.
Myth 2: More Hidden Guns Means More Violence
Groups against guns always argue this. They say letting citizens carry concealed weapons causes crime and violence to rise. But data proves this wrong.
Actually, research shows that as concealed gun permits go up in an area, attacks and crime go down. This makes total sense if you think about it.
Imagine you’re a criminal. If regular people around you might have hidden weapons, you’ll probably think twice before doing something illegal. No criminal wants to get shot by an ordinary citizen!
So, in reality, responsible gun owners prevent violence instead of causing it. The opposite of what critics say is true here.
Myth 3: People With Hidden Guns Are Dangerous
Here’s another myth – that people carrying concealed firearms are safety risks. But again, the facts debunk this idea.
To get a hidden carry permit, you must pass checks, take training classes, and follow responsible practices. So, permit holders are actually some of the most law-abiding citizens out there!
Why? Because these citizens get all the proper training. They know when and how they can use a weapon.
It’s uninformed to think lawful concealed carriers are somehow dangerous. The statistics don’t lie here.
Myth 4: Hidden Guns Are Useless in Public Places
Some argue that keeping a hidden gun does no good in crowded spots like malls or theaters. But again, real-life cases prove this wrong.
In fact, regular civilians carrying concealed weapons have stopped tons of attempted kidnappings, attacks, and mass shootings. That’s because cops can’t teleport to crime scenes instantly. Those crucial first minutes make a life-or-death difference.
Look closely at recent mass shootings. Many times, ordinary citizens use their hidden guns to stop killers and save innocent lives. Their weapons made things safer instead of escalating things.
So clearly, concealed carry serves a critical public safety purpose in public areas. Saying otherwise ignores the facts we see time and time again.
Myth 5: After Getting a Permit, No More Training Is Needed
Here’s another common myth — that once you get approved to carry hidden weapons, you’re all set. No more practice or training is needed!
This could not be further from the truth. Yes, most states will make you take a basic class for the permit itself. But responsible concealed carry means regular, ongoing practice. You need to be ready for crisis scenarios.
Proper training literally saves lives. And so, permit holders must always drill safe handling of their firearm, memorize self-defense laws, and practice concealed carry techniques frequently. Just like anything else, your skills get rusty without practice. Staying sharp is vital.
Myth 6: Mass Shootings Don’t Happen in Gun-Free Zones
Despite what you may have heard, the statistics of where mass shootings occur tell a different story. One recent study found that the great majority of mass shootings occur exactly where guns are strictly prohibited.
This makes total sense when you think about it. Deranged killers purposefully target places where they know citizens won’t be armed. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. The reality is those gun-free zones create an open invitation for attacks.
Banning weapons only impacts law-abiding people. This is especially true when you consider the fact that criminals often ignore those rules completely. And by leaving citizens unable to defend themselves, gun-free zones enable more violence instead of preventing it.
Myth 7: Your Own Gun Will More Likely Be Used Against You
Here’s another common myth — that keeping a gun makes it more probable that it gets used against you. However, numerous studies have completely disproven this idea.
The data shows that trained gun owners are far less likely to have their weapons grabbed or used on them during an assault. Proper instruction – by taking the right gun classes –, technique, and responsible carry methods are key for control and security.
Between extensive defensive training, mental preparedness, and common sense carrying protocol, cops and responsible gun owners make weapon retention second nature. So this myth just doesn’t hold water.
Myth 8: Women Don’t Like Carrying Guns
There’s a tired stereotype that women dislike firearms and don’t care much about concealed carry rights. Of course, actual statistics disprove this outdated notion.
In recent years, women have been one of the fastest-growing demographics of new gun owners. More and more women now view concealed carry as a way to gain power over their own self-defense and stop relying on others.
The numbers show skyrocketing rates of women getting gun permits, signing up for shooting courses, and mastering concealed carry techniques. The old myth of females fearing firearms is clearly outdated and false.
Myth 9: All You Need is a Permit
Here’s another myth to address — that once approved for concealed carry, you can ignore local and state weapon laws. Nope, not even close!
The truth is every state, county, and city can make and enforce different rules around lawful concealed carry. Your rights, restrictions, and even criteria for self-defense shootings vary from place to place.
For instance, some states make you carry your handgun without a round already chambered. Others have no issue with carrying a loaded, ready-to-fire weapon. Knowing your local laws is crucial for staying legal.
And just because one place approves your permit application doesn’t free you from following elsewhere’s codes. Being a responsible carrier means understanding and obeying all relevant concealed carry laws.
Myth 10: Concealed-Carry Laws Make Society More Violent
This is another familiar myth pushed hard by anti-gun groups and activists. They insist rising concealed carry rates will unleash soaring crime, shootouts, and chaos nationwide.
But virtually all empirical studies reveal exactly the opposite. Areas with the most permit holders consistently see fewer murders and violent offenses per capita. More concealed carry seems to deter crime instead of causing it.
Again, this makes sense. Armed law-abiding citizens are a strong deterrent against illegal attacks of all kinds. Most criminals want easy targets, not dangerous resistance. So, simply having concealed weapons around drives many bad guys away.
Myth 11: Hidden Guns Easily Fire Accidentally
A lot of people worry about concealed weapons randomly firing. And it’s true – without proper caution, unintended firing can occur. However, today’s firearms are engineered to prevent this.
Any quality modern handgun is designed with loads of safety mechanisms to stop accidental firing. As long as owners carefully follow protocols, the risk of unwanted discharge is super minimal.
Nearly all guns won’t actually fire until someone pulls the trigger. Many models have extra internal safeties that keep the firing pin locked too. So while no gun is perfect, unwanted shots are extremely rare among responsible carriers. This is so especially if the owner of the gun has gone through the right training – where they have been trained by skilled and experienced instructors.
Myth 12: Concealed-Carry Permits Are Expensive
Most people assume scoring a concealed carry permit costs a lot of money.
While permits certainly aren’t free, they may not break your budget either. Costs vary a lot depending on which state you apply in.
Some states charge less than $100 total for everything. Others fall more in the $200 range when you count concealed carry training classes and licensing fees. That’s not dirt cheap, but it’s affordable for many gun owners seeking self-defense permits.
As always, check your local state and county for exact pricing. But in most cases, securing a concealed carry license is reasonable enough for your average law-abiding gun owner.
Myth 13: Gun Owners Don’t Support Gun Control
It’s also wrongly assumed that all firearm owners resist any new gun laws across the board. In fact, many responsible gun owners do support smart, ethical weapons regulation.
For instance, most gun fans agree with comprehensive background checks to keep weapons from mentally unstable people. Temporary “red flag” laws that restrict proven dangerous persons also seem reasonable to many owners.
The key is balancing public safety and the American right to self-defense. But contrary to popular myth, plenty of responsible gun folks support new laws, as long as they ultimately prevent violence and don’t overreach.
Myth 14: You Don’t Need a Permit to Carry a Concealed Weapon
Another myth about concealed carry laws is the belief that people can carry hidden weapons without any permit at all in some parts of the country. This confusion about the actual laws is super risky though and needs to be cleared up.
It’s true that a small handful of states do have “constitutional carry” laws in place. This allows residents who can legally own handguns to hide and carry them without needing to get any special permit first. States like Vermont or Arizona are pretty loose like this when it comes to concealed carry laws.
However, most other states have much stricter rules that require citizens to still apply for and be approved for concealed carry permits first before hiding weapons on them in public. For example, in states like New York and California, you absolutely need an official permit if you want to legally conceal carry there.
So crossing state borders with a hidden firearm but not knowing the local laws can mean facing some really harsh penalties if caught. Even if the rules are relaxed about concealed carry where you actually live, you can’t assume the same thing applies everywhere else you travel.
The safest thing is to always check the concealed carry weapon laws for whatever new state you’ll be visiting. And remember – state governments change up their various firearm laws pretty frequently, too. So if you already have a concealed carry permit, make sure to keep up with the latest updates happening in any states you plan to bring your weapons to. Things that were cool there one year might be totally illegal now.
The root of this myth comes from people mixing up federal laws with individual state laws. And so it’s extremely important to know the difference if you are a concealed carry owner.
Myth 15: Your Concealed Carry Permit Allows You to Carry Your Gun Everywhere
Another very common and dangerous myth is the belief that your home state’s concealed carry permit lets you just automatically bring your hidden firearm into any other state you travel to as well. Unfortunately, that is so not the case and has ended up getting many well-meaning gun owners into big trouble.
While some states do have official agreements to respect or “reciprocate” certain other states’ concealed carry permits when their residents visit, many states have no such agreement.
For example, say you get a concealed carry permit issued from the state of Florida. With that Florida permit in hand, you can also legally carry your gun while visiting Texas thanks to reciprocity between those two states. But that same Florida permit would not work at all if you took your gun into New York state. New York has totally refused to recognize any reciprocity agreements.
And it gets even more confusing than that. Due to changing state laws, the reciprocity agreements can change drastically from year to year too. This means what might have been a valid recognized permit for one year could easily not be accepted the following year.
So for concealed-carrying gun owners, by far the safest route is to simply check the latest laws about your particular permit in whatever new state you plan to visit, every single time you travel just to be sure. There are handy smartphone apps and websites that provide updated reciprocity agreement info state-by-state, too. But ultimately it’s your responsibility to confirm what’s allowed. Accidentally carrying a concealed firearm somewhere it’s banned can lead to felony charges.
Myth 16: Carrying a Hidden Gun is Always Comfortable
Many people looking into concealed carry for the first time think that having a firearm on your body must be comfortable and easy. Just casually stick your handy pistol into a holster and go on with life! Not so fast.
Talk to anyone who conceal carries on the regular and most of them will tell you that comfort depends big time on the equipment, your body type, clothing choices and just getting used to having a weapon on you at all times in public.
Some factors that make a difference in comfort level include the actual size of the firearm you pick, what type of holster style works best for your body shape, and what kinds of outfits you’ll wear to conceal everything. Larger guns, for example, are naturally harder to hide and heavier to lug around which gets uncomfortable over longer periods. But smaller guns sacrifice that crucial stopping power you want in emergency self-defense situations.
You’ve also got to find just the right holster and position to carry that keeps the weapon securely concealed but doesn’t dig into your skin or constantly needs adjustment. Some styles distribute weight better than others. Experimentation over time is key.
Eventually, most people find their own preferred system and get more used to the feel of that hidden gun pressing against them all day long but it definitely takes some adjustments.
And so if quick, easy comfort is your main goal then conceal carrying might not be for you. But if you take the time to test different options, the majority of conceal carriers discover the perfect rig that meets their everyday needs.
Myth 17: Carrying a Concealed Gun Guarantees Your Safety
One major myth about concealed carry is that simply strapping a firearm to your hip makes you instantly safe from all harm when out and about. But having a gun doesn’t magically transform someone into a Navy SEAL ready for anything. Real-world self-defense situations involving firearms can become chaotic and scary very quickly.
In super high-stress encounters, just possessing a hidden weapon doesn’t automatically make someone safer or even an effective shooter. Your personal training and ability to keep calm under pressure is what really matters most. Proper self-defense skills include getting regular target practice, taking tactical classes focused on real scenarios, deeply knowing relevant laws in your area, and understanding whether using lethal force is legally justified or not.
That’s why frequent visits back to the shooting range, investing in professional instruction tailored towards concealed carry owners, and reviewing state statutes about appropriate force are all so crucial. Simply trusting that a hidden gun alone equates to safety without making those other preparations can be a recipe for disaster if a bad situation ever arises.
Carrying a concealed firearm is only one component of feeling truly ready to protect yourself. And ongoing personal dedication to realistic training is equally vital.
Myth 18: Federal Laws are All that Matter
Yet another common myth is that all firearm laws across the entire country ultimately stem from federal statutes so concealed carry owners don’t really need to worry about different state standards.
However, while the federal government does establish certain baseline gun regulations – for example, requiring background checks through licensed firearm dealers – individual states actually get to create and enforce their own localized laws regarding weapons too. And those laws sometimes vary dramatically between regions.
Just look at the difference between a state like Texas versus a state like New York when it comes to their gun laws. Texas has notoriously loose, relaxed weapon laws allowing for easy purchase of all types of firearms with virtually no waiting periods before taking them home. They also freely grant concealed carry permits to legal gun owners who want them.
Compare that environment to a state like New York which has established gun laws that are strict and complex across the board. New York regulates all weapon sales with enhanced background screenings, special licenses that must be maintained, mandatory waiting periods before delivery, and intense concealed permitting processes that can take months to successfully complete.
So, while the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed the basic right of citizens to own and carry firearms thanks to the Second Amendment, states still get to control exactly how those rights look when applied to real-world situations locally. And as you can see, those rules play out very differently region by region.
It’s super critical that concealed carriers understand both federal standards as well as individual state standards wherever they happen to live or visit. Ignorance of state gun law differences is what gets otherwise law-abiding gun users into major trouble.
Myth 19: Gun Owners are Aggressive and Quick to Use Deadly Force
A wrong stereotype exists about people who carry concealed firearms. The myth claims they tend to act overly aggressive compared to the general public if confronted and are quicker to whip out their weapons to settle disputes with deadly force. But clear evidence shows this is false.
In fact, citizens who go through the process to earn concealed carry permits legally are way less likely than average people to commit violent crimes overall. The vast majority of permit holders fully understand the heavy responsibility that comes with armed self-defense out in public. They make every effort to avoid physical conflicts in the first place whenever possible before pulling their gun as an absolute last resort.
Thanks to proper concealed carry training programs; license holders know firsthand that de-escalating tense situations with level heads is the best first step, only turning to their firearm if lives are at immediate critical risk with no other option.
The reality behind this myth is that most normal, everyday people who take on the responsibility of legal concealed carry do it primarily for personal and family protection – not to enable them to run around getting aggressive and starting gunfights. The truth is, just revealing the presence of a lawfully concealed weapon is often enough to make criminals walk away.
Conclusion
There you have it! Nineteen common concealed carry myths debunked by facts and critical thinking. As you can see now, most anti-gun arguments boil down to fear and misunderstanding.
Once you ignore emotions and dig into the research, licensed concealed carry is clearly a net positive for society. Carriers who undergo training and meet all legal standards save far more lives than they put at risk.
Understanding the truth allows you to spot false arguments right away. So next time someone repeats these debunked myths set them straight with logic and statistics!
Responsible concealed carry allows good people to protect themselves, and that makes everyone safer.