Hey there Concealed Coalition! It’s Austin Davis, your National Director of Training. I regularly get questions from members of the Concealed Coalition community, and today’s question is,
“Hey Austin, what are the steps to carrying a firearm legally?”
I love this question, and my answer to how to go about carrying a firearm legally comes in three steps: equipment, training, and tactics.
Three Steps to Carrying a Firearm Legally
Equipment
First off, you’ll want to make sure the firearm is legal for the location you’re in. For example, in some places, your standard capacity magazine, the design of your firearm, or even its use of hollow point bullets may already put you in the illegal category.
Training
Learn what the law is in all areas of storage, transport, and especially use-of-force. Not knowing the laws around carrying a firearm legally does not count as an excuse for not following these laws, so make sure you brush up on the facts!
Tactics
So you have a legal firearm for the location you’re in and an understanding of all the laws related to the possession, transportation, and use of said firearm. But now the question is, will that knowledge break down under stress?
In my experience teaching, training, and studying thousands of shooters over the last decade with my virtual reality simulator, I’ve learned any behavior or knowledge not learned under stress is difficult or impossible to recall when you introduce stress into the equation.
Or as I like to say, only neurons that wire together tend to fire together.
At the end of the day, if you want ensure you’re carrying a firearm legally, make sure your equipment is legal, your knowledge of relevant laws is current and competent, and you’ve stress-tested yourself to know that when under a reduced timeframe and increased cognitive load, you can perform in a controlled enough manner to remain in compliance with the law.
That means making sure your training stays as recent, relevant, and realistic as possible. At Concealed Coalition, we offer multiple ways for you to ensure you have high-quality, up-to-date training. The first is to find an in-person training session taking place near you.
We also have Concealed Coalition University, the comprehensive online training platform that allows you to go beyond firearms training and learn about additional topics like pepper spray usage, home and family defense, and the legal aspects of a defensive use-of-force situation. And the best part is that you can do this from the comfort of your own home.
Regardless of how you choose to train, remember to be a guardian always, and a warrior when needed.
