How to Use a Public Restroom While Carrying a Gun: The REST Method
From Behind the Holster, a Concealed Coalition podcast, hosted by Jody Picou with Austin Davis, Concealed Coalition’s National Director of Training. This is a members-only episode.
Using a public restroom is one of the few moments every day when a concealed carrier has to handle their gear around other people. In this members-only episode of Behind the Holster, Austin Davis, Concealed Coalition’s National Director of Training, a commissioned police officer since 1995 with more than 45 instructor certifications, lays out the system he uses every time: REST. Read the restroom, Evaluate the situation, Send it, and Take a pause before you leave. It is the routine promised in the previous episode on concealed carry and bathroom breaks.
What is the REST method for concealed carriers?
REST is a four-step mnemonic built on the word restroom. Austin uses it so he never has to improvise:
- Read the restroom. Can you lock the door and have the room to yourself, or will people be coming and going? Is anyone inside who makes you uneasy?
- Evaluate the situation. Think through people, place and process: which stall is safest, whether you are alone, and whether you have kids, luggage or a backpack with you.
- Send it. Get set up, keep everything secure, and take care of business.
- Take a pause. Before you walk out, confirm you have your phone and your firearm, and that the gun is secured and nothing is left behind.
Planning starts before the restroom. Austin thinks about his day when he leaves the house, including whether his gear supports long drives and social functions where he wants no one to know he is armed, and decides ahead of time which restrooms along his usual routes he prefers.
How do you read a restroom before using it?
You are looking for a baseline. People in a restroom are there to use it. Anyone standing around on their phone killing time, with no reason to be there, is a red flag. A restroom is also the one place where everyone expects privacy, or at least the illusion of it, so it is not a place to linger and look around.
If Austin walks in and someone seems to be scouting for a victim, he either skips it or addresses the situation before he starts. And if something changes partway through, you can always stop and leave.
Which stall or urinal is safest?
Austin chooses the urinal or stall at the far end, against a wall, so he has people on one side at most. In a stall, he keeps his feet close to the toilet. Over more than 30 years of consulting, he has seen more than one case of someone reaching under a stall and pulling a person out by the feet.
Jody Picou adds that a urinal is one of the most vulnerable places you stand all day, which is exactly why reading the room has to come first.
Should you take your gun out of the holster in a restroom?
Ideally, no. Austin unclips the holster rather than drawing the gun, because repeatedly holstering and unholstering a loaded firearm is a high risk activity. Holsters with metal clips hold up well to this and stay put during a struggle.
His method in a stall: keep the belt zipped tight, lower the whole rig to knee level and keep your knees pressed together. The gun stays in view, off the floor, and your knees give you a physical point of contact so you always know where it is. When you are done, pull everything back up together.
If your holster is attached to your clothing, keep it with your pants at your feet and fold fabric over it so anyone walking by sees nothing but feet and pants. Clothing-independent systems avoid the problem altogether. Austin mentions Kangaroo Carry and the PHLster Enigma, which runs more than $200 but lasts. For more on choosing gear, see Holster Types Explained.
What should happen if a child finds a gun in a restroom?
Jody shares a recent incident at a large church where a Concealed Coalition instructor leads the security team. A man set his firearm on the back of a toilet and walked out. The next person in the stall was the instructor’s nephew, who had been trained in firearm safety. He went straight to his uncle, and they secured the gun.
Austin’s point is that the most natural thing a child does with a found firearm is fiddle with it. Training is what changes that. Having your own kids with you in a restroom also creates exactly the kind of distraction that leads to a firearm being left behind.
How should you handle off-body carry in a bathroom?
Austin’s first rule of a gunfight is to bring the gun, and if carrying does not fit your lifestyle, you will not carry. That is why off-body carry has a place. His rules for purse carry:
- Use a purse designed to hold a firearm.
- Keep nothing else in the gun compartment.
- Carry one small enough to stay on a strap attached to your body at all times.
- Get a training pistol that matches yours and practice the draw.
In a restroom, a purse that stays attached to you is fine. A purse hung on a stall hook is easy to forget, and the floor is not an option. Belly bags are a middle ground. Jody also raises breakaway straps: a non-breakaway strap cannot be snatched, but Austin warns that someone who grabs it can drag you along with the bag.
Frequently asked questions
What does REST stand for in concealed carry?
REST is a restroom routine taught by Concealed Coalition’s National Director of Training, Austin Davis. It stands for Read the restroom, Evaluate the situation, Send it, and Take a pause before leaving to make sure your firearm is secured and nothing is left behind.
Where should I put my gun when I sit down in a bathroom stall?
Keep it in the holster and keep the belt zipped tight, with the whole rig at knee level and your knees pressed together. The gun stays visible, off the floor and in physical contact with you.
Should I take my gun out of the holster to use the bathroom?
Avoid it when you can. Unclipping the holster is safer than drawing and reholstering a loaded gun, which is a high risk activity.
Which bathroom stall is the safest?
The one at the far end against a wall, so you only have one side exposed. Keep your feet close to the toilet.
Is off-body carry safe in a public restroom?
It can be, if the bag stays attached to your body. Use a purse designed for a firearm, keep nothing else in the gun compartment, and never hang it on a hook or set it on the floor.
Should a concealed carry purse have a breakaway strap?
There are trade-offs. A non-breakaway strap cannot be snatched easily, but someone who grabs it can drag you with it. A breakaway strap lets the bag go, along with the firearm inside.
What should a child do if they find a gun?
Leave it alone and tell an adult immediately. Firearm safety training is what makes a child respond that way instead of picking it up.
So how should you use a public restroom while carrying?
Use REST every time. Read the restroom before you commit, evaluate the safest stall or urinal and what you are carrying, send it with your firearm holstered and in view at knee height, and take a pause before you leave to confirm it is secured. If you carry off-body, keep the bag attached to you. A firearm should never leave your control, not even for a minute.
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