Undercover Officers: Where Do They Hide Their Weapons?
Undercover officers and detectives sometimes have to be quite creative when it comes to finding places to conceal their weapons. To help with this problem, many police supply companies have turned everyday items into some pretty unique hidey-holes for guns.
Ladies purse with concealed slot for a sidearm. The purse comes in a variety of styles and colors.
Multi-compartment pistol purse.
Fanny pack with secret compartment for gun, handcuffs, and spare magazine.
Man’s wallet with built-in compartment for .22 or .25 semi-auto.
Ankle holster.
Belly bands conceal a variety of equipment.
Organizer with hidden compartment.
Pancake holsters fit snugly against the officer’s side.
Paddle holsters are designed to keep the holster in place when the weapon is drawn. There’s also an adjustable tension screw for weapon retention.
Not only would digging in a purse to find a weapon in an emergency not be advisable due to difficulty of finding it, but you definitely wouldn’t want your lipstick to get inside the trigger guard and pull the trigger when you’re fumbling around in there. You also wouldn’t want all the gunk and debris that seems to find its way into purses to find its way inside your gun. And who hasn’t accidentally left a purse somewhere, even if for only a few seconds. You don’t want your purse, with gun inside, to be taken by someone else!
SZ – Some officers really like wearing ankle holsters. I didn’t. Every time I tried to run after someone the stupid thing kept twisting sideways.
Safeties are pretty difficult to push accidentally. In fact, that’s one of the reasons cops always leave them in the off position. There’s no time to fumble around for a safety during a gun fight. Remember, many pistols used by law enforcement officers don’t have safeties.
Bobby – Accessing weapons in these holsters is fairly quick (with the exception of the wallet).
Kendra – I agree. Digging through a purse for a weapon in an emergency would not me advisable. I’ve never seen a female officer carry her weapon inside a purse.
Bill – The Day Planners are cool. You never know what’s inside. Actually, they could contain cameras or audio recorders, too, but that’s another blog topic.
Joyce – Don’t be silly. You know that would depend on which shoes I was wearing.
Okay, Lee. Since no one else asked, which purse is yours? 🙂
Finally — back from vacation and trying to catch up on everything. These are cool bits of fodder for characters–but then, just about everything posted here is a big help.
I always wondered where Mel Gibson kept all his millions of spare magazines in those Lethal Weapon movies.
And I know one thing. I’ll be giving DayTimers and Franklin planners double-takes for the rest of my days.
Help me out with the first picture. Beastie Boys…? Kids in the Hall?
I like the purses with the slot for the gun. Obviously not available at Nordys. But handy for heroines. I’ve always been annoyed with women in books who dig in their purse for their gun. This looks slick and easy.
Informative as always, Lee. My only question here is what happens if ypu need quick access to the weapon?
I’ll see you at B’Con.
Four hours sleep Lee, and what do I wanna know ? What is our Southern boy sporting !
How often to they use that ankle holster you read of so often ? Is it too designed to stay in place as the paddle holster ?
I have not made it to a shooting range to learn yet. How does the safty stay from tripping during movement ?
Interesting stuff as always.