AIWB – All Those Gangbangers Can’t Be Wrong

From a United States Secret Service seminar on the detection of concealed weapons.

“95% of criminals carry their guns on the strong side, mostly stuck in the front of their bodies, inside the waistband without a holster.”

This seems to be consistent with what some of our LE contributors say they've encountered when dealing with gangbangers and assorted villainy (though it was hardly a statistically significant survey). The point? As Greg Gorillafritz of Active Response Training tells it, there are some lessons to be learned from the bad guys. He articulates a number of advantages to AIWB, some you may have heard before, some you may already know (especially if you carry AIWB – Appendix Inside the Waist Band) and some you might not have considered. He also goes over some of the disadvantages, which of course must likewise be considered when determining how you're going to carry.

Here's some of his reasoning.

Faster Drawstroke– A smooth and speedy draw depends on economy of motion. There is simply much less motion associated with drawing from the front of the hip versus behind the hip. Less motion equals a faster draw. In addition, it is easier to clear cover garments with your off hand when carrying concealed. The off hand doesn’t have to reach as far and your covering garments are removed with less chance of your gun getting caught in them.

Ability to conceal the draw– Everyone who has spent any time on the range has seen thousands of drawstrokes as people draw their guns from behind the hip. They are familiar with that telltale moving of the elbow up and back. It’s a very easy movement to detect. When drawing from appendix, all of the movement is in the lower arm and hand. The elbow doesn’t move! That gives you the ability to preemptively draw the gun without your potential attacker knowing you are drawing. All you need is something to conceal the gun behind. A jacket, briefcase, or grocery sack all work well to hide the draw.

Better retention– Most in-holster firearms retention systems involve “locking down” on the gun with one or two hands to try to keep the gun in the holster when someone is trying to take it from you. It is much easier to get two hands on the gun if it is in front of the hip. Even if you are only using one hand to keep the gun in the holster (as you vigorously attack the criminal with your other one), you can push down harder and put more weight onto the gun if your hand is in front of your body, instead of on the side or back.

Disadvantages? Well, here's one big one.

There is also a very real danger of killing yourself if you have an accidental discharge while drawing or holstering.  The majority of accidental discharges we see on the range occur when a student is drawing or holstering the gun.  When the holster is worn on or behind the hip in the traditional position, the discharge generally just creates a grazing gunshot wound to the buttocks or leg.  If a student discharges a weapon in the appendix position, the muzzle is pointed directly at the genitals and femoral artery!

Interest piqued? Read the original article in its entirety right here.

AIWB/Appendix Carry. You're doing it wrong. (Photo by Michael Seamans)

Lead image from A Scribe to Describe