When I started carrying AIWB in the 90’s, it was with a Glock 26. My very first AIWB holster was a Desantis that had been modified with an Alessi Talon clip to ride a little deeper. My next AIWB holster was a custom one made for me by Jim Murnack. It also carried a Glock, the now famous 19. This continued for a number of years, with various Glocks and other guns and though I also carrried in other ways, I finished my career with a G19 carried AIWB, this time in a Tenicor holster.
After all those years of carrying a striker fired gun AIWB, the first thing I did when I woke up the morning of my first day as a former LEO, was to strap on a hammer fired, HK P30L, carried AIWB. Not only do I prefer the P30 family in general, I greatly prefer a hammer fired gun to a striker fired gun, in every circumstance. Especially when carried AIWB. I don’t care who you are, how much experience you have, how skilled you are, a hammer fired gun is simply safer. It can be much safer with proper handling, but even handled with a minimum of attention, it is safer than a striker fired gun in the AIWB position.
Thankfully, I finished my career without ever having an issue carrying AIWB. As you know though, lots of people seem to enjoy shooting themselves from AIWB these days. The Sig 320 certainly has its share of the pie, but the other striker fired guns all get in on the action as well. The Glock, as it is issued from the factory, is probably the safest striker fired gun on the market, but it is not safe, it is simply “safer”. Move to one of the various and popular guns that has a fully tensioned striker and you are asking for trouble.
Yet I managed to carry a Glock AWIB for the better part of my career and had no issues. How does that square? First of all, I was a bit lucky I think. Second, I devote more time and attention to reholstering safely than I typically see from modern AIWB carriers. Third, my holster/belt/gun/garment all work together very well so that I don’t have to re-adjust my gun in order to sit down or drive or do anything else. Fourth, my trigger finger knows when to stay off the trigger on the draw and on the re-holster. Again, I see some laziness in these areas from many shooters.
These factors worked to my benefit and allowed me to safely (as safely as possible) carry my Glock. The Glock trigger, not being fully tensioned, short, or very light, also helped, but truthfully, I never had to depend on the trigger to prevent an ND. I also never want to. A double action gun with an external hammer helps ensure that I never have to depend on the trigger to keep me out of trouble. Simply resting my thumb on the back of the hammer when holstering prevents the gun from being able to fire. That is another “human engineering factor” that makes DA guns safer for real people to use. Todd and I have both written elsewhere on this blog about the benefits of DA guns, so I won’t rehash them here.
At the end of the day, if you can legally buy a gun and carry it, you are an adult, responsible for your own decisions and life. Carry what you want where you want, but if you have a predictable accident because you overestimated your skill and underestimated the safety factors of the gun you chose, don’t be surprised at the outcome. Any gun can be shot at a high level. Not all guns can make up for your mistakes. Choose wisely.
Read the full article here
