All concealed carriers have experienced the struggle of learning to conceal well and become comfortable with carrying a gun in public. On internet message boards and social media gun groups, conscientious new concealed carriers often ask about best practices of concealed carry, including how to reduce “printing.” Printing is when the shape or bulk of one’s handgun is visible through one’s clothing. In any discussion about concealment and printing, within the first 10 responses someone will typically opine, “Printing doesn’t matter,” explaining “People just do not pay attention and aren’t going to notice someone’s handgun printing.”
Is that really true, though? Certainly, it seems true that a lot of citizens don’t pay attention. It’s also true that a concealed handgun is typically not as obvious as a new concealed carrier believes. However, the full answer is more complicated and nuanced than that. As is the case so often, the answer is … it depends.
WHY ARE WE CONCEALING?
In any pursuit, setting priorities is aided by keeping the overarching goal in mind. In this case, determining how much printing does or doesn’t matter will be informed largely by what the purpose of our concealing our handgun is in the first place. What are we trying to accomplish when we conceal? We’re concealing our handgun from the view of other people,
