A Pocket Needs a Holster
Dry-Fire · At Home
Verified clear. If you carry in a coat or pants pocket, do it with a pocket holster that covers the trigger and with nothing else in that pocket. Fifteen draws from the pocket, checking that the holster stays behind when the gun comes out. If you do not pocket carry, run fifteen draws from your normal rig with your hands starting in your coat pockets.
Live-Fire · At the Range
Fifteen rounds at 5 yards, three per string, from the carry position you practiced dry, if your range allows it. Otherwise shoot from a ready position.
Service Pistol
A backup gun in a pocket follows the same rule: holster, covered trigger, and an empty pocket.
Concealed Carry
Keys and a loose gun in the same pocket is how people shoot themselves in the leg.
Carbine
No carbine version today. Run fifteen ready-ups instead.
AUX (when ready): draw from a pocket to a hit at 5 yards in under three seconds.
Convenience is not a reason to carry a gun unsafely.
Your Daily Callout — By Archetype
Having your hand already on a pocketed gun is the fastest draw there is. Earn it with a proper holster.
Check what else ends up in that pocket over the course of a day.
A gun in a coat pocket becomes a gun in a coat on a chair, where a child can reach it.
Dedicate one pocket to the gun and make a rule that nothing else goes in it.
Layer: draw from the pocket while seated.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.
Dry-fire: no ammunition in the room. Verify the firearm is clear — twice. Use a safe backstop. When you finish, say it out loud: “Dry fire is over.”
The Four Universal Safety Rules
Non-negotiable. Every drill, every rep, every time. This applies to live fire and dry fire.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.