Using the Bathroom While Carrying Concealed

It never fails.

You're running errands and your stomach grumbles, lets loose a little gas, and you know it's time to head for a bathroom. 

"What do I do with my concealed carry gun?"

Unless you're one of those people who can only perform certain…um…“functions” in your own house, this is a situation you'll have to deal with sooner or later.

Sure, you can leave it (the gun) in the car, but what if someone tries something when you literally have your pants down?

Before you encounter this situation, let's talk about how to use the bathroom when you’re carrying concealed.

Choosing Your Pitstop Location

You know what they say…"location, location, location." This even applies to using the bathroom.

Knowing what stores, gas stations, restaurants, and other public places have good bathrooms helps more than you think.

Bear with me. 

When it comes to bathrooms, there are things you will want to look for aside from cleanliness.

If it’s not an emergency and you have some options to choose from, there are some better options than others when it comes to bathrooms.

Avoiding Detection

For starters, if you can find a bathroom that’s meant to be used one person at a time, this is your best option. You can get in and out without having to worry about anyone seeing your gun.

If you are in a larger big-box store, you can look for family bathrooms. A lot of times they are in a different location than the men’s and women’s bathrooms, so try the back of the store or ask.

Family bathrooms ditch the stalls so you don't have to worry about someone seeing the gun under the stall. Some gas stations have outside bathrooms where you can also be alone.

If you need to use a stall where there might be a person next to you, opt for the stall at the end by the wall. There are fewer angles there for someone to see your weapon.

When You Find a Place

When you find a location to do your business, pay attention when you drop your drawers.

Aside from the extra weight of your EDC, pay attention to the direction of the barrel, how much you can see under the stall wall, and what to do when you pull your pants up.

Your carry holster should have good retention, so you shouldn’t have to worry about your gun falling out, even if it flips upside down.

You should be able to hold your holster upside down with the gun (unloaded for this test) or magazine in it and shake it without the gun or magazine falling out.

Many of us also have a carrier for an additional magazine or two. While it’s great to have if something goes down and you need a reload, they get in the way during everyday activities.

Knowing that your gun won’t fall out of the holster can stop some of the pants-dropping gymnastics you may have thought you’d have to do.

Simply unbuckling your belt but keeping tension on the belt will help it from going limp (the belt).

Now that you have control of the loose weapon, you can lower your pants while guiding your holster where you want it to lay.

Where your holster and gun lie is a judgment call based on the bathroom you’re in and the stall wall height.  

If you are a right-hand draw and you’re in the first stall with the bathroom entrance door to your right, you may have to cover your weapon or lay it more inside your pants if the stall wall is far up off the floor.

Positioning Your Gun When Seated

Positioning your gun, no matter where you are is important; remember the 4 rules of gun safety? It’s even more important when you are sitting with your gun loosely between your legs, resting in your pants.

You want to make sure you aren’t pointing it in a direction that could harm someone in the case of an accidental discharge, including yourself.

So don't do this...

The layout of a bathroom stall leaves few options for this. If you can access the “corner office” you can point it at the wall if it’s not flimsy drywall and 2x4 wall, because that wouldn’t stop much.

The other alternative is to point it back at the toilet base.  

While it would suck to have to replace a toilet, there is less chance of danger pointing it back at the toilet than in other directions in this case.  

And this should go without saying but I’ll mention it anyway, don’t point the gun up at you.

Down and away from you is always better.

Stage your gun in a manner that will make it difficult for someone in another stall to grab. This alarming reality has happened before.

Finally, don’t play with your gun while you’re on the throne. Nothing good can come from it,

If you’re bored, play on your phone like the rest of the population, or God forbid…read something.

What if it Falls Out?

If your weapon falls out of your holster while you’re pulling your pants up or down, first of all, don’t panic. Carefully pick it up and holster it.

Don’t make a big deal of it. Your gun should not discharge from being dropped. And check out our Best Holsters for Carry since the one you used probably wasn't great.

Your holster should be snug and not let your gun loose unless you want it to come out.

Kydex can lose retention; it shouldn’t, but it can. If that’s the case, you can usually fix the retention problem pretty easily.

Conclusion

Of course, most of this is common sense, but to those of you new to concealed carrying you may not think about the simple things you do (or need to do) until it happens.  

There's my 7 Things I Wish I Knew Before Concealed Carrying article to help you out too.  

Hopefully this gives you an idea about what could happen and how to avoid the pitfalls of using the bathroom while concealed carrying.

There is a bit more to take into consideration than just dropping your drawers and sitting down.

Have you had any AH-HA moments when you’ve tried to use the bathroom while carrying? Tell us in the comments below and be sure to check out our Definitive Guide to Concealed Carry for more tips.