Purse Carry - Rolling the dice
SafeMind Defense
On Purse Carry: A Hard Conversation Worth Having
Seldom do discussions with my women students end without a question about off-body carry—specifically, carrying a pistol in a purse. I understand the draw (intentional gun pun) of purse carry over more conventional methods like a proper holster secured to the body. A purse is convenient. You don’t need belts or belt loops, and it works with a variety of outfits, including those that aren’t conducive to traditional carry methods.
But as my Nana often reminded me, “There is no free lunch.”
Before we dive in, a few disclaimers: I’m a man, in case that’s not obvious, and I don’t carry a purse—at least not traditionally. I do have a man bag I use when I need to haul a bunch of stuff around. I don’t use it to carry a firearm, but I could. Also, I firmly believe that I won’t be there for your gunfight. The decisions you make are yours alone—you have to live or die by them. I can only offer guidance based on my training, education, and experience. Part of that experience includes being curious and doing a bit of unscientific testing to gain insight.
The (Unscientific) Test
I got a call from a prospective student looking for concealed carry instruction for herself and her friends. Like all my students, she was referred to me by someone I’d taught previously. Her group included eight women, some “experienced” shooters, others brand new to firearms—a fairly typical mix.
During our phone interview, purse carry came up. I asked her and the others to bring an old purse to the range so we could have a real conversation about what purse carry entails.
Come range day, they all showed up with old purses in tow. After our classroom portion and shooting fundamentals, we talked through different carry options. I told them we’d test these out, including purse carry.
Before we began, I offered my perspective on off-body carry and the potential upsides and downsides as well as my view of the risks. One student—let’s call her S—asked to share a story. The group had known each other for years and were aware that S had lost her husband two decades earlier. Until that day, she’d only said it was due to “an accident”. Student S explained that after moving to a new state with a concealed carry program, she and her husband took the necessary training and got their permits. They carried occasionally, mostly when going to what they considered “dangerous places” (a topic for another day) and usually kept a pistol in the glove box of their vehicle.
One evening, dressed for a night out downtown, they decided she would carry their snub-nosed .38 Special revolver in her purse. While walking from dinner to the theater, a man approached and asked for directions. Being good people, they began answering his question and giving directions to where he said he wanted to go. The man, as a professional criminal would, used the distraction, a verbal division of attention, to get close. Once within arm’s reach, he started to yank the purse from her hands. During the struggle, it opened, and the attacker saw the firearm. Her husband stepped in to stop the theft, grabbing at the handle of the purse. The attacker, in the struggle, drew the gun and shot the husband one time in the chest at literal point blank range.
The attacker—now a murderer—escaped. He was never identified or caught. Her husband died in S’s arms on the sidewalk.
That story changed the tone of our day. The gravity was palpable. Yet, for some reasons some students still wanted to explore purse carry. So we did.
Demonstration & Drills
I began by asking each student to show how they typically carry their purse in various situations. Then, I demonstrated how to prepare a purse for carrying a firearm—using a holster or other suitable retention device, and how to access and draw from it—using a SIRT pistol (an inert training tool).
After the demo, I had them practice the draw with unloaded firearms. Then, after loading the pistols, we put it on the clock. Each student had to draw and fire two shots into the A-zone of a USPSA target at five yards. We tested both the “normal” carry stance (hand outside the purse) and the “staged” stance (hand on the gun, ready).
Compared to draws from a conventional holster—even as beginners—purse draws were, on average, 300% slower. A two second draw versus a six second draw, the answer was clear.
Force-on-Force: Reality Check
As we were about to wrap up our day, I had everyone stow their firearms in their vehicles, and moved to a “sterile” area—no live guns or ammo—and ran a mock force-on-force scenario. After our strict safety protocols and briefing, I simulated an attack, with student S’s permission, at about 25–30 feet away, moving at one-quarter speed. Each student played through the scene, carrying both from the body and from a purse.
Every time they carried in a purse, they failed to get the gun out before I either took the bag or made physical contact—even at reduced speed. The results were stark. This wasn’t just a theoretical risk anymore. They felt it. The experience shifted their perspective and each of the students was now fully in the camp of carrying on the person, not in a bag.
Final Thoughts
As I’ve said, this isn’t my gunfight. It’s yours. Your decisions, your tools, your responsibility. I won’t be there—no one else will be, either.
Carrying a firearm for personal defense isn’t about convenience or comfort. It’s about preparedness. It’s not the odds, but the stakes. You carry because you may have to defend yourself or someone you love against violence.
If your thing is to carry in a purse, backpack or man-bag, the firearm is now community property. It is up for grabs, quite literally, and the risk of it getting into the hands of someone else is much higher than if you are carrying in a proper holster, on your body. Those are odds I won’t bet on.
Your Defense is Personal
Postscript - The risk of purse carry goes well beyond the purse being taken during an attack/mugging/robbery. We have all read the stories of a lady shopping at the grocery store and her purse being snagged by another shopper as she turns to talk to the meat counter clerk. Or, the purse being placed in the backseat of the car and the child rummaging through and either intentionally or unintentionally pressing the trigger and killing themself or someone else. Guns present risk and you cannot best mitigate that risk if the firearm isn’t in your immediate control. Don’t roll those dice unless you have deeply weighed the risk versus benefit.