Posted on 04/30/2012 6:53:47 AM PDT by marktwain
POLICE OFFICERS have been warned of a new threat to their lives — a holster that allows criminals to hide their guns and even fire through their clothing, police sources said.
The safety alert, posted in precincts throughout the city, advises cops of the dangerous so-called “ghost holsters.”
The holster is a pouch that, depending on the size of the gun, provides the user enough room to reach in and fire through clothing without removing the firearm.
Police sources said officers have been told that the holster can be worn on the stomach.
That could allow criminals to better conceal the gun under bulky clothing, making it more difficult to spot someone whose gait or body language would otherwise indicate they were packing heat, sources said.
Officers have been told to be extra diligent when patting down suspects, something police do about 300,000 times a year.
The NYPD said the alert was created by its Intelligence Division after it learned of the holster from another law enforcement agency.
Police departments across the country routinely share information with each other — everything from newfangled weapons to information about wanted criminals.
No ghost holsters have been found in the city.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H0dYEjR-jA
watch this vid and notice the side of his belly is all taped up. also, towards the end of the vid you will see the burnt spots on the tape...at about 4 minutes.
Revolvers kick a blast out sideways from the gap between the cylinder and the barrel. It is like a flame thrower.
Here’s another clip of a guy holding a hot dog next to the revolver when fired to show the damage to flesh from the blast coming out the side of a revolver.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_TNvPhTiB8
I don’t think you want to shoot a revolver while its in your pocket.
Does The name Plaxico Buress ring a bell?
Yup, powder burns are to be expected when you are close to the point of exit. I looked at your videos and my conclusion is the .44 would have a much larger cylinder gap and barrel flash than my .38 does.
Quite a few years ago, I intentionally fired my Chief Special while my hand was holding it under my jacket. I pulled it out of my shoulder holster and point shot the target through the side of my jacket. I was wearing a cotton shirt and a Levi jacket.
As expected, it singed the hairs on my fingers and left a powder burn on my shirt and the jacket BUT I had not lost my night vision which was the intention of the test.
I think I was firing Winchester or Federal loads which I had tested for the smallest night vision ruining gap flash. I recall that Remingtons would absolutely blind you for ten minutes when it was pitch black outside. Remingtons had a monstrous bright white flash as if someone was using a flash camera. Winchester had the orangest flash of the loads I tested which allowed your night vision to recover faster.
From my #18, I never said it was a good idea, and noted that it may result in you being burned. I just meant that a revolver would be less likely to jam from an in-pocket firing than a semi-auto.
Back in the days when work required me to be in a bad area late at night, I would walk to my car with my hands in my pocket, holding a .38 snubby in my coat pocket. To be sure, I would take it out of my pocket if at all possible if I needed to fire.
Even so, I could see one or two scenarios where I might need to fire the first shot through the pocket, such as a mugger already having a weapon up against me.
I think it’s chamber pressure that makes the barrel gap blast more destructive. I think I read about a guy shooting a S&W500 magnum a few years ago who had his thumb near the gap and the blast severed his thumb. He was holding it like a rifle with his left hand under the cylinder/barrel.
I suppose you could push the gun as far away from your belly as possible before you pull the trigger.
Coat pocket. If firing at somebody in front of you, the gun would be angled away from being against your body.
More officers die from donuts than from these holsters.
The Daily News should do a story on killer donuts.
Both times Mr. Dirtbag decided not to see what was in my hand.
One was a five-shot .38 S&W snubbie (jacket pocket)...the gun in the donut bag was a Ruger Security Six (.357 Mag) with a four inch barrel.
What are you trying to do, bait the cops?
For anybody trying to figure out what holster the source is talking about it is actually called GhostBelt and can be found at Ghostbelt.com. It might be a good way to conceal a weapon and get one round off, but it isn't a quick way to draw and fire well aimed rounds at a threat.
I kept the Ruger in the bag and the bag on the seat next to my leg. A stick-up kid cruised by twice checking me out. I knew the deal. The third time he came up on my blind side. I put my hand in the bag, leaned across the seat and pointed it at him. He thought better of finding out if I was holding a cruller inside the bag. He drifted...there's more to the story but that's the gist of it.
I don’t see how this is a problem, given that handguns are all but illegal in NYC. What would one keep in such a holster? Skittles?
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