“Shoot Me First Vest” - a WOTD, Quote, Guns and Star Wars 4-in-1

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“Shoot Me First Vest” - a WOTD, Quote, Guns and Star Wars 4-in-1

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 | Best Of, Guns, Nifty, Star Wars, Word of the Day |

Some of the more common topics I cover are quotes, the word of the day, guns, and Star Wars. Consider this a 4-in-1.

Shoot me first vest - What some people call a vest worn to conceal a gun, either inside the vest itself or holstered on the belt and covered by the vest.

Some people in the concealed carry community think that armed robbers entering a convenience store or whatever will shoot the guy with the photographer’s vest at the first chance, assuming that he’ll be armed. Other people dismiss the idea. They counter that the “shoot me firsters” are just being self-conscious about their handguns, and that most people are blissfully unaware of the fact that people in society carry concealed weapons.

So there’s the word of the day and gun angle. Here’s the quote and Star Wars angle. Massad Ayoob is a police officer, self-defense instructor, and a popular gunwriter. This is what he had to say about the idea of concealment vests being shoot me first vests:

After all these years, I’ve only found one case of anyone “getting shot first” because they were wearing vests. It is found in the very first Star Wars movie. The rebel bodyguards of Princess Leia are all wearing a uniform that includes a black vest which looks remarkably like something from Concealed Carry Clothiers. When the Imperial Storm Troopers led by Darth Vader attack their ship, the Storm Troopers blast every rebel so dressed.

Of course, Han Solo wore a vest and he didn’t get shot. Then again Han tended to preclude that problem by being the one to to shoot first. (Or at least he did until Lucas released the “special editions” of Star Wars and edited the cantina scene so that Greedo shot first.)