There is no doubt among those of us that legally carry a gun that one of our fears is the consequences that come with having to  go through a Deadly Force encounter. The first one without a doubt is to be accidentally shot by arriving LEOs because we have a gun in our hands and somebody bleeding on the pavement.

This fear comes mostly from the blabbing verbosity of anti-gun Chiefs of Police in States fighting for their right to carry a weapon, who were quick to warn citizens that their officers would shoot first and ask questions later if they saw anybody with a gun. This was a great disservice to the rank and file officer who is professional enough to assess a situation before going active with a gun. Still, the damage was done and even though I cannot recall a single incident where a police officer shot a law abiding citizen confusing him with a criminal, the story is out there and people are coming up with the perfect solution for a non-problem.

The first “solution” was the now infamous Concealed Carry Badge. This tin was first touted as a way to avoid being shot by rushing cops and give them some sort of pause because a badge is displayed and thus, he must be a good guy. The CC Badges have been excoriated enough across diverse forums as a sure fire way to get yourself in a heap of trouble if somebody decides to press charges on your butt for impersonating a police officer. The badges are still out there for those recently initiated in the fraternity of CCW and can be seen in some internet stores and many gun magazines.

The latest and newest is an article that when I first saw it I thought: OK, somebody has a great sense of humor. Nice joke.” The joke was on me. Welcome to the Don’t Shoot Me Banner already known in certain circles as the Miss or Mr. Universe CCW Tactical Sash.

Touted as “a caveman simple solution to the problem of misidentification of good guys in a fight.” this has to be one of the dumbest non-solutions ever created.  I am sorry if the creator of the Tactical CCW Sash reads this and feels insulted, you started it by calling us cavemen. Cavemen would never be as dumb as to wear this contraption and no civilian should even begin to consider this as part of their bat-belt.

I am not opposed to  being properly identified by the police as one of the good guys, but where this item fails miserably is in the extra movements and gun manipulations required to drape the sash across the body. Using the pictures as example, let’s walk through the scenario: You are just done using your gun in a deadly force encounter. Your body dumped a ton of adrenalin in your circulatory system, you are shaking, tense and time seems to be moving at a snail’s pace, your senses have narrowed down and they are concentrated on the target. Right then might not be the perfect time to fiddle around your belt-attached pouch to pull out a sash which will force you to change hands on the gun and or orient it anywhere else but the target or a safe direction.  Under stress, our fine motor skills disappear and any extra movements we force ourselves to perform will be increased in difficulty due to the adrenalin high we are having. I am sorry but I see this sash as a negligent discharge in the making. If you discharge the weapon, land a bullet on the downed bad guy and kill him, congratulations!: you just graduated to manslaughter in the best of cases and will be receiving, courtesy of the D.A. an internship on forced alternative lifestyles interactions at the local house of detention.  Same if the bullet happens to make deadly contact with the girl behind the register at the nearby eatery with the added bonus of a civil lawsuit.

So, let’s think about something else or better yet, let’s do what experts have told us to do after a situation like this: Once the police arrives, slowly and safely put the gun down, raise your hands and follow the directions given by the officers. They are professionals and will soon figure out who is who and you can sashay your way to a more relaxing environment… yes, bad pun. Sue me.