Is a competitor allowed to wear two holsters?

[Skydiver]

A new shooter asked me this Sunday: "Can I wear another holster on the weak side?"

At the time, I just responded with "The convention is that you only wear one holster" and the shooter just let the subject drop without asking me "Show me the rule."

Now that I've had some time to reflect on the question, if the shooter had asked me to show them the rule, I would have been at a loss to back it up and would referred them to the Range Master.

My stance is that only one holster is allowed.

As advised by Mark that I should try wearing the RM hat (among the other roles of shooter and RO) when trying to answer a question: Well with the RO/RM hat on, and digging in section 5.2 of rulebook, though, I'm not seeing anything about it being illegal to have more than one holster. 5.1.9 prohibits more than one gun. 5.2.7.1 prohibits shoulder holsters and "tie-down" rigs, but nothing explicitly saying a shooter must have only one holster.

The sentence construction of 5.2.5.3 seems to hint that it is allowed:

5.2.5.3 Unless specified in the written stage briefing, or unless required by a Range Officer, the position of holsters and allied equipment must not be moved or changed by a competitor during a match. ...

I feel that if the intent was a single holster, this would have been phrased as "the position of the holster and allied equipment must not be moved or changed by a competitor" (or "the positions of the holster and allied equipment must not be moved or changed by competitors").

My search through the glossary turned up the definition of "strong hand" with reference to drawing from the holster. Working my way back to 8.2.4, the rule only prohibits the course designer from requiring a shooter from drawing with their weak hand. That doesn't mean though that the shooter isn't allowed draw with their weak hand as long as they do it safely.

So continuing to play RM, the next thing I can try to lean on is about the RM's declarations about equipment being final, but on closer reading 5.1.3.3 only refers to sights; 5.2.8 focuses on LE and Military and their equipment; 5.2.9 covers shooters with disabilities and their equipment; and 5.4.2 covers eye/ear protection. I don't see how I can declare that the second holster isn't safe or legal using these rules.

Right now, the only thing I can point to is that all the appendices with regards to divisions have holster as singular in their respective titles for section 12. They all say "restriction on position of holster and other equipment". If a shooter has two holsters, then they'll be shooting for no score (as per 6.2.5.1), but that still doesn't prevent them wearing a second holster. (It feels kind of thin, though, when compared to the explicitness of 5.2.7 or 5.1.9.)

Should qualify my stance as only one holster is allowed if the competitor wishes to shoot for score?

Edited November 16, 2011 by Skydiver

[EkuJustice]

What was his logic in wanting to do the 2 holster approach. That would just place the mags even farther back and grabbing your first mag would feel like grabbing your 3rd or 4th.

[EEH]

why ?? you only have one gun !! this would have been my question back to him

[Nik Habicht]

Sure. He can wear as many holsters as he wants, but only use one during the match....

See above rule.....

[bbbean]

Sure. He can wear as many holsters as he wants, but only use one during the match....

See above rule.....

I concur.

[Lnxgeek]

You say this was a new shooter, perhaps he wanted a weak side holster in case a stage required weak-hand only shooting.

It would be easier to draw and shoot from a weak-hand holster, no transition needed.

Yes, I understand this is not allowed.

Just trying to get into the new shooters thought process here.

[Corey]

I would agree with Nik. He can wear 2 or 3 holsters but cant use them as the rulebook does have a rule against moving your equipment. using a 2nd holster on the weak side for his gun would be moving the gun to a different starting position.

And besides, its a horrible idea anyway. Did you ask him why he wanted to do it?

[Skydiver]

I would agree with Nik. He can wear 2 or 3 holsters but cant use them as the rulebook does have a rule against moving your equipment. using a 2nd holster on the weak side for his gun would be moving the gun to a different starting position.

And besides, its a horrible idea anyway. Did you ask him why he wanted to do it?

Rule 5.2.5.3 only talks about not moving holsters and allied equipment on the belt. The gun itself is not considered allied equipment according to the glossary. Seems like I can put the gun any holster as long as the holsters themselves don't move around on the belt.

I didn't ask, but I can guess as to why he asked. That particular match had a bunch of standards COFs which involved weak hand shooting. I think only one WSB that day had written as "draw, transfer gun to weak hand, and engage targets with weak hand only" for one of the strings. The other WSBs simply said "String x: Engage targets with weak hand only". Lnxgeek above hit on it in his post above.

I agree that it would be a terrible idea, especially for divisions with low mag capacities, because it would be a waste of belt space. For Open or Limited it may not be as bad if the shooter is truly ambidextrous. This opens up a whole can of worms of messing up the definition of "strong hand".

Edited November 16, 2011 by Skydiver

[D.Hayden]

Possibly a cowboy shooter.. not wanting to change his revolver setup?

[Flexmoney]

My CCW holster is often worn at 4+ o'clock position.

I've been known to setup a match and then decide if I am going to shoot. Sometimes I will just use the belt I am wearing (I often CCW with a Safariland outer belt)...then clamp on a few mag pouches with the Tek-lock and slide a gamer holster on (or not). Otherwise, I'd be taking the belt all the way off and on and stringing and unstringing gear.

[West Texas Granny]

I would agree with Nik. He can wear 2 or 3 holsters but cant use them as the rulebook does have a rule against moving your equipment. using a 2nd holster on the weak side for his gun would be moving the gun to a different starting position.

And besides, its a horrible idea anyway. Did you ask him why he wanted to do it?

Rule 5.2.5.3 only talks about not moving holsters and allied equipment on the belt. The gun itself is not considered allied equipment according to the glossary. Seems like I can put the gun any holster as long as the holsters themselves don't move around on the belt.

So why a rule not allowing a holster to be tied down if a rule prevents movement of a holster on the belt. Seems logical that a holstered secured by a tie down would prevent such movement.

Edited November 17, 2011 by West Texas Granny

[Scott R]

So why a rule not allowing a holster to be tied down if a rule prevents movement of a holster on the belt. Seems logical that a holstered secured by a tie down would prevent such movement.

What rule are you talking about? The "tie-down" rig talked about in this rule...

"5.2.7.1 A shoulder holster or “tie-down” rig (visible or otherwise),

except as specified in Rule 5.2.8".....has nothing to do with a holster that is worn on the belt.