Students come to class having read a lot of forum posts and watched a lot of videos, and the vocabulary gets in the way. These are the terms we use in our classes and in the guides on this site, defined the way we explain them on the range. Terms link to the guide where we cover them in depth.
Carry positions and holster types
- IWB (inside the waistband) — a holster worn between your body and your pants, clipped or looped to the belt. The default for concealment. See IWB vs. OWB.
- OWB (outside the waistband) — a holster worn on the outside of the belt. More comfortable, less concealable; exposed, it is open carry.
- AIWB / appendix carry — IWB carry in front of the hip, roughly 1 to 2 o’clock. See the appendix carry guide.
- Strong side — carrying on the same side as your dominant hand, typically 3 to 4 o’clock.
- Small of back (SOB) — 5 to 6 o’clock carry. We discourage it: slow draw, spine injury risk in a fall, muzzle sweeps.
- Clock position — the system for describing where on the waist a holster sits, with 12 at the navel and 6 at the spine. See the clock guide.
- Cross draw — holster worn on the support side with the grip facing the dominant hand.
- Pocket holster — a holster that covers the trigger guard and breaks up the gun’s outline inside a pocket. Never carry in a pocket without one.
- Ankle holster, shoulder holster, belly band — alternative carry methods covered in this guide.
- Off-body carry — carrying in a bag or purse rather than on the body. Slow to access and easy to lose control of.
- Tuckable holster — an IWB holster whose clips let a shirt be tucked over the gun.
Holster construction
- Kydex — a thermoplastic molded to a specific gun model; rigid, quiet to carry, loud to draw. See materials compared.
- Hybrid holster — a leather or fabric backer with a Kydex shell.
- Retention — how firmly the holster holds the gun. Passive retention is friction; active retention is a strap, hood or button. See retention levels.
- Thumb break — a snap strap over the back of the slide released with the thumb during the draw.
- Cant — the forward or rearward tilt of the holster, in degrees. A 15-degree forward cant (FBI cant) is common for strong-side carry.
- Ride height — how high or low the gun sits relative to the belt.
- Sweat guard — the panel of holster material between the slide and your body.
- Claw / wing — an attachment on an AIWB holster that uses belt pressure to rotate the grip into the body.
- Wedge — a foam pad on the back of an AIWB holster that tilts the muzzle away from the body and the grip inward.
- Light-bearing holster — molded for a pistol with a weapon-mounted light; a standard holster will not fit it.
- Optics-cut / RMR-cut holster — a holster with clearance for a slide-mounted red dot.
- Belt clip, J-hook, soft loop — the hardware that attaches an IWB holster to the belt. See the fit and sizing guide.
- Gun belt — a belt stiff enough to carry the weight of a holstered pistol without sagging. See the gun belt guide.
Concealment and the draw
- Printing — the outline of a concealed gun showing through clothing. See how to stop printing.
- Cover garment — the shirt or jacket that conceals the holster.
- Garment clear — the first step of the draw: moving the cover garment out of the way.
- Four-step draw — grip, clear, rotate/join, extend. See draw practice drills.
- Reholstering — returning the gun to the holster. Done slowly, looking the gun into the holster, after confirming nothing is in the mouth of the holster.
- Dry fire — practicing manipulation and trigger press with an unloaded firearm and no ammunition in the room.
- Shot timer — a device that beeps to start a drill and records the time of each shot.
- Negligent discharge (ND) — a shot fired because a rule of gun safety was broken. Most holster-related NDs happen while reholstering.
North Carolina legal terms
- CHP / CCH — Concealed Handgun Permit; the state course is often called the Concealed Carry Handgun (CCH) class. See how to get your permit.
- Issuing authority — in North Carolina, the sheriff of the county where you live.
- Shall-issue — the sheriff must issue the permit if you meet the statutory requirements (G.S. 14-415.12).
- Duty to inform — the requirement (G.S. 14-415.11) to tell an officer who approaches you in an official capacity that you hold a permit and are carrying.
- Reciprocity — one state honoring another’s permit. See NC reciprocity.
- Posted premises — property where the owner has posted a conspicuous notice prohibiting concealed handguns. Carrying there is an infraction and refusing to leave is trespass. See prohibited places.
- Castle Doctrine — G.S. 14-51.2 and 14-51.3: no duty to retreat in your home, vehicle or workplace and a presumption of reasonable fear against unlawful forcible entry. See our explainer.
- Stand your ground — no duty to retreat from any place you lawfully are, if the force used is otherwise justified.
- Perfect vs. imperfect self-defense — perfect self-defense meets every legal element and is a complete defense; imperfect self-defense fails one (often the reasonableness of the fear) and can still result in a manslaughter conviction. The reason we teach the After Deadly Force Seminar.
- Going armed to the terror of the public — a North Carolina common-law offense for carrying a weapon in a way that frightens people; relevant to careless open carry.
- Pistol purchase permit — the county permit formerly required to buy a handgun in NC, repealed in March 2023. See what changed.
- NICS — the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System used by licensed dealers.
- FFL — a Federal Firearms Licensee, i.e., a licensed gun dealer.
- Safe storage law — G.S. 14-315.1, which makes it a crime to leave a firearm where a minor can access it. See firearm safety.
Missing a term? Ask us — if students keep asking, it goes on this page.