Designer Concealed Carry

Living in the left-leaning, media-elite world of New York City, it's difficult to imagine—let alone understand—that 34% of Americans own a gun. And 43% of those gun-owners are women. Laws about carrying weapons in public vary by state and municipality, but unless you live in Illinois, you probably pass a civilian every day who is carrying a gun. That may sound scary as shit to you—I know it does to me—but I've put my liberal bias aside to speak with Dallas-based Kate Woolstenhulme, the founder of Designer Concealed Carry handbags, a collection engineered to safely conceal your gun in a way a traditional purse can't. The bags, which start at $269 for a canvas style and go up to $4,200 for a crocodile version, have dual-locking zippers with a holster that allows the owner to quickly grab her weapon, but not too quickly. The hope is that a kid couldn't run up and grab a gun and shoot people. And that it won't fly out of your purse like a wallet or a cell phone. Woolstenhulme's story is, if anything, unique. And her attitude toward weapons reminds me that a big part of this country lives by another set of social mores.