Purses for guns are the height of fashion

Are you caught in that familiar quandary of needing to carry your concealed handgun to the theatre on opening night but realizing that you have nothing in the way of evening holsters/bags to match that elegant black strapless number you just bought?

If you live in Canada, this probably doesn’t occur to you very often (unless you’re gunning for theatre critics).

In the States, however, it supports an industry.

We’ve given up wondering why certain news releases cross our desk or end up in our inbox, but we thought we’d share this delightful missive.

Pistolpacknmama.com is a Texas-based (where else?) online company that retails concealed-carry handbags “designed by women for women”. Now, according to a January 23 news release, their products “have migrated into the arena of high fashion”.

“No longer does a woman need to include an unflattering addition to her ensemble to carry a concealed weapon,” the release gushes. “Now beautiful vintage wearable art can be used to complement her fashionable attire and allow her to carry her weapon of choice.”

The styles range from “evening pouches to traditional totes to classic everyday handbags…Some bags are designed to carry a smaller semi-automatic, while others can accommodate any size of weapon.” (Good to know for those heavy-calibre days.)

Because the concealed compartment is at the back of the handbag and next to the wearer’s body, “this allows the wearer to have easy access to the weapon by having a hand on the handle of the weapon without indicating this to other people.”

How chic. One can actually be fashionably brandishing one’s gun at all times without anyone noticing. (Check state firearms regulations. Please keep finger off trigger and refrain from quick applause.)

Our favourite style? It’s a tough choice, but we would have to go with the cute $135 bag fashioned like a retro child’s school book bag.

It’s name? The “School Girl”.

No. Not a joke.