Slip 'in and out of a hotel armed' and undetected: Guns & Ammo editor outlines AR-15 bag features in November issue

In the aftermath of the Las Vegas Strip shooting massacre, one nagging question is how could Stephen Paddock bring an arsenal of long-guns into the Mandalay Bay hotel without being noticed? The November issue of Guns & Ammo magazine promotes an item designed to do just that

Managing editor Chris Mudgett wrote a four-page story hyping a rifle bag of a "discreet nature" that "appears as a classic, yet stylish travel case."

"When dressed in business casual attire, slipping in and out of a hotel armed with a defensive rifle is unlikely to raise an eyebrow," Guns and Ammo predicted.

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"Unzipping the clamshell-shaped pocket reveals a laster-cut, MOLLE-compatible, Velcro-lined, quick-deployment platform that is compatible with Vertx's Tactigami moldable accessories, which are used to store items such as magazines, pistols, medical kits, night vision and so on" Guns & Ammo says of the Vertx Professional Garment Bag.[/caption]

Berkshire Hathaway owns the Fechheimer Brothers Company, which manufactures the $270 case. The Vertx label grew out of a partnership with the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT).

The "average draw-to-fire time" is listed as 4.56 seconds by Guns & Ammo.

"My average draw time to fire a single shot and strike the A-zone of a target from 25 yards was a little more than 4 1/2 seconds," Mudgett wrote. "My best time was recorded at a brisk 4 seconds flat, which proves this to be a very practical solution for discreetly carrying a carbine amongst the public."

The story notes that the case qualifies for air travel.

"While Vertx's Professional Garment Bag is actually a garment bag, it is designed with discreet accommodations for a short-barrel rifle (SBR), sub-gun or AR pistol so long as the over-all length is 28 inches or less," Guns & Ammo explained.

This is not Guns & Ammo managing editor Chris Mudgett's first story on covertly carrying a rifle.

In April, Mudgett wrote about the "Covert Operations Rifle Backpack" that has an "average draw-to-fire time" of 5.5 seconds.

"Elite Survival says engineers designed the Covert Operations Rifle Backpack as a method to store an AR-type carbine, but I opted to carry SIG Sauer’s new 11½-inch barreled MCX pistol chambered in 5.56 NATO," Mudget noted in his review of the $225 covert backpack. "The pack handled the weight like a champ and remained comfortable whether I threw the pack on one shoulder as I exited my house in the morning or carried it on both shoulders for an extended trail walk. Unknowing passersby only smiled."

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"When dressed in business casual attire, slipping in and out of a hotel armed with a defensive rifle is unlikely to raise an eyebrow," explains the first page of a four-page Guns and Ammo feature on "a true low-profile carbine carry case that doubles as a functional garment bag and storage system."[/caption]