Patent ID: 8235263

Claim:
A holster, comprising: a holster body defining a cavity; a retention guard pivotably coupled to the holster body, wherein the retention guard is pivotable between a closed position and an open position, wherein the retention guard is biased to the open position by a guard biasing means, and wherein the retention guard includes a guard locking indent for receiving at least a portion of a guard locking portion; and a guard release lever, wherein the guard release lever includes at least some of the guard locking portion and a thumb/finger engagement portion, wherein the guard release lever is coupled to the holster body such that if the guard locking portion is pivoted towards the cavity the thumb/finger engagement portion pivots away from the cavity, wherein when the guard release lever is in a guard retention position and the retention guard is in the closed position, at least a portion of the guard locking portion protrudes through an aperture in the holster body and into the guard locking indent of the retention guard to maintain the retention guard in the closed position, and wherein if the guard release lever is pivoted to a guard release position the guard locking portion is sufficiently withdrawn from the guard locking indent so as to allow the retention guard to automatically pivot, via a biasing force provided by the guard biasing means, to the open position.