Green’s Dictionary of Slang

carrying or obtaining a gun.

1980		J. McClure Spike Island (1981) xi: He was always strapped down with a nine millimeter or a .44 magnum.
1988		Ice-T ‘Power’ 🎵 Don’t step to me ’cause the boy stays strapped.
1993		K. Scott Monster (1994) 16: I was [...] patrolling the ’hood with, of course, my .44. [...] No one knew I was strapped.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 179/1: strapped adj. carrying a firearm.
2003		A.N. LeBlanc Random Family 24: The older boys were strapped – carrying guns.
2005		Jade LB Keisha the Sket (2021) 71: ‘Cum 2 ma yard now n bring all da goonz straped up’.
2006		D. Winslow Winter of Frankie Machine (2007) 100: The Martini brothers won’t be carrying guns [...] but Rocco and Joey will definitely be strapped.
2017		S.M. Jones August Snow [ebook] ’I’m back and I’m strapped [...] My street, my concern’.
2018-20		T. Thorne (ed.) ‘Drill Slang Glossary’ at Forensic Linguistic Databank 🌐 Strapping - carrying a firearm.
2020		S.A. Crosby Blacktop Wasteland 77: ‘Once I scope the place out, we can go talk to my boy about getting strapped’.
2020		G. Krauze What They Was 39: He was always strapped.