Holster with hood assembly

A holster, comprising:

• a body defining a cavity for receiving at least a portion of a weapon, said body comprising a pair of opposed side walls;
• a hood assembly pivotably connected to said body, said hood assembly comprising a retaining hood and at least one elongated pivot arm that extends from said retaining hood to a pivot plate, wherein said hood assembly is pivotable between a closed position and an open position, wherein said hood assembly is biased to said open position when a weapon is absent from said body, and wherein said hood assembly automatically pivots to said closed position as a weapon is inserted into said body cavity;
• a lock mechanism that maintains said hood assembly in said closed position when at least a portion of a weapon is received in said body cavity, wherein said lock mechanism is biased to an engaged position when at least a portion of a weapon is received in said body cavity;
• and
• a finger/thumb release associated with said lock mechanism for releasing said hood assembly from said closed position for removal of said weapon.

A holster, comprising:

• a body defining a cavity for receiving at least a portion of a weapon, said body comprising a pair of opposed side walls;
• a hood assembly pivotably connected to said body, wherein said hood assembly is pivotable between a closed position for securing said weapon within said body cavity and an open position for insertion or removal of said weapon;
• a lock mechanism for maintaining said hood assembly in said closed position when a weapon is held in said body cavity;
• a finger/thumb release associated with said lock mechanism for releasing said hood assembly to pivot to said open position;
• and
• at least one pivot arm that extends from said hood assembly to a pivot plate for automatically pivoting said hood assembly to said closed position and automatically engaging said lock mechanism as at least a portion of said weapon is inserted into said body cavity, wherein said pivot plate is positioned to engage a front face of said weapon's trigger guard as said weapon is inserted into said body cavity.