do you carry chambered?

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Vurtle said:
I also practice drawing my pistol and quietly racking my slide to simulate something like being stuck in a hostage situation and not wanting to alert the bad guys.
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Try that with a magazine in the gun. Most semi-autos will not chamber a round "in slow motion". Thinking you can rack the slide of a semi-auto in a "hostage situation" and do it discreetly is wishful thinking, to put it mildly.

Here are a couple of reasons/explanations/arguments why you should carry chambered.

http://www.usacarry.com/concealed-carry-with-a-round-chambered/

http://www.ignatius-piazza-front-si...ights-monday-blog-why-you-carry-a-loaded-gun/

There's thousands more, use Google and read what people have to say. Be open to changing your mind. Opinions are one thing, opinions that remain in the face of an avalanche of contradictory information are another.
 
Glock 32 and 26 chamber the round with no prob. I like having my opinion challenged. It challenges me as to if my view is right or not. And makes me stronger if I change my view for the better or it makes me stronger if I find my opinion to be correct. I will check out the links tonight.
 
As said, this is an old debate.

The core concepts are:

1. You do not trust yourself to ND the gun or that someone else will get the gun and shoot the wrong thing.

-- If you do not trust yourself, get a new gun or train.

2. You carry in a low risk environment. That is not sensible because no matter where you are, if you need to use the gun - that's it. It needs to be used quickly.

3. Years ago, I broke my wrist and it was disabled in a cast. I have trained with one handed injured shooter techniques. In fact, I took a class on such with the broken wrist. If you are disabled in a fight, have to manage a phone, kid or other loved one with the other hand - you are well behind the curve.

If a recent IDPA match we did an unchambered stage - try it under the moderate stress of a match. You lose time.

But the choice is yours. I prefer to be confident with my equipment and not handicap myself.
 
Posted by Vurtle: As far as my comfort level, I am very comfortable with a loaded weapon. But I only load it when it is necessary.
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The real problem with that idea is that one may lawfully draw a firearm only when the threat is imminent and the necessity is immediate.

As Glenn E. Meyer put it, "... no matter where you are, if you need to use the gun - that's it. It needs to be used quickly."
 
Many of us here understand the reason for your question. I've shot pistols ever since I was old enough to buy my first, many years ago. However when I received my carry permit around two years ago, I was very scared to carry a round in the chamber. I pictured all sorts of accidental things happening. I listened to what my instructors had to say (including my brother in law who is a police chief and range officer) and read the same things the very knowledgable people here and other places had to say. However in the end none of these things helped to lessen my distrust of carrying a loaded gun.

This is what it took for me. Your list may be different.

*Along with the Normal safely rules of carrying a firearm, I also made my own resolutions which I NEVER break. First and foremost was/is to never become lazy. I never lay my gun down randomly--It is always in use, in a holster or locked away. You would never find a loaded weapon of mine on the dash of a car. RULE 1. All weapons are loaded.
*My first carry gun had to be an automatic and have a manual safety.
*I carried my Ruger SR9c everyday, all day with no round in the chamber for two weeks. I checked it every night to make sure the trigger had not accidently went off.
*I carried for one week after that with no round in the chamber and the safety engaged. I checked it everyday to make sure the safety had not disengaged.
*I then carried with a round chambered and the safety on. I will admit I was very nervous for weeks after that.

Two years later and I now carry a Kahr CM9 and a Taurus TCP 380 with no manual safeties and a round in the chamber. I think for some of us it is just a progression we have to go through. Modern firearms are safe. People are not. Make the proper commitment, carry a modern gun in a modern holster made for your weapon, Never once get lazy about your commitment, or gun safety rules or your commitment to safety.

I think it's good to be just a little scared and have respect for your firearm. It's like riding a Harley, as soon as your not afraid anymore and too comfortable, disaster is just around the next corner.

Thats my 2 cents.
 
I sometimes carry a Kahr PM9 in a pocket holster. Yes, there is no mechanical safety, but the long trigger pull and the mass of brain between the ears do a pretty good job of avoiding NDs.

I always carry it as follows: fill magazine, chamber round, drop magazine, add round to magazine, insert magazine.

I have not ever found it neccessary to use the slide release to chamber a round, but I never 'ride' the slide on any of my firearms. So 'slingshotting' the slide does pretty much the same thing as releasing the slide release to chamber a round. But please, by all means, do follow what Kahr recommends.
 
On the high quality holster/brush bit, MANY revolver holsters do not cover the trigger to a degree I would call adequate. I own one and I will never use it again. It wasn't cheap or from an irreputable manufacturer. I bought it used very cheap. If I ever find it looking through one of my boxes of random firearms buys that didn't work out, I will cut it up and toss it.

There have been threads on here about it and MANY have posted in defense of such holsters.

A while back I was out with a rifle and unexpectedly ended up sliding/rolling/tumbling down a steep hill after losing my footing. No discharge, but I can't make the claim that it was impossible that both the trigger and safety could have been manipulated during the slide and the rifle discharged. Had I been wearing the pistol in the holster many here have defended, it would have had a decent chance of discharging.
 
I carry my Sig 226 with full magazine and one in the chamber. To me an empty chamber is an empty gun. But then I store all my guns loaded even in the safe.
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Yes, an unloaded gun is not very useful.
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True a unloaded gun does not have a magazine in it.

As for carrying with a round chambered i would say what ever the person is comfortable with. Just remember lots of people shoot themselves every year carrying with a loaded chamber. Probably more than ever need to use their firearm in a self defence situation. Weigh up the pros and cons and make a choice you will have to live with your decision not people giving advice on the Internet.
 
Yes I absolutely carry chambered, There is only one reason to even pull it out (to defend my or someone's life), and pulling an empty weapon or a fake weapon has been the last mistake of many people.
 
Manta49 said:
Just remember lots of people shoot themselves every year carrying with a loaded chamber. Probably more than ever need to use their firearm in a self defence situation.
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Really now.

Source of this "statistic" and examples, please.
 
My PM9 is is in a pocket holster, with a round chambered always. The holster is key to safety as well as finger location.
 
manta49 said:
True a unloaded gun does not have a magazine in it.

As for carrying with a round chambered i would say what ever the person is comfortable with. Just remember lots of people shoot themselves every year carrying with a loaded chamber. Probably more than ever need to use their firearm in a self defence situation. Weigh up the pros and cons and make a choice you will have to live with your decision not people giving advice on the Internet.
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In every case, safe handling likely would prevent accidental discharge. Pistols don't "just go off".
 
Really now.

Source of this "statistic" and examples, please
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I said probably, i see enough people on YouTube shooting themselves and others by mistake. Not very scientific but i ask myself if there is that many captured on YouTube shooting themselves then there are going to be a lot more that do it and don't end up on YouTube. As i said carry what way people want to its their decision. People walking around with no firearms training and a round in the chamber would concern me more than the very slim chance of someone shooting at me Deliberately. I see people being told repeatedly on this forum that the only way to carry is with a round in the chamber without any knowledge of the persons experience with firearms. PS I already have had a 9mm round negligently fired at me grazing my knee by a individual that had a round in the chamber and not a clue about firearms maybe that has influenced the way i think.
 
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I carry my 1911's, condition 1, cocked and locked, usually concealed carry, with a IWB or OWB holster.

My Sig P220's DA/SA, I carry with one in the chamber, open carry, with a thumb break holster.

I don't carry my P938 very often, but when I do, I carry it cocked and locked with the safety on in a pocket holster or IWB.
 
Manta49 said:
I said probably
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People shooting themselves on YouTube aren't "carrying" the guns. Carrying a gun, in this context, is holstered and untouched, the way every gun should be carried.

It is literally impossible to shoot yourself with a holstered handgun.

People shoot themselves accidentally when they're playing with guns.

A responsible person, carrying a gun, touches it for purposes of holstering in the morning, unholstering at night and when someone forces them to use it.

In between those times, the gun could not be any safer than it is, secure in a holster that covers it's trigger and makes it impossible to discharge, unless someone changes the laws of physics.

Plenty of arguments can be made on how a careless or irresponsible person might play with their gun in between those times and manage to shoot themselves but those people shouldn't be carrying anyway.

I'm afraid far too many people would use the "I don't carry loaded so it's safe..." excuse to do very dangerous things, making "unloaded" carry more dangerous than loaded carry ever would be.
 
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