Do you Carry Loaded?

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Mjbechtold

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I was at a friends work the other day and had a guy walk up to me and in a smart a** way ask me "are you one of them guys who carries you gun around with one in the chamber" Now i was thrown off for a second, Cause i was thinking why would anybody carry a gun and not have it loaded, I mean if if came time to need it are you really going to have time to chamber it?
My questions is does anybody carry there gun around unchammbered?
 
First question I would ask myself is how does this guy know I carry?

The second question I would ask myself is what is the purpose of his question?

Third question (which supports the second question) is what motivated this person to the point they felt the need to ask me this question?

As far as carry loaded, I see little point in asking a BG it its ok to rack my slide or otherwise chamber a round before we proceed in a fight for survival where the BG intent is to kill me.

No round in chamber is a liability, not a plus IMHO.
 
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My freinds work is a pawn shop i buy any guns he lets me get on a good deal so i guess the kid might have overherd us talking sticking his nose where it didnt belong
 
Ok, the guy was being nosy, my real point is there is a motivation for him to ask you this question.

I don't know what that motivation was and without being there to hear the tone of voice or see physical questions its hard to know why he asked that.

The guy may or may nor be any sort of threat but he felt brave enough or comfortable enough to pose the question. If he felt brave enough then he's probably complaining about you to his friends who now know you carry.

If if felt comfortable enough to pose the question then it not probably a worry and the issue died when you answered him.

My point is when people know you carry it can be a liability. Don't get me wrong I do believe in open carry as a right but that doesn't close my eyes to the tactical problems that can present.
 
That does make sence.. I try to not let people know i carry ,do to the fact of Element of suprise. But I was a little thrown off by the question And can not besure on his reasoning for asking it
 
Having worked PT in a gun shop for a few years - I've been asked this "rude" question a couple times. I usually say, "Not to be a smartass, but let's hope you never have to find out."
 
I know lots of people that carry chamber empty. They feel sufficiently armed and im not gonna try and force my belief on them. I just find it weird to be honest. I cant see why anyone would want to carry a gun that will need both hands to bring it into a ready state.

Im sure they have their reasons.
 
I think it was Jeff Cooper who I read quotes from that seem like the best response to these kinds of confrontational questions that are intended to ridicule you or make you stick out like a freak or something.

"Hell yes it's dangerous. I wouldn't carry the damn thing if it wasn't dangerous"

It wouldn't do me much good if it wasn't loaded, now would it?"

That kind of thing.

I would also try to finish this into something I'd have ready for such people:

"Why, are you one of those people who expect their safety to be provided for by other people?"
 
Whatever the situation just stay aware. 99% the guys not a big problem but his mouth might be, who knows?

If he is complaining to his friends then I would have a cup of coffee with him and explain why I would appreciate it if he drops the issue. If he doesnt drop it your probably stuck but most people are reasonable.

Just stay aware, not paranoid just aware.
 
For me my answer would depend on the way the question was asked. If someone was asking as a way of gathering advise, I would explain why I carried the way I did. If the person asking had a smart mouth attitude my response would be very different.
 
That's a question I consider the same as, "Are you carrying?" or "Have you stopped beating your wife?" I don't answer questions that are none of 'askers' business.
 
I carried "Israeli style" for the first week or so, just to get used to carrying CCW (if you know what I mean), after that, always one in the chamber.
 
Most attacks happen between 7-10ft and it takes less than a second for someone to cover that distance, so yea its ready to rock and roll. I freaked a friend out when he noticed my 1911 cocked and locked. He asked dude did you know your hammer is back? I told him it does not do any good if it wasn't.


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For what it's worth;

NOTE: I don't agree with Cpt Fairbarim on this subject. I post it as an alternative.

If one doesn't know Cpt Fairbarim, he was the chief of the Shanghai police in the thirties when roving gangs ruled the city, and is reported to have been in over 200 shoot outs.

In his book, 'SHOOTING TO LIVE" Cpt Fairbarim recommend pinning the safety down in the "fire" position, and carrying the pistol loaded without a round in the chamber. His ideal is people have a tendency to fumble with the safety, it causes more accidents then if the safety was pinned.

Cpt Fairbarim contends its faster to draw and fire the pistol by racking the slide. I've tried this and if one practices it is quite fast. But then again I've never had problems "fumbling with the safety" on a 1911 Style pistol".

Regardless if one carries a pistol/revolver for defense, especially if he/she is in LE, he should read and study Fairbarim's book.
 
Sig P220, all the safeties are in the trigger or controlled by the trigger.. Nothing to fumble with, nothing to forget. :cool:
 
This one has been done to death here as well; but here's my condensed response to this.

1. Yes I carry fully loaded +1 because I have no illusions about how I will perform when being attacked. I want every advantage I can get. I consider the .5 seconds it takes to rack the slide, and the extra usage of my offhand to do something other than render my weapon operable, a very large advantage.

2. It is not unsafe to carry a weapon this way (even a Glock) provided you are very strict with your safety practices. If you don't agree, then you can talk to my years of carrying a Glock +1 without even a "close call" regarding a Negligent Discharge.

3. I often hear the attitude to carry empty chambered from young or new shooters/CCW citizens that either are uninformed about their weapons' safety features, or are suffering from dillusions of grandeur regarding how they imagine defending themselves is going to go. It's not glamorous. It's a tooth and nail fight for your life. It's bloody and vicious. And the cost/benefit ratio regarding being as fast and dexterous as you can be at defending yourself in this manner is weighted very heavily in favor of +1 carry. CCW citizens tend to learn this with time; or they get more comfortable with their weapon after several months of seeing that the gun hasn't discharged on an empty chamber.

4. I advocate very strongly almost anything that will help people to carry their guns more often. If an empty chamber is what it takes for a bull-headed, or different-minded and self-aware person to take their weapon out of the house and have it on them when it counts, then by all means carry un-chambered. It sure beats NOT having it. And that's over 90% of the battle. When we're talking carrying chambered/not, we're squabbling over pennies. Getting the gun onto their belt is the meat and potatoes that we're after. Everything else is gravy.

~LT
 
As far as the original question is concerned, IMHO I can't imagine why one would CCW absent one in the chamber...?

My life as well as that of my family is just too short and precious to jeopardize.

That being said, if you don't train (I know, it's a relative thing) you have no business CCW'ing unless it's empty and you will be using it as a blunt-force object.

-Cheers
 
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