Should you keep a round in the chamber in a house gun?

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Dragline45 said:
The time it takes for you to rack that slide is enough for someone to get the jump on you and end your life.
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And your response
JD0x0 said:
Really? Then with a chambered gun, the time it takes to raise the sights will also be too slow. Or the BG would be close enough to turn your loaded AND chambered pistol on you And you'll be dead. If the BG is close enough that you don't have enough time to rack your slide, you're probably screwed anyway.
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Plenty of people have successfully defended themselves with a firearm in what I call "bad breath distance". If that gun did not have a round chambered it would have done them absolutely no good.


Here is a previous comment of yours.

JD0x0 said:
Personally I think people should leave their guns unchambered unless they know they are about to use their gun. It's just safer

Sure, sure. "It takes longer having to rack the slide" but sometimes that's all you need to get rid of a threat. The sound of a gun cocking can be enough to stop certain threats. In case it doesn't, you then have a bullet, in the chamber, ready to use, if you need to. .
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Sorry but this to me screams ignorance and lack of proper training. No one knows when they will need to use a gun, if that was the case they wouldn't have been there in the first place. What you consider "safer" is indeed not. Just about every firearm trainer out there will contradict and disagree with you. If you do not feel safe carrying or handling a loaded firearm, perhaps firearm ownership is not in your best interest.

JD0x0 said:
What you are suggesting is that someone should leave a loaded chambered pistol, with the safety off, within reach of their bed, to be safe from a BG. Any other configuration would "take too long" as you stated before, you wouldn't have enough time to rack the slide. And with a time space so narrow, the BG would probably be within arms reach of your loaded gun, if you didn't hear him break in and don't have time to rack the slide.
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I never mentioned safety on or off, but I absolutely suggest to leave a loaded pistol within reach of the bed. And not every situation is played out and written in stone. Sure there will be some instances where you will have plenty of time to grab your firearm and chamber a round, but there are plenty of cases where you may not. So it's good practice to leave any gun designated for home defense or carry with a round chambered.

manta49 said:
Could someone please come up with another saying to describe an unloaded firearm. A unloaded firearm is not a paperweight or a brick or all the other the things people describe them as.
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If it really bothers you that much feel free to come up with another saying. You are vastly over thinking it and missing the point. When someone says an unloaded gun is an expensive paperweight, what they mean is if you go to use a gun when you need it and it is not loaded then it's no more useful than a paperweight.
 
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When someone says an unloaded gun is an expensive paperweight, what they mean is if you go to use a gun when you need it and it is not loaded then it's no more useful than a paperweight.
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Yes it is chamber a round and shoot. Its only no use a paperweight etc if you have no ammo. If a loaded firearm is no use why do the military for example carry unloaded when on base why not just lock it up in the armoury. I will answer for you its because they can load it and use it if necessary. It might take a second to load it but that doesn't make it useless.
 
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Yes it is chamber a round and shoot. Its only no use a paperweight etc if you have no ammo. If a loaded firearm is no use why do the military for example carry unloaded when on base why not just lock it up in the armoury. I will answer for you its because they can load it and use it if necessary. It might take a second to load it but that doesn't make it useless.
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You assume in every situation that you need a gun that you will indeed have enough time to rack the slide. Not true at all. I am assuming you do not carry concealed. Here is a scenario, you are walking down the street. On the same sidewalk a man is walking in your direction, just as the distance closes and you two are close to each other he attacks you. Tell me where in that situation you would have time to pull out your gun and rack the slide. You certainly cant pull out your gun and chamber a round every time you see someone waking in your direction in public. In that situation, your gun is indeed useless besides being used as a club, or a "heavy expensive paperweight". You say it only takes a second to load, but it also takes two hands to load. Not something you can do while being attacked. Guns were meant to be carried loaded, and safely at that.
 
Well, there are some considerations that I looked at.

1. Would anyone else have potential access to the firearm? If your spouse/kid/significant other can access it, you might not want to keep a loaded gun in there. (If EVERYONE who has access knows it is kept loaded, and WILL treat it properly, it's less of an issue.)
2. Do you handle the firearm on a regular basis? Loading, unloading, and cleaning are when most negligent discharges seem to occur. Even if you are normally careful, the more you handle a firearm, the greater the chance you will eventually screw up (which can be very bad when there isn't a safe backstop designed for absorbing bullets).
3. How much response time do you need? If you'll have ample warning to any intruders, etc, you will likely have time to rack the slide. If a short distance and only 1-2 barriers are between you and a threat, you might not want to HAVE to use both hands to get the weapon ready (or remember to do so).
 
If a loaded firearm is no use why do the military for example carry unloaded when on base why not just lock it up in the armoury. I will answer for you its because they can load it and use it if necessary. It might take a second to load it but that doesn't make it useless.
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That's because the commander thinks it's more likely that some junior enlisted type is going to negligently discharge a loaded weapon than actually have to use it. It's called CYA, and it runs a large portion of military rules.
 
where in that situation you would have time to pull out your gun and rack the slide. You certainly cant pull out your gun and chamber a round every time you see someone waking in your direction in public. In that situation, your gun is indeed useless besides being used as a club, or a "heavy expensive paperweight". You say it only takes a second to load, but it also takes two hands to load. Not something you can do while being attacked. Guns were meant to be carried loaded, and safely at that
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That's one posabilty but the post was about a firearm at your bedside at night. To me if your security is up to the job you would have plenty of time.

That's because the commander thinks it's more likely that some junior enlisted type is going to negligently discharge a loaded weapon than actually have to use it. It's called CYA, and it runs a large portion of military rules.
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Yes I know why they do it but the fact is that they still carry the firearm so its not useless it just needs a second to load. If it was useless because it was unloaded they wouldent carry it. But as I said its up to the individual to decide.

That's because the commander thinks it's more likely that some junior enlisted type is going to negligently discharge a loaded weapon than actually have to use it
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That could go for civilians as well.
 
True story.

As a teenager (many, many years ago) my house gun was my Smith and Wesson model 19. I was nervous about keeping it loaded, so it was empty on the nightstand with several speedloaders next to it.
One night, I woke up out of a sound sleep to the alarming noises of a dog fight outside. I was still half asleep and grabbed the revolver, but no speed loader and rushed outside to find my lab/chow cross getting pinned by the neighbors pitbull*. If not for the fact that my other dog broke out the door behind me and defended her "brother", Southwest would have died that night.

Ever since I've keep whatever is on the night stand ready to go. The only one I have to do anything to be ready to shoot is the 1911 which I kept with one in the chamber, hammer down, which apparently is frowned upon these days.


*the neighbors pitbull was actually the reason I had unsupervised access to loaded guns. The dog attacked pretty much every other dog in the area and went after people (including another neighbors 6 year old) Everyone was armed to the teeth. To be honest, I'm suprised the dog survived until those jerks moved out.
 
If it really concerns you with saftey but you want the round in the chamber perhaps you can look at other options for home defense..i personally keep my ruger p95 cocked and locked with one in the chamber..my gun is da/sa so i have the extra saftey feature of having a heavy trigger pull and can also keep my saftey on it takes me a split second to flip the saftey up and pull the trigger and i feel just as safe with it like that as i would without a round chambered..so perhaps looking for a gun with added saftey features would make u feel better..but as stated earlier a 1911 while it may look intimidating to handle is actually much safer than it is given credit for..
 
It is your choice, but ...

I own 1911's because I wanted a sem-auto pistol that could be safely carried or left on the bedside table "cocked and locked" the way John Moses Browning designed it and because I don't like long double action trigger pulls in a semi-automatic!

Since the OP indicated he wants to keep his pistol in a safe, his 1911 has 3 safeties which have to be negotiated before the pistol is fired by anyone.
 
Sounds like the diversity is falling into a personal preference breakdown. I'm most comfortable with condition 3 for both a Sig 9mm w/ 17 in the magazine, or a Draco (AK Pistol) With 30 rounds (and Safety off).
 
I doint know about most people but I am not on the ball when woken in the middle of the night. So maybe the few seconds to load the firearm would give me time to make sure it was a real threat and not some family member going to the toilet.
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You think you're prone to shoot a family member because you fail to get good target identification?

You think keeping a 1911 unloaded is a cure for that?


Sgt Lumpy
 
A 1911 is no less safe than a double action pistol. You must still disengage both the manual safety and grip safety prior to firing - and of course, knowing your target and what is beyond it is always important. In my case, I'd also have to unholster the pistol. If I am in such a state I can't identify my target but I can still do all of the above automatically, I fail to see how having a round unchambered will be helpful.
 
You think you're prone to shoot a family member because you fail to get good target identification?

You think keeping a 1911 unloaded is a cure for that?
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You would wonder how it happens so often with all these experts getting good target indication. Maybe people are not all as expert as you.
 
I live by myself and HD/SD firearms are loaded. A flick of the safety and a pull of the trigger is all that stands between an intruder and his maker.
Revolver and 870.
 
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Howdy Wyatt,

Hope this letter reaches you before the snow blocks the passes. It’s been quite here since I moved down the road from the Army post. No red skins been around for quite a while now, and old yellow has been sleeping much better since he ran off a couple of coyote a month or two ago. The old scatter gun is still by the door, but as dry as the crops in the middle of August, I don’t want the young-gins to put a hole in the roof, but I do have a box of shells close by. Last week while riding the fence line I had to use Mr. Colt’s new fangled 45 on a rattler and it was a good thing that all chambers were loaded, you know how bad a shot I am.

Well when I get back to Dodge for a stop at the Lucky Lady for a hand or two, I’ll stop by to drop off the irons at the Marshall’s office and give you a howdy.

Yesterday, the pony express rider stopped by with the new “Wanted” fliers and a letter from the big city mayor of New York City. Can you believe he wants no shooting irons of any kind, you’d think with all the varmints there he’d want more of them not none.

Got to go now, a Mr. Browning is stopping by with some sort on new fangled 45 he wants me to try out, he says you can keep it cocked and locked whatever that means, sounds a bit dangerous to me.

Well hope you and the misses are doing well, keep your powder dry and iron’s hot.

Jim
 
Quote:
You think you're prone to shoot a family member because you fail to get good target identification?

You think keeping a 1911 unloaded is a cure for that?
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You would wonder how it happens so often with all these experts getting good target indication. Maybe people are not all as expert as you.
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Not shooting at a target you're not sure of isn't a "level of expertise". It's something you learn in the first eleven seconds of training.

I'm not familiar with those cases that "happen so often". Are you suggesting that accidental shootings could be reduced/eliminated if we'd all ignore the "Know your target" rule and instead, keep 1911s empty chambered?

With all due respect, sir, I'm honestly failing to see the logic here.


Sgt Lumpy
 
A half loaded gun is useless. You may not have the time to operate the slide.

Take a two day defensive handgun course and learn how to run it.
 
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