To Chamber or Not to Chamber?

[torontogunguy]

With out knowing the details I have to ask why he had his hand in front of a loaded gun? was he stopping the bullet or using his hand for good muzzle control? until I have checked atleast 2 times mostly three times and the action is open and will prolly still check for a round and clip another time I will then and only then allow my hand to go infront of the barrel for what ever the intended purpose would be. Just my thought process right or wrong but I would have to say if INDEED the "booger finger" didnt touch the "bang button" then there was a weapon malfunction and that is whole nother problem and i have to wonder when the last time that weapon was torn down cleaned and inspected throughly. I am not saying your cousin didnt have a legitimate accidental discharge but with his hand infront of the weapon I have to wonder what happened.

As I read in another post some one hangs their glock on the stall door by the trigger gaurd while using a public restroom this reminds me its not just the booger finger you have to keep off but you must make sure nothing enters the trigger gaurd until the trigger is ready to be pulled.

You have pretty much answered your own question there. It is not only fingers and muzzle control that create issues with safety. I have no idea how he managed to shoot himself in the hand. None. He is an experienced shooter with a load of year under his belt. I can only attribute the folly to overconfidence and a fraction of a second of memory lapse and foolishness. Go figure. And if you asked me if it was possible for him to do that I would have bet the house on it NOT being a possibility, yet, here we are. He done did it. Fortunately it was his weak hand that took the damage. What a mess. I have yet to talk to him about it to be honest as he just does not want to broach the subject for obvious reasons.... here is a guy who has handled firearms both personally and professionally for ten or twenty years and in a split second.... well, you got the story as much as I did.

[torontogunguy]

By the way, I do the same as you do. Muzzle control regardless of what you may read on some other boards lately about holstered guns with one in the chamber and ready to go being exempt. And I check for a round in the chamber and a magazine several times while handling my guns. SEVERAL TIMES. I assume that ANY gun I touch is loaded and cocked, ready to go. Period.

[thebrez1]

The "Pro" is that you get to live (maybe), the "Con" is that you more than likely don't!

[kelcarry]

Hey Y'all: The number of "accident stories" be it in-house with firearms or outside while hunting probably exceed by factors the number of actual successful defense scenarios. Bottom line is that as long as we go around with a bullet just waiting a trigger pull, there is a greater chance of an accident of some sort--the statistics prove that over and over again. We can discuss til we are blue in the face and the fact that we are up to page 9 in this thread proves that out. No one can argue that having a bullet in the chamber lessens any "downtime", if the firearm is needed right away. We can all agree, regardless of whether you chamber or not that SAFETY and the lessons learned by all of us MUST be followed everytime we touch our firearms. If you chamber, your safety level must also increase somewhat with the realization that you are one step closer to an accident. Thanks for all your replies--think I have had enough.

[gunsite]

Safety levels in handling firearms aren't adjustable, loaded weapons are approached and cleared just as unloaded/non-chambered are, every weapon gets cleared the same way... all the time. If someone hands me a weapon and tells me "its not loaded" or "not chambered", should i believe him/her... or should i clear it and render it safe. When it comes to safety do the same thing all the the time to all weapons, CREATE HABITS... DO NOT ALTER YOUR HABITS... DO NOT TAKE SHORTCUTS... DON'T ASSUME... TREAT EVERY WEAPON AS LOADED... remember those famous last words... I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS LOADED.

If someone is not happy or doesn't want to talk or discuss chamber/non-chamber weapons, by all means feel free to by-pass this thread, many people join gun forums who are new shooters, or start threads and allow people to state their opinion. If this topic is old, worn out, redundant to some, please ignore this thread, we will not be offended.

Talking to people over the years i never found tactics, training, or safety REDUNDANT.

ANY TIME i unholster my weapon (NON shooting purposes) it gets cleared and render safe.

I personally carry Israeli style (My Choice), when i feel i go into a hot area, i Lock n Load, i don't treat my weapon any differently, Do's and Don'ts are the same, ALL THE TIME.

[torontogunguy]

Some very good and well thought out posts in the last bit here and I think we can put this topic to rest. Those that have gone through the thread will know just about all they need to know about carrying with or without one in the chamber. It depends on a great number of factors and it depends on one's proficiency, safety and comfort levels.

I will continue to carry with one in the chamber with certain guns (like my HK P7 series) and hesitatingly with others (like my Glocks) as a matter of personal comfort and safety.

Thanks to all for inputs received. This has been an interesting thread to follow.

Now if I could only carry in NY state with my seven other permits I would be a happy guy. And to think we were only two votes short of a national reciprocity law last year! I hope that they keep working on it and the next vote picks up the two we needed. Two votes short. Sic.

[ClearSightTactical]

I personally carry Israeli style (My Choice), when i feel i go into a hot area, i Lock n Load, i don't treat my weapon any differently, Do's and Don'ts are the same, ALL THE TIME.

I have no problem with someone who wants to carry using the Israeli style. I do however, have to comment on this.

I had a partner on duty who did the same thing. His reason? 'I might need it around here, I wanna make sure its ready to go'.

If you're confident enough to carry an unloaded gun thinking you're fast enough then being in an area 'you might need it' or a 'hot area' shouldn't change that. I think people should be consistent with their method of carry. Not to mention, afterwards he would forget that he chambered it...

[gunsite]

I have no problem with someone who wants to carry using the Israeli style. I do however, have to comment on this.

I had a partner on duty who did the same thing. His reason? 'I might need it around here, I wanna make sure its ready to go'.

If you're confident enough to carry an unloaded gun thinking you're fast enough then being in an area 'you might need it' or a 'hot area' shouldn't change that. I think people should be consistent with their method of carry. Not to mention, afterwards he would forget that he chambered it...

Hot areas are subjective... my hot areas are very rare and usually with LE, no one should be racking on a constant bases to where it causes confusion of knowing whether your gun is chambered or not.

[marionandjohn]

Hot areas are subjective... my hot areas are very rare and usually with LE, no one should be racking on a constant bases to where it causes confusion of knowing whether your gun is chambered or not.

The problem with that is when you draw in the heat of the moment then you have to think about if one is chambered or not. I still say you should carry chambered but carry how you Are comfortable and always carry AND practise the same way so you don't wonder if you already chambered one or not

[thebrez1]

I like how some post are just so plainly cut and dry, you must carry a gun with a round in the chamber, if you don't you are carrying a hammer and are a complete idiot because you don't know how to chamber a round and your are "*********". I am pretty sure with the practice I have and the muscle memory of drawing my gun and chambering, is faster than most that just draw, or reach down to draw from an ankle holster or where you have to un-tuck your over shirt for a compression shirt holster. So with some of these replies saying that I am dead if I don't chamber one is completely false.

I have an honest question, has there been a situation where somebody who carries a CCW, actually had to react to a situations where they shot an assailant? I feel we are there to keep peace by being prepared to act. Now has there been a situation where somebody was killed or injured because "it wasn't loaded" and accidentally discharged a round?

Maybe I am being too cautious or too safe, but I would rather have the split second to chamber, then somebody to be injured or killed. This is my comfort level right now. With 4 daughters under the age of 10, why take that chance? I could be unconscious from an auto accident, or a reaction to a prescription drug, slip and fall on the ice, these are more likely to happen then when/if I need to draw my gun. The only way I would be dead before I could draw and chamber is if the assailant had me in his scopes.

Please don't refer to me as an idiot that's just carrying a hammer and is automatically dead because it will take me 5 minutes to chamber a round. But as a concerned CCW holder that is taking my constitutional right with understanding the consequences that come along with it.

What most of us are trying to say is, if you don't want an answer, don't ask the question or rephrase the question. The majority of us carry chambered. You asked, we told, now you can do what you want. If you like to carry unchambered have at it. there is a big difference between training for war and traiing for the pair of crack heads that jump you in the Wally World parking lot. In the latter, you will be lucky if you can get your gun into play, let alone rack the slide. Makes no difference what you do to me or anyone on this
Forum. I know I will get at least one good shot off before I have a possible malfunction. If you dont have one chambered, can you say the same? If I am at an intersection in my auto, I don't wait for an opening in traffic and them put the car in gear. I am in gear at the stop and ready to roll. All we are saying is you should be ready to roll........

AS far as being in an accident or other situation where your children would or could find your weapon loaded, that is why my son could clear all of my weapons at age 5. Don't hide them EDUCATE them. Even at 2 they can be taught to leave the gun alone and alert an adult if you are unable to function.

I will end this now as it is very hard to type with three fingers and one eye. Da@$, make that two fingers........gotta get a holster :)