So you guys always carry cocked and locked, or on and empty chamber with the hammer down? I just am trying to get a consensus, for my own behavior. And the half cocked is bad, because the hammer safty is not to be trusted, is that the danger. On the para, is there a difference in the hammer saftey when it's in the half cocked vs the hammer down on a round? I never had another 1911, other than the para, so after 12 years of having this gun, so I got out the owners instruction manual. Passive safties:Bla Bla, Inertia Firing Pin, Size and position of the firing pin, which is held to the rear by a spring, keep the pin from striking the cartridge primer unless the spring force and inertia of the firing pin are overcome by the blow of the hammer. Hammer Safty Stop: the hammer is designed with a flat shelf like surface which is there to prevent the hammer from falling forward and onto the firing inunintentionally by engaging the sear should there occur a primary sear notch failure. Firing Pin Lock: To minimize the risk of accidental discharge, that may be the result of the pistol being dropped or the muzzle recieving a blow, this safty device prevents the movement of the firing pin until the trigger is intentionally squeezed. I don't understand that if the passive saftey is supposed to stop the hammer from coming down on a round unless the trigger is pulled, how the way I was carrying it was wrong, or unsafe?