Ok....Why Do People Carry Without One In the Chamber..?

[xXxplosive]

Not hostile at all...

Just wondering where you came up with that one............anyway, the fact is OAI, Opportunity, Ability, Intent......for the BG. For us it's always be ready means being prepaired, and for most here it means +1 in.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

I didn't want to boast, but I carry chamber empty because I am so good, I feel it's more sporting to work with with a handicap. It gives the bad guy a sporting chance. For the court testimony crowd, you can always point out how bloodthirsty you are NOT because you carry chamber empty. Lots of reasons to carry chamber empty!

 

[jon_in_wv]

its been mentioned several times that when a person carries with the chamber empty, they can simply chamber a round if the situation becomes threatening. How exactly is that going to happen? Unless you are going to USE your weapon it is very possible that YOU are escalating the situation by producing your firearm before you are justified in using it. What if you draw your weapon to chamber a round and he draws HIS weapon and fires it? You are the one who produced a weapon first and the other guy may be considered to have fired in self defense. I can't imagine the circumstance where YOU are directly threatened and you will be able to draw your weapon a discreetly chamber a round. Unless you are drawing to fire, it doesn't seem feasible. If you are drawing to fire, it means your life is in an imminent threat and I wouldn't want to handicap myself under those circumstances. What if I'm fending the guy off with my weak hand? What if he has already shot or stabbed me and one of my hands is injured? There are may too many things that could go wrong by carrying without a prepared weapon.

 

[Gouranga]

I will say this, while the majority of times and with most modern handguns, I think condition 1 carry is a good idea, let me add this.

My concealed carry class instructor is a HUGE fan of carrying condition 1. In fact he stated it is how he "always" carries. All that said, he had a glock on his hip during the class and admitted, his was not in condition 1. In fact, he said for every class he teaches, prior to entering the classroom, he will remove the round from the chamber. After the class, the first thing he does is rechamber the round. Why? Stuff happens.

So while I think there are some valid points to why condition 1 carry is a good idea, I think applying an absolute to it, is foolish in itself. IMO, there are situations where it may not be appropriate.

 

[Impureclient]

Gouranga...What about bullet setback? Did he say he would use the same round to rechamber the gun? If anybody here constantly remove a round for this reason, what do you do to with that round you remove.
I've heard to only rechamber that round no more than twice. Once when it is initially in the gun, then you'd remove it, then back into the chamber only to be fired that time.

 

[F1]

I didn't want to boast, but I carry chamber empty because I am so good, I feel it's more sporting to work with with a handicap. It gives the bad guy a sporting chance. For the court testimony crowd, you can always point out how bloodthirsty you are NOT because you carry chamber empty. Lots of reasons to carry chamber empty!

Heh heh. And the court testimony crowd will be even more convinced of your innocence when they see the photo of the tag on your toe. Anyway, I don't think they'd be carrying an unready gun if they went through my CC course - because I'd show them just how quickly and frighteningly bad things happen - when you least expect it or want it too.

 

[RobMoore]

I carry empty-chamber when I use pocket, "mexican carry", or off-body carrying. These would be times when I don't feel like "suiting up" just for a quick errand that doesn't require me to leave the car (dropping off movies, drive-thru food, ect).

 

[christcorp]

Some people have to realize also that there's a difference between condition-1 and "COCKED and LOCKED". A double action pistol or revolver with one in the chamber is considered condition-1. I carry all my weapons like this. WHEN I'M CARRYING THEM. But I DON'T carry a SINGLE ACTION; e.g 1911A1, Hi-point, etc... in condition-1. It's not the condition-1 part; it's the COCKED and LOCKED part. So, the best way around this is to have a quality weapon that you don't have to deal with possible disadvantages of cocked and locked. I agree that CARRYING a weapon without one in the chamber is pretty useless. But a 1911A1 in condition-2 is fine. A DA that decocks and goes to DA is fine. A DA revolver is fine. A single action that cant be decocked, is NOT fine. I don't use those types of guns for carry purposes. But there's a big difference between condition-1 and cocked and locked. ALL FOR condition-1. NOT FOR cocked and locked.

 

[Frank Ettin]

I just came on this thread and am happy to see all the usual rehash.

Anyway, FWIW, I carry whenever I legally can. I have permits that cover me in some 30+ states, and I visit Nevada and Arizona on a pretty regular basis. And I often carry on my property, or the property of friends (with permission). I carry either a 1911 (Commander size) or an H&K P7M8 -- and always with a round in the chamber (and the 1911 cocked and locked).

First, I'm just not going to count on having two hands available in an emergency. Second, I carry a gun the same way all the time so in the event of an emergency I don't have to guess whether there's a round in the chamber. The readiness status of my gun is the same at all times.

I've been lucky enough to have had a fair amount of training, at Gunsite and elsewhere. And we've always trained with a loaded chamber.

 

[GLOOB]

Always carrying a round in the chamber should prevent some of the "gun was unloaded" ND's. If you're going to treat it as loaded, anyway, ya might as well put it in a holster and actually load it. Unless it's not drop safe.