If it is not loaded it is a rock.

I always carry with one in the chamber and always will. As far as training, I believe it takes much more training to carry with an unloaded chamber if you want to be proficient. Being able to draw and charge a pistol quickly is something I would bet most people could never get really good at, especially under stress.

So my gun safe is full of rocks since I dont keep my guns loaded?

The topic is concealed carry, not guns in safes...

Loaded.

I carry without one in the chamber. The odds of an AD are much, much higher than actually needing the gun. And if I need the gun, the odds are very low that I don't have an extra 1 second to rack the slide. With two kids around all the time, it's just not worth the risk. I'm not going into battle zones and I'm not going to spend my life worrying about a bad guy. If I run into one, I've got a pistol that takes 1 extra second to load. If I don't run into one, I have a zero percent chance of AD, which those who carry loaded can't say.

What a ridiculous, naive thing to say.

Per the Insurance Information Institute, in 2011, the odds of dying in a traffic accident as an occupant of a car were 1 in 37,028. The same year, the odds of dying from an accidental discharge of a firearm were 1 in 527,228.

If I were going to change my behavior based on odds, I think I would stay out of motor vehicles...

Mortality Risk

It seems to me that lots of folks think they're always going to be in control of every situation...kinda like playing chess against an opponent who doesn't get to move any pieces. THAT is naive.

That one second could make all the difference. If you aren't worried about a bad guy, and are more worried about safely handling your firearm, leave the gun at home. Why do you carry if you don't think there is anything to worry about?

You are correct, it isn't a rock, it is actually a hammer.

We may be talking about different things but I believe it is very hard to become proficient under stress unless you can actually practice under real stress, which is impossible to do unless you really face the danger of serious harm or death happening. Knowing you practice all day but when the day is over you will go home safely and unharmed is not stressful.JMO

Naive is sitting down at a seven man poker game and finding out you are the only one who doesn't have a handgun on the table..

Many times we will start "cruiser ready" in three gun, which is chamber empty with a loaded magazine. You're looking at adding about 1 to 2 seconds before engaging a target over a loaded pistol.

I can draw and shoot out of my race rig in about 1 second; I hover between .9 and 1.3 on a target 5 yards or closer. It's going to be slower from concealment. Add an extra two seconds to that, and you're either stabbed, shot, or on the ground with the bad guy on top. No thanks. If you don't have one in the chamber, you had better be good at either wrestling or jiu-jitsu.

Since Patriot mentioned kids being around all the time, let me ask you guys this hypothetical....god forbid, would you rather your child die from the bullet of a bad guy or from an AD out of your own gun? I can imagine it's hard enough to lose a child but losing one to an AD because dad had to have one in the chamber 24x7.....I can't even fathom what that would be like. Maybe not a child, but your spouse, parent, friend, or complete stranger. Could you live with yourself? THAT is why i choose to carry without one in the chamber. The risk of an AD is always greater than the risk of me needing my gun.

There is a serious flaw with this argument. In fact, read the first paragraph on the web page and you can easily see the flaw:



The odds of death by accidental discharge would need to be measured for actual gun owners to get a real measurement. And to take it a step further, drill down to Owners-CHL. And to take it a step further, drill down to Owners-Chl-ChamberedRound vs. Owners-Chl-UnchamberedRound. I would love to see those numbers.

I'd like to see the ratio of self defense success compared between those who carry chambered and not.

I would like to see that as well. And to take it even further, drill down into SelfDefense-Chambered-ShotBadGuy vs SelfDefense-Chambered-ShotGoodGuy vs SelfDefense-Chambered-ShotSelf

I think there's a reason that those who have relied on firearms professionally since it all began never carry with an empty chamber with the exception of singles action revolvers. You're free to believe that you know better.

Question for those who carry unloaded:

What specific situation would you/have you consider drawing your weapon ??

This is a serious question and worth thinking about before just posting "any time a threat comes close to me or a loved one"....

If you want to handicap yourself with it that is fine, but stop proselytizing an inferior way of carrying a self defense weapon.

If you ever gave this horrible advice to someone and, God forbid, they took your lousy advice and died as a result of it, could you live with yourself?

There is risk in everything we do.
Carrying a firearm carries its own set of risks. Accept them and move on. Or don't and leave your gat at the house.
I carry chambered for the same reasons I drive defensively. So I can somewhat control an outcome and reduce the odds of becoming a statistic. Time is unforgiving and to me is the wildcard in every situation.

Carrying un-chambered would seem to improve the odds that I could end up in a zip lock....and I am clostrophobic.

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Or have your firearm taken from you while you are struggling in close proximity with someone and instead of sticking that gun in their gut and shooting you are trying to rack the slide.....

I'd be willing to bet that for all gun owners the odds of you or a spouse/family member dying or being seriously injured by an accidental discharge are tenfold over that of being killed or injured by an attacker!

That being said I carry in the chamber most of the time!

I'd also be willing to bet that most people posting to this topic are not properly trained in carrying a firearm either.