Locked and Loaded
A lot of people have asked me if they should carry their concealed pistol with a round in the chamber. This question came up a lot when I was teaching a full schedule of concealed handgun courses.
To add another layer to this question, I’ve also worked in various sectors (like the nuclear security industry and even with some military units) where supervisors held different beliefs than I do about what constitutes safety and what was both safe and tactically prudent.
In order to explore this topic more fully, I’ve broken it down into the following categories: weapon retention, transitioning to a secondary weapon, open carry and concealed carry.
Weapon retention
One argument I’ve heard for not carrying a round in the chamber is weapon retention. Some people think that if you’re gun is taken from you that the offender may try to pull the trigger and it won’t work. I counter:
First, anyone with a clue will tap and rack, then shoot.
Second, train to retain your weapon. Don’t let anyone near your weapon.
Third, kill anyone trying to take your gun. Control the muzzle then stab them, eviscerate them, bite off their neck one bite at a time. Anyone touching my gun is going to get my most lethal response.
Transitioning to a secondary weapon
Not carrying a round in the chamber has often been called “Israeli carry.” I’ve watched the crème de la crème of Israeli special ops do transition drills—go from a long gun to a pistol. Good dudes. Skilled and all, but frankly—in my expert opinion—their transitions seemed slow.
Maybe they think they shouldn’t carry a round in the pipe because of weapon retention. I don’t know. Whatever their reasons are, at the end of the day it’s slower when you have to rack a round. Even a second could mean the difference between winning and losing in a gunfight.
Remember, in addition to violence, speed is an essential ingredient to win gunfights.
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