copaup,
Thank you for respectfully disagreeing with me. That was a very courteous reply, too. It might surprise you to know that I really don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. I’ll only remind that everything needs to be kept within its proper context.
As a police officer you are indeed confronted by daily events which for most of us would be, ‘once in a lifetime occurrences.’ This is not, however, the same situation as having thousands and thousands of, ‘weekend marksmen’ walking around the neighborhood: strapped, cocked, and locked all of the time – And all of this in anticipation of an event that is less likely to occur than an automobile accident.
I spend a lot of time on public firing lines. Believe me there are days when I wish I didn’t! You name the firearm mistake; and, at one time or another, I’ve either seen it, ducked it, or (rather sadly) felt it. Even heavily experience gunmen occasionally make a mistake with a gun – It happens!
Up until, about, 3 years ago I would have sworn – I would have sworn – that a safety violation with a firearm couldn’t ever happen to me. (Or, so I thought!) Believe me, in the everyday civilian world through which I move: Me, my family, my neighbors, and my pets are a lot better off if I don’t carry in, ‘C-0’ – The proper designation for every pretensioned striker-fired firearm!
Anyone in your line of work has to carry chambered. The vast majority of civilians do not; it’s just that their egos drive them to it. I further agree with you that the principal disadvantage to C-3 carry is the necessity to have to use two hands on the draw. I’m going to guess that you’re already far enough along in this game to know that there is no perceptible time disadvantage – OK. (Or, at least, I personally have never been hampered by one.)
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Action always beats reaction’ That’s very well said! As I think I’ve already pointed out: ‘
Anticipation beats speed every time!’ For obvious reasons we don’t often talk about topics like this on internet firearms forums; but, after thinking about it for awhile, I think you might agree.
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If you carry, you owe it to yourself to train with your weapon until you are proficient enough to deploy it as designed before carrying it in public.’ Again, another good one! Let’s be perfectly honest, though. How many gun toters do you know who are genuinely practiced to this extent? (Certainly not the guy who put a 45 caliber bullet hole into the floor in front of the cash register of the largest sports shop in our county! Naturally, he was, ‘clearing’ the weapon when it went off.)
ArmedBear, Please, feel free! After all C-0/C-1 carry is perfectly legal. Go ahead and do whatever makes you happy. As long as you don’t live nearby, or have any contact with me or mine, I truly don’t care. We don’t need to discuss this topic any further.
dehughes, Whatever you decide, I genuinely wish you well. I carried a 1911 government model with a grip safety on the frame for more than 30 years. It was, and (maybe) still is one of my favorite pistols. My only objections to the XD line of pistols are that the bore axis is too high to be as soft shooting as a Glock; I, also, don’t like the plastic frame rails; and, I really don’t want to be forced to deal with the factory whenever I need to make a simple change, or something has to be fixed.
XD triggers are, also, a lot stiffer than what a Glock’s trigger mechanism can be easily and cheaply tuned to. In fact, you can do most of the work on a Glock at your own workbench. As far as which pistol is safer? You need to remember that:
1. The gun is always loaded.
2. Never allow the muzzle to, so much as, cross ANYTHING you are unwilling to see destroyed.
3. Never put your finger inside the triggerguard until AFTER you have made a conscious decision to fire.
4. Be very sure of your target and whatever is behind it.
In my experience, the above four safety rules are worth a whole lot more than any grip safety, or other, ‘bells and whistles’. It's been fun, fellas. I'm, now, out of here.