What is the ARGUMENT for why one in chamber is dangerous?

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Why do I get the feeling...

that someone that carries with an empty chamber will be put in a situation where they didn't have time to chamber a round and they end up getting killed or seriously injured...

... this will make great fodder for anti's. They will have a great example of how carrying a gun DOESN'T HELP.
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I don't meant to be combative, but this is really starting to sound like people who carry with on in the chamber are blaming someone who's choice it is to carry without a round chambered for the intellectual mistakes of people who are anti-gun.

I don't have a dog in this fight as i really don't care how you carry your gun. (that's why it's called your gun)

But this discussion seems to be degrading into a situation where (1) there are "rights" and "wrongs." and (2) people who are "wrong" are now the source of ammunition for anti-gun folks.

It's no more likely that a gun owner will be killed by a BG because they didn't have a round chambered than it is that someone innocent will be killed in error by a gun owners with a round in the chamber. BOTH of these things lends fodder for the anti-gun argument. Ultimately it just seems a little counter to the point to extrapolate the un-loaded chamber into a anti-gun talking point.

IMHO: Carry your gun the way you are safest able to do that, and please don't tell me how to carry mine (unless I ask).
 
It's no more likely that a gun owner will be killed by a BG because they didn't have a round chambered than it is that someone innocent will be killed in error by a gun owners with a round in the chamber.
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:rolleyes:

You were making sense until your opinion became a statistical truth.

Carrying a gun that is not ready to fire is not as effective as a gun that is ready to fire.

Requiring fine motor skills (like slide racking) to bring your defensive weapon into a fight is a bad idea.

Fear (of negligent discharge) as a motovation for a course of action is misguided.

people who are "wrong" are now the source of ammunition for anti-gun folks.
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They always have been.
 
No matter what we do or how we carry our guns, chambered, unloaded, open, concealed.... it just doesn't matter - the anti-gun crowd is going to use any excuse at all to further their cause. You could be Barney Fife and that single round falls out of your pocket and hits the floor and some anti is going to be there pointing and yelling - SEE! SEE! That right there could have gone off an killed somebody, that's why we should make it illegal for anyone to carry a bullet in their pocket, except for cops, of course.

Yes, I know a dropped round is not going to go off and if it does it's just going to go pop and send shards of brass a couple of feet. PLEASE let's not start arguing over that! :D
 
Yes, I know a dropped round is not going to go off and if it does it's just going to go pop and send shards of brass a couple of feet. PLEASE let's not start arguing over that!
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One of those shards of brass could give you a cut that could develop an infection that could later become fatal! We should ban all guna, ammo, and brass!
 
One in chamber?

My friends know I am not a Glock fan. But in all fairness, I believe the Glock is well made, accurate, notoriously reliable. BUT, it's just a bit like carrying a six gun with the hammer cocked. Now Glock fans will insist that they are safe if you are careful and "professinal" in the way you handle them. That is very good. If you are a "perfect" shooter you will never have an accident. Are you? I understand that when the 1911 was first considered for our army the cavalry wanted to carry it cocked. That was when they came up with the grip safety. I believe you can also get the Glock with a "New York trigger" but who wants to have to use a crow bar to pull the trigger? And with the chamber empty, you have to rack the slide to "load one in the tube." That's the very next best thing to carrying your gun empty! Maybe if you want to really be safe (against you own gun) just leave it at home!

So far as "one in the chamber" I think this goes back to the old days of the western "six gun" which had no protections against a hammer hitting the primer when carried "fully loaded." They didn't want to carry their six cocked, and they were afraid to carry it "hammer down" with all six holes loaded. Old practices tend to die hard.
 
My friends know I am not a Glock fan. .... BUT, it's just a bit like carrying a six gun with the hammer cocked.
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It's not even close !

If you don't want to carry a round chambered, fine. But don't cite a total misunderstanding or ignorance of the Glock mechanics as a "reason" for keeping it chamber empty.

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If law enforcement does it, its not controversial at all. Using that logic if you carried a Jframe then you shouldnt have one over the firing pin or one in the next chamber either rendering your gun a 3 shooter. Welcom back derringers.
 
It's not even close !

If you don't want to carry a round chambered, fine. But don't cite a total misunderstanding or ignorance of the Glock mechanics as a "reason" for keeping it chamber empty.
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Thanks, I was going to say something like that when my blood pressure went back down.
 
Gun slips, you grap for it, accidentally squeeze the trigger, at best you just shot your foot at worst you now have one less kid to feed at dinner.:(

Why is my reasoning, it takes all of half a second to rack a slide and that half a second can save an innocent persons life. Thats just me and a lot of people carry with one in the chamber and never get hurt but I don't trust myself enough.
 
and that half a second can save an innocent persons life.
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For me, the odds are much greater that extra half a second and the two-handed action that must be performed in that half-second will cost me my life. I'll play the odds that are in favor of protecting my life, thank you very much.
 
(With) my reasoning, it takes all of half a second to rack a slide
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You assume two major things:

1) You're actually chambering a round in 1/2 second.

2) You don't think 1/2 second in a gunfight is a long time.

First of all, assuming you do have two hands instantly available, don't need that extra round, pr don't jam your gun during the chambering process, I doubt you're chambering a round in 1/2 second. Put a shot timer on it and you'll surprise yourself.

Second of all, 1/2 second = 2-4 shots. (first shot at .00, followed by one at .15, .30, .45, etc) I'd rather have my 4th round in the badguy 1/2 second sooner than the first round that I had to take time to chamber. The faster I get rounds into him, the less chance he has of getting rounds into me or mine.

that half a second can save an innocent persons life.
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The only life it has a chance to save is that of the badguy. And, since he is posing a deadly threat, he's not too innocent.

a lot of people carry with one in the chamber and never get hurt but I don't trust myself enough.
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Sounds like you're trusting yourself to handle a far more intricate process under penalty of DEATH by relying on chambering a round during the draw. Either practice more, carry a gun that you ARE comfortable carrying chamber loaded, or put the guns up in favor of some pepper spray.

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To each his own but Ive seen to much of, O ill just pull this gun out and oops I pulled the trigger and killed you. No thanks. Im a civilian living in a quiet town in the middle of nowhere, when I carry an extra 1/2 second in the draw isnt going to kill me.

I practice with racking the slide and ya its just second nature to me, and 1/2 second is by no means a stretch.

To each his own but I carry with the safety off (I carry a 5906 which has a safety/decocker) ready to rack and roll. Sorry to bust the bubble but the chance of me needing my gun that second faster is about nill, so ill play on the side of safety. I know my limits and I if you know yours than follow them. Me, I just don't trust a loaded gun to not go off. I have extra strength springs and ive racked a shell into the chamber countless times, never once had a jam. To me its just pointless, but that's just me.

But again I carry in the one o-clock so im not about to have a safety incident there, if you get my drift. :scrutiny::)
 
So that when someone goes to the GunShow/GunStore and wants to pull it to check fit on a holster or show it off to some Nimrod we don't get a ND smeared across the headlines.:cuss::fire::banghead:
 
here yall go, it only takes a split second if your that good. Im not that good but working on it.

A few shots of it are mixed in, just you tube for Israeli shooting course, all kinds of them.
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Yes, it takes a fraction of a second if one is standing in front of a paper target. Wouldn't work so well to draw this way if getting car jacked, or carrying groceries, approached from behind, etc...

Also notice that the prefered carry location for Israeli draw is down the front of the pants. Israeli draw wouldn't work so well for carrying on the side or back of the hip.

And even if someone gets efficient so that it only takes a fraction of a second to rack the slide, a self defense incident will typically be over in 3 seconds, so that fraction of a second is still a significant amount in relation.

There are times when you want to draw but not make any sound and have your gun ready to fire. Perhaps carrying at low and ready. So now the muscle memory won't work for racking the slide immediately before shooting if it has alway been practiced to rack the slide during the draw.
 
Scottgun nailed it.

I am having trouble grasping the incompetence needed to make a 5906 "go off" accidentally.....Presuming 22lr is at least of average ability and intelligence, I think he worries too much about near impossibilities. It's smarter to worry more about probabilities instead.

As a side note, any gun that has decocking levers have been known to have them accidentally activated when clearing a jam or chambering a round at speed, so no shot can be fired at all.....:what: That 1/2 second you thought you had turns into 2 seconds real fast. I hope you take that into account during your "training" sessions.

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I view the possibility of an attack the same as that of a car accident.
If I knew it was comming I would just not drive down that road.
If I knew I would be attacked I would avoid that also. Seeing the future is not possible on either count so I wear my seat belt so if I get in an accident I will hopefully survive and be able to cut myself out if the car is on fire or sinking in water. Same goes for having a round chambered, I want to be able to come up fighting should I be blind sided, tackled, stabed or slashed. All bets are off if you are on the ground and maybe have more than 1 assailant. Think about all the things your off hand could be doing rather than loading your defense weapon. If the thought of semi auto loaded scares you why not carry a revolver? The guns just don't go off, be comfortable with trigger security and be prepared.
 
If the thought of semi auto loaded scares you why not carry a revolver? The guns just don't go off, be comfortable with trigger security and be prepared.
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I've asked this very question 3-4 times now. NO ONE HAS ANSWERED IT.

I understand someone may not feel comfortable with this or that gun carried with a loaded chamber......so why not carry a gun they DO feel comfortable with having a loaded chamber?

NO ANSWERS YET.

Puzzling.........
 
I understand and support why a person should carry a gun with one in the chamber.

What I cannot understand is why so many of you want to decree how everyone else should carry.

There are many comments above similar to ..."if you don't want to carry a gun 'as designed', get another gun" and "if you don't carry with a round in the chamber, you are anti-RKBA". :rolleyes:

So...you support gun freedoms, but you do not support the freedom to carry a gun however the heck a person wants?

We are all on the defensive against ignorance. Education is great, but many of the above comments go far beyond education in my freedom textbook.

To the OP - a gun is a useful tool to have, but perhaps not everyone is a Quick Draw McGraw.

Of course one in the chamber is dangerous...it wouldn't be very useful if it wasn't.

As noted above, one NOT in the chamber is dangerous. Carrying a gun in a purse is dangerous. Leaving your gun in the car is dangerous. NOT OWNING a gun is dangerous. Life is dangerous.

We all live life our own way, some of us carry guns our own way.

I have my own opinions about how I carry, but I darn sure don't have the right to tell you how YOU should bear arms. Even if I were a Congressman or President (look it up :) )

I support gun ownership to continue such freedoms.

P.S. - If the 1911 was "designed" specifically for cocked-and-locked carry:

A) Why doesn't a round chamber EVERY TIME you insert the magazine? (JWB could have figured this one out if it was SO important).
B) Why is there a pronounced external hammer? -- allowing for Condition 2?
C) Why did John Moses Browning (or Gaston Glock, for that matter) not also design a specific holster for carrying their gun with "one in the chamber" if a holster is so important to safety?

IMHO - We are confusing good practice - as esposed by the venerable Col. Jeff Cooper - and good design. John Moses Browning designed the 1911 for fighting and allowed a lot of options for multiple practices.

YMMV. Actually, that's my point.
 
^what he just said.

To each his own, let it go at that. Because im quite happy without one in the chamber, and I guess yall arnt.
 
I understand someone may not feel comfortable with this or that gun carried with a loaded chamber......so why not carry a gun they DO feel comfortable with having a loaded chamber?
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Probably because anyong who does not carry with a round in the chamber feels perfectly comfortable carrying a gun that requires loading a round into the chamber before use.

I do not understand what is wrong with that.
 
We all should carry as we like but as you say we can each have our opinions. When a question goes out to all members expect a lively debate.
I will stand on the notion that keeping a gun loaded for SD has some calcuable risks. Will you also agree that keeping one unloaded does also.
The only thing different is they will both perform as expected if the need arises.
 
There are many comments above similar to ..."if you don't want to carry a gun 'as designed', get another gun"
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No, the question is, why DON'T they get a different gun? One that makes them feel comfortable chamber loaded.

The point is, many people that don't carry chamber loaded cite concern over impossibilities (spontaneous discharge, anyone?) then they admit they have NO clue about the mechanics and safeties of a given gun.

If you decide to carry a gun with an empty chamber, then at least know the REAL reasons you are doing so.
 
Probably because anyong who does not carry with a round in the chamber feels perfectly comfortable carrying a gun that requires loading a round into the chamber before use.

I do not understand what is wrong with that.
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Because it is a false premise.

It's been an interesting discussion, but I think it's pretty much reached its conclusion.

.
 
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