Should Your Home Defense Weapon Be Loaded?

[leadcounsel]

You do. On that note, you do you. I'll do what I do.

On this we can agree. I'll trade the extra <1 second to make a weapon ready by racking it, for the years or decades a gun sits around on a loaded chamber with sprint or hammer tension hovering over a live round....

And, btw, the arguments you and others make seem to also imply that a safety is just far to much effort or chance for slowing down motor reflexes in an emergency, etc. so that should be left off too... so you've got loaded gun, live round in chamber, and no safety, presumably...

Safety, to me, trumps the imaginary boogyman inconvenience of racking a gun when I retrieve it from the corner or safe or under the bed.

 

[2A2Dend]

Barring anything "safety" related. (To clarify: Safety regarding others)
Loaded, cond1 at minimum at all times.

Edit: If the firearm is not on my person. Condition3 (To clarify: All in rotation)

 

[11Charlie]

I read an article some where from a professional trainer who teaches classes to men and women of all ages. He basically stated that if you don't carry in condition one then why carry.

 

[Frank RW]

False and stupid mantra.

No doubt! And thank you for saying so.

You'd think any pro-gun person would welcome someone carrying. "Hot" or not.

In most cases, better to carry than not at all. The firearm is hardly useless, even if not chambered.


IMO, telling someone to not bother if they don't carry with a round in the chamber shows a serious lack of understanding.

 

[11Charlie]

No doubt! And thank you for saying so.

You'd think any pro-gun person would welcome someone carrying. "Hot" or not.

In most cases, better to armed than not at all. The firearm is hardly useless, even if not chambered.


IMO, telling someone to not bother if they don't carry with a round in the chamber shows a serious lack of understanding.

Speaking for myself. I don't care if someone wants to carry with an empty chamber. I do, as I think most of us do welcome anyone that has a love of guns in any condition.

I think the vast majority of us are just stating our opinion on how we feel.

 

[2A2Dend]

I like my guns used, not abused. Preferably cleaned after fondled. Handling marks to a minimum. Mine have all had drool on them at some point. LOL

 

[DB is Here]

I think the vast majority of us are just stating our opinion on how we feel.

That would be great, however it seems some feel it's best to zing or put others "In their place" when disagreeing or sharing a dissenting opinion. A little Statesmanship goes a long way...so I've been told.

 

[2A2Dend]

Opinions are like Doritos. Easier for some to be an addict

 

[11Charlie]

That would be great, however it seems some feel it's best to zing or put others "In their place" when disagreeing or sharing a dissenting opinion. A little Statesmanship goes a long way...so I've been told.

We will always have a few brother.

 

[leadcounsel]

I read an article some where from a professional trainer who teaches classes to men and women of all ages. He basically stated that if you don't carry in condition one then why carry.

And it's this type of unyielding rigid belief system that really turns me, and a lot of others, away from such nonsense.

Guess what. The best trained and equipped military in the history of the world carries with an unloaded gun most of the time, except when on direct mission. I've deployed to OIF many times, and unless we were outside the wire our guns were unloaded. Why? Accident and risk mitigation. Turns out far more people getting shot due to an AD/ND than acceptable.

It takes 1 second to rack your pistol. It's not "wrong" to have it in a condition that makes it literally impossible to fire AD/ND and harm someone.

Odds of you being attacked instantly and without any warning whatsoever are practically zero. But there is enough of a risk and importance at play that all people should carry, and own guns for defense. Odds of you or someone else accidentally firing your loaded gun and killing an innocent person, as seen daily in the news, are also low but the outcome in unacceptable as it is generally a dead kid or innocent person.

So is this "trainer" smarter than the US military??

 

[11Charlie]

And it's this type of unyielding rigid belief system that really turns me, and a lot of others, away from such nonsense.

Guess what. The best trained and equipped military in the history of the world carries with an unloaded gun most of the time, except when on direct mission. I've deployed to OIF many times, and unless we were outside the wire our guns were unloaded. Why? Accident and risk mitigation. Turns out far more people getting shot due to an AD/ND than acceptable.

It takes 1 second to rack your pistol. It's not "wrong" to have it in a condition that makes it literally impossible to fire AD/ND and harm someone.

So is this "trainer" smarter than the US military??

He was a SEAL so your saying he's not smart?

 

[Frank RW]

He was a SEAL so your saying he's not smart?

lol Well, in all fairness, a job-title doesn't automatically mean you're "smart".

There are plenty of "dumb" doctors, lawyers and politicians. They might do well on an SAT, but suck at real life.

 

[pdxparabellum]

False and stupid mantra. Loaded guns can, and do frequently, cause injury or death when mishandled negligently or even sometimes accidentally.

An unloaded gun, as it turns out, is 100% safe for everyone but can be made loaded in .1 - 1 second, and then becomes an extremely useful lethal tool.

I carry a loaded but unchambered pistol in my gym bag. It remains that way for 100% impossibility that it might fire by accident or negligence. If it were stored in my bag loaded, it would be extremely UNSAFE. The chamber is therefore unloaded. However if danger arose that provided sufficient time/opportunity to retrieve it, I guarantee that in the same motion of withdrawing the gun from its nest, I could also chamber and fire in the same amount of time. One could not do that with a paperweight, thereby debunking your God-forsaken too-oft repeated dumb mantra.

Thanks for your input! Your opinion involves referring to what I consider being prepared down to the millisecond as - "A Dumb Mantra" twice actually.

My opinion after reading your rant - is that training is what it takes to overcome your fear of a loaded gun. It's what did it for me.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Again...
I must say that :
How you keep your home defense firearm should be up to you.
No one knows your situation better than you , so use what works for you...and don't worry 'bout how someone else keeps their firearm...
Sheesh...7 pages already...
Andy

 

[sabasarge]

Again...
I must say that :
How you keep your home defense firearm should be up to you.
No one knows your situation better than you , so use what works for you...and don't worry 'bout how someone else keeps their firearm...
Sheesh...7 pages already...
Andy

Hence the term 'forum'.

 

[pdxparabellum]

Again...
I must say that :
How you keep your home defense firearm should be up to you.
No one knows your situation better than you , so use what works for you...and don't worry 'bout how someone else keeps their firearm...
Sheesh...7 pages already...
Andy

Thanks for understanding this early on and pointing it out. So crucial!

 

[Doc In UPlace]

As I read through the responses I can't help but wonder how many of the posts were written by people who have been on the receiving end of an armed robbery... one in which the first thing they knew about it was turning around and seeing a gun aimed at their chests.

Let's say, for the fun of it, that the robber has a partner and he has a knife out. They're both standing 3 feet from you.

Here's something to think about.

If that happens to you, and you decide to grab the opponents' weapon with your off-hand to deflect the muzzle, what are you going to do with your strong hand?

Maybe it is one in a (___pick a number). You just hit the lottery.

As Eastwood said, do you feel lucky? Or do you draw and shoot 'em both one-handed?

 

[Doc In UPlace]

A PS to my previous:

Pop quiz.
In a domestic situation. It's 21:30 and you're re-watching Dr. Strangelove. The door is kicked in and three people rush into the house covering 21 feet per second. You have 2 seconds before they get to the bedroom. What do you do?

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Hence the term 'forum'.

Yeah I get that...I am a Moderator here...so I am aware of a forum works.

Mostly I dislike it when folks who know nothing about someone's situation , tell 'em how wrong they are , for doing something a certain way...

So yeah...maybe I need to re-think something here...LOL
Andy

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Thanks for understanding this early on and pointing it out. So crucial!

Actually I did point this out earlier on page one of this thread post #7...
And you are welcome...
Andy