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drjoker wrote:A buddy of mine carried with one in the chamber until recently. He had a baby and he is afraid that the toddler would find his gun and cause an accident if he were to accidentally leave his gun out or something. Life happens. Sometimes you do several things at once and one of those things get forgotten in the shuffle. His reasoning is that a toddler wouldn't have the strength to rack the slide on a Glock. It seems like a reasonable choice, given the circumstances.

If I were to have a toddler who is pre-shooting buddy age, I would carry the new 1911 smart gun with one in the chamber. http://www.smartlock.com/smartgun_detail.htm Otherwise, I, too, would not carry one in the chamber. As soon as the kid turns 7 years old, I'd keep one in the chamber and switch back to the Glock instead of the 1911.

OldCannon wrote:I've had a few customers myself that don't carry with a round chambered. I prefer to refer to this firearm condition as "Condition Dumb." Here's a story from a dealer in Tennessee about a recent incident that emphasizes why "locked and loaded" is the only condition that your gun should be in.

"I'm sure you get customers coming in carrying guns with the chamber empty. They'll tell you "I just don't feel safe with one in the chamber." Here's something to share with them:

Customer comes in. He was driving around town about 9PM. Stopped at train crossing with train going through. Not many houses around. Car pulls up behind him. Guy jumps out, looks around. Guy comes up to the driver's side. Pulls 9mm pistol and shoots my customer in the arm. Customer is armed with Taurus .45, empty chamber. Gun shot disables customer's left arm. He manages to get one round racked into the chamber but not before the guy gets back in his car and starts driving off. Customer shoots at him through back window one handed and gun jams. Bad guy gets away (He was arrested in a separate incident later). I guess the gun deterred a car jacking, which is what the bad guy was up to. Empty chamber nearly cost my customer his life. Customer now carries his Judge in the car."

Jaguar wrote:My carry guns all have one in the pipe, but I must make a confession – my Mossberg 500 home defense shotgun does not have one in the chamber. I know, I’ve sinned, but please hear me out. For the record, I do not believe the sound a 12 gauge pump being racked is some sort of magical talisman that will send an intruder fleeing with waste in their undergarments.

This is the same shotgun I use for skeet shooting. When on the skeet field the action is open at all times unless on the firing position, where you load and call for the targets, shoot, then open the action again before stepping off the firing position. I never put it on safe while shooting skeet because when I do I inevitable forget to take it off safe, call for a target and look like a fool without going bang. So when I get home from skeet, I clean Miss Mossy, drop the hammer, and load up 5 rounds of 00 Buck in the magazine. We react as we train so I know I will forget the safety if I put one in the chamber – and not having it on safe with one in the chamber is not an option for a bedside shotgun, but I can rack the slide and be ready if ever required in a defensive situation.

I’ve thought about how I would best deal with a home intruder using the shotgun and “the same way you use it at the range” is the best solution. I would rather the only sound be the safety clicked off, but I know in a stressful situation I would forget. Shooting skeet isn’t stressful – it is a stress reliever for me, but I still forget the safety when I do use it.