TexasCHLforum.com

My take is those who proffer the opinion that empty chamber carry is "safer" lack the baseline skills to trust themselves to not have a negligent discharge, and institutionalize this into their EDC routine rather than training to overcome their lack of confidence to safely carry with a round in the chamber. When others who also lack confidence hear this as an option, it reinforces via confirmation bias that 'its okay to carry without a round in the chamber '.

The article has quite a bit of anxiety within it, citing that 'kids may come up and hug' him, and other such events where there seems to be an unwarranted concern that the gun will just go off on it's own..

My advice is:
- always carry the handgun with a round in the chamber. If one doesn't feel comfortable carrying with a round in the chamber, that is okay. It's a sign that they lack confidence in their own skills and need more time to develop a baseline such as muzzle awareness & trigger finger discipline. They need to train until they're confident enough to carry daily, with a round in the chamber.

- they may also lack confidence in their EDC gun, holster, & techniques. Again, practice & replace those items or techniques that are substandard.

- for those who adhere to the"Israeli Method " & carry with an empty chamber, that's okay too. They are responsible for their own safety, and if they find themselves in a bind where they have their support -side hand occupied & can't "jack the slide"...well, they have the rest of their lives to figure out how to get the slide cycled to load a round, or else resort to hand-to-hand skills, perhaps using the unloaded gun as a blunt force object to open up their workspace... To each their own.

((And I used the term 'jack the slide ' as a dig at the author of the linked article; I personally would use the phrase 'rack the slide '.)).

- for those who teach the Israeli Method, please don't. There's enough bad advice & fad teachings out there.

- if one has to disarm for whatever reason & feels that it's best for them to clear the chamber before securing the gun in a glove box, go with what your gut is telling you. For me, I unclip & remove the entire holster so that the gun never leaves the holster when having to disarm temporarily. This minimizes the "exposure" time for potential observation by someone walking by that I didn't see when doing a quick 360* scan, and also keeps the trigger guard secured in the holster while in the glove box/gun safe in the console. When getting back in the vehicle, rearming is simply reattaching the holster to my belt without the need to cycle the gun to reload.

But, to each their own level of comfort with regards to safety. If you have to disarm and leave the gun alone with others in a vehicle who should not have unsupervised access, then unloading the gun & taking the magazine with you, or separating the gun & magazine into separate locked compartments, may be absolutely prudent.

- regarding the use of the thumb safety, I would recommend either not having one/not using it for modern striker fired guns with stock triggers, or if using a DA/SA pistol to carry in DA with the safety off (this relies on the stiffness & length of pull of the DA trigger to mitigate a negligent discharge).

With any method, trigger finger discipline and use of a quality holster is paramount. ((NEVER TOUCH the trigger at Positions 1, 2, & 3 of the draw stoke; once you are committed to taking the shot you can touch & prep the trigger AFTER leaving Position 3 on the way to Position 4, but the finger MUST BE OFF the trigger well before returning to Position 3)).

With DA/SA, my recommendations are to focus training sessions initially on DA engagements, decocking after a single shot presentation, with enough repetitions that the first shot (in DA) becomes the baseline. Once the DA presentation is mastered, incorporating the SA follow up shots in the string is easy. Just remember to decock when bringing the gun from full presentation at Position 4 back to Position 3, well before reholstering.

Of course, if it's a SA-only style of handgun, it should be cocked & locked, meaning the safety is on with a round in the chamber.

Manipulation of the safety on & off without affecting the grip is critical, thumbing the safety off either at Position 3, or while presenting out from Position 3 to 4. When the engagement is complete, thumbing the safety back on while moving from Position 4 back to 3, then reacquiring the grip in case a reengagement is needed.

For thumb positioning on a safety, I'd recommend having your thumb rest on whichever side of the safety lever will allow a smooth 'taking off of safe' action, then keeping it there during the engagement ((Example: if 'safe' is with the safety lever in the 'up' position, rest your thumb on top of the Safety so that compressing the thumb during presentation with disengage the safety, and continue to loosely rest the thumb on top of the safety to prevent the thumb from inadvertently engaging the safety during recoil. Flip the thumb to the bottom of the safety lever when done engaging to put it back on safe, but immediately restage the thumb on the top of the safety in case an immediate re-presentation on target is needed. If 'Safe' is in the down position on your gun, just flip the above process for where to stage your thumb)).

And, it is important to know any idiosyncrasies of your handgun's safety. For example, most handguns you will be able to simultaneously prep the trigger during the presentation from 3 to 4 AND flip the safety off; with the M&P EZ however if you prep the trigger before disengaging the safety you will have a dead trigger.

In the end, trigger finger discipline and muzzle awareness are key factors of firearms safety.