Hey, Txinvestigator, I'm going to have to disagree with you here. With my weapons, there are occasions where I want a secondary weapon loaded but not completely good-to-go. My primary home defense weapon (Beretta 92FS), and my carry weapon (H&K USP9C) are both kept at the ready (the 92FS is kept in condition-2, i.e. chambered round/hammer down; while my USP9C is carried in condition-1, cocked and locked).txinvestigator wrote:badkarma56 wrote:I'm pleased to hear that no one was injured or killed in this circumstance. I concur with many of the other's safety recommendations (especially the press-check tip for inspecting the chamber), but I do wish to add my two cents...
The ND in this particular situation would likely have been avoided if the weapon involved had been equipped with a decocker. I currently own four pistols (i.e., Beretta 92FS, H&K USP9C & USP45, and a Sig P226 Navy), and each of these weapons is equipped with a decocker. Although my father owned a 1911 pistol, he always used to gripe about one missing safety feature on these weapons...there's no truly "safe" way to lower the hammer on a loaded 1911 chamber. Pulling the trigger, and "thumbing" the hammer down is not inherently safe and will bypass any passive safety features built into the pistol (e.g., firing pin block, safety intercept notch, etc.).
I realize that the 1911 was designed to be carried in condition-1, but there are occasions with any single-action or double/single-action weapon where you'll want to safely lower that hammer on a "hot" chamber...
Why? There is no reason to do that.
Condition-2 is a recognized "state of readiness" for the 1911 pistol, primarily when one wishes to store the pistol as a secondary weapon that can be "brought into the fight" by manually cocking the hammer. Of course, putting a 1911 into condition-2 is problematic due to the absence of a decocker...the operator must "thumb the hammer down" on a loaded chamber, an obvious risk of ND is presented here. I see this as an issue with the 1911, you may not, and that's fine.
There is no such issue with placing my 92FS into condition-2 because the weapon possesses a decocker to safely lower the hammer on a loaded chamber. The safety/decocker on the 92FS does not allow for condition-1 carry, while my USP's control lever does.
As for our fellow member who suffered this mishap, for his own reasons, he was attempting to lower the hammer of his weapon at the time of the ND. Had the weapon been equipped with a decocker the ND would not have occurred because he wouldn't have had to pull the trigger to lower the hammer. This mistake was compounded by the fact that he had unwittingly chambered a round previously...so he was also unaware of his weapon's actual state of readiness at the time of the incident. Make no mistake, the event could have also been prevented by performing a press-check on the weapon, and then clearing the pistol.
