I’ve got a couple New Year’s resolutions… for safety purposes. Below I will offer 5 reasons NOT to carry a gun with an empty chamber.

First, I’m going to make sure my car doesn’t have any gas in it until I need to use it. Heck, gas gets old and stanky and we all know it can explode if something weird and unexpected happens. I figure if something urgent comes up, like my wife going into labor, I can just fill it up real quick-like and boogey on down to the hospital. No problem.

Concurrent with my gas-on-demand plan, I’m going to adopt the same winning strategy with the fire extinguisher in my kitchen. We all know flame retardant can make a real mess if it goes off accidentally and I ain’t got time for cleaning up that junk in my house. I’m just going to load up my extinguisher with flame-putter-outter powder if and when I need to use it to quench out an out-of-control Wok-full of General Tso’s Chicken.

So, what do you think? Am I on to something big here?

I suppose the same “load on demand” strategy could apply to self-defense guns too – You know, tote your concealed carry pistol around with an empty chamber.

If you ever need to use your gun in self defense, you can always just rack the slide to chamber a round, right? The only problem with that plan is that a load-when-you-need-it approach just might get you killed.

The de-cocker / safety lever on this Beretta 92 FS Compact is an additional layer of "safety" for carrying a chambered round.

The de-cocker / safety lever on this Beretta 92 FS Compact is an additional layer of “safety” for carrying a chambered round.

Actually, the odds of that strategy getting you killed are higher than “just might.” Just ask the family of the late Heriberto Aceves and his son Juan. Armed robbers confronted the pair in their convenience store and demanded money, pistol whipping them in the process. Aceves found an opportunity to draw his gun in self-defense. However, there was no bullet chambered in Aceves’ pistol, and while he was racking the slide to put one there, he was shot by at least one of the robbers. Falling to the ground, he continued to try to get a round into his gun while mortally wounded. Aceves and his son were both killed before the robbers fled the scene.

Here are five reasons you should always keep a concealed carry gun in the “round chambered condition” assuming of course, that it was designed to operate that way. It should go without saying that all safeties (where applicable) should be engaged according the gun’s design. Just to be clear, we’re talking about empty chambers, not disabling or disengaging safety devices.

Read the rest: 5 Reasons Not to Carry a Gun with An Empty Chamber | OutdoorHub

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