Why I don't carry my M&P with a round in the chamber...

[criticalbass]

I don't have kids around my house anymore. I keep my pistols at home without one in the chamber. I got a pistol grip shotgun with one in the chamber, safety on. I have had a surprise discharge a time or two in my life. Those experiences are not pleasant experiences. Luckily, no one got hurt. If I had kids around, I recommend not keeping one in the chamber. I try and listen to what my gut says, if it feels unsafe then I treat the situation accordingly. I believe you cannot be too safe with guns. I know all about the argument of having one in the chamber or not is potentially the difference between life and death. But all that been said, I have rationalized such that I'm not a police officer on duty or a soldier on the front line. I feel safe in my house with just a shotgun fully loaded. I know that Glocks will not fire if you keep your finger off the trigger. But like I said above, if I had little kids running around the house everyday, I would not keep a round in the chamber, no matter what kind of pistol it was. Just my .02.

Lots of folks like to keep pump shottys chamber empty, hammer dropped, safety off. A quick (noisy) rack and you are ready to shoot. Pretty safe for handling, and quick to deploy. Easy, with some practice, to rack one-handed if necessary.

Nobody has mentioned the possibility of having a hurt hand with an empty chamber in a handgun. Someone did say there are one hand techniques, but they are tough and require lots of practice. I carry one in the chamber with every handgun I carry.

 

[WessonOil]

An M&P is what I now carry since we got away from CC only, and I feel 100% safe with it..just as I did with my Kahr PM9 I've carried these last many years.

I want to be able to draw and simply pull the trigger...that simple.

In competition shooting we have events that require shooters to start with an unchambered round, and there are always some who fumble with that.

I assume that should I ever have to use my pistol to defend myself or family again, I'll be under stress and nervous just as I was the other time, and don't need to be thinking about chambering a round...just as I didn't have to worry last time.

 

[Laubage]

Oh, post script thought. What do you think of having a thumb safety installed on your Glock

Ridiculous. Fixing a nonexistent problem.

Ridiculous huh?

http://seanlinnane.blogspot.com/2011/03/glock-accidental-discharge.html

http://www2.wsls.com/news/2011/nov/18/virginia-man-killed-his-own-concealed-handgun-ar-1468506/

 

[Norman]

Ridiculous huh?

http://seanlinnane.blogspot.com/2011/03/glock-accidental-discharge.html

http://www2.wsls.com/news/2011/nov/18/virginia-man-killed-his-own-concealed-handgun-ar-1468506/

Yes, ridiculous. Since a careless guy uses a worn out holster that doesn't cover the trigger guard, and two fools carry weapons without holsters this is an issue? You can't fix stupid. I said before, ND's are a software problem, not a hardware problem. If you care to know, the two people I've personally witnessed shoot themself with ND's were both using pistols with manual external safeties. One of the pistols was a 1911.

 

[Laubage]

So you are saying that it won't happen to you because you're perfect at handling a firearm? This US Marshall probably had no idea about gun safety either right?

http://www.firearmsid.com/a_UnintendedGlockDischarge.htm

Here's another person who probably thought it would never happen. He probably considers himself good with gun safety also.

I had a Glock that I loved to carry outdoors. I had her in a locking holster and while pushing through some brush she got snagged and ripped out of the holster and one of the twigs was inside the trigger guard with the gun pointing at my abdomen. I considered it a sign and don't tote a Glock anymore for my lifestyle.

Is the gun going to sprout a trigger finger and shoot you? I highly doubt it. Is history riddled with negligent discharges by people who think they know gun safety? Yes.

Could a thumb safety have prevented these? Maybe maybe not, but I bet if you asked all of them, they would've rather had one on their respective days. Some people are ok with being 99% sure they won't shoot themselves or loved ones , some would rather be 99.9% sure (thumb safety on Glock // no round in the chamber). Thinking that your own gun can't kill you is a bad road to walk down.

One more for the road:
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2012/07/police_woman_killed_when_off-d.html#incart_river_default

 

[68mustang]

How many guns are carried every day in the world compared to how many ND there are per day? I bet it's less than 1%. A safety is only good if you use it. If you get accustomed to leaving a safety off, then it is just as good as a gun without a safety. I can't think of one self defense situations besides a home invasion where I would have time to rack my weapon before I shoot it.

 

[Laubage]

Well if you want to talk about unlikelihoods, then why do we carry a concealed weapon? I bet the amount of people that get attacked every day vs the amount of people in the US is probably less than 1% also. I've always been under the mindset of "prepare for the worst, hope for the best" and that goes with my handling of firearms.

I wonder what the ratio is of concealed carry licensees hurting someone by accident vs using their handgun on a bad guy. I'd almost bet there are more people that hurt/kill themselves than hurt/kill bad guys. In that case, you are your biggest threat when you carry.

When I carry a concealed handgun, it is usually with one in the chamber, but why hate on the people who don't want to carry one in the chamber? The only thing I'd hope for is that the person is a well trained and knowledgeable person and that his/her "reason" isn't out of fear of the unknown but an educated decision. Scenarios in which you could still rack a slide? I could think of a ton: mass shootings that don't target you from the start, someone breaking in your house, before going into a high risk area, helping another person etc...

Random guy jumping out from around the corner out of the blue doesn't normally happen. Typically there is an escalation or some sort. Think about it... if someone has the jump on you already, do you think you're really going to decide he/she is a threat, reach for your weapon, draw it, decide you're going to use lethal force, aim it and fire it before the BG (who knows he's willing to kill you already) stabs you/shoots you/knocks you unconscious with a baseball bat/tazes you/steals your gun/and shoots you again?

I'm sort of playing devils advocate because I typically carry with one in the chamber, but I don't treat it like it's any other day. Each day I carry, it is a conscious decision for me, based off of risks vs rewards, to put a round in my pistol. Complacency is deadly when it comes to firearms. Carrying without one in the chamber or an extra thumb safety has it's uses.

 

[Norman]

Well if you want to talk about unlikelihoods, then why do we carry a concealed weapon? I bet the amount of people that get attacked every day vs the amount of people in the US is probably less than 1% also. I've always been under the mindset of "prepare for the worst, hope for the best" and that goes with my handling of firearms.

I wonder what the ratio is of concealed carry licensees hurting someone by accident vs using their handgun on a bad guy. I'd almost bet there are more people that hurt/kill themselves than hurt/kill bad guys. In that case, you are your biggest threat when you carry.

When I carry a concealed handgun, it is usually with one in the chamber, but why hate on the people who don't want to carry one in the chamber? The only thing I'd hope for is that the person is a well trained and knowledgeable person and that his/her "reason" isn't out of fear of the unknown but an educated decision. Scenarios in which you could still rack a slide? I could think of a ton: mass shootings that don't target you from the start, someone breaking in your house, before going into a high risk area, helping another person etc...

Random guy jumping out from around the corner out of the blue doesn't normally happen. Typically there is an escalation or some sort. Think about it... if someone has the jump on you already, do you think you're really going to decide he/she is a threat, reach for your weapon, draw it, decide you're going to use lethal force, aim it and fire it before the BG (who knows he's willing to kill you already) stabs you/shoots you/knocks you unconscious with a baseball bat/tazes you/steals your gun/and shoots you again?

I'm sort of playing devils advocate because I typically carry with one in the chamber, but I don't treat it like it's any other day. Each day I carry, it is a conscious decision for me to put a round in my pistol. Complacency is deadly when it comes to firearms. Carrying without one in the chamber or an extra thumb safety has it's uses.

It's been a bit, but without pulling my statistics it's this: 1 in 54 Americans will be the victim of a major violent crime. 1 in 4 Americans will be a victim or a violent major crime in their lifetime. The average time of the violent encounter is 3.1 seconds. You don't have time to fiddle f**k around in the time span. If it takes you .75 seconds to chamber a round, that's 1/4th of the total encounter, or 3-4 rounds the bad guy can shoot. If you add a draw time of 1.25 seconds to be on target that's 2 seconds total until your first round, or 2/3's of the total violent encounter. This isn't even addressing the other half of the 'gunfight'. Fight. There is not a safe and efficient way to chamber a round when engaged in a FUT or clench. There is no way to fire from a position of retention.

 

[neotim]

Ok, I'm the original poster and I wanted the discussion to be about the possibility of a true accidental discharge with a striker-fired firearm. Please take your conversation elsewhere if you want to converse about ND's or whether or not you should have a round in the chamber. Thanks to those who posted about the safety features of the M&P platform. I feel much better about carrying my M&P chambered in the Crossbreed with my kids around. Thanks!

 

[Glocktogo]

Well if you want to talk about unlikelihoods, then why do we carry a concealed weapon? I bet the amount of people that get attacked every day vs the amount of people in the US is probably less than 1% also. I've always been under the mindset of "prepare for the worst, hope for the best" and that goes with my handling of firearms.

I wonder what the ratio is of concealed carry licensees hurting someone by accident vs using their handgun on a bad guy. I'd almost bet there are more people that hurt/kill themselves than hurt/kill bad guys. In that case, you are your biggest threat when you carry.

When I carry a concealed handgun, it is usually with one in the chamber, but why hate on the people who don't want to carry one in the chamber? The only thing I'd hope for is that the person is a well trained and knowledgeable person and that his/her "reason" isn't out of fear of the unknown but an educated decision. Scenarios in which you could still rack a slide? I could think of a ton: mass shootings that don't target you from the start, someone breaking in your house, before going into a high risk area, helping another person etc...

Random guy jumping out from around the corner out of the blue doesn't normally happen. Typically there is an escalation or some sort. Think about it... if someone has the jump on you already, do you think you're really going to decide he/she is a threat, reach for your weapon, draw it, decide you're going to use lethal force, aim it and fire it before the BG (who knows he's willing to kill you already) stabs you/shoots you/knocks you unconscious with a baseball bat/tazes you/steals your gun/and shoots you again?

I'm sort of playing devils advocate because I typically carry with one in the chamber, but I don't treat it like it's any other day. Each day I carry, it is a conscious decision for me, based off of risks vs rewards, to put a round in my pistol. Complacency is deadly when it comes to firearms. Carrying without one in the chamber or an extra thumb safety has it's uses.

Based on your posts, I believe you install airbags, impact resistant bumpers, flourescent safety markings and a kevlar muzzle wrap on your gun so you don't inadvertently shoot yourself with it.

In all seriousness, carrying a gun for defense is not a proposition without risks. If you're not comfortable assuming those risks, you'd be better off avoiding any gunplay at all costs. You're probably not going to fare well regardless. JMO, YMMV