Don't Be Like the Movie Guys Who Rack the Slide Before Engaging the Bad Guy

Mike McDaniel has a post telling us that Yes, chambered semi autos are safe. Col. Jeff Cooper advocated the "cocked and locked" carry method for the 1911 pistol. I have carried in that manner for close to 20 years. I do dry fire practice often to keep the need to draw and push down the thumb safety in muscle memory. But I don't put my finger in the trigger guard until I make a decision to shoot.

But most new gun buyers don't buy 1911s, do they? It is an old style weapon, an elegant weapon for another age, as they say in the Star Wars movies. Most buyers buy the plastic fantastic pistols, which are usually striker fired and have no safety. Are these also safe to carry with a live round in the chamber?

Full disclosure: I learned to shoot handguns with revolvers, attaining expert status, but as semiautos evolved, becoming not only as reliable as revolvers, and with the advent of Glocks, which took over the police and civilian markets, became expert with those as well. I’ve fired and owned every trigger mechanism, single action as in the 1911 and P-35 Hi-Power, double action, double action only and striker fired as in Glocks.

Other than the 1911 and Hi-Power, I’ve never used the safety on any other semiautomatic I’ve owned, and have been entirely safe in so doing. Why not the 1911 and Hi-Power? They’re early 1900s single action designs with cocked hammers and light triggers with short travel. I had the grip safeties on my 1911s pinned in the “off” position. John Moses Browning, America’s greatest firearm inventor, did not include a grip safety on the Hi-Power, which he invented after the 1911.

Here's the ultimate consideration: any gun is safe if the trigger finger is kept in register—straight and in contact with the frame, outside the trigger guard—until fractions of a second before it’s necessary to pull the trigger. After the trigger is pulled, so long as immediate follow-up shots aren’t required, the trigger finger immediately returns to register.

A secondary concern is always using holsters that completely cover the trigger guard and trigger so it’s difficult to accidently pull the trigger when drawing. It’s equally important to always keep the trigger finger in register when reholstering, and to look to ensure neither clothing nor anything else can get in the way and pull the trigger.

McDaniel makes a good point that if you are afraid to carry a live round in the chamber, you need to get more training. You should respect your weapon, but not be afraid of it. I once dropped a Kahr PM9 on the floor due to fumble fingers. It did not go off even though it had 7 rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. It is a small, plastic fantastic gun, and I let my brother try shooting it. He also dropped it, and again, nothing. If a modern gun is functioning properly, they are safe to carry a round in the chamber. Don't be like the movie guys who rack the slide before engaging the bad guy. You want to draw and be immediately ready to engage. Half seconds count.