Whew! Glad I choose to avoid all this confusion and controversy. These days I mostly carry a single action revolver. Problem avoided.
Oh, I don't think I'd be grabbing a firearm. I'd likely, working from the ground up, stomp his instep, knee his groin and/or head butt him in the face. Of course this would all be taking place as I repeatedly stabbed him with my knife, starting from the ground up, in the groin, belly, kidneys, etc. This ain't TV. I'm gonna keep hitting, kicking and sticking until he is down and not moving.A few scenarios to consider:
*A big guy presses you up against a wall, gets in your face and produces a knife. You have room and time to pull your gun and manipulate the slide?
*During a struggle, you can get your gun out, but the mag release is smacked and the magazine falls to the ground. Would you rather have one shot (assuming you don't have a magazine disconnector safety) or none?
*Something has happened to your weak hand and it is disabled. Yes, you may be able to rack the slide one-handed by catching the rear sight on something and pushing, but do you have time and is your sight shaped properly?
In this litigious age, firearms are SAFE to carry with a round in the chamber. Most have two passive safeties, several have more, and some a manual safety as well. Way more likely to be killed or injured by a lightning strike than by a modern gun "going off" due to mechanical failure, so if someone is afraid to carry a firearm with a cartridge in the chamber, he probably should avoid leaving the house. Except he's more likely to have a serious or fatal accident there than a firearm malfunction. Well, darn...
Is everyone as physically capable of doing that as you? Would a slightly-built woman be able to perform these actions to a degree that it would allow time to get her gun out and chamber a round? What about the young guy with MS? An elderly gent? Not everyone is a big heroic indestructable knife-fighter like you. Some of us actually want to STOP the threat instead of getting sliced to ribbons trying to play Schwarzenegger or Segal...SMH.Oh, I don't think I'd be grabbing a firearm. I'd likely, working from the ground up, stomp his instep, knee his groin and/or head butt him in the face. Of course this would all be taking place as I repeatedly stabbed him with my knife, starting from the ground up, in the groin, belly, kidneys, etc. This ain't TV. I'm gonna keep hitting, kicking and sticking until he is down and not moving.
I agree. And fight like a Bersrker.First, I'm a 69 yo short fat guy. With bad knees, back and heart. Yet, I'm still capable of a few seconds of intense physical activity. Enough to disable even a health young male.
Second, in the situation set out I wouldn't even consider reach for a gun.
A firearm is best as a stand-off weapon. That close I was taught, granted decades ago, to go hands on. Hit hard, fast and keep doing it as long as it takes or now as I can.
I'm not a testosterone filled kid. But I don't figure I completely helpless. Though many want us to believe we are.
I really hope we are never forced to rely on Kentucy Pistols. Chambering a round can take some serious time.The down side to need to chamber a round before the gun is ready to fire in a CCW, self defense is time and the mental need to do and track multiple important stuff all at once. All who have done things under heavy stress can understand how the fine motor skills can and will fail unless highly trained. More tasks to do something, in this case see a threat and react to it. The more complex it gets to do your job the more time it takes. Or the more steps it takes the harder it gets and more time it takes to complete the task Shooting the threat. KISS works very well "Keep it simple, Stupid." We could list every move of each style step by step. I am not chambering a round before any gun will fire while in a self defense situation. Far to much more work. Remember self defense is reacting to a threat. Even seasoned cops freeze in a shoot or don't shoot situation. All they normally need to do is grip gun, unholster, point and pull a trigger. At 3 yards time is everything, you had better already been mastered in hitting a human target.
I was told in a situation like that to start hitting all the places Sister Beatrice told me nice Catholic girls didn't hit boys. He also told me to scream at the top of my lungs using phrases like "guts for garters" and "testicles for beads." And that in a violent struggle there are no winners or losers, only survivors. All in a voice with no more emotion than talking about the weather.First, I'm a 69 yo short fat guy. With bad knees, back and heart. Yet, I'm still capable of a few seconds of intense physical activity. Enough to disable even a health young male.
Second, in the situation set out I wouldn't even consider reach for a gun.
A firearm is best as a stand-off weapon. That close I was taught, granted decades ago, to go hands on. Hit hard, fast and keep doing it as long as it takes or now as I can.
I'm not a testosterone filled kid. But I don't figure I completely helpless. Though many want us to believe we are.
There is always a trade off, which is why I do not carry 1911 style auto's. Too many bad things can happen when I do not want them too! I'll take a double action SIG 226 or CS 75 any day of the week. IMHOI ran across this years ago and it sure seemed to make sense to me... YMMV
"Some people narrow their focus and see everything through the exclusive lens of gunfighting.
But that's confusing means with ends. The purpose of carrying a gun is not to win gunfights. That's a means to an end.
The purpose of carrying a gun is to make you safer; the means is maybe a gunfight.
But, for every gunfight you're probably not going to be in, you'll do thousands of administrative handlings (load, unload, draw, holster, put in the safe, etc., etc., etc.). Every one of them is a chance of an ND.
So, the proper risk assessment is not to look only at gunfights, but at the entirety of your risks.
Carrying chamber empty is simply reassigning risk: you're adding a small risk to some small subset of gunfights, but you're subtracting a real risk of NDs.
It's a trade-off, like everything else. It's not for everyone, but then there is no one rule true for everyone either."
Boy, do I disagree with this statement! If there is one chance in 10,000 that a quick draw will be needed someday, then practice for that day.most people will never find themselves in a situation where a 'quick" draw is needed if they are paying attention to what goes on around them.
Boy, do I disagree with this statement! If there is one chance in 10,000 that a quick draw will be needed someday, then practice for that day.
If you have someone threatening your life with a gun in a robbery or whatever. If he turns to show you the back of his head and you have a 2 second draw to first shot you can take down the threat.
If he turns to show you his ear you only need a 1.5 second draw to first shot.
PRACTICE your fast draw and know your draw time.
If you watch Active Self Protection videos on Youtube. You can see many real life videos of self defense. It's amazing how many robbers simply wave a gun around thinking everyone will submit. If there are multiple victims the robber can't keep his eyes on everyone.
Be prepared for these situations by keeping a round in the chamber and know your draw time. When the time comes you need to know when you can fight back and when you must submit or get killed.
Nope, never.Find yourself in a lot of these situations?
Apparently you missed the statements about being aware, paying attention and avoiding the situation, or are you another one who thinks his great skills will save the day, when having never been in a real live street fight with firearms you have no ideal of what can & will go wrong? Just wondering? Have at it if it makes you feel safer. I prefer to not ever get in another situation that requires firearms.