[BlueTrain]

Good responses here. But I'm not fully convinced that chamber empty carry (with qualifications) is such a great disadvantage. Someone admitted that they didn't leave their carbine cocked and locked. I'm not sure that is assuming away the problem or not but I appreciate the frankness. I also note one or two who admitted carrying a five shot revolver. Is a five shot revolver a disadvantage when you could be carrying something with double the firepower?

Would anyone admit that carrying a Colt Government Model with seven shots is a disadvantage when you could be carrying something with twice that number? I will admit that is a tough question to answer honestly.

Several mention you will act (or react) the way you have trained. I sort of agree (but see my previous posts), so, in theory, if you plan to carry something chamber empty, which absolutely does not render the pistol useless, you certainly have to practice with that in mind.

All of this applies only to automatic pistols, by the way. I agree that expecting to get your revolver loaded at the moment you need it is asking for it. But I have a cousin in West Virginia who states that his method for his "bedroom gun" is to keep the magazine out but full, and when the pistol is called for, to insert the magazine and chamber a round. That's one step too many. He had a Glock .40 caliber and by the way, I think Glocks are perfect for chamber empty carry, if that's your thing. No safety levers to fiddle with and a slide that is especially easy to grasp. And it comes in just about any caliber you could want.

There is one disadvantage to chamber empty carry that I'm surprised no one had mentioned, that I remember, and ironically, it is exactly like one of the disadvantages of chamber loaded carry, in a way. Some have mentioned that you need to double check to see that the chamber is in fact loaded if that's the way you habitually carry the pistol. True enough but you also have to keep checking to see that the chamber is in fact empty if that's the way it's going to be carried. We're trying to avoid accidents here.

Finally, someone mentions that using different carry methods are inconsistent procedures for different states of readiness. I can't believe that people can consistently be in the same state of readiness all the time, even policemen. But I'm beginning to wonder if the contributors here might be better trained than the average policeman. There will always be a tapering off in both your training and your readiness. You can't be perfect all the time. That's not an argument against chamber loaded carry, which I have never argued against here. But you should be a little more flexible to be able to deal with situations that don't meet your expectations of what they will be. I just have to believe that most of you are capable of more than you think. After all, what if you only had one hand to use in a self defense situation--and it wasn't your gun hand?