[Unclenick]

Nate,

I'm having trouble identifying anything Jim Dandy said that you should be taking exception to, so let's please keep it civil. Keep in mind that few of us in these forums are professional writers, so it is easy to misread disrespect or obtuseness into something that isn't really there.

I think your system is probably a good habit from the standpoint of telling you what condition to expect the gun should be in. But if either your eyes or your hand aren't constantly on the weapon, the veracity of the indicator still needs to be checked the next time you pick the gun up. Cooper made quite a point of drilling into us never to be sanguine that a gun was in the condition we had left it in if either eye or hand had not been on it without interruption afterward. (Please note that I'm not saying you are being sanguine about it, but for the sake of readers in learning mode, this caution is important.)

I remember in the course of his class safety lecture Cooper checked his gun's condition probably a dozen times. Any time a gun was both out of his sight and out of his hand, he considered an opportunity for "gremlins" to make a change in its condition. So he checked his gun's condition again when he next handled it. Even after merely holstering it, if his hand hadn't stayed on the grip frame, when he took it out again, if it wasn't a presentation for a shot, he re-checked the chamber before doing anything else. That's the important habit to cultivate, as it keeps you safe whether the condition of the gun is as you expect or it isn't.