Yip. You read correctly. I usually carry without a round in the chamber. Call me a fan boy but here’s why I prefer “Israeli carry’.
Israeli carry or condition 3 is when you carry a firearm without a round in the chamber. Most people seem to be obsessed with carrying ‘one up’ ie with a round in the chamber. I can understand why, but it’s not my preferance.
The reason for this post is that I was reading a thread on a facebook gun group the other day and this discussion on the subject was taking place. I found it fascinating that virtually everyone was proudly saying how they only ever carry ‘one up’. The people who carry like I do were conspicuous by their absence. Is this because I’m the only one that still carries like this? I doubt it. I think it’s more likely that people didn’t want to voice unpopular opinions. I was chatting to a guy recently who chooses to carry with a round in the chamber in the appendix carry position. Good for him but I wouldn’t point a loaded gun at my own nuts. It’s just a rule I have.
Now don’t get me wrong. With modern pistol safety mechanisms. I can understand why people don’t like Israeli carry. Obviously, if you already have a round in the chamber, you may gain half a second of critical time to fire back. In a life or death situation, that seems like a good thing, and it is.
The issue I have is this. A gun is not security….. I can hear you thinking that’s bulls*#t. But think about it. We use a gun, only when security has failed. It’s a tool to neutralise the threat, when either by a lack of situational awareness or plain bad luck, our space has been breached. It could also be at home, where our security measures have failed. By the time you’re in a situation where someone is already close to you and pointing a gun or knife at you. Eg a hijacker at your window. You’ve pretty much got to choose between compliance or hand to hand combat. The odds of you getting your loaded gun out and getting it into a position to fire back before the assailant pulls the trigger are slim. I realise there are people who will disagree with me and that’s just fine.
At the end of the day, it’s all about your own personal context. If I was working in the back of a cash in transit van, I would definitely carry one up, but that’s not my situation.
Now I don’t want to mislead you. I’m not some special forces operator but training is definitely an issue here. As is the type of gun you carry. Now I’m not avocating stupidy here. If I’m responding to highly suspicious activity, I will rack the slide before entry. In fact, if I find myself in any situation where the possibility of an attack is very high, I will cock the weapon before I go in. Eg, If the alarm in my home activates while I’m sleeping and I need to clear the house, of course I will cock the weapon. The difference is that once I am out of the situation, as soon as an opportunity presents it’s self, I prefer to make my weapon safe and go back to carrying without a round in the chamber.
I do know that there are very well trained people, with very safe guns working in dangerous situations and I have nothing against them carrying one up but my gripe is this. I have had many conversations with many gun owners who consider themselves to be “well trained” and they make the most horrific safety infringements, such as muzzle sweeping the room. I’ve even seen a guy leaving his gun on a table at a party, while he went for a swim. I once worked for a short while with a guy who was proudly telling me how he carries one up and he had the lowest awareness level of anyone I’ve worked with in armed guarding.
Basics people. I consider myself better trained than the average Joe but there is just so much unexpected stuff that can happen. I personally feel, that if you’re trained and aware of your environment, the odds of a negligent discharge are higher than the odds of being able to use your gun successfully against an attacker in a surprising situation. If you’re not trained and aware, then why would you carry one up anyway? It seems bonkers to me. Maybe I’m wrong and it’s all down to a good holster and keeping your finger off the trigger but I think people need to focus more on security basics than being Rambos.
That’s just my two cents. I’d love to hear your opinion, even if it’s different to mine.
Image source: Interesting article on gunbelts.com