An interesting question. Is it the Police, the Fire Department, City Hall? All have their place of course, but in those minutes before the forces of law and order can arrive, it's YOU that keeps you safe. Scary thought, it should be because we don't consider what can happen in those minutes before the uniforms appear.
Being British, it was very strange when I first starting a loaded firearm with me almost everywhere I go. It felt not only like I was carrying a brick on my hip, but that everyone was looking at me! For the first few months, I carried it without a bullet in the chamber, as I didn't trust myself to not to add extra holes that my body was not designed for!
Then I started working at Caswells, and taking the classes from some of the best instructors in the business. And aswell as the realization that - for the first few minutes anyway - mine, and my families safety is largely in my/our hands! It's like having a fire extinguisher, could I put out a raging inferno with it, no, of course not. Could I create enough time for the fire department to arrive, and/or create an opportunity for me and my family to escape to safety, absolutely.
As I grew more comfortable carrying my firearm, it became natural to me to carry with a round in the chamber. The reasons are several fold, and in no great part having seen some of the videos I have linked to below whilst looking for content for the newsletter, and the radio show we used to do at www.radiocaswells,com.
Here's an experiment for you. CLEAR YOUR FIREARM before you start, Now draw it and bring it onto target ready to fire, how long did that take? 3 seconds, maybe 4, longer if it's in a purse or pocket. Now do the same, but racking the slide aswell WITH NO MAGAZINE IN THE FIREARM (please be careful), how long did that take you, maybe 50% longer?
Now here'e an interesting statistic for you, from the font of all knowledge, wikipedia. This tells us that athletes can run a 40 yard dash in 4 seconds, that's 120 feet!! Can you draw your weapon, aim, and shoot on target someone moved at a quarter of that speed, especially if you have to rack the slide before you start?
I am NOT suggesting that you all go home, lock and load your favorite 45, and hope all goes well, far from it. Come down to Caswells and get trained, get comfortable with your firearm, learn to be comfortable loading, unloading and clearing your weapon, holstering a firearm with a round in the chamber, and or course drawing your weapon, until it becomes as second nature as driving a stick shift has become.
And no matter what you do, BE CAREFUL out there, you NEVER want this to happen!
