I always carry chambered. My primary carry gun, the HK2000 SK LEM has no external safety. My back up gun the Glock 19 like wise. If I were for some reason to carry one of my automatics that does i.e. Walther P88 compact I would carry with safety off. The reason being is I want any gun to work the same way anytime I have to use it. If I carry and practice with a gun that has no external safety and then switch and carry one that does guess what is going to happen in a stress situation when I pull my weapon?
The following is a great article by Gabe Suarez. I don't think he would mind me sharing his thoughts.
True Gun Safety
At the beginning of a class I draw my carry gun and hold it before the class (in a safe manner as possible with a real live gun) and ask them what this is for. Usually I get a plethora of bland, pc answers. Occassionally a student answers correctly. "Its for killing".
Firearms are weapons designed for killing those who would try to kill us, and weapons are dangerous. If they were not they would be useless! Weapons are really only tools, harmless and inert until touched by the hand of man. Safety with firearms means that only the adversary (or the target on the firing range) is in danger of being shot. Absolutely no one and nothing else is in danger. This must be kept in proper context and perspective however. We are training for combat and that in itself is inherently dangerous. To design a course that was totally safe and had no element of danger would create a class that nobody would want to attend.
Safety with anything is a mental process, which must be learned and faithfully practiced to be effective. "Accidents" with firearms cannot be solved with laws, or gunlocks, or with guns too safe to be of any tactical value. Inept and careless handling by people who lack the proper mind-set causes gun accidents. Guns do not "go off" by themselves – someone makes them "go off".
Part of the Art of the Pistol involves the understanding of gun safety. Our friend Col. Cooper compressed the myriad of safety suggestions and rules into a compact and total of four. We present them here with suitable modifications. They are as clear, concise and easy to remember as needed.
Rule One: Treat All guns as if they were loaded. Notice I did not say the traditional - All Guns Are Always Loaded, because truly they are not. Yet, guns are useless if they are not loaded. So we always begin with the assumption that they ARE loaded. When handling the piece in an administrative manner - we first check it to verify its condition and if necessary, we unload it. S.I., unlike many other academies, runs hot ranges.
Rule Two: Never let the muzzle unintentionally cover anything you are not willing to destroy. This rule is applicable in administrative handling as well as in tactical duties. If someone points a weapon at you it is implied that he is willing to destroy you.
But again, let's keep it in context. In some tactical situations, it is necessary to cover (with the gun muzzle) someone who is presumed, but not yet confirmed, to be the adversary. Doing so is not a violation of Rule Two. Similarly, it may be necessary to sweep past your leg when drawing from a seated position, such as in a vehicle driver’s seat. This cannot be avoided without compromising your tactical safety, and is NOT a safety violation. Problems here can be prevented by observing rule three.
Additionally, look at how you draw. Unless you are standing in a ballerina stance with your feet touching (hardly suitable for combat) you also sweep part of your leg everytime you draw or holster. Don't argue! Look at your draw and see what I mean.
So do we change everything we do so that in no way shape or form does that muzzle cover anything at all? Hardly! We simply understand what we are doing, carry on, and stay alert.
Rule Three: Keep your finger off the trigger, and indexed on the frame, until you’ve made a conscious decision to shoot. This is a last failsafe method that prevents unintentional shots. When handling the pistol in administrative or tactical situations - keep the finger off the trigger. Simple enough and safe enough.
What about the safety lever??
Often when we ask ourselves why we do something a certain way, we see the shrugging of shoulders and the wrinkling of brows, accompanied with the typical “I dunno…we’ve always done it this wayâ€. Usually this is tied to some meaningless administrative shuffling of papers, or distribution of memos on minutia. Sometimes, however, it is seen in the field of weaponcraft.
One example is the manipulation of the safety lever, or decocking levers on service pistols. Much of the current accepted practice on pistol deployment has come to us from the use and deployment of the 1911, as well as from military circles. Often we see “scary†gunhandling. Scary in the sense that the operator is afraid of his cocked pistol. And from what seems like fear of the cocked weapon, we see premature safety engagement as well as premature decocking.
It is our feeling at Suarez International that gunfights are dangerous. Nothing can be done to make these events “safeâ€. We bring loaded and dangerous weapons such as pistols to these events to deactivate our adversaries before they can do likewise to us. With that in mind, we want to avoid with severe focus anything that detracts from that mission.
Premature engaging of safeties, or premature decocking diminishes our fighting capability. I once taught a tactics class to a group of 1911 users. This team had just returned from a very high dollar 1911 school. They were very anal retentive about, “On The Sights – Safety Off – Off The Sights – Safety Onâ€, that I could track the team’s movement through the house by listening to the sound of their custom Low Thumb safeties engaging and disengaging. Moreover, as the heat got turned up several operators missed their safety levers because they had been engaged reflexively during tactical events. Not good!
At Suarez International we believe there are three safeties.
1). Your Brain, which is telling you to Shoot or Not Shoot, based on what you see. If your mind is not switched on and dialed in to the events around you, you have no business with a gun in your hand. Period.
2). Your educated trigger finger, which is in register (alongside the frame, or preferably resting on the slide stop button or other easily felt index point) until the brain, decides to shoot or not to shoot.
Anytime the weapon is in hand, the safety should be disengaged. When you decide to relinquish control of the weapon to sling or holster, then engage the safety. When I was issued an MP5, we trained to operate it with the selector set on Full Auto and finger off the trigger. When we transitioned to sling to go hands on, we engaged the safety. When I carried a S&W 5906, I thumb cocked the pistol (if I had time) dealt with the tactical problem, and then decocked when I had decided I was going to holster. Also witness the Glock pistol with which such a vast number of police, security professionals, and civilian defenders are armed with. Where is the safety/decocking lever? There is not one, and Glock shooters operate using the methodology we described.
Remember, we are in the fight to win. This usually means hitting the other man before he hits us. Anything that detracts from that mission, either tactical, technical, or equipment, should be discarded and replaced with a better system. When it comes to manipulating the safety, the better system is In Hand/ Safety Off -In Holster/Safety On.
Rule Four: Be sure of your target and what is beyond it. Do not shoot at a sound or a shadow, it might not be what you think. There is no greater tragedy than to realize that you've just shot a loved one by mistake. Almost as bad is to have shot an innocent stranger. Don't let this happen to you - be sure of your target. Be aware of what is beyond the object of your shooting.
This doesn't mean you won't shoot if you have a poor background, just that you may need to change your tactics.
None of these rules are based on mechanical safety devices but rather on mind-set. Understand that you can try to make yourself so safe (the NRA comes to mind) that you lose all combat utility whatsoever. In my mind, many who aspire to the "scary gunhandling" school, have lost much of their combat utility...although they are very safe.
__________________
Gabe Suarez
Suarez International USA, Inc.
303 East Gurley Street, Suite 461
Prescott, Arizona 86301 USA
Office 928-776-4492
Fax 928-776-8218
Mobile 928-308-1512
Suarez International USA - Reality-Based Gunfight Training - (928) 776-4492, or (928) 308-1512
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