#fridayfundamentals

As mentioned last week, the discussions of Empty Chamber Carry rarely include any commentary about what to do after the pistol is loaded during an incident. A simplistic explanation of what the person will do often reduces to this.

“If I don’t have to shoot, I’ll immediately download the chamber when I get back to my car.”

There are several contextual issues with this.

1. The car may be some distance away. Is the person going to walk to the car with gun in hand? Or are they going to holster a loaded pistol, something that they’re not used to doing, before they walk to the car?
2. Once they reach the car, are they going to unload outside or inside the car?
3. What procedure will be used to unload the pistol? Doing it standing outside the car? If so, is the pistol pointing at the car or away from the car? If the idea is to unload after entering the car, is the pistol in hand when getting in, placed on the seat before entering, or holstered?
4. What direction is the pistol pointed inside the car during the unload process? There is no direction inside the car that doesn’t violate Rule #2 “Never point your pistol at anything you’re not prepared to destroy.” However, pointing it at yourself is the worst possible direction.
5. Has the person ever practiced their unloading procedure with dummy ammunition?

If the incident occurs while the defender is in the car, the situation becomes even more complicated. The February 2022 Armed Citizen page

of the official NRA publications contains this incident in which a woman foiled a carjacking attempt. https://www.americas1stfreedom.org/content/the-armed-citizen-january-24-2022/

Woman With Concealed Carry License Fires At Would-Be Carjackers  

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/ccw-holder-fires-gun-attempted-carjacker-roseland/

“I had just come out of the bank and was sitting in my car about to lock my door to pull off [and] leave, and he opened my door and put a gun in my face”

In a situation like this, both loading the gun and later unloading it come into play. Complicating the issue is that ‘workspace’ behind the steering wheel of a car is extremely limited.

If she hadn’t fired at the carjacker and had carried Empty Chamber, she would have then had to unload her pistol. However, she fired and then went for help.

“She reversed her Nissan Versa, and pulled up right outside the Chase Bank – then ran inside for help.”

If there was no malfunction, the chamber was now loaded. She then chose to go to a place of safety, the bank she just left. Obviously, running into a bank with a gun in hand wouldn’t be a great idea. Her choices at that point were:

1. Holster the loaded gun or put it back in her purse. Her carry method wasn’t specified so it’s possible she just leaves the gun in the car in general. In that case, she would only have options 3 or 4.
2. Unload the gun while sitting in the car, secure it somewhere on her person, and then go into the bank.
3. Run into the bank and leave the gun in the car loaded.
4. Unload the gun, leave it in the car, and run into the bank.

For those who choose to carry with an Empty Chamber, practice at gun manipulation is vital. Dummy rounds are a very useful training aid and every gunowner should have some. Empty Chamber carriers in particular should use them regularly to practice loading and unloading under realistic conditions.

Empty Chamber Carry – I

https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2023/10/13/empty-chamber-carry-i/