Originally Posted by
BehindBlueI's
Largely both. There's a ton of information here from recognized experts in fields and topics from weapon selection to post-shooting legal advise.
Sometimes it helps to put what you're talking about in context. A .8X second draw to first shot is excellent. In and of itself isn't not a winning gun fight strategy. Is that the context we're discussing here?
From another recent thread (on the value of timers)I posted this:
Because I'm a believer in "tell us how you know what you know" and you're new, I was a detective in a rather busy Homicide & Robbery office for 6 years. I started keeping detailed stats on citizens defending themselves vs random crime (as in not targeted, no domestics, no drug-dealer turf wars, no police actions, just regular folks minding their own business confronted by violent crime) and have been in a gunfight myself. Certain trends developed on why people won or lost, and one was that draw speed matters to a point in a sub-set of shootings, but the ability to find or create an opening and exploit a weak spot in the opponent's OODA loop mattered more. You can't outdraw a drawn gun vs an attentive bad guy who's willing to pull the trigger. The ability to find or make an opening, present a functioning firearm, and pull the trigger was a winning strategy whereas hell-for-leather under direct observation wasn't.
So while the times are of interest, they are only one part of determining the viability. How much easier is it to create a malfunction while attempting to rack the gun on presentation? If entangled? If knocked to the ground? If injured? Some combination?
If you choose to carry on an empty chamber, my recommendation is to carry a revolver. Harder to shoot yourself, an empty chamber under the hammer only reduces capacity by one instead of mandating additional handling, and the trade off for reduced capacity vs a magazine fed is a negligible factor in random violence encounters. Targeted, capacity comes into play more often. More dedicated attackers, longer distances, etc. But for Joe Random carrying in case of a mugger, not an issue.
As far as carrying in a pocket with a finger on the trigger, not with a finger in the trigger but I certainly knocked on some doors with my hand on a gun in my coat pocket. Pocket draw works very well against street robberies as the suspect intends for you to reach in your pocket. Very few (but not zero) street robbers patted down a victim before telling them to empty their pockets. Verbal indications of compliance to set expectations, not moving fast until it was time to move fast, disguising the draw, they resulted in wins. I don't know what a timer would say, likely not impressive, but they weren't reacting to a timer, they weren't reacting at all. They were forcing the bad guy to react.
So while that ranges a bit far afield of just empty chamber carry, that's the sort of discussion about if something is viable or not for defensive use over pure draw speed on a timer. Which, again, is not irrelevant in a subset of gunfights and I'd much rather be faster then slower, but it's only one part of the equation. Empty chamber carry adds nothing in terms of winning gun fights and can only hurt. It can mitigate risks in carrying, but those are best mitigated in other ways. So, yes, it's viable but I don't see how it's best practice outside of very specific circumstances such as those that lead the Israelis to use it originally.
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Just ordered the book myself!
