Spare carry mags? Really?

[HCountyGuy]

Everyone gets to make their own risk assessment and decide what’s best for them. As long as you objectively look at your own circumstances and make an informed decision, then who cares?

The pesky thing about averages though, is that they’re averages. Let’s say there’s two defensive shootings. Incident one involves one attacker at about 3 yards, whereas incident two involves an attacker at 20 yards. First incident the defender fires 5 shots, second incident only one round is fired. The average of the distance of those two incidents is 11.5 yards with an average of rounds fired being 3 rounds. That data completely glosses over the unique conditions of both incidents and is a disservice to thoughtfully considering what kind of unique situation one could face in their own defensive shooting.

For me, I’m comfortable carrying a spare magazine because it costs me little to do so. Small real estate on my belt. I live not too far from Atlanta in between two decent sized cities and looking at how 2020 has been I know all it takes is one controversial OIS in my area for a circus full of goons advocating for “justice” to descend upon my locale and make life hell for those of us who might have to drive through their riot protest.

[LittleLebowski]

In the army, us riflemen carried 6 spare magazines. But we were there to ultimately use our weapons because that was our job. My risk calculus tells me I will never even use my firearm but if I do one mag will be sufficient.

Ah, the "in the military" mantra. I too served as a Marine rifleman, but I disagree with your conclusion regarding civilian carry.

[Caballoflaco]

I like turtles, so I always carry some extra turtle food in case I find one. It’s kind of a bitch, but I really really like turtles, so I do it anyway.

[Matt_J]

Thanks for the great answers, and no I'm not trolling, I'm here to be persuaded. If you don't like this thread, nobody made you click on it or even go the length to post your arrogance.

[BehindBlueI's]

Yes. We (wife and I) had a stalker, who was addicted to vicodin. We were advised to carry the largest pistol we could, plan to empty the mag, reload, empty the mag, and then still expect to fight off the attacker while trying to escape. At the time the wife carried my old FS 92 with a spare mag, and I carried a .45 with one or two spare mags.

To the OP, carry what you personally are comfortable with. It is better to be legally armed with a snubnose revolver you are comfortable legally carrying, than having the ultimate Skorpion in a safe at home.

As you know, I kept statistics on defensive shootings as cases came through our office and focused on random violence. I made that split when it became immediately apparent that random crime looked completely different then targeted crime and the amalgamated stats were of little use to either. It would be like averaging the various stats of a Prius and a tri-axle dump truck and then saying that's what the average car looks like. Targeted crime generally has a more dedicated attacker and one more likely to initiate the encounter from ambush and/or already shooting. Hit percentages were lower, round counts were higher, distances were longer, cover was more likely to come into play, and win rates for the defender were lower.

This is one reason I always carry a duty sized gun out and about in my daily life. Nothing recent, but I've gotten death threats credible enough Intel wanted to put a pole cam by my house. People can recognize me and have a grudge. When I travel I'm fine with a smaller gun. Anyone who accosts me is much more likely to be after my wallet then because "you killed my brother" or "my daddy is in jail for the next 30 years because of you" scenarios.

[LittleLebowski]

Thanks for the great answers, and no I'm not trolling, I'm here to be persuaded. If you don't like this thread, nobody made you click on it or even go the length to post your arrogance.

The number one failure of magazine fed weapons is...magazine related malfunctions.

Also, how much actual handgun/carry training have you had?

[WobblyPossum]

The OP has implied several times about the odds of needing a gun at all are so low that the entire premise is kind of silly. A lot of our fellow citizens believe the same thing. I wonder where they get their numbers. Tom Givens has written numerous times, including on this forum, that the odds of a private citizen being involved in a deadly force encounter are a whole lot greater than “one in a million” or “once in 25 lifetimes.” This was based on the FBI UCR numbers for the four violent crimes they track: robbery, rape, aggravated assault, and murder. I don’t recall the exact figure but believe it being somewhere around one in fifty or sixty.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Oh, same old, same old. Quick points:

1. Take a stat course. The average doesn't mean that it is the value that always happens. You need to look at the distribution of event and decide a reasonable cut off in the extreme tail of the distribution.

2. Low crime, high crime - BS - if a fight starts, it is not low crime for you at the moment. Do fights in nice neighborhoods entail less risk? I faced 4 opponents (and escaped through guile) in a very upscale event local.

3. Time in the fight, number of opponents - see Tom Givens.

4. One assumes that if you need to hit someone as compared to the deterrent of an mildly motivated economically intended criminal, you will hit someone in an effective area. See FOF on the run (Yes, I always train for head shots at 7 yards at the square range, with one second between each shot).


5. Gun control advocates thank you for your analysis. Three cheers for the Safe Act in NY. More evidence for the magazine bans. See the gun world agrees with this. People who want more capacity are paranoid. Biden and Harris welcome you to the fold. 5 is enough!! Most folks who carry J's realize the limits and accept the risk because of clothing or local restrictions.

6. Hit by lightning odds. As rare as being in a jet crash. I've told this before, I was in a class and the instructor said as rare as....

I've been hit by lightning. My friend next to me, survived (with his wife and kid) a jet liner running out of fuel and crashing in the woods. The front of the plane died. He and family were in the back and survived. We raised our hands and laughed.

So, a semi and a mag is a reasonable critical value cut on the risk continuum. It is not blood lust or paranoia to carry that. If you carry less, it is because you understand the contingencies and accept them with the preening, I'm so smart and you are nut, BS.

BTW - In a regular pair of jeans and jacket, I can carry the knife, flashlight, semi and mag, keys, wallet, OC and a tourniquet. It is not inconvenient. The knife and light get most use (keys and wallet don't count in this calculus).

Until the next time. Why do I answer this?

[Matt_J]

Ah, the "in the military" mantra. I too served as a Marine rifleman, but I disagree with your conclusion regarding civilian carry.

Thanks for serving. There's nothing light about light infantry. In the Army I just qualified from time to time with the M9. I have shot more pistol out of my company then in it. I practice drawing, holstering, dry firing and go to the range. I have combatives training and also carry a knife. It's not a lot, but I feel confident in being able to defend myself.

[LittleLebowski]

Thanks for serving. There's nothing light about light infantry. In the Army I just qualified from time to time with the M9. I have shot more pistol out of my company then in it. I practice drawing, holstering, dry firing and go to the range. I have combatives training and also carry a knife. It's not a lot, but I feel confident in being able to defend myself.

I did the same in the Corps. Now listen, this is not personal. The civilian handgun training sector is light years ahead of anything you saw in the Army and you don’t know what you don’t know. Why do I say that? From experience. Go. Take. A. Handgun. Class.