WomenWiseGuns started a great discussion in a Facebook group I’m in asking women who carry if they do so with a round in the chamber. It’s a polarizing topic that when broached, is guaranteed to illicit responses like, “you’re an idiot if you don’t carry with a round in the chamber.” or “you might as well carry a brick for as much good as an unloaded gun will do you.”

Belittling anyone’s decision to carry the way they do doesn’t do anything but make you look like a bully, but the discussion is worth initiating, as it is a great way to show other gun owners who carry concealed what the consequences of their decision could be.

To gain insight into why some people are so adamant about keeping a round in the chamber is an exercise to demonstrate the 21-foot rule. Simply put, the rule states it takes an average adult 1.5-2 seconds to close a 21-foot gap between themselves and another person. To understand this as it pertains to each of you individually, try this:

Stop right now and set a stopwatch to 2 seconds. Unload your carry firearm, and then reholster. Start the timer and see how long it takes you to unholster your firearm, rack the slide, and aim. For the majority of people, their potential attacker would be on them well before they ever got to the “aim” part.

In addition, there are often extenuating circumstances that make it difficult (if not impossible) to rack a slide while under attack, or where having to rack the slide under stress causes a misfire.

Take a look at this 4-minute video by Active Self Protection:

Everyone has their reason for why and how they carry, and Bob has covered this at great length as well. Personally, I do carry with a round in the chamber, but I want to hear from you: Do you carry with a bullet in the chamber? Why or why not?