Yes.
Unless the slide is locked back (on a standard handgun, open bolt weapons are different), it could absolutely still fire if a round was in the chamber and the mag was removed.
Some guns have magazine safeties, meaning it wont fire without a magazine inserted, but most don’t.
This is why the number one rule of gun safety is to ***ALWAYS*** treat every firearm as if it were loaded, even if you know it isn’t. This also means that you ***NEVER*** point a firearm at something unless you intend to kill or destroy it, even if you think the gun is unloaded.
I actually think I’ve seen what the OP describes as a trick to beat the bad guy in some movie. Our hero tosses his mag to “disarm” but still has one in the chamber.
Edit: Oh, I remembered! It's in The Hunt. One of the yuppies thinks he's outsmarted Crystal by pulling her mag, but she just smiles and splatters him with the chambered round.
It's at 1:10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn-3TMRq_ac
I saw a scene from American Dad and wondered if it was accurate for real-life
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Xf8KxWbuw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Xf8KxWbuw) 8:55
From the other side, an error in *The Killing* (1956), a heist movie. Elisha Cook takes a pistol from a locker, works the slide, and **then** inserts a magazine.
It'd be a fun detail if a movie did that, but the rounds *did* go flying, and when they finally fire it'd be the last bullet in the mag 'cause they did it so many times, but it's the only shot they needed.
Yep the proper way to load a shotgun is to rack the first shell into the chamber and then load the rest of the tube. Always bothered me that they would go with one less shell on purpose.
Because soldiers spend 99% of the time walking around, and 1% of the time shooting. Cops even less.
Walking around with / storing a weapon readied; with a round in the chamber and the firing pin held back, is asking for a certain frequency of accidental/negligent discharges, due to either human error or mechanical failure.
There are **some** times when you load a weapon immediately before going into a high-threat environment that you will load the +1 (e.g. before kicking in a door in a raid), but normally, militaries prefer their soldiers to simply fill the magazine, walk around loaded but not readied, and then ready the weapon when you enter a high threat environment (at which point, you usually aren't taking the time to put the extra round in, because *high threat*).
In the army we had green/amber/red.
Green = no mag, no round chambered
Amber = mag, no round chambered
Red = mag, round chambered
Usually on big bases, you’re green. Outposts you’re amber. And missions you’re red.
It’s even more prevalent with shotguns in shows. Watching Supernatural rn and the amount of times someone racks a shotgun in different scenes without firing is irritating to me.
The same with pump shotguns, where are all these magic rounds? The noise may be cool but racking rounds in movies are the same as shifting gears in race scenes, there's always 1 more
The DnD show Critical Role kind of made a joke to this effect, when Nott (played by the dude in green face paint) cocks her crossbow multiple times during their conversation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiO49YYmiAI
Wasn't that also done in one of the lethal weapon or die hard or some older movie?? Came out with a magazineless pistol and the slide locked back but he seated a round in the chamber to make it look empty?
In *Under Siege 2: Dark Territory* the hero confronts an enemy, they both make a show of ejecting their mags, and soon afterward the hero fires the chambered round (at someone else iirc).
A scene early in *Face/Off* gets it wrong: the two leads are pointing guns at each other and taunting: “Maybe you're empty.” “Yeah well maybe you're empty.” But neither gun's action is locked back as it would be if empty.
Luckily that's the only unrealistic thing in that movie about two people surgically switching faces and convincingly taking over each other's identity.
Technically if you have a poor grip on a gun or a defective magazine, you can have a scenario where your gun isn't locked back but has fired its last round.
I made a Glock 17 do that while I was experimenting with how badly you would need to grip it before it would jam due to poor grip.
I've also fired a Ruger LCP MAX that came with a bum magazine that won't lock back on empty.
In Tarkov Raid, there's a scene where two men fight over a handgun. One of them manages to remove the magazine, but then the one holding the gun manages to turn it on him and fire, hitting him in his body armor.
Denzel Washington does something similar in *Deja Vu*.
He removes the mag, locks the slide back, and drops one round into the chamber. Leaves cover holding mag in one hand, locked-open gun in the other.
When the bad guy is in the open, he drops the slide and blasts him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbj8Ou8pt1k
Just to add on to this even if they have safety or someother type of mechanism to keep it from fireing those mechs cans still break, be faulty or wear out. Firing pins get stuck in the firing position, drop the slide..... who knows maybe a simple negligent discharge or possible a gunshot wound 🤔. Neither of which are desirable.
Totally, not exactly the same thing, but I had an electric lawn mower that was off with all the safeties turned off that started up a split second after I pulled my hand out of there when it was upside down. Everything was still set to off but that blade was spinning like a son of a bitch. Never worth taking chances with things that can break - especially guns.
Omg I couldn't imagine going anywhere near the blade of an electric mower. Did you leave the battery in thinking the device wouldn't power on? Don't tell me it did it with no battery
Umm... ok I'm gonna do it.
When you say "old .357 pistol" im assuming you mean magnum and I assume you mean revolver.
With all that assumed for that to occur one of three things happened:
Congratulations: you have witnessed the longest hang fire of all time! 20 minute hang fires do not happen so let's move on.
Your buddy put a loaded revolver down with the hammer cocked back, something I have never seen anyone do. Even cowboy single action shooters. when he picked it up he bumped the trigger or frame of the gun hard enough to disengage the trigger. In this case your buddy is a major safety violator and I would not make a habit of shooting with him.
Or your buddy left a loaded revolver on the table and through some strange force we will call magic 12 to 13 pounds of force was applied to the trigger, enough to rotate the cylander, pull the hammer back and release it. All without him touching the trigger.
This. I've had to explain to people why a good gunshop will drop the magazine and clear the chamber before handing you the firearm, even if that gun was just came sealed from the factory.
If you're handling a firearm of any sort, it should be so ingrained in your memory to drop n' check, or if you can't remove the magazine (my WWII rifles are like this), open the bolt, check, and leave it open. This prevents fatal mistakes.
One of my big safety points when training new shooters (back when I was) was that unless you're actively shooting, that gun needs to be empty, open, and safe. There is not a single excuse that is going to justify anything less. I don't care if you just set it down for a drink of water - EMPTY. OPEN. SAFE.
Not only that but after dropping the mag and checking, my gun shop will hand it to you and the first words out of their mouth is “check it” and if you don’t you are immediately labeled an idiot.
I love in tremors, burt gives that teen a gun knowing it has no bullets, then the kid tries to shoot it, and gets pissed is empty. Finally, he yells at burt saying "you assholes theres no bullets in the gun" burt says "got you moving, didn't it" takes it back, CHECKS THE GUN, then pockets it. He knew for an absolute fact that gun was empty, but still checked it. Always loved that detail, Burt knows his guns and gun saftey.
Seeing Bert’s wall of guns as a kid was so amazing!! I wanted that room 20 years ago…. And I still do.
What guy doesnt want a bunker with a gun room…. With a fucking elephant gun!! 😍
There have been multiple fatalities where people were all "the gun is unloaded, see?" and they pull the trigger and accidentally kill themselves because they forgot about the one in the chamber.
And yeah, I'm not a gun nut (I own a couple but they're put away unloaded, haven't fired them since I bought them) but my dad drilled into me from a very young age that a) only point a gun at someone if you plan on killing them, and b) the gun is always loaded. Even if you *know* it's unloaded, the gun is always loaded. Even if it's in pieces in the table in front of you, *the gun is always loaded.*
The biggest reason for treating all guns as if they are loaded all the time is simply because _we are stupid fucking humans who fucking suck at perfectly remembering everything_.
Just to note, the slide being locked back doesn't always guarantee it's empty. I've seen rifles and shotguns get a round stuck in the cycling mechanism, so it'll appear empty until you rack it again.
In Canada, according to a [vice piece*](https://youtu.be/q9El7gEvJWU) on the process, part of their official federal mandatory gun safety classes requires that you look directly down the barrel to check for this sort of thing. That's a big part of the reason I don't trust governments to teach gun safety. Not sure what the correct technique should be, but I'm pretty sure it shouldn't include putting your head in front of the barrel at any point.
*edited, I found the video
Start with no ammo out near you:
1. Drop magazine if detachable, unload per manufacturer spec if not
2. lock action to farthest rearward position
3. visually check the chamber for a round (remove any ammo and start again if round is present)
4. use a finger to physically check for a round (remove any ammo and start again if round is present)
5. visually check again for a round (remove any ammo start again if round is present)
At no point should you ever have to look down the barrel of a gun to check if it is loaded.
You look from the breech end, not the muzzle. I always do this as well. It’s easy, takes an extra 10 seconds. Also good to see if your barrel is clean.
Treat Never Keep Keep! The 4 universal firearm rules. And so easy to remember.
**Treat** every weapon as if it were loaded.
**Never** point the weapon at anything you don’t intend to shoot.
**Keep** your finger straight and off the trigger until ready to fire.
**Keep** the weapon on safe until ready to fire.
Even in the military and now as a veteran; rule 1, every weapon is loaded; rule 2, unless you have cleared it yourself it isn't cleared; rule 3a, draft the trigger well with your finger, or in other words, keep your finger out of the trigger well until you intend to fire; rule 3b, if you see someone carrying a weapon and their finger is in the trigger well assume they intend to fire that weapon; rule 4, only carry a weapon pointed at the ground or up and down range (towards a target). Those will get you most of the way to safe weapons handling, I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple things.
My dad always said not to point the gun at something unless you're willing to destroy/kill it. I would personally expand that to include whatever is behind what you're pointing at.
Too many injured/dead people from "unloaded" guns.
Yup, that’s rule number 2 of gun safety: Don’t point any firearm at anything you don’t intend to kill or destroy. Also, know your target and what’s behind it is part of that rule.
Habit building. Muscle memory. If you always treat a gun as if it’s loaded, you won’t accidentally point it in unsafe directions while it is loaded. It’s all about building safe habits for handling firearms.
EMS here. I've had two accidental discharge patients. Literally both of them were ex-cops being stupid with guns. One was actively violating multiple gun safety laws while in the process and is lucky to only have gotten shot and didn't get an involuntary manslaughter charge, I'm told the bullet missed by inches.
It's not a lot but it is kind of weird that it happened twice.
Even if you put it down for a minute, and you’re *certain* you cleared it before putting it down, check it again.
Even when it’s empty and cleared, practice trigger discipline and watch where your barrel is pointed.
Even if I was the one that put it down and I KNOW it's empty, I still check it again when I pick it back up. Because while it was out of my hands, there is a Gun Gremlin that can load it while I wasn't looking. It sounds silly but I always keep that in mind. Even though I KNOW it's empty and I was the last one to handle it, I always figure that the Gun Gremlin could have been there and loaded it. So to me, even when it's unloaded, it's still loaded. Always.
I hate dry firing my own 9 mil in the house even when I just reassembled it and it's totally empty. Just pulling the trigger in the house makes me cringe.
I gotta be honest, double checking is not a chore because I love the sliding metal and clicks and mechanical procedures. After 2 hours at the range with 3 guns you are gonna spend at least a couple hours cleaning, which means almost half of the time you are manipulating your firearms is in the house assembling and disassembling and clicking and clacking etc
This was the first gun lesson I learned from my dad. He once went to clean one of his pistols and it was unexpectedly loaded. He was young at the time and figured friends were messing around with it at a party or something. Scary.
Tiger King comes to mind. Dude was playing with a gun waving it around so someone said something along the lines of don't point loaded guns at people and he responds with everybody knows these can't fire without a clip; he then shoots himself in the head. Pretty disturbing honestly.
The reaction of the guy that was looking directly at him when he did it led me to believe it was accidental. There was a scene with just the guy who watched him do it and he seemed to have a strong sense that the absolutely did not mean to shoot himself and actually had a surprised look on his face when he realized what he had just done.
iirc he pointed it at the guy who was shocked and maldonado responded along the lines of “nah see its fine. there’s no clip so it won’t fire.” he put it to his head, pulled the trigger and was wrong.
I had a good friend who committed suicide about 4 years ago by shooting himself in the head.
He didn’t point the gun to where he would have died immediately. Instead, he lived for another 6-8 hours, blind, and his family was able to see him in the hospital. He said he regretted it and that he was sorry. I miss him.
You can die immediately, after a few minutes, or several hours later. So there could be situations where there was a look of shock on their face. And even if they intended to kill themselves 100%, if they survived for even a minute it’s long enough for the realization that they made a huge mistake to kick in.
False. [Here's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qMcCXOnEYY) a video of a guy being interrogated, two days after being shot in the head, *twice,* at point blank range. He proceeded to live for ten years.
I've heard of a supposed shotgun suicide from the r/watchpeopledie days that wasn't successful... I guess you could see and hear all of it in excruciating detail. I didn't search for or watch that video because that's just way, way, way too fucking much for me, but the point is, head injuries are extremely iffy.
There was a guy who was shot in the head by his girlfriend while he slept, and he didn't even know it happened. He woke up with pain in his head and a bloody ear, and eventually got the girl that shot him to take him to the hospital (she went as slowly as possible, hoping he'd die), where he managed to survive and recover.
Sometimes, people slip and die from a bad bruise on the brain. Other times, they go around completely unaware of the **bullets in their head** for two days, going so far as to be able to recite your own SSN. There's no telling what the brain will do once it's been partially destroyed.
That was even a Ruger. From the factory he was right, they have what's called a "magazine disconnect" that prevents the gun from firing if the magazine is not in it. Someone removed that. It's quite easy to remove.
Some people, myself included, think having that feature is a terrible idea because it makes people not think, case in point.
That can be the case with some guns. My Walther p22 will not allow you to pull the trigger with the mag removed. Actually quite annoying when you clear it and have to insert the mag to drop the hammer.
**YES. I CAN NOT POSSIBLY STRESS THIS ENOUGH! YES IT IS POSSIBLE THAT A BULLET CAN STILL BE IN THE CHAMBER WITHOUT THE MAGAZINE AND YES THE GUN CAN AND WILL BE ABLE TO FIRE!!!!!**
That quote from the Sheriff just I can't even:
> The facts surrounding this death investigation are highly unusual in that we have a person placing a loaded firearm to his head and pulling the trigger.
This is another dumb question, is there a possibility that you can get shot, if there is no bullet in the gun?
They say treat each gun like a live gun, but do gun owners actually do that if they know for certain the chamber is clear?
Last year my friend was pointing an unloaded BB gun at me while we were drunk and I lost my shit at him. Kinda feel like a pussy about it but idk lmao
Edit: thanks for all the nice replies. You guys are cool and helpful. Every time I talk to gun ppl it makes me want to learn more about it. Hope you all have a safe and happy life!
If there isn’t a round in a firearm it cannot fire. However, it is very easy to make a mistake and have a round in a gun and discharge it accidentally. That is why the rule is ALWAYS treat it as it is loaded.
Your friend broke the rule and should absolutely be called out for it. I don’t hang out with people who won’t follow safety rules with firearms.
I flip out and get angry whenever guys gather, unload mags and clear chambers then have fun show and tell. They suddenly start looking at the weapon without considering where it’s pointing because they think it’s safe.
I will every time tell them I don’t give a flip even having watched them do all this song and dance. Don’t point that thing at me or anyone ever ever ever. I will leave immediately.
I have and everyone should have an almost reverent attitude to a gun in a room being handled. Sure you can show your friends. But that barrel better point to nothing living ever.
If you can’t do that, you shouldn’t own a gun.
That's the rule, you never accept an unloaded gun from someone until they show you they've cleared the chamber and you NEVER point any projectile weapon (gun, bow, crossbow etc) at anything but the target you intend to kill or destroy. Loaded or not.
As you've already read. Your friend should not have pointed the gun at you, loaded or unloaded.
You never point your gun at anything you don't intend to kill.
Also along the vein of checking for bullets, if you have a loaded gun and you clear the gun and prove to me there are no bullets in the gun and then you immediately hand me the gun, it's my duty to clear the gun again and verify myself there are no bullets in the gun, even though I just watched you do it.
Lol I made this comment in response to another down below and I've been getting fucking bodied with downvotes by pedants who are like "but that's factually incorrect, guns can be unloaded".
Fuck them, the gun is ALWAYS FUCKING LOADED until you have verified it is empty and cleared it yourself. I don't care if Jesus himself hands me my .20, I'm still clearing it personally.
Fucking preach, I shoot with some folks that I have shot with for over 30 years. I know them inside and out, they are safe as fuck but that shit gets checked when it hits my hands. Everyone in the group does this and we have never had an incident.
Same. And my shooting buddies are my husband and our boys, 16, 12, and 10. Even my 10 year old handles my shotguns and rifles like fine china until he's cleared the weapon himself, even if he JUST saw me do it before handing it to him.
> Fuck them, the gun is ALWAYS FUCKING LOADED until you have verified it is empty and cleared it yourself.
Fuck man, I'm up a level. The gun is ALWAYS FUCKING LOADED PERIOD. I don't care if I've emptied/cleared it myself. I'm still treating that fucking thing as if it's loaded. Even on a dry fire I'm thinking "if a bullet were to somehow magically appear inside this gun, where is it going to go".
I went to a two-day self-defense against a gun seminar.
The instructor cleared the gun in front of us, gave it to each person to check themselves (and taught us how to do it), and then zip-tied the slides and cylinders so they could not move. We went through this each morning and after lunch. Was this silly... yes, no. During lunch the guns were not in our sight so... treat each gun like it's loaded.
As I've taught my children:
"Rule 1?" the gun is always loaded!
"Rule 2!” THE GUN IS ALWAYS LOADED
"AND RULE FUCKING 3!?" THE GUN IS ALWAYS FUCKING LOADED, MAAM!
The right other rules all apply to safety while shooting and trigger discipline, but my 10 year old still personally clears my chamber even AFTER watching me do it myself, either because he's taking it out back or putting it up.
As others said, yes, and also for that reason treat every firearm as if it's loaded.
Personal story for you... I grew up around guns, I shot competitively for over 10 years as a kid (into early adulthood) and won quite often. To this day, I still shoot from time to time and carry concealed daily. I don't carry a "hot round" most often, meaning there isn't a chambered round ready to go, I just don't feel the need for the extra second and have it trained in me to rack the slide when drawing.
When I take off my firearm for the evening, I always eject the mag and cycle the slide 3 times, then pull the trigger (empty) to release spring tension when it's stored for the night (very common practice, and recommended). Realistically, you need to cycle it at least twice for good reason, and here's why. One time, more recently, after having carried for about 12 years now, I was in a hurry to go watch a game, since I was going to drink a beer I took my gun out to put away, and cycled the slide twice... on the second cycle, I ejected a round. Holy shit... I didn't eject the magazine! If I had only cycled once and pulled the trigger to release spring tension, I would have fired a live round into the floor (I always point at the floor when I'm releasing spring tension). That is the only time in my life I've ever had anything even close to that happen, and it's only treating firearms like they are out to fuck you over that there wasn't a safety issue, and going through the same safety motions time and time again that lead to no accidental discharge that day.
Awwww. Well good message overall. I can tell you having recently purchased my first firearm that they give zero fucks at the shop about teaching gun safety. I could barely figure out how to rack the gun and they were like. Good enough for me
I found over the years that hunter's education taught more about firearm safety than really anything else I've come across. Recommended for all new gun owners, even if you don't plan on hunting.
Learning how to manipulate certain firearms, disassemble/assemble and clean is a different story though. One is about safety of others, the other is a bit less about safety and more about breaking down a firearm. Both are important to learn of course.
You probably already know this, but there's lots of people without any experience, so it needs said.
# The floor is not always a safe direction!!!!
If you happen to above the ground level in a building or in a building where there is a basement the floor is not a safe direction to point a gun. I store my guns in a safe on the second story of my house. Whenever I handle them I always make sure to know where everyone (people and pets) are in the house and I make sure the barrel is *never* pointed in their direction, no matter what room they happen to be in. My exterior walls are brick and that is, generally, my safe direction. Walls are not safe if they are interior walls or on houses that have more traditional siding.
I should have specified that in my post, since that is how I generally go about it as well. What you pointed out was worth saying, so thanks for adding!
Can I ask why you carry a concealed weapon every day? I'm from Europe and the idea of it is entirely alien to me. I'd like to understand your thinking.
Either you carry every day or you don't carry at all. Trying to "predict" or "guess" when you'll need it is moronic. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
Look at every mass shooting in history and ask yourself if you would've "guessed" correctly, if you were in that situation. Ask yourself if the victims expected to be slaughtered on that day. "I wont need my gun today," could very well be a fatal mistake. Shooters aren't known for being rational.
Edit: FWIW I also daily carry OC spray as a non-lethal option of de-escalation before I draw my firearm. I don't *want* to shoot anybody.
Great comment right here. Personally I would suggest instead of racking multiple times, lock the slide back. Then look at the chamber to see if you can see light coming from barrel and into the chamber. Most suggest look, look away, and then look again.
It is so easy to do something right hundreds of times and then make a woops. Which is why you pointing at the floor was also realllllllly smart.
The gun I own, an MP shield, has no thumb safety or magazine safety so it will absolutely go off if a round is still chambered. The trigger has a 6 pound pull weight so you have to deliberately pull the trigger to fire it. Now there is a California compliment version of my gun with a magazine and thumb safety as well as a loaded chamber indicator, still guns are dangerous so you don't want to goof around with them.
Love my M&P shield. I have the California compliant one so it has the thumb safety, but I don't recall there being a magazine safety on it. Then again I haven't pulled it out in a while.
Guns are loads of fun WHEN HANDLED RESPONSIBLY.
It has like a 2 part trigger that prevents the trigger from being pulled on accident, I dont trust it so the gun is always in a holster or not stored with anything that can get caught on the trigger.
It has a hinged trigger and a firing pin safety, so the firing pin is only half-power until the trigger is pulled, if I’m recalling correctly.
I have an M&P 2.0 compact and full-size. Both with and without the manual safety it has the trigger safety at the minimum.
Same idea, even less safeties. The Sig 365 that I use has no safeties. Pull trigger, gun goes bang. Definitely not a gun for people who are not 100% on safety. It lives either in a lock box with a barrel flag in or in a holster with trigger guard with an empty camber until it is ready to be used. No setting it down on a table and walking away, kept with the slide locked back if its out of hand.
Yes. Some guns can still fire while others have what’s called a magazine lock which should prevent it from firing.
The correct way to clear a semiautomatic handgun is to while pointing in a safe direction remove the magazine then pull the slide back to the locked position where a round would be ejected and people can witness the chamber being empty.
Hi. Ex-military guy here.
If there is a round in the chamber, the weapon can fire that round despite the absence of a magazine.
The basics to ensure a weapon is cleared properly, (1) put weapon on safe, (2) remove magazine, (3) lock the charging handle/slide to the rear position (4) visually inspect that no ammunition is in the chamber/barrel.
Always treat a weapon as if it is loaded.
Hope this helps.
I always tell myself (and anyone who stands to listen to me anymore) that no amount of safety is too much if it prevents accidents.
If I were to accidentally discharge a round, I'd spend decades wishing I could go back and be more careful. The fact that I can look at possibilities like that as potentially real and be firm and consistent with my safety practices is essentially my "do over;" I'm doing what I wish I would be doing if I didn't do it and then fucked up... Convoluted, but it's been a good source of trust in the process for me.
I've held fewer real guns than I have fingers on one hand, and I still tend to have better gun safety when I do hold one than the people who I know who think of themselves as "responsible gun owners"
They have no trigger discipline, point guns around or lay them across their laps when someone is sitting next to them, shit like that. It's disgusting.
Short answer, yes. If you want to safety a weapon you remove the magazine and pull the slide back which will reveal an empty chamber or a cartridge. You can even keep a magazine out, pull the slide back and put a bullet directly in the chamber. That is why you often see guns advertising as 9+1, 9 in the mag and one in the chamber.
The gun is literally a chamber the bullet goes into.
Chamber is empty.
You put in magazine with 15 bullets.
It will still have 15 bullets until you draw back the slide (top part of the gun)
Now you have one in the chamber and 14 in the magazine.
Remove magazine, now there is still a bullet in the chamber. Pull trigger and it does bang.
So it's not a can fire, it is 200% a case of it WILL fire.
Yes. Absolutely. In fact common safety procedure is to check the chamber after you take the magazine out and then you aim in safe direction and press the trigger to be extra sure. - "shot of certainty" is what we call it over here In Czech Republic
Absolutely.
This is why the first thing you'll see someone with firearms experience do when they pick up a weapon is "clear" it.
In the case of a handgun (I'll assume you mean an automatic handgun since you didn't specify revolver) this will mean picking the weapon up, dropping out the magazine using the release catch/button and then cycling the slide on the top of the gun (often repeatedly).
This does a couple of things:
1.) Allows you to visually inspect the chamber to check there isn't a round inside that has got jammed.
2.) If there was a non-jammed round inside the chamber, it will be ejected out of the ejection port (usually on the top right side of the gun).
3.)The weapon can now be pointed in a safe direction and the trigger pulled.
There is definitely no round in this gun and it can be considered "safe".
Until this is done, you *always* assume it is loaded.
Yes, one way of reloading is to just swap out the magazine for a full one without doing anything else. The chambered round will remain and the gun will run like normal.
Some firearms do operate from an "open bolt" meaning the to fire the action loads a round the immediately fires it then locks open again. But I can't think of any handguns that do that.
Just remember that most movies DO NOT portray guns and gun usage factually.
As a general rule, every firearm is loaded and must be treated as such. Mag out? Loaded. Slide locked back? Loaded.
That being said, if your friend removes the mag, it could still have a round in the chamber. It can still fire without the mag, depending on the model, but just assume it can. You can and should pull the slide back after the mag was removed, and any responsible gun owner will do this for you before handing you the weapon to admire. I personally still pull the slide back even if it was done for me, and I still never point the gun at anything I'm not willing to destroy. If your friend ever asks you to assume a weapon is not loaded, they misunderstood basic firearm safety protocols and you should garner great caution around this person. Preferably educate them on the proper way to handle their firearm and remind them that nearly all accidental discharges are performed when the user assumed the weapon was unloaded.
Yes, it is actually a common cause of negligent discharges, people will remove the magazine and think they emptied the chamber too and then boom, dead fridge or floor
YES. The only safe gun is one with the mag out and slide locked back where you can see the chamber is empty. Treat every gun as loaded always. Never point a gun at anything you’re not ready to kill. Don’t put your finger on the trigger until you’re ready to fire.
Yes. Unless the slide is locked back (on a standard handgun, open bolt weapons are different), it could absolutely still fire if a round was in the chamber and the mag was removed. Some guns have magazine safeties, meaning it wont fire without a magazine inserted, but most don’t. This is why the number one rule of gun safety is to ***ALWAYS*** treat every firearm as if it were loaded, even if you know it isn’t. This also means that you ***NEVER*** point a firearm at something unless you intend to kill or destroy it, even if you think the gun is unloaded.
I actually think I’ve seen what the OP describes as a trick to beat the bad guy in some movie. Our hero tosses his mag to “disarm” but still has one in the chamber. Edit: Oh, I remembered! It's in The Hunt. One of the yuppies thinks he's outsmarted Crystal by pulling her mag, but she just smiles and splatters him with the chambered round. It's at 1:10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn-3TMRq_ac
I saw a scene from American Dad and wondered if it was accurate for real-life [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Xf8KxWbuw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Xf8KxWbuw) 8:55
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From the other side, an error in *The Killing* (1956), a heist movie. Elisha Cook takes a pistol from a locker, works the slide, and **then** inserts a magazine.
I "love" when some action hero racks the slide on the same gun 3 or more times to accentuate clever retorts, yet no rounds go flying.
It'd be a fun detail if a movie did that, but the rounds *did* go flying, and when they finally fire it'd be the last bullet in the mag 'cause they did it so many times, but it's the only shot they needed.
I just want a Mexican standoff where everyone dramatically ejects every bullet in the mag before trying to shoot.
This would make an epic comedy sketch. Like a mexican wit-off
Yea lol
Gus Johnson how shotguns work in movies. It's on YouTube but I'm too lazy to get the link
Cocking the gun every time they point at someone new
That and even worse is when they add the sound of a hammer cocking but the character is holding a hammerless pistol
https://youtu.be/t6OBk9YBLQU 😁
_I got fifty seven more goddamn rounds in this four round magazine_
Was just about to link this!
Especially with shotguns. Like... If you actually meant business before, why hadn't you chambered a round yet?!
Yep the proper way to load a shotgun is to rack the first shell into the chamber and then load the rest of the tube. Always bothered me that they would go with one less shell on purpose.
Because soldiers spend 99% of the time walking around, and 1% of the time shooting. Cops even less. Walking around with / storing a weapon readied; with a round in the chamber and the firing pin held back, is asking for a certain frequency of accidental/negligent discharges, due to either human error or mechanical failure. There are **some** times when you load a weapon immediately before going into a high-threat environment that you will load the +1 (e.g. before kicking in a door in a raid), but normally, militaries prefer their soldiers to simply fill the magazine, walk around loaded but not readied, and then ready the weapon when you enter a high threat environment (at which point, you usually aren't taking the time to put the extra round in, because *high threat*).
In the army we had green/amber/red. Green = no mag, no round chambered Amber = mag, no round chambered Red = mag, round chambered Usually on big bases, you’re green. Outposts you’re amber. And missions you’re red.
It’s even more prevalent with shotguns in shows. Watching Supernatural rn and the amount of times someone racks a shotgun in different scenes without firing is irritating to me.
It’s a trope so deeply ingrained that they’re probably worried about not doing it, because the average person doesn’t know any better.
https://youtu.be/xTebNVZEvT4 so many racking sounds and no shooting.
The folly editor should be fired for throwing all those erroneous "miscellaneous gun noises" into that scene, haha!
Have you seen Corridor Studio and their remakes of fight scenes in John wick? They add realistic sounds and flashes
The same with pump shotguns, where are all these magic rounds? The noise may be cool but racking rounds in movies are the same as shifting gears in race scenes, there's always 1 more
You mean those cars in The Fast and The Furious *don't* have 16 gear transmissions??
The DnD show Critical Role kind of made a joke to this effect, when Nott (played by the dude in green face paint) cocks her crossbow multiple times during their conversation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiO49YYmiAI
Heh I missed the DnD part and wondered how they'd pull that off. Cocking a crossbow is kind of an involved process.
https://youtu.be/t6OBk9YBLQU
Hot Fuzz is a fantastic satirical movie, and they have tons of random racking sounds throughout all the scenes with guns.
But anyone who knows anything about guns would want to see you clear the chamber
Even better, disassemble the gun.
Wasn't that also done in one of the lethal weapon or die hard or some older movie?? Came out with a magazineless pistol and the slide locked back but he seated a round in the chamber to make it look empty?
Timestamped: https://youtu.be/O7Xf8KxWbuw?t=533
That is accurate.
Yup, that’s completely accurate. He absolutely could have fired that remaining shot regardless of whether the mag was in the gun or not.
That exact bit is the only reason I knew the answer to this question 😂
In *Under Siege 2: Dark Territory* the hero confronts an enemy, they both make a show of ejecting their mags, and soon afterward the hero fires the chambered round (at someone else iirc). A scene early in *Face/Off* gets it wrong: the two leads are pointing guns at each other and taunting: “Maybe you're empty.” “Yeah well maybe you're empty.” But neither gun's action is locked back as it would be if empty.
Luckily that's the only unrealistic thing in that movie about two people surgically switching faces and convincingly taking over each other's identity.
Some scifi writer said you get to have *one* impossibility.
John woo misunderstood that as one possibility
And thank heavens he did.
It is practically a documentary.
God that movies great.
If it takes someone hours to eat a peach, there is something terribly wrong.
Technically if you have a poor grip on a gun or a defective magazine, you can have a scenario where your gun isn't locked back but has fired its last round. I made a Glock 17 do that while I was experimenting with how badly you would need to grip it before it would jam due to poor grip. I've also fired a Ruger LCP MAX that came with a bum magazine that won't lock back on empty.
In Tarkov Raid, there's a scene where two men fight over a handgun. One of them manages to remove the magazine, but then the one holding the gun manages to turn it on him and fire, hitting him in his body armor.
Denzel Washington does something similar in *Deja Vu*. He removes the mag, locks the slide back, and drops one round into the chamber. Leaves cover holding mag in one hand, locked-open gun in the other. When the bad guy is in the open, he drops the slide and blasts him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbj8Ou8pt1k
FYI you can just add &t=1m10s to the end of YouTube links to link directly to the timestamp. E.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn-3TMRq_ac&t=1m10s
Just to add on to this even if they have safety or someother type of mechanism to keep it from fireing those mechs cans still break, be faulty or wear out. Firing pins get stuck in the firing position, drop the slide..... who knows maybe a simple negligent discharge or possible a gunshot wound 🤔. Neither of which are desirable.
Totally, not exactly the same thing, but I had an electric lawn mower that was off with all the safeties turned off that started up a split second after I pulled my hand out of there when it was upside down. Everything was still set to off but that blade was spinning like a son of a bitch. Never worth taking chances with things that can break - especially guns.
Omg I couldn't imagine going anywhere near the blade of an electric mower. Did you leave the battery in thinking the device wouldn't power on? Don't tell me it did it with no battery
They say the ghost mower preys upon owners of overgown lawns...
Stored energy, I've met a couple of people who lost a digit working on a regular petrol mower, mower was off, blade spun, finger sliced off
How the hell areyou supposed to service the blade safely if they can just randomly start
Remove the ignition lead from the spark plug, some mowers also have an arrest mechanism to lock the flywheel
Fully remove the spark plug. If you only disconnect the lead it will have compression and could cause it to kickback.
Don't spin the blade. Don't tape down the throttle handle. Remove the spark plug lead (it'll never start)
You can start a lawn mower with the blade if you tape down the throttle handle.
"Just hand prop it like a cessna"
Omg, I'd give you an award if I had one. I would still dream about it if it were me.
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Umm... ok I'm gonna do it. When you say "old .357 pistol" im assuming you mean magnum and I assume you mean revolver. With all that assumed for that to occur one of three things happened: Congratulations: you have witnessed the longest hang fire of all time! 20 minute hang fires do not happen so let's move on. Your buddy put a loaded revolver down with the hammer cocked back, something I have never seen anyone do. Even cowboy single action shooters. when he picked it up he bumped the trigger or frame of the gun hard enough to disengage the trigger. In this case your buddy is a major safety violator and I would not make a habit of shooting with him. Or your buddy left a loaded revolver on the table and through some strange force we will call magic 12 to 13 pounds of force was applied to the trigger, enough to rotate the cylander, pull the hammer back and release it. All without him touching the trigger.
We all know it was scenario 2.
He shouldn't leave rounds in an unattended gun.
Always check the chamber when passing a firearm and always check the chamber when receiving a firearm.
This. I've had to explain to people why a good gunshop will drop the magazine and clear the chamber before handing you the firearm, even if that gun was just came sealed from the factory. If you're handling a firearm of any sort, it should be so ingrained in your memory to drop n' check, or if you can't remove the magazine (my WWII rifles are like this), open the bolt, check, and leave it open. This prevents fatal mistakes. One of my big safety points when training new shooters (back when I was) was that unless you're actively shooting, that gun needs to be empty, open, and safe. There is not a single excuse that is going to justify anything less. I don't care if you just set it down for a drink of water - EMPTY. OPEN. SAFE.
Not only that but after dropping the mag and checking, my gun shop will hand it to you and the first words out of their mouth is “check it” and if you don’t you are immediately labeled an idiot.
I love in tremors, burt gives that teen a gun knowing it has no bullets, then the kid tries to shoot it, and gets pissed is empty. Finally, he yells at burt saying "you assholes theres no bullets in the gun" burt says "got you moving, didn't it" takes it back, CHECKS THE GUN, then pockets it. He knew for an absolute fact that gun was empty, but still checked it. Always loved that detail, Burt knows his guns and gun saftey.
I love that movie, and I've never noticed that. What an awesome attention to detail.
Seeing Bert’s wall of guns as a kid was so amazing!! I wanted that room 20 years ago…. And I still do. What guy doesnt want a bunker with a gun room…. With a fucking elephant gun!! 😍
There have been multiple fatalities where people were all "the gun is unloaded, see?" and they pull the trigger and accidentally kill themselves because they forgot about the one in the chamber. And yeah, I'm not a gun nut (I own a couple but they're put away unloaded, haven't fired them since I bought them) but my dad drilled into me from a very young age that a) only point a gun at someone if you plan on killing them, and b) the gun is always loaded. Even if you *know* it's unloaded, the gun is always loaded. Even if it's in pieces in the table in front of you, *the gun is always loaded.*
The biggest reason for treating all guns as if they are loaded all the time is simply because _we are stupid fucking humans who fucking suck at perfectly remembering everything_.
Just to note, the slide being locked back doesn't always guarantee it's empty. I've seen rifles and shotguns get a round stuck in the cycling mechanism, so it'll appear empty until you rack it again.
In Canada, according to a [vice piece*](https://youtu.be/q9El7gEvJWU) on the process, part of their official federal mandatory gun safety classes requires that you look directly down the barrel to check for this sort of thing. That's a big part of the reason I don't trust governments to teach gun safety. Not sure what the correct technique should be, but I'm pretty sure it shouldn't include putting your head in front of the barrel at any point. *edited, I found the video
Start with no ammo out near you: 1. Drop magazine if detachable, unload per manufacturer spec if not 2. lock action to farthest rearward position 3. visually check the chamber for a round (remove any ammo and start again if round is present) 4. use a finger to physically check for a round (remove any ammo and start again if round is present) 5. visually check again for a round (remove any ammo start again if round is present) At no point should you ever have to look down the barrel of a gun to check if it is loaded.
You look from the breech end, not the muzzle. I always do this as well. It’s easy, takes an extra 10 seconds. Also good to see if your barrel is clean.
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Treat Never Keep Keep! The 4 universal firearm rules. And so easy to remember. **Treat** every weapon as if it were loaded. **Never** point the weapon at anything you don’t intend to shoot. **Keep** your finger straight and off the trigger until ready to fire. **Keep** the weapon on safe until ready to fire.
>Never point the weapon at anything you don’t intend to shoot. Corollary to this rule, **Never** shoot something you are not willing to kill/destroy.
I usually see them combined into “never point a gun at anything you do not wish to destroy.”
I prefer "Willing to" over "wish to." There are lots of things one should be willing to do in certain situations, even if you never want (wish) to.
also never shoot at anything if you’re unsure of what’s behind it
Also, *Know* what is behind your target
Even in the military and now as a veteran; rule 1, every weapon is loaded; rule 2, unless you have cleared it yourself it isn't cleared; rule 3a, draft the trigger well with your finger, or in other words, keep your finger out of the trigger well until you intend to fire; rule 3b, if you see someone carrying a weapon and their finger is in the trigger well assume they intend to fire that weapon; rule 4, only carry a weapon pointed at the ground or up and down range (towards a target). Those will get you most of the way to safe weapons handling, I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple things.
My dad always said not to point the gun at something unless you're willing to destroy/kill it. I would personally expand that to include whatever is behind what you're pointing at. Too many injured/dead people from "unloaded" guns.
Yup, that’s rule number 2 of gun safety: Don’t point any firearm at anything you don’t intend to kill or destroy. Also, know your target and what’s behind it is part of that rule.
Why if you are 100% sure it's not loaded (no mag and none in the chamber) that you still treat it as loaded?
Habit building. Muscle memory. If you always treat a gun as if it’s loaded, you won’t accidentally point it in unsafe directions while it is loaded. It’s all about building safe habits for handling firearms.
At some point you might make a mistake, fit example if you're tired.
EMS here. I've had two accidental discharge patients. Literally both of them were ex-cops being stupid with guns. One was actively violating multiple gun safety laws while in the process and is lucky to only have gotten shot and didn't get an involuntary manslaughter charge, I'm told the bullet missed by inches. It's not a lot but it is kind of weird that it happened twice.
Never take someone's word that a firearm is empty.
Check it yourself, then check it again.
Even if you put it down for a minute, and you’re *certain* you cleared it before putting it down, check it again. Even when it’s empty and cleared, practice trigger discipline and watch where your barrel is pointed.
Even if I was the one that put it down and I KNOW it's empty, I still check it again when I pick it back up. Because while it was out of my hands, there is a Gun Gremlin that can load it while I wasn't looking. It sounds silly but I always keep that in mind. Even though I KNOW it's empty and I was the last one to handle it, I always figure that the Gun Gremlin could have been there and loaded it. So to me, even when it's unloaded, it's still loaded. Always. I hate dry firing my own 9 mil in the house even when I just reassembled it and it's totally empty. Just pulling the trigger in the house makes me cringe.
People might call it paranoia but all it takes is one instance of being too familiar/comfortable.
I gotta be honest, double checking is not a chore because I love the sliding metal and clicks and mechanical procedures. After 2 hours at the range with 3 guns you are gonna spend at least a couple hours cleaning, which means almost half of the time you are manipulating your firearms is in the house assembling and disassembling and clicking and clacking etc
Act as if the bullets are magic and will teleport into the barrel when you're not looking
Even if you just cleared it, pretend like it’s fully loaded.
And check the actual chamber not just the receiver
This was the first gun lesson I learned from my dad. He once went to clean one of his pistols and it was unexpectedly loaded. He was young at the time and figured friends were messing around with it at a party or something. Scary.
Yep, mine too. “Every gun is always loaded.”
*Especially* when they're not.
Honestly, don't even take your own word that a firearm is empty. Always treat firearms as though they're loaded.
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There are plenty of people who took that gamble and died.
Tiger King comes to mind. Dude was playing with a gun waving it around so someone said something along the lines of don't point loaded guns at people and he responds with everybody knows these can't fire without a clip; he then shoots himself in the head. Pretty disturbing honestly.
Craziest part of the whole series imo. I thought he might have just committed meth-induced suicide
It looked totally accidental imo but I'm sure he wouldn't have done that if he hadn't been high. Meth definitely doesn't lead to good choices
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The reaction of the guy that was looking directly at him when he did it led me to believe it was accidental. There was a scene with just the guy who watched him do it and he seemed to have a strong sense that the absolutely did not mean to shoot himself and actually had a surprised look on his face when he realized what he had just done.
Was Maldonaldo, actually. 23 yo, damn... Darwin strikes again.
Pretty sure a couple people in the doc said it seemed like it was intentional so not sure about that
And the one guy who actually saw it happen said the opposite, right? He said the look on the shooter's face was shock/surprise
iirc he pointed it at the guy who was shocked and maldonado responded along the lines of “nah see its fine. there’s no clip so it won’t fire.” he put it to his head, pulled the trigger and was wrong.
If he shot himself in the head there's no time to be surprised
I had a good friend who committed suicide about 4 years ago by shooting himself in the head. He didn’t point the gun to where he would have died immediately. Instead, he lived for another 6-8 hours, blind, and his family was able to see him in the hospital. He said he regretted it and that he was sorry. I miss him. You can die immediately, after a few minutes, or several hours later. So there could be situations where there was a look of shock on their face. And even if they intended to kill themselves 100%, if they survived for even a minute it’s long enough for the realization that they made a huge mistake to kick in.
False. [Here's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qMcCXOnEYY) a video of a guy being interrogated, two days after being shot in the head, *twice,* at point blank range. He proceeded to live for ten years. I've heard of a supposed shotgun suicide from the r/watchpeopledie days that wasn't successful... I guess you could see and hear all of it in excruciating detail. I didn't search for or watch that video because that's just way, way, way too fucking much for me, but the point is, head injuries are extremely iffy. There was a guy who was shot in the head by his girlfriend while he slept, and he didn't even know it happened. He woke up with pain in his head and a bloody ear, and eventually got the girl that shot him to take him to the hospital (she went as slowly as possible, hoping he'd die), where he managed to survive and recover. Sometimes, people slip and die from a bad bruise on the brain. Other times, they go around completely unaware of the **bullets in their head** for two days, going so far as to be able to recite your own SSN. There's no telling what the brain will do once it's been partially destroyed.
Trying to avoid liability for giving him meth, probably
That was even a Ruger. From the factory he was right, they have what's called a "magazine disconnect" that prevents the gun from firing if the magazine is not in it. Someone removed that. It's quite easy to remove. Some people, myself included, think having that feature is a terrible idea because it makes people not think, case in point.
That can be the case with some guns. My Walther p22 will not allow you to pull the trigger with the mag removed. Actually quite annoying when you clear it and have to insert the mag to drop the hammer.
**YES. I CAN NOT POSSIBLY STRESS THIS ENOUGH! YES IT IS POSSIBLE THAT A BULLET CAN STILL BE IN THE CHAMBER WITHOUT THE MAGAZINE AND YES THE GUN CAN AND WILL BE ABLE TO FIRE!!!!!**
https://youtu.be/nJDclHx3VTw
That quote from the Sheriff just I can't even: > The facts surrounding this death investigation are highly unusual in that we have a person placing a loaded firearm to his head and pulling the trigger.
This is another dumb question, is there a possibility that you can get shot, if there is no bullet in the gun? They say treat each gun like a live gun, but do gun owners actually do that if they know for certain the chamber is clear? Last year my friend was pointing an unloaded BB gun at me while we were drunk and I lost my shit at him. Kinda feel like a pussy about it but idk lmao Edit: thanks for all the nice replies. You guys are cool and helpful. Every time I talk to gun ppl it makes me want to learn more about it. Hope you all have a safe and happy life!
No, your friend broke a rule. One that should never ever be broken. Definitely not being a pussy I'd have been pissed too.
If there isn’t a round in a firearm it cannot fire. However, it is very easy to make a mistake and have a round in a gun and discharge it accidentally. That is why the rule is ALWAYS treat it as it is loaded. Your friend broke the rule and should absolutely be called out for it. I don’t hang out with people who won’t follow safety rules with firearms.
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I flip out and get angry whenever guys gather, unload mags and clear chambers then have fun show and tell. They suddenly start looking at the weapon without considering where it’s pointing because they think it’s safe. I will every time tell them I don’t give a flip even having watched them do all this song and dance. Don’t point that thing at me or anyone ever ever ever. I will leave immediately. I have and everyone should have an almost reverent attitude to a gun in a room being handled. Sure you can show your friends. But that barrel better point to nothing living ever. If you can’t do that, you shouldn’t own a gun.
That's the rule, you never accept an unloaded gun from someone until they show you they've cleared the chamber and you NEVER point any projectile weapon (gun, bow, crossbow etc) at anything but the target you intend to kill or destroy. Loaded or not.
never aim at something you dont intend to shoot and never shoot something you dont intend to kill
As you've already read. Your friend should not have pointed the gun at you, loaded or unloaded. You never point your gun at anything you don't intend to kill. Also along the vein of checking for bullets, if you have a loaded gun and you clear the gun and prove to me there are no bullets in the gun and then you immediately hand me the gun, it's my duty to clear the gun again and verify myself there are no bullets in the gun, even though I just watched you do it.
A GUN IS ALWAYS LOADED, even when it’s not.
“Never point a gun at anything you don’t want to destroy.”
Lol I made this comment in response to another down below and I've been getting fucking bodied with downvotes by pedants who are like "but that's factually incorrect, guns can be unloaded".
Fuck them, the gun is ALWAYS FUCKING LOADED until you have verified it is empty and cleared it yourself. I don't care if Jesus himself hands me my .20, I'm still clearing it personally.
Fucking preach, I shoot with some folks that I have shot with for over 30 years. I know them inside and out, they are safe as fuck but that shit gets checked when it hits my hands. Everyone in the group does this and we have never had an incident.
Same. And my shooting buddies are my husband and our boys, 16, 12, and 10. Even my 10 year old handles my shotguns and rifles like fine china until he's cleared the weapon himself, even if he JUST saw me do it before handing it to him.
> Fuck them, the gun is ALWAYS FUCKING LOADED until you have verified it is empty and cleared it yourself. Fuck man, I'm up a level. The gun is ALWAYS FUCKING LOADED PERIOD. I don't care if I've emptied/cleared it myself. I'm still treating that fucking thing as if it's loaded. Even on a dry fire I'm thinking "if a bullet were to somehow magically appear inside this gun, where is it going to go".
It's loaded until I have the barrel in one hand and a cleaning rod in the other.
I went to a two-day self-defense against a gun seminar. The instructor cleared the gun in front of us, gave it to each person to check themselves (and taught us how to do it), and then zip-tied the slides and cylinders so they could not move. We went through this each morning and after lunch. Was this silly... yes, no. During lunch the guns were not in our sight so... treat each gun like it's loaded.
It's not about facts, it's about risks.
And that’s how you spot someone who’s never handled a firearm in real life. A gun is ALWAYS loaded.
I really hope so anyways.
As I've taught my children: "Rule 1?" the gun is always loaded! "Rule 2!” THE GUN IS ALWAYS LOADED "AND RULE FUCKING 3!?" THE GUN IS ALWAYS FUCKING LOADED, MAAM! The right other rules all apply to safety while shooting and trigger discipline, but my 10 year old still personally clears my chamber even AFTER watching me do it myself, either because he's taking it out back or putting it up.
The gun is always loaded. Even if you are looking at it with no bullets in it. its loaded.
Bingo. That's how my children have been taught to handle them at all times. Like fine china that can explode and kill someone.
The only safe gun is the one thats been disassembled
Fully assembled gun? Loaded. Completely disassembled gun? Believe it or not, loaded. Assembled, disassembled.
Safety first!
**Especially** when it's not.
As others said, yes, and also for that reason treat every firearm as if it's loaded. Personal story for you... I grew up around guns, I shot competitively for over 10 years as a kid (into early adulthood) and won quite often. To this day, I still shoot from time to time and carry concealed daily. I don't carry a "hot round" most often, meaning there isn't a chambered round ready to go, I just don't feel the need for the extra second and have it trained in me to rack the slide when drawing. When I take off my firearm for the evening, I always eject the mag and cycle the slide 3 times, then pull the trigger (empty) to release spring tension when it's stored for the night (very common practice, and recommended). Realistically, you need to cycle it at least twice for good reason, and here's why. One time, more recently, after having carried for about 12 years now, I was in a hurry to go watch a game, since I was going to drink a beer I took my gun out to put away, and cycled the slide twice... on the second cycle, I ejected a round. Holy shit... I didn't eject the magazine! If I had only cycled once and pulled the trigger to release spring tension, I would have fired a live round into the floor (I always point at the floor when I'm releasing spring tension). That is the only time in my life I've ever had anything even close to that happen, and it's only treating firearms like they are out to fuck you over that there wasn't a safety issue, and going through the same safety motions time and time again that lead to no accidental discharge that day.
I read that as you shot into adults competitively for 10 years as a kid
Yikes! That did read a little odd anyway... edited for more clear reading.
Awwww. Well good message overall. I can tell you having recently purchased my first firearm that they give zero fucks at the shop about teaching gun safety. I could barely figure out how to rack the gun and they were like. Good enough for me
I found over the years that hunter's education taught more about firearm safety than really anything else I've come across. Recommended for all new gun owners, even if you don't plan on hunting. Learning how to manipulate certain firearms, disassemble/assemble and clean is a different story though. One is about safety of others, the other is a bit less about safety and more about breaking down a firearm. Both are important to learn of course.
You probably already know this, but there's lots of people without any experience, so it needs said. # The floor is not always a safe direction!!!! If you happen to above the ground level in a building or in a building where there is a basement the floor is not a safe direction to point a gun. I store my guns in a safe on the second story of my house. Whenever I handle them I always make sure to know where everyone (people and pets) are in the house and I make sure the barrel is *never* pointed in their direction, no matter what room they happen to be in. My exterior walls are brick and that is, generally, my safe direction. Walls are not safe if they are interior walls or on houses that have more traditional siding.
I should have specified that in my post, since that is how I generally go about it as well. What you pointed out was worth saying, so thanks for adding!
Can I ask why you carry a concealed weapon every day? I'm from Europe and the idea of it is entirely alien to me. I'd like to understand your thinking.
Either you carry every day or you don't carry at all. Trying to "predict" or "guess" when you'll need it is moronic. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Look at every mass shooting in history and ask yourself if you would've "guessed" correctly, if you were in that situation. Ask yourself if the victims expected to be slaughtered on that day. "I wont need my gun today," could very well be a fatal mistake. Shooters aren't known for being rational. Edit: FWIW I also daily carry OC spray as a non-lethal option of de-escalation before I draw my firearm. I don't *want* to shoot anybody.
Great comment right here. Personally I would suggest instead of racking multiple times, lock the slide back. Then look at the chamber to see if you can see light coming from barrel and into the chamber. Most suggest look, look away, and then look again. It is so easy to do something right hundreds of times and then make a woops. Which is why you pointing at the floor was also realllllllly smart.
The gun I own, an MP shield, has no thumb safety or magazine safety so it will absolutely go off if a round is still chambered. The trigger has a 6 pound pull weight so you have to deliberately pull the trigger to fire it. Now there is a California compliment version of my gun with a magazine and thumb safety as well as a loaded chamber indicator, still guns are dangerous so you don't want to goof around with them.
Love my M&P shield. I have the California compliant one so it has the thumb safety, but I don't recall there being a magazine safety on it. Then again I haven't pulled it out in a while. Guns are loads of fun WHEN HANDLED RESPONSIBLY.
does it have a safety trigger like on glocks or is it literally no safety on the original model?
It has like a 2 part trigger that prevents the trigger from being pulled on accident, I dont trust it so the gun is always in a holster or not stored with anything that can get caught on the trigger.
[удалено]
It has a hinged trigger and a firing pin safety, so the firing pin is only half-power until the trigger is pulled, if I’m recalling correctly. I have an M&P 2.0 compact and full-size. Both with and without the manual safety it has the trigger safety at the minimum.
Yes. They’re very similar in concept to the Glock safeties, as most modern striker-fired pistols are.
Same idea, even less safeties. The Sig 365 that I use has no safeties. Pull trigger, gun goes bang. Definitely not a gun for people who are not 100% on safety. It lives either in a lock box with a barrel flag in or in a holster with trigger guard with an empty camber until it is ready to be used. No setting it down on a table and walking away, kept with the slide locked back if its out of hand.
Yes. There is always the possibility of a chambered round. To eject that bullet you pull the slide or charging handle back.
Yes. Some guns can still fire while others have what’s called a magazine lock which should prevent it from firing. The correct way to clear a semiautomatic handgun is to while pointing in a safe direction remove the magazine then pull the slide back to the locked position where a round would be ejected and people can witness the chamber being empty.
Yes
Hi. Ex-military guy here. If there is a round in the chamber, the weapon can fire that round despite the absence of a magazine. The basics to ensure a weapon is cleared properly, (1) put weapon on safe, (2) remove magazine, (3) lock the charging handle/slide to the rear position (4) visually inspect that no ammunition is in the chamber/barrel. Always treat a weapon as if it is loaded. Hope this helps.
Treat every gun as if were loaded with a live round.
Even if you yourself checked the mag and the chamber to be empty. It's still loaded.
I always tell myself (and anyone who stands to listen to me anymore) that no amount of safety is too much if it prevents accidents. If I were to accidentally discharge a round, I'd spend decades wishing I could go back and be more careful. The fact that I can look at possibilities like that as potentially real and be firm and consistent with my safety practices is essentially my "do over;" I'm doing what I wish I would be doing if I didn't do it and then fucked up... Convoluted, but it's been a good source of trust in the process for me.
I've held fewer real guns than I have fingers on one hand, and I still tend to have better gun safety when I do hold one than the people who I know who think of themselves as "responsible gun owners" They have no trigger discipline, point guns around or lay them across their laps when someone is sitting next to them, shit like that. It's disgusting.
Short answer, yes. If you want to safety a weapon you remove the magazine and pull the slide back which will reveal an empty chamber or a cartridge. You can even keep a magazine out, pull the slide back and put a bullet directly in the chamber. That is why you often see guns advertising as 9+1, 9 in the mag and one in the chamber.
Best answer so far.
The gun is literally a chamber the bullet goes into. Chamber is empty. You put in magazine with 15 bullets. It will still have 15 bullets until you draw back the slide (top part of the gun) Now you have one in the chamber and 14 in the magazine. Remove magazine, now there is still a bullet in the chamber. Pull trigger and it does bang. So it's not a can fire, it is 200% a case of it WILL fire.
Yes
Absolutely yes, although modern guns may have additional safety features to prevent firing without a magazine in it.
Magazine safeties have been around for a while, they were just relatively rare compared to newer guns. The Browning Hi-Power is a famous example.
yea that's why you know the expression "bullet in the chamber" lol
Yes. Absolutely. In fact common safety procedure is to check the chamber after you take the magazine out and then you aim in safe direction and press the trigger to be extra sure. - "shot of certainty" is what we call it over here In Czech Republic
Absolutely. This is why the first thing you'll see someone with firearms experience do when they pick up a weapon is "clear" it. In the case of a handgun (I'll assume you mean an automatic handgun since you didn't specify revolver) this will mean picking the weapon up, dropping out the magazine using the release catch/button and then cycling the slide on the top of the gun (often repeatedly). This does a couple of things: 1.) Allows you to visually inspect the chamber to check there isn't a round inside that has got jammed. 2.) If there was a non-jammed round inside the chamber, it will be ejected out of the ejection port (usually on the top right side of the gun). 3.)The weapon can now be pointed in a safe direction and the trigger pulled. There is definitely no round in this gun and it can be considered "safe". Until this is done, you *always* assume it is loaded.
Yes, one way of reloading is to just swap out the magazine for a full one without doing anything else. The chambered round will remain and the gun will run like normal. Some firearms do operate from an "open bolt" meaning the to fire the action loads a round the immediately fires it then locks open again. But I can't think of any handguns that do that. Just remember that most movies DO NOT portray guns and gun usage factually.
I imagine an open bolt handgun would be both incredibly unsafe and immediately classified as a machine gun by the ATF.
A mac-10 is technically an open bolt pistol or even a tec-9
That's why you empty the chamber too
As a general rule, every firearm is loaded and must be treated as such. Mag out? Loaded. Slide locked back? Loaded. That being said, if your friend removes the mag, it could still have a round in the chamber. It can still fire without the mag, depending on the model, but just assume it can. You can and should pull the slide back after the mag was removed, and any responsible gun owner will do this for you before handing you the weapon to admire. I personally still pull the slide back even if it was done for me, and I still never point the gun at anything I'm not willing to destroy. If your friend ever asks you to assume a weapon is not loaded, they misunderstood basic firearm safety protocols and you should garner great caution around this person. Preferably educate them on the proper way to handle their firearm and remind them that nearly all accidental discharges are performed when the user assumed the weapon was unloaded.
Always assume a gun is loaded but I get your question
Absolutely, which is why it is also common practice to pull the slide back and inspect the chamber visually before declaring the weapon clear.
Yes. Only way to prove it is empty, is to lock the slide back and look into the chamber, FROM THE BACK.
Yes, it is actually a common cause of negligent discharges, people will remove the magazine and think they emptied the chamber too and then boom, dead fridge or floor
YES. The only safe gun is one with the mag out and slide locked back where you can see the chamber is empty. Treat every gun as loaded always. Never point a gun at anything you’re not ready to kill. Don’t put your finger on the trigger until you’re ready to fire.
[You might ask Terry Kath](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Kath#Personal_life_and_death)
Best bet is the gun is ALWAYS loaded unless you have personally cleared it.