I check my sidearm every time I am not in direct control of it. 99.9% of the time I am not “in control” it means it is in a secured location such a safe or lock box. Even then, every time I take possession back, I perform a press check to see if the gun is loaded and a round is chambered. We all have heard the standard comment after negligent discharges “I thought it was unloaded!” but sometimes the opposite happens and can be as dangerous as the first one. We get this story from TheNewsTribune.com
Lopez, who has a concealed weapons permit, pulled out his pistol to use in self-defense, but there were no bullets in it. After Reyes allegedly shot at Lopez several times, Lopez loaded his gun and fired back, hitting Reyes twice.
The intended victim was lucky that the bad guy did not connect and he was able to do so. But why ride on luck when preparedness is so much nicer? Make sure your firearm is loaded, otherwise is just a very heavy belt accessory.
I read in DOJ statistics that when a police officer is shot, the average is he is hit by the fufth shot from the perp. Now what was that officer doing for the first four?
Perps are notorious for being bad shots. But, I certainly don’t intend on counting on that! The old saying of “a gun owner is most likely to be killed with his own weapon” will, for me, mean he beat me to death with the empty gun after crawling through a hail of lead from my high capacity clip and the backup clip! And since I have shot birds on the wing with a pistol, the bad guy is gong to have to be the last guy in a flock of bad guys with more than chamber round, and two clips full of members. (And a suicidal bunch at that!) And, yep, I check it when I put it up, take it out and “feel the itch to check it”.