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Firearms can have multiple devices intended to improve safety, like the Glock Safe-Action trigger, beaver-tail blocks, the Kimber Series II firing pin block, or the "magazine safety" mentioned earlier. But a safety is a singular device that is specifically designed to prevent a cocked hammer or striker from falling so long as that device is engaged. Handguns that have a safety are correctly, optimally carried with striker or hammer cocked, and the safety engaged. That's what they're made for.

So what would Farnum call the devices on my Para LDA? (Note that on the Para, the hammer is always down - i.e. it cannot be cocked - except when the trigger is pulled to fire the gun.) As far as I know, they consist of:

1) A device that Para Ordnance calls a "grip safety" that functions similar to that of a 1911 pattern gun.

2) A device that Para Ordnance calls a "manual safety" that is frame mounted and looks like the safety of a 1911 pattern gun, but functions such that when in the raised ("safe") position the trigger is completely disconnected from the hammer and can move freely through its entire range of motion without having any effect whatsoever.

3) A firing pin block that is generally similar to a Colt Series 80 in that it consists of a slide mounted plunger that blocks forward motion of the firing pin unless the trigger is pulled fully to the rear.

As an engineer by profession, I am used to using precise nomenclature to identify or refer to the various parts of a machine or device when communicating with other engineers. Generally, the authoritative sources for this nomenclature are the manufacturer's engineering drawings, data sheets, and manuals. It does me no good to refer to something as a "mainshaft Timkin bearing", even though it may be exactly that, if the manufacturer calls it a "mainshaft roller bearing".

BTW, I am not taking issue at all with Farnum's position on the proper way to carry the Beretta. I think his analysis and advice are 100% dead on in that regard.

dac1842 wrote:why would anyone carry and not have one chambered. That just doesnt make any sense.

thankGod wrote:One in the pipe on the Glock 19.

However, I have a new LCP (haven't made it to the range yet, hopefully this coming Tuesday), and if you put one in the pipe, then this little jewel is cocked. There is no safety nor de-cocking lever, so I am very leery of having this baby in my pocket in that condition. I would feel much better with one in the pipe.

P.S. The instruction manual that came with the LCP references a de-cocking lever, however I think they meant the trigger.

It might be internally cocked, but the hammer is down. No way can it go off that way. It's made to be carried with a round in the chamber, and it's a Ruger.

So load it, chamber a round, top off the magazine, and you're good to go.

As far as carrying with a round in the chamber goes,

1) It's the only way to fly.

2) If someone can't get comfortable with Condition 1 carry, I would suggest a DAO type.

But of the DAO pistols available out there, I would lean strongly to one that has a visible hammer. This is because if the hammer is down, there's is virtually no way that the gun can go off without someone pulling the trigger. And the whole process is fully visible to the user.

With a traditional DAO, you have to charge the mainspring with each trigger pull. This makes for a heavy trigger. That's why I like the LDA type. The mainspring is charged by the act of cycling the slide (like some striker fired pistols), so the trigger pull can be light. But at the same time, the hammer is visibly in the "down" position. So even if the internal (multiple) safety mechanisms failed and the mainspring somehow released, the hammer would not be capable of driving the firing pin forward to light off the round.

Internal striker fired pistols may well be every bit as safe, but you can't see what is going on in there. So if you have a vivid imagination, you could envision (correctly or not) the internal mechanism failing and driving the striker forward, allowing the gun to fire.

While this may well be just as irrational as being worried about a C & L 1911 pistol spontaneously going off, fear is fear whether it has a real cause or not.

With an LDA, everything is right out there in the open.

Plus, the trigger pull is sooooo nice!

The Annoyed Man wrote: If you don't have a round chambered, will you have time to actually deploy your weapon and use it? It might be argued before a grand jury that, since you had time to load the weapon and/or chamber a round, you were not in immediate danger.

Nah. If anyone ever burned for that, their lawyer should go to prison right alongside them.

And that's not even taking the Castle Doctrine into account.

But don't get me wrong. I always carry with a round chambered for a number of good reasons.

When I carry my Commander, I carry in Condition 1, chambered round, safety on.

When I carry my Para LDA, I carry it with a chambered round, but I don't bother with the safety (even though it is a 1911 type thumb safety) because the hammer is down and I just don't feel I need it.

When I carry my little P32 I carry it with a chambered round. There is no manual safety. Like the LDA, the hammer is always down.

When I carry my SP101, all 5 chambers are loaded.

I could never see carrying a gun with an empty chamber. (Never owned an old style SAA.)