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Pawpaw wrote:

knljr wrote:...well, think about this. What if you were incapacitated in some way with one hand/arm - or didn't have a hand/arm. Could you work a semi-auto? Nope. How would you cycle the slide after a mag change? That person could use a revolver though...

Sorry, but you are dead wrong on this one. All but one of my pistols can be racked by hooking the rear sight on a belt, boot, etc. Also, there is at least one member of this forum who only has one hand and shoots semi autos regularly.

...and reloading one-handed can still be accomplished quicker than a revolver for all but the most practiced of shooters...

speedsix wrote:

Pawpaw wrote:

knljr wrote:...well, think about this. What if you were incapacitated in some way with one hand/arm - or didn't have a hand/arm. Could you work a semi-auto? Nope. How would you cycle the slide after a mag change? That person could use a revolver though...

Sorry, but you are dead wrong on this one. All but one of my pistols can be racked by hooking the rear sight on a belt, boot, etc. Also, there is at least one member of this forum who only has one hand and shoots semi autos regularly.

...and reloading one-handed can still be accomplished quicker than a revolver for all but the most practiced of shooters...

I was born with only one hand.. you absolutely can work a semi-auto with one hand, and reload it faster than a revolver with more rounds

Numerous ways
Racking slide:
fastest ways
1) use the rear sight on your belt/shoe/forearm/wrist/corner of a table/dumpster/building/holster etc etc etc
another way
2) hold the slide and rack the gun.

Replacing magazine
1) press mag release
2) insert fresh mag
3) if slide is open because you used the last round in prior mag, press slide release with thumb ...or pull the slide rearward after replacing mag ... see "racking slide" above.

(One can also push a slide rearward next to the muzzle, but keep the boogar hook away from the bang switch during that ... I don't use that method)

Now a revolver, yeah, a person wanting to reload one or a couple rounds at a leisurely pace with speedstrips or speedloaders could try that under fire for fun if they wanted to, but I prefer popping a spare 20 round 9mm or a spare 12 round .45 mag in ...

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TIP: if you think you might get one hand disabled/injured, planning ahead with tactical sights is a good idea (like "the ledge", or Advantage Tactical sights" or the night sights which allow you a ledge to use.... There are ways if you don't use tactical sights, but that's equipment that makes the job easier.

knljr wrote:I'd like to see him rack the slide on my P7 without ripping the belt loop off his pants or pulling his pants down.

The simple fact is - with some training or creative thinking almost anything can be done. But, not EVERYONE can do it. And, while there are certainly weapons that have easier slides to maniplute, there are others that aren't - like my HK P7, for example. With a revolver, anyone can do it at anytime. Some may do it faster than others - but there's no slide to rack and no 'creative thinking' that has to come into play. Since that's not the case with every semi-auto...it seems to make sense to me. Now, whether I agree with it or not is a different story...

I didn't make this up - the question was asked in my CHL training course and several people including the instructor brought this up. I'd like to know DPS's reasoning behind it - certainly it's not just operational characterstics of the weapon. There has to be something else to it.

I'd be glad to ... I use a CompTac double-layered kydex-reinforced belt on Duluth Trading Co work jeans which have 2 beltloops at the 3:00 position, instead of just 1. ,,, and, I wear shoes sometimes, and I can hold the slide in my 1 hand and rack a gun on "anything" ... so I'll be glad to do it in a bathing suit ... well, not until it gets warmer

However, that's what tactical sights are for, and it's hard to look around a room without finding a corner somewhere. and holding a slide while racking a gun is easy to perform without corners and barefoot (no shoe or belt to rack it on if in the shower/bathing suit)... even without tactical sights.

SOME Police Depts required some one hand shooting drill-practice, probably not many do though.

That's all easy, as was a .400 bating avg in baseball, ... I'll tell you what's hard though: back in the 1950s/1960s, sharpening a pencil without getting embarrassed as a school kid when the old-fashioned crank pencil sharpener is too high to grab the pencil with your teeth while you turn the crank with your hand. Maybe they have electric ones now ... dunno

knljr wrote:I didn't make this up - the question was asked in my CHL training course and several people including the instructor brought this up. I'd like to know DPS's reasoning behind it - certainly it's not just operational characterstics of the weapon. There has to be something else to it.

It's not DPS's choice - it's part of the law as enacted by the Legislature:

from Section 411 of the Government Code...

GC §411.179. FORM OF LICENSE. (a) The department by rule
shall adopt the form of the license. A license must include:
(1) a number assigned to the license holder by the department;
(2) a statement of the period for which the license is effective;
(3) a statement of the category or categories of handguns the
license holder may carry as provided by Subsection (b);
(4) a color photograph of the license holder; and
(5) the license holder's full name, date of birth, residence
address, hair and eye color, height, weight, signature, and the number
of a driver's license or an identification certificate issued to the license
holder by the department.
(b) A category of handguns contains handguns that are not prohibited
by law and are of certain actions. The categories of handguns are:
(1) SA: any handguns, whether semi-automatic or not; and
(2) NSA: handguns that are not semi-automatic.

Now, the question becomes why did the Legiscritters decide to include that in the law. Your guess is as good as mine in that.

I started shooting with two hands as that was how I was initially taught. A excellent marksman later taught me to pull with one arm and push with the other to create a much stronger platform for the pistol.

However, I found that I could bring the target for the first shot up much more quickly with only one hand.

I shoot with one hand now, or two hands if I am trying to shoot bulleyes and have all the time in the world.

I also found shooting one shot at multiple targets is also much faster with one hand, especially if there is very much distance between the targets.

The issue I practice with now with one hand is getting the second shot on target quicker, as this is where two hands has an advantage.