Negligent Discharge of a weapon is a very serious crime in Arizona. Many people falsely believe that since it was just an accident, that they will not be prosecuted. Negligent discharge of a firearm is a mandatory prison offense in Arizona if you are convicted. For this reason, I recommend that you do not leave a round chambered in your weapon.
I concede that by doing this, it could leave you with a slight tactical disadvantage to have to chamber a round in an emergency situation. I recognize that there could be a situation where not having a round chambered might place you in a bad predicament. I am aware of this slight disadvantage.
I am weighing this, though, against the other and more likely event that you have an accidental discharge of your firearm. Because this is something I see all of the time. Therefore, because the chances are much greater that you could have an accidental discharge with a round being chambered, I am suggesting you not chamber a round in your firearm.
In most all of these cases, the person will tell the police, it was an accident, they did not mean to discharge their weapon, and I am sure it was, but it does not matter. What most people don't understand, is that even though it was an accident, you are still going to be charged criminally. In Arizona, this is a very serious mandatory prison offense.
So, weighing the likelihood of an accidental discharge against the slight tactical disadvantage you may have by not keeping a round chambered in your weapon, I feel the better choice is to not chamber a round.
Attorney Marc J. Victor is a former United States Marine and combat veteran who served in Desert Storm. He is the only attorney authorized to speak at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show in Phoenix. He has represented well over 1000 clients in gun-related matters in his 25 years as a criminal defense attorney.
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There is no such thing as an accidental discharge. Somewhere down the line of events, that lead to the firearm going off, an error was made. If you are going to carry a firearm you should follow these rules. 1) Treat every weapon as if it were loaded. 2) Keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you intend to fire. 3) Never point your weapon at anything you don't intend to shoot. 4) Keep your weapon on safe until you intend to fire.
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However someone wants to define it does not change the fact that people get charged with this mandatory prison offense all of the time.
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There are many, many instances of defensive gun use that either happened so fast that there wouldn't have been enough time to chamber a round and still survive the fight, or their other hand was unavailable to manipulate their firearm.
Defensive gun uses often happen in close quarters, so there is a good possibility that your other hand will be occupied keeping the attacker away from your gun while you try to get it into the fight.
I prefer to carry my firearm in such a way that I can draw and use it with one hand. That means having it on me (concealed carry), having a round in the chamber, and having the safety off. It also means I have to be particularly aware of safety, and train often so that those safe gun handling practices become second nature.
I understand the risk that you're trying to mitigate by not keeping a round in the chamber, but doing so exposes you to other risks.
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