Chamber loaded or not.

When you carry, do you have a round in the chamber or not?

Welcome to OCDO.

Why would you carry a hammer for self defense? And especially one that required you to go through a background check and (for you Okies) a government permission slip?

An unloaded handgun (and none in the chamber is unloaded, as far as I'm concerned) is merely a very expensive and very short club. Not very effective or efficient.

Why are you considering carrying a gun without one in the chamber?

stay safe.

BTW - this issue has been discussed before. Sometimes it is good to try and use the search function even though it is, at best, clunky and awkward.

I asked this in the Oklahoma forum, for people from Oklahoma to answer as it pertains to the OK law.

And you come back with a smart answer.

Amigatec said:

When you carry, do you have a round in the chamber or not?

Click to expand...

I do carry with one in the chamber as well as an extra magazine, my wife thinks its over kill, but i don't. She also does not like open carry, she will get used to it i think.

Amigatec said:

I asked this in the Oklahoma forum, for people from Oklahoma to answer as it pertains to the OK law.

And you come back with a smart answer.

Click to expand...

1. You did not frame your question as a matter of law, you asked a question of practice.

2. Skidmark's answer was one of practicality, I agree with him completely.

There are many who read and participate in the forums for states other than their home for a variety of reasons. We all are affected by changes in the laws around the country as they not only affect us when we travel, but they also have an effect on how our state legislatures look at the law.

rpyne said:

1. You did not frame your question as a matter of law, you asked a question of practice.

2. Skidmark's answer was one of practicality, I agree with him completely.

There are many who read and participate in the forums for states other than their home for a variety of reasons. We all are affected by changes in the laws around the country as they not only affect us when we travel, but they also have an effect on how our state legislatures look at the law.

Click to expand...

If I had asked this question in the general forum, I wouldn't have a problem, but for somebody from Virgina to answer a question in the Oklahoma forum, and then give a smart remark was uncalled for.

Amigatec said:

If I had asked this question in the general forum, I wouldn't have a problem, but for somebody from Virgina to answer a question in the Oklahoma forum, and then give a smart remark was uncalled for.

Click to expand...

Where he is from doesn't matter. Likewise his point is that this topic has been discussed quite a bit. With the exceptions to certain laws (such as how one may UOC in UT w/o a permit but LOC with one) this particulr subject isn't state specific which makes where he is from matter even less. Now on to your question while also summarizing the various other threads on this topic.

1) I carry with one in the tube and off safe (or rather I specifically bought a gun that effectively doesn't have a safety when one is holding it; the XDm-40).

2) Those that carry with one in the tube usually do so because they want as few steps as possible between drawing their gun and putting rounds towards the badguy.

3) Those that don't carry with one in the tube almost always do so because they are worried about a potential ND or simply don't feel comfortable with one in the tube for various other reasons (ND is the most common reason though).


My points 2 & 3 have effectively summed up the "why" answers for how this thread will go and how all others like it have gone. Oh and most people are going to go with point 2.


EDIT: Oh and note that while there are "state specific" forums, anyone can post in them regardless of where they are from. Also note that should a topic be "general" enough or affect multiple people, then threads have been moved out of the state forum where they were started. While at time I've also seen "general" threads get moved into state forums for a better answer. We are all one family here so one should expect answers from others (Citizen, Skidmark, and Grapeshot being the most common that I can think of).

Amigatec said:

I asked this in the Oklahoma forum, for people from Oklahoma to answer as it pertains to the OK law.

And you come back with a smart answer.

Click to expand...

Thank you for complimenting me that you considered my remarks intelligent. You must have, among other things, noticed that I have at least a passing understanding of OK law and made reference to those laws as part of my response.

As nothing I could find in OK law related to "unloaded" carry, I shared an opiion of the practice and inquired why you were exploring the issue. The opinion, as are all, is open for discussion, debate, and counterpoint. The invitation for you to expand your post by stating why you had inquired in the first place might, among other things, have helped those that responded to you in focusing their comments towards the (possibly) narrow are of your specific interest. You have so far pointedly avioded responding about why you inquired about the subject in the first place.

If you find anything I say to be unsubstantiatable, in error, or patently offensive I encourage you to call that to my attention and chastise me appropriately. If you wish to limit your learning on a matter to that of folks from a specific geographical area, or a specific occupation/vocation, or any other factor you bear the responsibility of so stating up front and in plain language. You may still get responses from others, but that's the risk you take in an open forum.

Not that this point matters in the larger scheme of things, but I do call your attention to the fact that I have been the only respondant so far who has bothered to indicate notice of your "newness" to OCDO and to actually extend a welcome. Were I thin-skinned I might claim that your comments attempting to exclude and dismiss my comments were received as emotionally hurtful in light of my treatment of you as you begin your foray into OCDO. Thank goodness I am not thin-skinned. It also might be because your comments have made everyone else focus elsewhere than on extending a welcome to you.

Again, welcome to OCDO.

stay safe.

The reason I asked is because there are places in the OK SDA law that talks about "chamber loaded" vs "magazine loaded". Where it doesn't say you can't carry chamber loaded with a HGL, it does make a difference.

I know these discussion can be very passionate, I just want to make sure I am following the law.

When I start to OC next week, I want to be informed if somebody asks any questions.

On another forum, I asked a question about laying my gun in the seat as I drive and was blasted for it. I have my reasons for doing it.

Amigatec said:

The reason I asked is because there are places in the OK SDA law that talks about "chamber loaded" vs "magazine loaded". Where it doesn't say you can't carry chamber loaded with a HGL, it does make a difference.

Click to expand...

I re-read the SDA just to make sure I had not missed anything. The only reference to "clip lor magazine loaded but not chamber loaded" is in relation to the transport of rifles and shotguns. Would you please cite where the SDA addresses "chamber loaded" pistols with a handgun license.

stay safe.

Amigatec said:

I know these discussion can be very passionate, I just want to make sure I am following the law.

When I start to OC next week, I want to be informed if somebody asks any questions.

On another forum, I asked a question about laying my gun in the seat as I drive and was blasted for it. I have my reasons for doing it.

Click to expand...

Perhaps you would have better served yourself if you had asked for clarification of a specific question you had, such as "Is there any restriction against OCing a pistol with one in the chamber?" or "Is there any requirement that OCed pistols can not have one in the chamber?" Asking how others carry is vastly different.

I have an opinion (imagine that!) on laying your gun on the seat, but you never asked for it so I will not share it with you. How that has any relation to the issues in this thread in this forum, other than you discovered others did not share your views on the matter, evades me.

You have intrigued me - whom do you anticipate will be asking you about loaded/unloaded OC? It's doubtful the cops will, and most folks will most likely be focused on the gun being out in the open as opposed to its status as loaded or not.

In passing, let me mention that you do seem to be catching on to how requests for interpretations of law are asked/posed/composed around OCDO.

stay safe.

Welcome aboard. Hope things get smoother from here on in.

Amigatec said:

there are places in the OK SDA law that talks about "chamber loaded" vs "magazine loaded".
Where it doesn't say you can't carry chamber loaded with a HGL, it does make a difference.

Click to expand...

There's your answer.
The way our (USA) laws are made, if there's not a law against something, it's legal.
My understanding of your new law is that it removes restrictions on OC, making it legally the same as cc.
It's a step in the right direction.

Amigatec said:

I asked this in the Oklahoma forum, for people from Oklahoma to answer as it pertains to the OK law... for somebody from Virgina to answer a question in the Oklahoma forum, and then give a smart remark was uncalled for.

Click to expand...

1) I think you need to review the forum rules [the ones you agreed to when creating the account], esp. #5, 6 & 9. The link is in that narrow tan bar up top, the one that starts off "Please review the Forum Rules frequently...".

Could you post a link to the law that you're questioning, and cite the specific parts of it you're worried about, so that the rest of us know we're talking about the same thing?

Skid has been nothing less than polite & tolerant so far. [Believe me, you'd know if he were being anything else.] There's no reason to get snippy.

2) As others have pointed out, these fora are not restricted to people in the state or territory they talk about.

3) There's no way for you to know, other than his stars & high post count & long membership, but Skid is one of the most respected members here. Starting off by growling at him isn't cool.

This will be my last post here.

This place seems very unfriendly.

Amigatec said:

This place seems very unfriendly.

Click to expand...

To the contrary, this is (for the most part) a great bunch of people.
I can't begin to describe the support I was given in the last year, during the recent unpleasantness with local authorities.

But if you come in breaking or ignoring the rules & being less than polite, yes, people will point it out.
They're being a lot nicer because you're new - mostly keeping it businesslike.
If one of the more established members did something similarly... um... I can't think of a nice word for it.
Wrong. Let's go with wrong.
Anyway, if one of the more established members did something similarly wrong (against the rules, rude, etc.) the response would be much rougher & more to the point.

Stay, lurk, read, learn, & eventually you'll understand.
Or go pouting away & don't expand your knowledge & friendships.
Some might be tempted to point out that this is a very slight adversity, & if your feelings are hurt by being told you're doing something wrong maybe you're not mature enough to go armed.

Amigatec said:

The reason I asked is because there are places in the OK SDA law that talks about "chamber loaded" vs "magazine loaded". Where it doesn't say you can't carry chamber loaded with a HGL, it does make a difference.

Click to expand...

Not to be rude, but I think this would have been a better way to start your post. I understand about being hesitant, especially if you've been burned on other forums, but the quoted part and the concern regarding it is far different than simply asking if people carry loaded/unloaded and probably would have saved you some heartache. I'm off to bed now so I can't check, but last time I looked it was as Skid had said. The only mention of loaded chamber/mag had to do with transport (since any carry w/o a permission slip is illegal).

Amigatec said:

This will be my last post here.

This place seems very unfriendly.

Click to expand...

I would have to agree with MKEgal as this forum has been very helpful with questions i had and just reading thru, give it time i think it was just a breakdown in communication. Read over the rules once more as i do sometimes and be a little more pleasant and you will get along just fine. I've had nothing but pleasant conversations with people here and they are going to give you the info you are looking for.

Chamber Loaded

Not everyone will carry a semi-auto. Some will carry revolvers. Depending on the revolver leaving the chamber under the hammer empty is a safety thing. It does'nt matter if its single or double-action.

I haven't been around for a few days because I've been preparing for this week and doing a ton of media interviews. Had I seen you question, I'd have answered it.

However, the board of OKOCA intentionally chose to piggyback onto OCDO for 3 major reasons.
1) This forum has a good amount of traffic. Nothing is worse than setting up a new forum that gets a post here and there. Nobody will visit it.
2) There are a wealth of experienced open carriers from other states here who know how to look up laws and discuss what they mean or don't mean.
3) Someone is always around to answer questions, even when OKOCA leadership cannot be due to real life.

To the OP, I think your butthurt was a little over the top. The advice you were given about unloaded open carry is the same I'd have given. Hell, I learned most of what I know from the people above who answered you. I hope that you will hang around and accept advice i the spirit in which it is offered. Sometimes, a do over for a new poster is a good thing, and the people here don't hold grudges.

Amigatec said:

This will be my last post here.

This place seems very unfriendly.

Click to expand...

That is unfortunate. You can learn here. I no longer live in OK, but I have lived in OK, I have friends in OK, and I do occationally visit OK. I have also done a lot of reasearch on OK law because I do visit.

Just because someone does not live in OK (any longer) does not mean we may not have something to contribute. Ok. Calm down and just remember, there will be posters that rub you wrong on any forum...