As a basic principle you want only want to have to jump through as few hoops as possible to bring your firearm into action.

(1) Aim (2) Squeeze ... is as simple as it gets. Anything beyond that is an adulteration.

Something to keep in mind is that the only time you're ever justified in using deadly force is when you are in danger of being killed or seriously injured. Remember that phrase, killed or seriously injured, because that's what's at risk with every self-defense decision your take. You're not playing Cowboys and Indians, you're playing for keeps.

Some people still don't cotton to any handgun that lacks a manual safety. That's fine, that's on them, and provided they train so that that action is well-entrenched in their muscle memory, that's a workable solution.

But carrying an empty chamber isn't the same because it's a procedure that ordinarily requires the use of both hands. What happens if you're caught unawares and the bad guy has his hands on you before you can produce your firearm? What if he has a knife and your weak-side hand is occupied with preventing him cutting your throat? Or what if your weak-side hand or arm was injured before all this even started? Now how do you charge your weapon?

The short answer is you press the rear sight against your hip or the top of your beltline (or opening of a pocket) and give a shove. And just like the manual safety, you can train to that, too, but disengaging the manual safety is integral to the act of producing the firearm. Using your hip to charge the weapon requires adding an entirely new procedure to your training, a procedure that your local range is going to frown on because they won't like it when you point your gun's muzzle at the ground beneath you to try to charge it.

But even though that can be a workable solution, it's still just more adulteration to the simplest (2-step) process. You already took the decision to gamble your life on remembering to rack the slide. Now you're doubling down on remembering to rack it against your hip if your opposite hand is busy with other matters.

And when the fear factor has your asshole drawn up so tight that you couldn't drive a 10d nail into it with a 32-oz framing hammer, it's not a foregone conclusion that you'll remember how the trigger works, much less the rest.


I always argue that your tactics should never be based on an assumption that the bad guy is going to let you dictate the terms of the fight. Plan for the worst and hope for the best. From day one in army basic training we were taught the KISS principle. Keep It Simple, Stupid. Only ever bet your life on what you can control. Anything else is foolhardy and diminishes your chances of surviving the encounter.