User:Three-quarter-ten/Sandbox 1

¾-10

Modes of carry for firearms

Since the beginning of practical firearms in the 14th century, firearms users have developed personal habits and group memes in the area of how to carry, draw, and use their firearms. Among firearms specialists, these habits and suggestions, many codified into training points, protocols, and technical standards, are known as carry modes or modes of carry. The main forces shaping these habits have been the efforts to maximize gun safety, defensive advantage, and offensive advantage. (Sometimes even style, fashion, and machismo have been involved.) Sometimes competition of interest between the goals has existed, and variables have had their maximizations traded off against each other (typically more risk in exchange for faster draw-and-fire, or less risk in exchange for slower draw-and-fire). From this perspective, the prescribing of carry modes is similar to other domains in which processes and systems are engineered (such as industrial engineering, systems engineering, or operations management). Military science and police science intersect with these fields.

The biggest distinction on which modes of carry can be classified is that of open carry versus concealed carry—that is, whether the presence of a firearm is being hidden from the other people in the area. Other main distinctions for classification tend to have to do with what specific type of firearm is being carried, why it is being carried, what type of action it has, and what kinds of safeties it has (or lacks). The type of, and reason for carrying, a firearm influence the location and style of the holster.

Although the carry modes used in military, police, hunting, and civilian self-defense contexts overlap substantially, these broad categories allow a way to present the subject in an outline form.

Military carry modes

On the person

Military carry is most often open. Typical holster locations are at the waist or strapped to the thighs or calves.

SA revolvers

[Military SA revolvers of the 19th century. Modes: hammer down on an empty chamber; down on a loaded one; cocked over a loaded one (in combat)]

[Mention fanning. Overrated.]

DA revolvers

[Point-and-shoot; long, stiff trigger pull serves as safety; no external safeties]

Semi-automatics

Most militaries today issue semi-automatic pistols as their standard sidearm.

Cocked and locked

For single-action semi-automatics such as the M1911 pistol or M1911A1 (which was the standard-issue sidearm of the United States Armed Forces for most of a century), a normal military carry mode is "cocked and locked". In this mode, a chambered round with the hammer cocked behind it is safeguarded from unintentional firing by the lever safety being in the locked position. To draw and fire, the user releases the safety and pulls the trigger.

Cocked-and-locked carry trades off some degree of risk aversion in favor of good response time for draw-and-fire. An alternative carry mode could be an empty chamber and decocked hammer. On a single-action semi-auto, the user then has to rack the slide in order to load the first round and cock the hammer. This mode seems inherently safer, but it decreases the tactical advantage of the user.

Safe-action semi-autos

[Point-and-shoot; safe action allows there to be no external safeties]

Onboard ship

[weapons lockers; the roles of marines versus sailors when such are/were separated; boarding or being boarded; etc]

Police carry modes

Police carry modes tend to run along similar lines as military modes, because the goals are similar—maintaining safety but also allowing quick draw-and-fire for tactical situations that might require it without notice.

Most police carry is open, typically with the holster at the waist. Various subsets of police carry, such as detective, undercover, or off-duty carry, are often concealed. The holster may be at the waist in front or back, where the clothing or jacket can tend to minimize the conspicuousness.

The introduction of the "safe action" had a large impact on police handgun selection. [DA revolvers replaced in large numbers by Glocks in the 1980s and 1990s—both are "point and shoot"—cite Ayoob on the perils of fear when drawing and firing is called for on zero notice—influences choice of police standard issue]

Hunting carry modes

[carry modes for long guns (muzzle skyward, muzzle downward, break-action shotguns open]

Civilian self-defense carry modes

Carry modes of civilians are diverse and are subject to wide variation in training (or lack thereof). Military veterans and off-duty police typically rely on their training and continue its practices.

On the person

[CCW; holster locations; holster-less carry; DAs without hammer spurs; etc]

Target practice carry modes

In a vehicle

[gun in a box on the way to the range; regular CCW or open carry on the way to the range; magazines out versus in; revolver ammo sitting in a speedloader versus sitting in the cylinder; etc]

Criminal carry modes

Carry modes of criminals are diverse and are subject to wide variation in training (or usually lack thereof). Their chief characteristic is that the carry is almost always concealed.

In many countries, any type of carry by civilians is prohibited by law. (weapon possession (crime)) This is controversial in some countries, where the constitutional validity of gun control legislation is bitterly debated. Prominent examples are the US, Canada, UK, and Australia [give links to each one's debate].

Bibliography

Further reading

[[Category:]]