When is a firearm considered to be "loaded" here in GA

[spencer60]

"you might as well just leave it at home"

Sure, fat lot of good it does there. Hundreds of glock NDs could have been prevented had the owners practiced Israeli carry instead of "shoot myself bubba" carry because, ya know, you neva know.

Israel military carries condition 3. You are not without company.

First of all, people who carry pistols in Israel (police, Mossad, CCW, etc.) carry them exactly the same way we do here, one in the chamber.

The Israeli ARMY, for a long period carried military weapons with an empty chamber for the simple reason that they had a mish-mash of different small arms in the field, all with different manuals of arms.

Rather than try and teach each raw recruit, who might never have even touched a gun before, the difference between how to run a Galil versus a captured AK versus a donated FAL versus an M-16 they dumbed it down as much as possible.

After all, it's pretty rare for a solder NOT to know when they were going into combat, which gave them plenty of time to load their weapons. I doubt US soldiers walk around at all times with their M4s loaded and chambered. They load up when they are approaching combat.


Again, that's the Army, and has nothing to do with how people who depend on instant access to their weapons carry in Israel.

 

[spencer60]

i did wonder the same thing as the OP when I used to carry a Marlin 30-30 as a 'truck gun'. I never got a good answer if having rounds in the tube, but not in the chamber was legal everywhere in GA. Specifically if I was driving through a WMA or something. I never knew if that was against hunting regs.

I ended up punting and put one of those cheek pads with ammo storage on the side on it, and simply keeping the ammo there. That meant a slow loading process, but I figured if thing were that out of hand, it probably wouldn't be a huge issue, and I always have my carry gun with me.


Recently I was able to find one of the new Sub-2000s, so I pulled the Marlin and use that in conjunction with a Glock 17 and some extra mags as the truck setup. Not as much oomph as the 30-30, but a lot more functional, concealable, etc. for an urban/suburban environment, which is where I am most of the time.

While the Sub2K is still carried completely unloaded, the G17 isn't and loading the Sub-2000 will take a lot less time than loading the old Marlin.

 

[Horsehat]

First of all, people who carry pistols in Israel (police, Mossad, CCW, etc.) carry them exactly the same way we do here, one in the chamber.

The Israeli ARMY, for a long period carried military weapons with an empty chamber for the simple reason that they had a mish-mash of different small arms in the field, all with different manuals of arms.

Rather than try and teach each raw recruit, who might never have even touched a gun before, the difference between how to run a Galil versus a captured AK versus a donated FAL versus an M-16 they dumbed it down as much as possible.

After all, it's pretty rare for a solder NOT to know when they were going into combat, which gave them plenty of time to load their weapons. I doubt US soldiers walk around at all times with their M4s loaded and chambered. They load up when they are approaching combat.


Again, that's the Army, and has nothing to do with how people who depend on instant access to their weapons carry in Israel.

I never said it was a good idea.

 

[Jambo]

Legally, according to the Georgia hunting regulations, a firearm is considered loaded when there's a "shell" in the chamber or magazine, a percussion cap is on the nipple, or powder is present in the frizzen pan. So, if you're on a WMA with a rifle and a prepared magazine then you have a "loaded" firearm, even if the magazine is separated from the rifle.

As others have said, you should ALWAYS assume a firearm is loaded when handling.

Also, as others have said, carrying a firearm for self defense without having one in the chamber puts you at a significant disadvantage. If I really expect to need my firearm in a self defense situation I typically choose to not go to that location. You win 100% of the gunfights in which you are not involved, and the other guy gets a vote, too. Avoiding trouble if possible is the best way to stay healthy.

I tend to only go to places where I really don't think I'll need a firearm for self defense, but the risk is sufficient to justify carrying a firearm. My sidearm is there if a situation develops, and in those cases usually pausing to put one in the chamber is not optimal for continued health. In our society simply exposing a firearm can be grounds for prosecution for "brandishing a firearm" or even "assault with a deadly weapon", so deciding to chamber a round when someone threatening approaches you isn't optimal, either. Keep it ready to go, and practice getting it into action quickly.

Certainly in some cases militaries forbid carrying "condition one"; but usually the assumption there is that the sentry will alert you to the wire being breached or the ship being boarded and you'll have a second or two to "go hot".

 

[lostchild]

Y’all carry however you feel best about.
This is my routine.
Single action autos, condition 1
Double action autos, round chambered safety off
Striker fired autos, round chambered, safety on
Double action revolvers, fully loaded
Single action revolvers, fully loaded if transfer bar equipped, hammer down on empty chamber if not.
This has worked well for me for 60+ years, I have no extra holes or missing appendages on my body to date.
Not going to change anything, so please hold any advice.

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

I should have clarified....I only carry locally when I walk in the woods. Sometimes when I travel, I will keep a rifle behind the rear seat of my crew-cab. If I feel I will need a gun, it will not be a hand-gun anyway. It is a personal preference.

This "clarifying" isn't helping me. I still don't understand your question. Under what circumstances would it matter whether somebody else thought your gun was loaded versus unloaded?

Is this a "legal question"-- is there some law or regulation that would have a different outcome for you if your gun was considered loaded versus it being considered unloaded?

If it's a question about tactics and what is a good procedure to follow when you want your gun available for self-defense, then I say keep it chamber loaded! That way you can make it ready to fire with just one hand; racking the slide generally requires two hands. I would not count on having two hands freely available and working properly at the moment you need to shoot.

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

And when your gun is in storage, and you don't want it to be immediately available as a defensive tool then you should fully unload it.

That means magazine out, chamber empty. Only re-insert the magazine after it's been emptied the magazine containing no cartridges at all. Or, if you want to keep the loaded magazine in close proximity to the gun, that would be OK too. But a gun in "storage" should be totally empty and unloaded --unless you're intending to be able to get it out of the gun safe quickly to use for home defense.

 

[moosensquirrel]

You simply don’t have enough training or experience with your carry gun if you don’t carry one in the chamber. You ever seen a car wreck happen? It happens instantly, very quick... that’s how crime happens. Get yourself some training. Carry one in the chamber.

You would be wrong about that, I have been on both ends of a loaded chamber, hammer cocked, several times in my 74 years. Adrenaline happens too. As I said above, it is a personal preference for me to have the chamber empty.

 

[yellowhammer]

Folks without training or trained folks that don`t use their training most likely keep their finger inside the trigger guard before they acquire the target. These same folks are prone to have an accidental discharge when chambering a round. Or drawing. Nothing wrong with Glocks or any other internal safety pistols. Problem is the clowns that misuse them. Lay that pistol on your coffee table, round chambered, for a hundred years. It won`t fire unless your house burns down. The human has to make it fire. If you don`t trust yourself carrying a chambered round you ain`t ready to carry. I have a female friend who heard a noise when she stepped out of the shower. She grabbed her pistol, quickly chambered a round with her finger on the trigger, and accidentally fired two shots into her sofa.

 

[moosensquirrel]

This "clarifying" isn't helping me. I still don't understand your question. Under what circumstances would it matter whether somebody else thought your gun was loaded versus unloaded?

Is this a "legal question"-- is there some law or regulation that would have a different outcome for you if your gun was considered loaded versus it being considered unloaded?

If it's a question about tactics and what is a good procedure to follow when you want your gun available for self-defense, then I say keep it chamber loaded! That way you can make it ready to fire with just one hand; racking the slide generally requires two hands. I would not count on having two hands freely available and working properly at the moment you need to shoot.

I was alluding to any legal difference between keeping a loaded vs an unloaded firearm behind the back seat of a crew cab say in the case of a LE search, probable cause or not.