For those that are not familiar with the Jeff Cooper “Handgun conditions of readiness”
The 5 conditions are:
- Condition 0 – A round is in the chamber, the hammer is cocked, and the safety is off.
- Condition 1 – Also called “cocked and locked”, this means that a round is in the chamber, the hammer is cocked, and the manual thumb safety is on.
- Condition 2 – A round is in the chamber, the hammer is uncocked.
- Condition 3 – There is no round in the chamber, the hammer is uncocked but a fully loaded magazine is inserted in the mag well.
- Condition 4 – The chamber is empty, the hammer is uncocked and there is no magazine inserted in the mag well
JUMP DOWN ↓ TO ADD ANOTHER
Wow. That’s is sad and could have been prevented. All I need to do now is go to the courthouse and turn in my CCW paperwork but at my house I always keep my main gun in Condition 1. Actually, if there is no safety and it’s double action only, is it considered Condition 0? Either way, all I have to do is pull the trigger. So sad, but thanks for sharing.
Hi Mike,
The conditions of readiness were originally defined by Jeff Cooper referred to M1911 pattern pistols. You kind of have to interpolate when it comes to guns without any “manual” safeties like the Glock for instance. There is a lot of debate on that topic.
On another note, I recognized your name when the comment notification came in. I was actually sent to your site from google the other day when I searched for something (I don’t remember what though). Small blog world :)
Definately has me rethinking, but what do you do at home when there are kids around? BTW – Anyone against the death penalty hasn’t seen this.
I agree Ray, having kids around would require extra safety considerations.
The way I look at it though, you probably have a few more seconds than the jewelery store guys did if your door is locked and the bad guys were to have to kick it down. I hope that would be enough time to get the gun out of a safe place nearby that only an adult could get at. Wearing a gun around the house would likely be the safest option, but that really seems like it would be too uncomfortable to do all the time, unless it was a small pocket pistol.
Let’s see… I have a DAO revolver (concealed hammer), with all five chambers loaded. So I guess i’m going to carry in “Condition 0”, because all I have to do is pull the trigger.
The thought crosses my mind, if it is necessary to carry while in your home domain, in order to provide a level of protection for your family, maybe you need to move.
Tuition, lol, good point!
Triton, lol, good point!
If you feel like you’re safe in your home because you live in a nice area, then you are forgetting the fact that bad guys have cars and the smart ones don’t do home invasions in their own neighborhoods, and they look for houses that probably have things of value in them.
I think the neighborhood you live in is of no relevance when deciding to carry a firearm. I always carry condition 0 because my pistol has no safety and it’s a striker fired pistol. Of course I carry with one in the pipe. I carry all the time. From when I get dressed in the morning to when I’m getting undressed at night. It is part of dressing to me. Home invasions happen. How many videos are out there of them? A door may stop them from coming in for a few seconds but do you keep your doors locked all hours of the day? Three seconds is probably enough to draw and rack a slide but is it enough time to run accross your house to your gun? My kids go outside and play all the time and my doors are usually unlocked most of the day. I don’t worry about my kids safety because I have a speed safe and when my gun comes off of me it goes directly into the safe. My gun is either in the safe or on my person…
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