“Google it!”

These two words can be a blessing and a curse.  When it comes to guns, iconcealed.com has some serious pet peeves about the supposedly “good advice” you’ll find on the internet.

Here’s a list of our top 3 bits of bad gun advice you’ll regularly find online:

MYTH #1: Concealed Guns Should NEVER Be Carried with a Round in the Chamber

For safety reasons, a myth has been circulating that you should always carry with an empty chamber.

Well guess what?  There’s no way you’re going to have enough time to draw your self-defense handgun…

… rack a round, and effectively respond, ESPECIALLY if someone is coming at you!

Want proof?  Just look at Tueller Drills. They’ve shown that it takes only about ONE AND A HALF SECONDS for an attacker to cover 21 feet!

That doesn’t give you a whole lot of time to defend yourself, ESPECIALLY if your weapon has an empty chamber.

And this dovetails nicely into our biggest complaint about carrying with an empty chamber.  It’s a bad habit that leads to complacency.  When you ASSUME your firearm is unloaded, you get lazy, and laziness can lead to tragedy.

MYTH #2: As Long As Your Concealed Carry is UNLOADED, it’s Okay To Mess With It

We’re not even going to define what “mess with it” means, but it goes something like this…

“DON’T WORRY, I NEVER KEEP IT LOADED.”  Famous last words!

People routinely shoot themselves or someone else accidentally because they fail to observe the single most important rule for gun safety, namely:

Guns should ALWAYS be treated like they’re loaded AT ALL TIMES!

Every day you hear in the news about people who’ve shot themselves or others because they typically carry with an empty chamber and forgot that they chambered a round.

If you keep your firearm loaded and ready to fire, you don’t have to pretend your gun is loaded at all times.  You know it is and always treat it that way!

MYTH #3: At the Range, You Should Only Train For Head Shots

Head shots are easy on the range.  But in real life, you rarely have time to aim for the head…unless, of course, you’re John Wick…

.. or a trained SWAT sniper with superior shooting skills!

If not, you will want to remember these two words… CENTER MASS!

Firing for center mass allows for INACCURACY.  If your hand is shaking or you fire from an unsupported position, hitting the center part of a target affords you the greatest chance of the bullet landing somewhere that stops an imminent attack.

In conclusion, here’s something we at iconcealed.com feel bears repeating: if you’re not prepared to use deadly force to protect yourself, don’t carry concealed!