Engineering solutions do not solve training issues

I note with a certain amount of disdain that Walther has patented a mechanism which will prevent a firearm from being disassembled if there is a live round in the chamber.  I am opposed in general principle to adding more parts to a gun, and even more so to adding parts that are wholly unnecessary.  Whenever you add little parts to a gun, you’re increasing the likelihood of one of those little parts breaking and completely bricking your gun.  Magazine disconnects are a great example of this, but this new doohicky from Walther seems like it could take the crown from magazine disconnect safeties.

The issue with people shooting themselves with guns that they’re taking apart has nothing whatsoever to do with the function of the gun, and everything to do with poor training and poor gunhandling techniques.  If you want cops and civilians to stop shooting themselves when they’re cleaning their guns, teach them to unload and show clear properly.  I’ve published it before, but here’s a handy guide on how to properly clear a semi-automatic pistol:

  1. Remove magazine
  2. Feel inside magwell
  3. cycle slide 3-5 times
  4. lock slide to the rear, and use your pinky finger to physically feel the chamber to ensure there is not a round in the chamber.

You may now proceed with taking your gun down for cleaning.  The reason why we feel inside the magwell and chamber is because we want our “clearing” procedure to be a technique that works just as well at 2am in no light as it does at 2pm in the afternoon with the sun blazing overhead.

2 Comments

  1. I dunno this device is painfully stupid, but I fail to see how it might brick the gun in a life-and-death situation like a mag disconnect can do.

    Meanwhile if this little number breaks….how do you fix it????

    Dissemble the block…oh wait I can’t do that unless the block works…..

  2. The reason why we feel inside the magwell and chamber…

    …is also because I don’t trust my lyin’ eyes.

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