the next generation of side arm safety by Garret Machine T here are only four centimeters that separate you from firing your weapon. Four critical centimeters that make the difference between a loaded weapon and an unloaded weapon. It is those four centi- meters that are necessary to charge the Glock 22, 40 caliber pistol and load a bullet in the barrel. The difference between an unloaded and loaded gun is life and death. In the United States we have a hand gun culture that dictates the necessity of car- rying a round in the chamber. This comes from the old west, cowboys and Indians. The first modern hand guns carried on the hip of pioneers, ranchers, cowboys and the average citizen were revolvers, six shooters. The design of this gun dictates that there is virtually no choice but to have a bullet in the barrel. The nature of the weapon is to have a heavy trigger due to the hammer or necessity to cock the weapon before firing in some models. When the transition was made from the revolver to the semiautomatic pistol some of the first designs also had a very low magazine capacity. In example one of the most popular designs of the semiautomatic was the colt 1911. The 1911 was chambered in .45 and had an 8 round magazine capacity. Not much more then the revolver. Another early semi auto pistol was the Browning High Power which had a 13 round capacity. As one can see the transition from a cham- bered revolver to a chambered semi auto was logical. A pistol such as the Glock, which is becoming the standard among law enforce- ment, is build without a manual safety. The weapon is safe if you are safe, but it seems as though there are a lot of accidental shoot- ings in the American law enforcement com- munity. Shootings of ones self seem to be quite prevalent. In other armed societies, like Russia or Israel for example, it is standard to carry with an empty chamber. In these coun- tries the negligent discharge rate is far lower then the united states. This is due to the fact that most occur when the officer or citizen is holstering a loaded gun without a manual safety, like a Glock. The Glock has 3 build in drop safeties but no actual switch. In Israel for example every 18 year old is drafted to the military and will come home with a gun after a week or two of training. A fully automatic rifle with ammo is brought home by fresh out of high school 18 year olds. Lets not talk about what would happen in our country if we did the same. These youths in Israel have the same responsibility to respond to terrorism as any police officer has in soci- ety, the off duty solders do not carry a round in the chamber. They chamber immediately before firing. One could research online to find out that the rate of negligent discharge in the discussed setting is quite few (about 2 a year for the whole country). Considering the risk and liability involved in carrying a weapon while on duty, such as 4 centimeters “THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN UNLOADED AND LOADED GUN IS LIFE AND DEATH.” 32 The Firearms Instructor Issue 50