The first one is correct in an odd roundabout way. You can tell if the weapon is loaded by its weight. If the weapon has any weight whatsoever, i.e. it exists, it is treated as if it is loaded. Is there a weapon on the ground in front of you? It’s loaded. Have you been holding it for a while? It’s loaded. Did you clear it then put it on the ground and walk away for a bit? Surprise! It’s magically loaded again.
The always loaded thing is to also teach you to not treat it flippantly. That you keep cognizant of where it’s pointing at all times and never at someone without intention to shoot them. Even if it’s a semi-auto with the magazine out, slide back, chamber empty you still treat that like a loaded gun.
During my service the rule was pretty clear that any assembled weapon is always treated as loaded, regardless how many people have checked it. Part of the idea was that no matter how sure you are that your weapon is clear, there’s no way for me to be sure, and if you ever muzzle-swipe me you can bet your ass I’m not taking any chances on whether it’s clear. So basically, if the weapon is assembled, it’s loaded. Always.
Aha, then I understand! In my training, a “clear” drill was always concluded by firing in a safe direction (e.g. the ground), so I would regard that trigger pull as the conclusion of the clearing drill, not as “treating the weapon as unloaded”. The point of that step was exactly the mentality that “You just cleared the weapon, so obviously you should treat it as loaded and fire a shot into the ground to re-check that you actually cleared it”.
The first one is correct in an odd roundabout way. You can tell if the weapon is loaded by its weight. If the weapon has any weight whatsoever, i.e. it exists, it is treated as if it is loaded. Is there a weapon on the ground in front of you? It’s loaded. Have you been holding it for a while? It’s loaded. Did you clear it then put it on the ground and walk away for a bit? Surprise! It’s magically loaded again.
The devil loads the weapon while you’re not looking
The always loaded thing is to also teach you to not treat it flippantly. That you keep cognizant of where it’s pointing at all times and never at someone without intention to shoot them. Even if it’s a semi-auto with the magazine out, slide back, chamber empty you still treat that like a loaded gun.
Did you clear it
then put it on the ground and walk away for a bit? Surprise! It’s magically loaded again.During my service, the first rule was extended: “every weapon must be regarded as loaded, until you ensured it isn’t”
During my service the rule was pretty clear that any assembled weapon is always treated as loaded, regardless how many people have checked it. Part of the idea was that no matter how sure you are that your weapon is clear, there’s no way for me to be sure, and if you ever muzzle-swipe me you can bet your ass I’m not taking any chances on whether it’s clear. So basically, if the weapon is assembled, it’s loaded. Always.
This rule would make it impossible to clean a Glock
Never used a Glock before, how is that? Don’t you disassemble it before cleaning it?
The design requires that you clear it and pull the trigger before disassembling it
Aha, then I understand! In my training, a “clear” drill was always concluded by firing in a safe direction (e.g. the ground), so I would regard that trigger pull as the conclusion of the clearing drill, not as “treating the weapon as unloaded”. The point of that step was exactly the mentality that “You just cleared the weapon, so obviously you should treat it as loaded and fire a shot into the ground to re-check that you actually cleared it”.