Carrying spare magazines

[Olumin]

You hear this all time, especially in the US, from the EDC and gun communitys.

Unless you are active law enforcement, security or military, there is no logical point in doing it and you look like a tacticool mall-ninja.

The biggest points these people list for doing it is:

Magazine failure:
Entirely mute point. In case of a mag. failure in a serious self-defense situation, there is no time to perform a mag change. You are ****ed no matter what.
Also, with modern guns and magazines, such failures are so unlikely that it should be of no concern.

If you are carrying a gun, I believe it is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with it and practice with it on the range. The reliability of your magazines should not be called into question.

And last of all, IF you are so concerned with Mag. failure, carry a revolver!

More capacity:
Magazine capacity has more than doubled over the last century, with the power of the rounds commonly used in carry guns also having increased (.32/.380 ACP back then vs 45ACP/9mm today). I am aware that .32 and .380 remain very popular carry rounds to this day, however the majority of people carring a .32 are usually not the ones carrying spare magazines...
In reality, capacity and effectiveness was a non-issue back then and it is not a issue today. There is plenty of modern data that backs this up.
The notion of not having "enough capacity" in a self-defense situation is delusional, and borders on paranoia. Usually not more than 1 or 2 rounds are fired, very rarely more.

Are you afraid for your life? Do you expect to be assaulted by a gang armed with submachine guns hiding behind metal barrels in some abandoned back-alley at night? Real life is no action movie, but judging by what some of these people are carrying around with them, you might be forgiven for thinking it is.

Low-capacity carry pistol:
Seriously? If you are unsatisfied with the capacity of your carry pistol, carry a different pistol. The extra space taken up by one or two spare mags, would have been better used in carrying a bigger firearm to begin with. Also See point Nr. 2.

There are many more reasons listed by these people, but quite frankly most of them fall into one of the above or are outright ridiculous.

Carry a firearm by all means, but don’t be an action hero. In my opinion, the best one can hope do is to carry a compact revolver in .357 mag.
6 rounds is all you will ever need, and some even hold 7!

If you like to carry spare-mags simply because you want to and because you love guns and being over-prepared, then that’s fine. Just be honest about it and don’t try to justify it. There is no need to explain yourself, do whatever makes you happy.   

If you are currently caring a spare mag and would like to tell be how I’m wrong, don’t even try.

Thank you.

[ddrfraser1]

Interesting read

[funkmon]

Is this a common argument made, really? Other than being extra prepared?

[noisyturtle]

I couldn't hang out with someone who edc's a gun. It just screams insecurity and increases the chance of anyone around them being shot by 100%

Don't edc a gun, you don't need to. WE LIVE IN A S O C I E T Y!

[0100010]

Okay, I won't try to change your mind, everyone is entitled their own opinion.  But I don't have to justify a spare magazine to anyone, just another item on the EDC list.

[Olumin]

Don't edc a gun, you don't need to. WE LIVE IN A S O C I E T Y!

Have you watched the news latley? LoL.

[Olumin]

Okay, I won't try to change your mind, everyone is entitled their own opinion.  But I don't have to justify a spare magazine to anyone, just another item on the EDC list.

And thats fine. I just dont want people to kid themselvs. I like to wear a nice watch, but I dont pretend to do it because it tells the time any better.

[-Jerry-]

I couldn't hang out with someone who edc's a gun.

Fun fact, we can’t even EDC 99% of Leatherman tools here in the UK. I work with computers all day, so I can keep one on me at work for cables and stuff, but the biggest one I’m allowed on me all the time is a Squirt PS, because locking blades are illegal regardless of length.

[fohat.digs]

we can’t even EDC 99% of Leatherman tools here in the UK

In reality the tool/weapon distinction would be considerably blurred. In my opinion, a good hammer would make an excellent weapon for close combat.

[-Jerry-]

we can’t even EDC 99% of Leatherman tools here in the UK

In reality the tool/weapon distinction would be considerably blurred. In my opinion, a good hammer would make an excellent weapon for close combat.

Oh definitely, I suspect that’s why hammers carried for that purpose are illegal too, as per Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) “Prohibited weapons may include a knuckleduster, baton, hammer or knife“. There is a concept of ‘instantaneous arming’ in criminal prosecution “Having an article innocently will be converted into having the article guiltily if an intent to use the article offensively is formed before the actual occasion to use violence has arisen.”.

So if you’re travelling to work at a building site and happen to have a hammer on you, that’s innocent possession. If you see somebody you don’t like and decide to hit them with it, that’s guilty possession. It’s been upheld though that if you happen to have one in innocent possession and then have cause to defend yourself from imminent attack, then it is lawful to use said innocently possessed item as a weapon. However if you were carrying a hammer because you thought you might get attacked, that’s illegal as judged "for the defence of reasonable excuse to be successful there had to be an imminent particular threat, not the constant carriage of an offensive weapon on account of some enduring threat or danger".

Weapon law is fairly interesting and I think we have such specific laws over here because so many things are illegal. I suspect I could technically carry a full size Leatherman and defend in court should I be found to be carrying it that I work in an environment where I use it, but realistically I’d rather not test that. I’ll probably just get a ‘Knifeless Rebar’ at some point, but my Squirt does just fine for most things, quick unscrewing, cable cutting, box opening, etc.

[Kavik]

1. No one has ever wished he'd had less ammo.
2. Magazines do fail, and, if they do, you are 100% screwed without a spare because it requires removing the base plate to fix them. Just reload if a tap, rack doesn't work. Sand (potentially excessive pocket lint?) is usually the culprit in good magazines.
--Once at the range, sand got in a mag, causing the follower to somehow stick halfway down the mag and the rounds fell into the body of the mag in a jumbled mess - no way to fix it except to disassemble the magazine, clean it, reload each round, and then reload the gun - a several minute process.
--Also, see Clint Smith's anecdote about getting out of his car as the seat belt caught the base plate of the magazine in his pistol and dumped all the rounds.
3. There is literally no downside. Why not carry one or two extras if you have room for them? You're already carrying a 2 pound tool you'll probably never use.


Watch "Active Self Protection" on Youtube for clips of actual defensive encounters. The "1 or 2 rounds" thing does not appear to be true; although, reloads do seem to be rare.

Also, it is a myth that revolvers are more reliable, and, when they do malfunction, they are usually not fixable in the field because it's something stupid like the cylinder's getting stuck shut or not rotating. I had a S&W Bodyguard 38 revolver that would sometimes fire only every other trigger pull, and two trips back to the factory did not fix it.

[Coreda]