[expat2]

These officers were waiting far too long to unholster their weapons -- IMO they should have the gun out and behind their thigh or back.
What I was talking about was not waiting until after reaching a potentially dangerous situation before getting a round into the chamber. On the contrary, before getting within 25ft I would take out the weapon and chamber a round so the weapon is already drawn and ready to fire.
IOW, leave the chamber empty when say driving in a rural or upscale suburb but chamber a round before getting out in a downscale shopping center, for example.
This is all theoretical for me, a learning exercise -- I am not an LEO.

[marktwain]

I think it is a bad idea to vary the condition (round in the chamber or not) of your sidearm while carrying it.

The problem is always remembering what condition it is in. Is there a round chambered or not? Are you feeling lucky?

What you want is that the way that you draw the firearm becomes automatic and reliable. If you choose to carry with an empty chamber, then do so all the time and practice always chambering a round automatically when you draw. This is the Israeli method.

If you are going to carry with a round chambered, always do so.

Another consideration is the added safety risk of constantly loading/unloading the handgun. Doing this thousands of times increases the possibility of an accidental discharge.

I carry with a round chambered. I have always done so since the time I was really, really glad that I had the pistol with me, did not have to draw or fire, and then found that I did not have a round in the chamber.

It could have been very “embarrassing” to find that out in the middle of a confrontation.

Learning from your mistakes is good. Learning from the mistakes of others is much better.