Along with a quality handgun and holster, I have long considered enough spare ammunition for at least one reload to be essential personal safety equipment. Uniformed law enforcement officers routinely carry a pair of spare magazines, at least one less-lethal weapon, handcuffs, and a portable radio on the duty belt. Ironically, many of these same officers forego carrying any spare ammunition off duty or when on plainclothes assignments. Armed citizens too, erroneously feel that since they are equipped with a hi-cap pistol, an extra magazine isn’t worth the effort.
Armed confrontations tend to be fast breaking, short-range affairs that are over in just a few seconds. But while extended exchanges of gunfire are the exception rather than the rule, are you willing to bet your life on that? I’m not, and that slight inconvenience in carrying extra ammunition will pay dividends should Mr. Murphy call and you find yourself in an unusual event.
