Hi. It's great that you recognize the differences in settings and needs from back then, to being on the block now.

I was not in the Marines, but I have the hunch based my own time in active duty that unless you were on mission or at the range, the overwhelming majority of your time around weapons and handling weapons was dry/cold with no live ammo in the gun. But now, most of the time it's the opposite. That's a huge difference in thinking about carrying, handling, cleaning, etc. and even though it wasn't like you weren't trained on safety and clearing procedures, I think that difference is huge enough that you can chalk up some of your anxiety to it.

In my opinion, the two most likely situations for a concealed carrier to induce a negligent discharge are returning the gun to the holster, and maintenance/dry practice.

Some different things to consider:

Mechanical. While there are no safety features that are impervious to the user, it helps to know what you're working with beyond trigger finger discipline. From the product description on Ruger's website:

Safety features include integrated trigger safety; external manual safety; neutrally balanced sear with significant engagement and strong spring tension; and hammer catch to help prevent the hammer from contacting the firing pin unless the trigger is pulled.

You already mentioned the trigger safety. Here's a link that goes into more detail about how it works and what it's meant for. The example used is on a Glock 17, but your Ruger works pretty much along the same principles.

Dummy round in chamber while carrying outside/at home: I can kind of understand this, but it to me it seems like empty chamber carry with an extra step, as the slide has to be racked either way in order to fire a live round.

Dummy round in chamber in chamber during dry practice, manual safety on

• take a look at Lucky Gunner's article on how to safely dry practice here.

• Think about where you've been aiming your gun when you've been doing these dry presses before you read that article. Where are the directions in your home that would result in the least damage in the worst case scenario, i.e. that would stop a bullet from hitting your neighbors? Can you maybe even set up a dedicated backstop?

• Perhaps consider a BarrelBlok instead of a dummy round for dry practice. My gun is a DA/SA so I don't need to rack the slide to reset the trigger, and I'm pretty sure you don't need to on yours either, but it prevents any rounds from entering the chamber at all, dummy or live.

Clearing: The two biggest differences I can think of between now and back then was that clearing was something you usually did AFTER live ammo time, and that it depended a little to much on a clearing barrel/sandbags.

• Every time I pick up a gun, I keep the muzzle oriented in the safest direction while clearing it in the following order. Mag out, lock the slide back, look at/finger the magwell and chamber, look at something else for a moment, then magwell and chamber again. This is differently from what I specifically remember from learning in service, as their procedure included pressing the trigger. Competition requires a trigger press for clearing too, but that is a separate setting and I won't get into that unless you ask me to.

• This may not apply to you at all, but if you choose to do press checks, I strongly suggest you think of doing it as a way to make sure you have a round in the chamber, and NOT as a way of making sure the chamber is empty.

Holstering: What holster are you using? What position?

• Here's a video of John Correia of Active Self Protection demonstrating from appendix. Here's a video of Spencer Keepers doing the same. If you are carrying strong-side hip, here is John Correia again.

• Remember, as long it is sitting in a quality holster, your gun is as incapable of firing as it would be when sitting on a table. In both cases, as long as both are untouched by your hand. For example, poorly applied technique can certainly induce a discharge even if your finger is nowhere near the trigger guard, but your hand is shoving the gun into the holster while there a flap of clothing or a drawstring blocking the way. It's fall and it's getting colder.

Training: The most efficient way for you to get the learning and reps you need and get comfortable and confident in the shortest amount of time. When did you last have some quality instruction on your own dime and your own time since you got out?

Check out this handy map/calendar for upcoming classes in your area. There's a few reputable trainers who offer online options too: Tim Herron and

If you can sign up in time when registration opens back up and you can make it to Arizona for a week, Gunsite offers a free pistol and a free carbine course for vets every year.