It is critical that you learn how to safely unload a handgun. Otherwise you may have a chambered cartridge when you think the gun is empty. And that’s a Very Bad Thing.

There are two steps to unloading a semiautomatic pistol.

First, you eject the magazine by pressing the magazine release button. This prevents more cartridges from being fed into the chamber.

Then, you remove the cartridge that’s in the chamber. You do that by pulling on the slide rapidly. Pulling on the slide will cause the cartridge that’s in the chamber to hit the ejector and the extractor pin. This will cause the cartridge to pop out of the ejection port. Now, the gun is safe.

It is critical that you do these steps in this order. If you pull the slide first, yes, you will remove the chambered cartridge. But as soon as you let go the slide, it will feed the next cartridge from the magazine into the chamber. Even if you remove the magazine, the gun will still be loaded.

Remember: Always remove the magazine first, and then pull the slide.

Continue reading: Learning to Shoot at a Gun Range