Personally, if I have a firearm for self defense (even at home) I have a round chambered, and if it's a SA such as my Kimber Custom TLE II, I have the hammer cocked and the safety engaged. If you have a gun that you carry for self defense, and you honestly think the gun could accidentally go off with round chambered, then you need to find a new gun to carry!!! Also, a lot of people say they can watch out and if they see something coming they can pull it out and rack the slide, but in reality, if something is going down, you're heart rate is going to spike and you simply are just not going to be able to perform at your peak performance. Just ask any LEO or military person that's actually been in a combat or tactical situation and they will tell you that. That's why most officers will suggest a DAO pistol such as a Glock and keeping a round chambered so that all you have to focus on is aiming and pulling the trigger. Another thing to note, is that if you see what you think "might" be a possible situation and you pull out your gun to rack the slide and it turns out you were wrong...well congratulations, you technically just broke the law in many states. I doubt you'd be prosecuted since you could honestly say you were "afraid for your life." I myself have been in a few situations like that and could simply place my hand on my gun while it was still concealed and pull it if I needed to. I've only had to actually "brandish" a handgun once to stop a man from beating up another man by simply placing my hand on my pistol without having to draw it. He simply saw a big .45 pistol, put his hands up, and said "it's cool, don't shoot" and he left without anyone getting hurt. But anyway, that's just my opinion.
