Just…this. I can only assume I had a brain fart and hit “U” instead of “T” like I intended, resulting in…
It seems while the game will prevent you from activating a worn gun, unloading an empty gun ignores this check.
EDIT: Oh, and good news. Seems that removing the strap does not remove any armor properties like encumbrance. Bad news for me because I can’t use it for hilarity without having massive encumbrance.