A Tale of Two Safeties
- Thread starter TunnelRat
- Start date
I agree with AK103. If your gun has a manual safety and you intend to use the gun for self-defense then part of your normal presentation of the firearm to the target needs to be deactivating the safety.
It should also be part of any clearance drills you do to insure that if you accidentally engage the safety during the clearance drill, it automatically gets disengaged when you want to shoot.
Otherwise you run the real risk of having the gun go click when you want it to go bang.
Wreck-n-Crew
New member
I was sitting on my couch one day cleaning my pistols after shooting them the previous day when the phone rang. In my hand was one stripped pistol. Laying next to me was My EDC with a safety, fully loaded, safety on.
As I began my conversation I was still cleaning the barrel on the stripped gun when my neighbor stopped by to speak with the better half and she had her 8 year old with her. He is on medication for ADHD and constantly in to things , especially that early in the morning before the Meds kick in. Occupied as I was I did not feel him grab the pistol laying in the holster next to my leg. By the time I caught a glimpse of him and the alarm bells went off he had unholstered it and was pointing at the wall and pulling the trigger. Safety worked, trigger disconnect and all. Just glad I had the one with no safety already broke down.
I am not advocating the use of safeties. I am stating one reason I am happy for their existence. I changed my routine and now clean one at a time while the other is put away or safety checked. I also believe that the best safety is between the ears. I also believe that a gun with no manual safety is still safe in the hands of the right person at the time and not because a salesman that once convinced the world to do away with them says so.
I am sure that some believe that what happened that day was because of someone who had failed to take proper safety precautions and they would be right. One split second where the gun is not respected for how dangerous it can be and disaster can strike. However it is also hard to argue that a safety did not serve a purpose.
On another note I still thumb imaginary safeties. They are not real but it is a habit I don't fight to change as it is a natural motion that doesn't allow me to think about it and subconsciously as well as consciously I know that no matter what handgun is in my hand, it is ready to go. I can transition from a safety to a non-safety with confidence.
As I began my conversation I was still cleaning the barrel on the stripped gun when my neighbor stopped by to speak with the better half and she had her 8 year old with her. He is on medication for ADHD and constantly in to things , especially that early in the morning before the Meds kick in. Occupied as I was I did not feel him grab the pistol laying in the holster next to my leg. By the time I caught a glimpse of him and the alarm bells went off he had unholstered it and was pointing at the wall and pulling the trigger. Safety worked, trigger disconnect and all. Just glad I had the one with no safety already broke down.
I am not advocating the use of safeties. I am stating one reason I am happy for their existence. I changed my routine and now clean one at a time while the other is put away or safety checked. I also believe that the best safety is between the ears. I also believe that a gun with no manual safety is still safe in the hands of the right person at the time and not because a salesman that once convinced the world to do away with them says so.
I am sure that some believe that what happened that day was because of someone who had failed to take proper safety precautions and they would be right. One split second where the gun is not respected for how dangerous it can be and disaster can strike. However it is also hard to argue that a safety did not serve a purpose.
On another note I still thumb imaginary safeties. They are not real but it is a habit I don't fight to change as it is a natural motion that doesn't allow me to think about it and subconsciously as well as consciously I know that no matter what handgun is in my hand, it is ready to go. I can transition from a safety to a non-safety with confidence.
I think the actual design and location of the safety speaks to this problem more than anything. The stiff, low profile slide safety on my P9S doesn't make me wonder if it is going to safe itself. Something like the Shield I'd worry about. It isn't a very well designed gun, no matter how fun it might be.
I have no qualms with a manual safety whatsoever. I've never found myself forgetting to thumb down a safety lever on a 1911, my USP or M&P45 just to name a few. It's all about muscle memory and training. If you train like you should, it's second nature. If you don't, yes, you are going to have problems. Then again, if you don't train like you should when it comes to a Glock, M&P or XD to name a few, what makes you think that you are going to leave your finger off the trigger if that hasn't been built into muscle memory either?
As far as the "this is my safety" finger wavers go, alright, why don't they advocate a 2 pound match trigger for carry? If they're waving their booger hook in the air making that old claim, it shouldn't matter if it's a 20 pound trigger or a 2 pound trigger because they will never have their finger on the trigger until they are ready to shoot....or will they???
As far as the "this is my safety" finger wavers go, alright, why don't they advocate a 2 pound match trigger for carry? If they're waving their booger hook in the air making that old claim, it shouldn't matter if it's a 20 pound trigger or a 2 pound trigger because they will never have their finger on the trigger until they are ready to shoot....or will they???
motorhead0922
New member
I agree with much of what the sales person said, and in particular this quote. I have a 9mm Shield and a Bodyguard 380 with a very similar safety and they both have a very positive (and audible) click when turning the safety on or off. I see no way it could be accidentally moved. That said, I have never turned the safety on on the BG380 (it goes in a Desantis Superfly in my pocket), but there is one time that I do use the safety on the Shield. That is when I holster it into an IWB. I can't easily avoid pointing the muzzle at least a little bit at my body, and I want to eliminate the remote possibility of the trigger snagging as the gun goes in. Once the Shield is holstered, I click off the safety.
All my guns are in "revolver mode" all the time: condition 2, safety off. I want to be able to 1) grab gun, 2) pull trigger, and 3) go bang without thinking about a safety.
