Do you use a safety or no safety on your firearm?

[RetiredMajor]

"To have a weapon w/ a safety and not use it is just plain stupid. To purposely buy a weapon w/o one is just as bad, but I doubt that your choice for pistol has "no safety"."

I EDC carry a Kahr PM9 which HAS NO EXTERNAL SAFETY. Look it up if you need to! I've been shooting for more than 45 years both in the military and and as a civilian. I'm also an NRA Certified Instructor and I teach firearm safety classes and I teach people to shoot handguns. I've been doing so for a long time. Are you trying to tell me and others that our firearm choice is "just plain stupid" because our handgun choice lacks an external safety? There is something called training and personal responsibility. Look them up if you need to. Wow......terrible advice.

[Aqualife]

I don’t own guns with out a safety.

If I can draw my shotgun disengage the safety, aim and shot a grouse in 2-3 seconds with out thinking. Then I won’t have a problem with the EDC.

They have the term glock leg for a reason....

[TunnelRat]

Originally Posted by Aqualife

I don’t own guns with out a safety.

If I can draw my shotgun disengage the safety, aim and shot a grouse in 2-3 seconds with out thinking. Then I won’t have a problem with the EDC.

They have the term glock leg for a reason....

They have the term Glock leg because it’s one of the most popular pistols out there and with that big of a user base you’ll have people being negligent. Heck, I imagine some people have even shot themselves with pistols that have a safety and even with a safety it’s generally a good idea to not sweep your own leg with your muzzle. The safety rules of firearms exist for a reason.

This is why I generally avoid these threads when they come up every so often. You have one side that says carrying a pistol with a safety will inevitably result in you forgetting how to use a safety and you’ll get killed. You have another side that says carrying a pistol without a safety will inevitably result in you shooting yourself. Then we usually have the people that are so emotionally invested in the choice they’ve made that they take it as a person insult if someone chooses differently.

From my experience the reality is people are and will continue to be negligent with firearms and training with a firearm is more important than the manual of arms.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Brian48]

Well, I have a lot of 1911s so yes. I do use the safety.

[Cosmodragoon]

I do not like the extra and largely superfluous step of a manual safety switch. We can debate how often it causes problems but the fact is that it can and sometimes does cause problems for people in emergency situations.

I prefer the safety of a double action trigger up front. Much like a trigger dingus, this safety mechanism is in line with the normal operation of a single control. I also like the feedback of my thumb on the hammer when reholstering.

[zukiphile]

Originally Posted by TunnelRat

Then we usually have the people that are so emotionally invested in the choice they’ve made that they take it as a person insult if someone chooses differently.

Indeed. It bears repeating that Gaseousclay asks what people use rather than what's best.

[gaseousclay]

It bears repeating that Gaseousclay asks what people use rather than what's best.

Exactly. I asked because I was curious but also because I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer. It’s more about how a safety/no safety works for you. My gun is for home defense, so in that context, no safety works for me. I could use the same firearm for conceal carry without having a round chambered and that would alleviate my fear of accidental discharge. I fully understand that more training is required on my part.

[zukiphile]

Originally Posted by gaseousclay

My gun is for home defense, so in that context, no safety works for me.

In this context, there's an additional variable: what is a person's home?

A retiree living by himself could have a reasonable set up, but that same set up could be madness for someone in a home with five kids between the ages of four and 12. Readiness and prudence are guiding values that can get people to different specific solutions.

[gc70]

Instead of choosing between A or B, I will take C ... I use a manual safety part of the time.

I bought a Shield before S&W came out with a no-thumb-safety model. The thumb safety was so small and positive that I had no concern it would be inadvertently engaged. And then I realized that the slide could be operated with the safety engaged.

The process I developed was to have the safety disengaged when the gun was holstered and when I drew the gun to fire. I engaged the safety before holstering the gun and disengaged it after the gun was holstered. I would also engage the safety before removing the gun from the holster for routine handling since any administrative handling of the gun could be done with the safety engaged.

[Onward Allusion]

Unless it's something like a 1911, I don't engage a the manual safety even if it has one.

[Pahoo]

I feel that there might be a little confusion here. If you are referring to a "visible" safety that is clearly identified in the manual, that's one thing. Then there are firearms that have internal safeties that "are" present but can't be seen. I am not aware of any "modern" firearm that does not have it's own unique safety......

I own one firearm that actually has three external safeties. I only use two; one is on the firearm and the other is in my head. Regardless of how many I have, I always use the one in my head. .....

Be Safe !!!

[Nacho Man]

No safety for carry.
Lcp, G19, and sp101

[Carl the Floor Walker]

Deleted- old debate

[44 AMP]

I do not like the extra and largely superfluous step of a manual safety switch. We can debate how often it causes problems but the fact is that it can and sometimes does cause problems for people in emergency situations.

What you don't like is what you don't like and I'm not going to try and change your mind about that. However I do think discussion about how/when a safety has caused problems should ALSO include the fact that there are documented cases of when a safety saved someone from being shot.

the way I see it, a gun with a safety gives you an option that one without one can't. I like having options, even when I don't choose to use them, I like having the choice in my hands, not made for me by a design engineer who knows what "perfection" is.....

[TailGator]

I personally consider these debates to be tempests in teapots. If have pistols with no thumb safety, with frame-mounted thumb safeties, and with slide-mounted thumb safeties. My most frequent carry is one without a thumb safety, but I have a pocket pistol for occasional use with a frame-mounted thumb safety (Sig P238 to be specific). Practice and familiarity has made them both very comfortable and easy to use. I know some people will say that I shouldn't use pistols with different mechanisms, but I have used both enough that I switch back and forth without thinking, and the feel in the hand tells me what I have. Other pistols that are only for range use have different mechanisms still, and there just isn't a problem. Pick one and practice with it until handling it becomes something automatic and ingrained. They are all legitimate choices for different people, and they all sell because SOMEONE is picking them.

[lee40215]

I prefer a de cocker than a safety

[Kevin Rohrer]

"To have a weapon w/ a safety and not use it is just plain stupid. To purposely buy a weapon w/o one is just as bad, but I doubt that your choice for pistol has "no safety"."

I EDC carry a Kahr PM9 which HAS NO EXTERNAL SAFETY. Look it up if you need to! I've been shooting for more than 45 years both in the military and and as a civilian. I'm also an NRA Certified Instructor and I teach firearm safety classes and I teach people to shoot handguns. I've been doing so for a long time. Are you trying to tell me and others that our firearm choice is "just plain stupid" because our handgun choice lacks an external safety? There is something called training and personal responsibility. Look them up if you need to. Wow......terrible advice.

There would be less arguments and understanding if everyone read for understanding.

[BigMikey76]

My EDC is a revolver - no safety.

I have a a few semis that fill other roles, but they all have fairly long triggers to match what I have gotten used to in my revolver:

My night stand gun is a Smith SD9 - long trigger, no safety.
My car gun is a Bersa Thunder CC - has a safety, but I don't use it - long pull on the first shot.
My pocket gun for dress up occasions is a Kahr CT 380 - long pull, no safety

Whatever your preference, pick one standard and stick to it. That way it's always the same procedure no matter what is in your hands. In my case, that procedure is point and shoot. No fuss, no muss.

[corneileous]

Originally Posted by gaseousclay

I ask because my S&W m&p 2.0 is the no safety variant, but as it applies to self defense, I wouldn't want to forget to disengage the safety when fear and adrenaline are pumping and seconds count. I think this boils down to proper training and muscle memory if i'm not mistaken.

My biggest concern though is the firearm discharging when conceal carrying. I'm not sure how often this happens but the last thing i'd want is the gun going off by accident.

So how many of you prefer a safety over no safety on your pistol?

Here’s the deal; accidents are going to happen. Doesn’t matter how good that safety is between your ears, we all as humans are infallible. And yes, you’re right, training does help a lot but if you’re ever thrown into that self defense situation at lightning speed, your training might or might not let you forget to turn that safety off if that day ever comes. You just have to do what is comfortable for you. That’s what it all boils down to. Although in my humble little opinion, I think it’s a lot easier to have a negligent discharge in your typical striker fired semi automatic pistol that has no manual safety than it is with an old-school double action single action hammer fired pistol without a safety because you normally have a lot longer and a lot heavier trigger pull on a hammer fired pistol then you do on your typical striker fired one and plus, there’s a hammer on the backside of the slide that I can press on when I go to holster the pistol to where even if the trigger did get snagged on anything, there’s no way for the trigger to go back because you’re pressing on the hammer. And here’s something else to think about; there’s a company out there that makes a device that goes in place of the backplate of Glock that allows the user to do the same thing as pressing on the hammer of a hammer fired pistol so that at least you can say for holstering a pistol with one of those and while you’re pressing in on that switch, you’re preventing the gun from firing even if the trigger were to ever get snagged on anything so that’s why I say, even though I’m not trying to start any arguments here but that’s at least why I feel pulled more towards hammer guns. What you do or what anybody else does is on you/them.

All of my carry guns have hammers. My primary every day carry pistol has a safety but because it’s hammer fired, the safety doesn’t get used. My other guns are various PX4 storm Berettas but they’re pretty much the same way except for the fact that they don’t even have a safety.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Flight567]

My pistols don't have safeties. Its pretty hard to get a glock with a mechanical safety in my parts.

I don't particularly care for, Or about safeties. Its pretty much the same thing as a safety on a rifle; all about consistent training. When you present an AR from a ready position, the rifle starts on safe, and slips onto fire. Same thing can happen with a pistol.

Personal preference and all.

Sent from my SM-N981U using Tapatalk

[Cheapshooter]

No safety on carry guns. LCP, Sig P320.

[Nanuk]

All of my carry guns have safeties, whether passive like the transfer bar on a S&W revolver or active like a thumb safety on a 1911.

[Kevin Rohrer]

All of my carry guns have safeties, whether passive like the transfer bar on a S&W revolver or active like a thumb safety on a 1911.

Correct. Which is something very few people here understand.

[TunnelRat]

Originally Posted by Kevin Rohrer

All of my carry guns have safeties, whether passive like the transfer bar on a S&W revolver or active like a thumb safety on a 1911.

Correct. Which is something very few people here understand.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say they do understand that. What they’re doing is responding in context of the OP’s question, which is about the use of a manual safety, not a passive safety.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hawg]

If I own a semi it will have a manual safety. I wont buy one without it.