Many years ago in the days of yor I was instructing about 15 young men on what they called in the military, “qual training”. Most of these guys were experienced in shooting the Colt M16A2 battle rifle. As you may or may not know this is the beginning of the “AR” platform weapons. The A2 was significantly better than the A1, which was the Viet Nam era weapon, prone to jamming and other life threatening problems. Anyway, as we methodically go through the “numbers” and method of shooting this weapon to qualify (we did it every 6 months) we completed the 2 level of shooting with the last steps being “Release the magazine, physically check the receiver, and move the selector to safe, and step back from the firing line”. One of the guys asked me about the safety and we started a conversation about it. I said I didn’t have a clue what the reason was for a safety, especially on a battle rifle. I also said that if you depended on a safety for your safety that you would be dead wrong. I could prove it to them. I proceeded to walk down the firing line and check each weapons for being on safe. I locked and loaded each one and then pressed each trigger on every rifle pointed downrange. Two of them gave the familiar M16 report. I pulled those two rifles and replaced them for the next level. A safety really has the wrong nomenclature. They should be called “mechanical devices prone to fail.” More than once I told a firing line to place their selectors on MDPF or safe. It’s not a very safe safety.
There was and is a misconception that once a safety is on, all is well. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT trust a safety! The four safety rules (All guns are always loaded, Never point gun at anything you don’t want to destroy, Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot, Know your target and beyond.) and your finger, are safety enough. Contrary to movies and TV modern guns do not go off when you drop them. You have to pull the trigger. If you are carrying a gun concealed I would recommend no safety. Unless you practice, practice, practice taking off the safety as you present the weapon, there’s a good chance you will try to press the trigger and forget the safety is on. Taking off a safety is a fine motor skill. You loose fine motor skills under great stress. This could cost you your life. The same goes for carrying with no round in the chamber. In the fog of crisis, you may forget to rack the slide. When presented with a very stressful situation you will get tunnel vision and forget all but the most rudimentary motor skills.
I have had people get upset with me because I told them they were violating rule 2, pointing unsafely, onlt to have them tell me the safety is on. This is more common than you think. I would rather rely on a human being properly trained following the 4 rules of safe gun handling than a safety that is supposed to be on or off.
Very few modern semi-auto weapons can not be carried safely without a safety. The only gun that I can think of that would need a safety is a semi-auto single action. The hammer is back and the trigger is light. This is the only weapon I feel needs a safety. The double action only, where the hammer is not exposed to cock, is a very safe weapon. Revolvers and semi-autos come like this, where each shot is a consistent, longer, heavier pull without having to go from single to double action.
It takes about .3 to .5 of a second to react to any stimulus. It takes a man about 1.5 seconds to move 21 feet. It takes someone who has practiced about 1.5 seconds to draw a weapon. These numbers don’t add up unless you see and react to a threat about 22 to 25 feet away. Throw in a safety and/or a slide rack and you’d better see the threat about 30 to 35 feet away. If you wanted to surprise someone would you broadcast your intentions with body language and demeanor 30 feet away from your target? I don’t even engage a non moving paper target that far away! I think if you need to rack or take off a safety, you’d be looking at 3 to 4 seconds. Maybe less if doing those motions were practiced with your draw stroke. I would hope you would not need your weapon to go bang faster than 2 seconds. If you did need that, the time may not be there. I watched a video of 2 people practicing this attack/defend scenario. The aggressor had a training knife, and the defender had a practice weapon that had a workable trigger. Even though the attacker knew they were going to be attacked, they need a full 2.5 to 3 seconds to react. The defender got off a shot 2 out of 5 times. These are not good odds. Remember, you want to stop the threat. You may be attacked successfully even if you get off 2 shots!
When you consider a protection weapon, it must be reliable. If there is any question, find a different weapon. In picking a carry gun, I have shot with it prior to purchasing it. I make sure to train with it and with cheap ammo, and the ammo I carry. If I go to these lengths to make sure the weapon does what I need it to, when I need it to do it, why would I want something on the gun that would stop it from firing? Especially when I can have a safe, quality weapon without such a device. I’ve heard the argument for a gun with a safety be “I’ve trained to work the safety.” I hope they never have to test that statement, because only in a defensive event will they know if that training worked. Why not practice the rules to safe gun handling and never wonder if training with a safety is a good choice? If you follow the safety rules always, you would have no need for a mechanical device, you would have your finger!
I have personally seen safeties fail. I have also seen others forget the safety is on, myself included. I don’t think a safety IS safe!
Whatever you decide, make sure you include working a safety or not working a safety in your training.
Semper Paratus
Burn
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