Interesting...
I can understand why such a lever would be advantageous with a Glock (or brand with a similar take down), since one doesn't rack the slide back to field strip it and people could be too lazy to ensure the chamber was clear before take-down.

With the Shield though, the slide does need to locked back (which would extract & eject the chambered round) before one can flip the take-down lever.

If S&W had given the Shield a take-down device like that on the Glock, I could see adding the disconnect lever, but maybe I'm missing how someone could flip the lever on the Shield without racking the slide.

I'm just glad we're able to choose to use the lever, or use the trigger.