EPWrangler:
IMHO, CA rejected the thumb safety version because it can't include a Hilary Lock....
The thumb safety, which nominally protects the shooter, is much less important than the lock which is supposed to protect the children, and, of course, the Criminals and Terrorists....
Florida Shooter:
I've got three M&P's - one, a 40C, with a thumb safety. I carry that one around the house. However, I'm a 1911 guy, and actually miss the thumb safety, even though it's quite wrong, which is why I ended up with one. (It's actually the frame from a 9C that turned up with one.)
That said, I'm more than used to it....
If you're not trained up in the use of the thumb safety, it's probably a bad idea, and since the gun is almost safe enough without it, no matter what, presuming you don't manage to get your shirt caught in the trigger guard, it's probably best to NOT have it.
My basic rule is that everything I carry has to work more or less the same way. If a component is missing (like a thumb safety), it's far better to be confused by missing it when you try to thumb it off than to try to remember to do it at all if it's unfamiliar, or, Heaven Forbid, have to remember that it goes the other way.... (All three of my "backwards" safety guns - two S&W's and a Walther - are safe enough with the safety off, as long as you're careful to de-cock them before holstering.)
Guess the point, in your case, though, is that you're not used to a thumb safety on a handgun. Other than the "stuff in the trigger guard" issues, there's really no good reason to put one on an M&P.... IMHO, that "distracted" and you might forget to turn it on anyway....
(I trained to snap off the safety during presentation, before the finger goes into the trigger guard, and then snap it back on about as quickly as the finger comes out. That's the only way to really be safe with the design. Very easy to train up to, though. One of the reasons I put the thumb safety on the carry 40C is so I wouldn't "break training" when on the range. If you're going to carry it, you have to shoot it....)
Also, if you don't mind some funny square holes in the plastic (S&W will send you some plugs if you ask nice), it takes about five minutes (OK, ten for me
) to remove the thumb safety, with no effect at all on the rest of the gun. Just don't lose the parts....
The only real downside to the thumb safety guns, at this time, with respect to the way the gun functions, is that Apex doesn't have a RAM kit for those models - the sear block is a bit too different, and the RAM components actually use the hole where the Hilary Lock goes (or was
). S&W will also send you a plug for that hole, too....
SO, given that Randy has promised a RAM kit for the thumb safety guns someday, there's probably no downside to going with an M&P with the thumb safety since you can always remove it. Unless you really want a Hilary Lock....
It's considered bad Karma to remove a manufacturer-supplied safety device from a carry gun, but unless you're an LEO, it probably won't matter. I wasn't here, I didn't say this....
Regards,