Thumb safety or NO thumb safety ??

[edubbie]

No not new to guns just new to semi automatic. I have always had a smith and Wesson 38 revolver but as I have gotten older I like the semi's better. I've never had a safety on my gun before.

Does your revolver have a safety? That was the 1st question the LGS asked me when I bought my Kahr several years back and was concerned about a safety or rather the lack there of. Before that, I was only familiar with 1911 and Colt Mustang .380s. Never thought about it that way but do now.

I personally see NO reason NOT to have a safety on a shield. I load, un-load, chamber and holster with the safety on. Once securely seated in my holster I switch the safety off.

Personally I agree with quicksilver. My Shield 45 has a safety but once holstered, the safety comes off.

 

[gwpercle]

No one is going to force you to put the safety on if you don't want too ! If the gun has a safety , it's use is optional !
I typically pin the grip safety down on my 1911 Colt 45 acp's. My first 45 , a Star model PS had no grip safety at all and I came to like that arrangement .
You don't like the safety....don't engage it.

 

[jstanfield103]

I prefer the safety. I like to throw mine in my pocket sometimes without a holster. If I IWB carry I just leave the safety off.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Some people like safeties, some don't. The revolver safety question isn't exactly fair, because revolvers generally have 10-12 pound DA trigger pulls, while striker fired pistols with or without safeties are in the 5 to 7 pound range.

I've got pistols with and without safeties. There's no big elephant in the corner reason for or against a manual safety. It's all in what you are comfortable with regarding that particular pistol. Make a choice and run with it. Your mind may change over the years . . .

 

[Ranger17]

My Shield PC has a safety, my other MP 9's do not. While only used at the range, the safety isn't a concern. But when i'm at the point of buying a holster and actually training to carry the Shield, then I will have that as part of the training and practice.

Only been a gun owner for 4 yrs so while i've shot thousands of rounds at the range I dont have all the experience many others here do for carrying, safety use, etc. But i can understand how being newer to this that a safety could give me some piece of mind in certain circumstances.... knowing that it has to become an integral part of any training i am to do

 

[ChiefStealth]

My Shield has the safety. I like it. I want it. I use it. All my guns have thumb safeties. YMMV.

 

[dben002]

My Shield 9mm did have the safety.
My Shield 45 has the safety.
I don't use them (one exception) and the Shield 45 safety lever is stiff enough that it is not going to be engaged accidently.

The one exception is after cleaning the weapon I will engage the safety to insert the mag and rack one in the chamber then the safety is released, the gun is holstered and remains holstered until it needs to be fired. (that includes the range).

Some however, feel more secure with the safety engaged and as long as they train in that mode that's fine and not a problem.

To each his own...but for me no big deal either way

 

[kthom]

I've carried a Shield 9 daily pretty much since they were introduced. It has the safety. I don't use it. I have operated it a few times just to satisfy myself that it is VERY unlikely to be operated unless a deliberate attempt to do so occurs. I have NEVER had the safety lever move from either position to the other while carrying. I also have a Shield .45 that has the safety. I can actually operate it fairly well with my thumb both ways, but it to requires a very deliberate action to move the safety. I've been carrying the .45 daily for about a month now. The safety has been in the "off" position during that time, as is the one on the 9 for the duration. I have no concerns about accidental activation or deactivation of the safety on either gun. I don't use it! I'm comfortable with that (I'm an old long time revolver man). So I care less whether or not the gun has one. Had the no safety model been available when I purchased either on, I'd have bought the one with no safety. But that was not the case so mine do have the safety in place. For me, it simply makes no difference. I do not mind having the safety since there could possibly be some time when I might use it for a specific reason, but otherwise, it simply stays in the "off" position. That's my decision for me, but my experience tells me that it will not be a problem. I will not say that moving the safety unintentionally is not possible. Very few things in life are totally impossible! But I will say that it is extremely unlikely to happen unintentionally. That works for me. You have to decide for yourself what you are comfortable with.

 

[Rastoff]

Since I am still a newbie with guns I want thumb safeties on my guns.

This is a misnomer. Thumb safeties do not make the operation of the gun safer. It matters not if you're new to guns.

I have a 1911 which obviously requires a safety.

Why obviously? The 1911 was originally designed without a thumb safety. The thumb safety was only added because the military demanded it.

I carry AIWB and don't want to inadvertently shoot my dick off.

I refer you to rule #2.

I personally see NO reason NOT to have a safety on a shield.

You may switch it off once holstered, but if it inadvertently gets switched on, unlikely I know, it would be a bad day if you needed it.

Does your revolver have a safety?

People say this a lot when this discussion comes up. However, it's an apples to oranges comparison. Unless you carry your revolver cocked, it's completely irrelevant.



The thumb safety on any M&P is superfluous. They only added it because of public desire. All it does is block the movement of the trigger. If you carry properly, with the trigger covered, the thumb safety serves no purpose.

 

[Emalone5]

Just went to pick up my new 9mm shield with tritium night sights with no safety. $479.99 which was good with night sights bc the regular shield was $422 so I'm pretty happy.

 

[CoMF]

I purchased my .45 Shield sans manual safety. I didn't really see a need for it, nor did I feel it made the pistol "safer."

I won't knock anyone who insists on one, however, and I think it's great that S&W catered to both camps.

 

[swkohnle08]

No safety Shield 9mm.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jstanfield103]

I think Muss hit it right on the head

 

[KELSW]

I am new to CC so I looked for a gun w safety . I don't quick draw as it is carried in my purse . I will train flipping off the safety. My purse "holster" is a Crossbred Kydex purse defender system . I wanted to be as secure and safe as possible with "one in the chamber" . Heard to many AD stories . Sometimes I feel like it is a put down if you prefer a safety.

 

[kbm6893]

For every one story you can show me where a safety got somebody hurt or
Killed during a self defense situation, I can find you 50 where a manual safety would have prevented an unnecessary injury or death. A woman was shot and killed by her 2 year old who got a hold of her Shield in a Walmart. It was in her purse and she had turned away. Yeah, she shouldn't have done that, but she's human and made a mistake. We all can.

The odds of any of us needing a gun in a self defense situation are astronomical. Odds are much better of an ND. Before Glock came along, millions of semi auto pistols with safeties were being carried and nobody felt like they were a liability.

 

[Maxshield]

For every one story you can show me where a safety got somebody hurt or
Killed during a self defense situation, I can find you 50 where a manual safety would have prevented an unnecessary injury or death. A woman was shot and killed by her 2 year old who got a hold of her Shield in a Walmart. It was in her purse and she had turned away. Yeah, she shouldn't have done that, but she's human and made a mistake. We all can.

The odds of any of us needing a gun in a self defense situation are astronomical. Odds are much better of an ND. Before Glock came along, millions of semi auto pistols with safeties were being carried and nobody felt like they were a liability.

Exactly, one handles a gun 365 times a year at a bare minimum, load/unload, in and out of holster and many other times. All Have potential for an accident or a brain fart.

Didn't always think that, was up the mountains in the woods one day and had my 9c in a Fobus paddle holster. The rivets on the holster were irritating my side. Removed the 9c from holster to adjust and tripped. Gun fell from hand as I tried to catch myself.

Now, I know the 9c is drop safe and should have let it drop, but the natural inclination is to try to catch anything that you drop, which is what I did, snagged the trigger and gun fired into ground


Been carrying daily since 1980, even at home, and always handle any weapon only in the basement surrounded by 20,000 miles of dirt. Still do that but with either Shield 9, 45 or 9c with safety. From 1988 until 2014, carry gun was a G19 or G26.

When gun is carried daily, safety is snapped off when holstered and on before removing. It's a no brainer now in my book, especially with the Shield safety, it's like it's not even there

 

[ca survivor]

the reason I buy MPs is because of the thumb safety.

 

[msjdgman]

I was a 1911 owner long before I ever thought about an M&P. So I've trained for using the thumb saftey. Now that I have aquired a couple of M&P's, for me the TS was an easy decision. But....you absolutely must train and train so that engaging and disengaging is pure muscle memory. Again, train with it, otherwise it could be a liability in a stress situation.

 

[sheepdawg]

My first pistol was a Colt 1911a1 and my thumb seems to wind up on the safety of my Shield when it comes out of the holster.

 

[hdtwice]

I was a 1911 owner long before I ever thought about an M&P. So I've trained for using the thumb saftey. Now that I have aquired a couple of M&P's, for me the TS was an easy decision. But....you absolutely must train and train so that engaging and disengaging is pure muscle memory. Again, train with it, otherwise it could be a liability in a stress situation.

What you say makes sense to me. However, I have been doing lots of research on this and I keep coming across articles and videos from people who train others in handgun skills and I keep hearing how even those who have decades of experience while in a pistol class, many times forget to flip the safety off in drills. This is with out the stress of life and death so for me, I am really at a crossroads here as a new guy to pistols.