A thread in the semi auto forum got me thinking about this.
Many people think that a gun used for self defense shouldn't have a manual safety. I can see that it is one more thing to think about when drawing your weapon. If you forget to flip it off you are screwed if the fact that you have a gun doesn't deter the criminal.
Others believe that the added time of having to flip the safety off is an unnecessary risk to take when you are in a self defense situation.
I think that the first example(forgetting to flip the safety off) can be avoided with practice unholstering your gun and immediately flipping the safety switch off. You can train in this manner until it is second nature and you don't even have to think about it.
The second example is the one that gets me. I don't know that the time it takes to flip the safety off is going to make a big difference if you train and are proficient doing so. I think that if something is going to go down so fast that you don't have time to disengage the safety, you aren't going to have time to even unholster your gun.
All my guns have manual safeties but I can carry them without having the safety on if I choose to. I was just wondering what everyone thinks on this subject or if anyone has firsthand experience where a manual safety worked against your favor.
Many people think that a gun used for self defense shouldn't have a manual safety. I can see that it is one more thing to think about when drawing your weapon. If you forget to flip it off you are screwed if the fact that you have a gun doesn't deter the criminal.
Others believe that the added time of having to flip the safety off is an unnecessary risk to take when you are in a self defense situation.
I think that the first example(forgetting to flip the safety off) can be avoided with practice unholstering your gun and immediately flipping the safety switch off. You can train in this manner until it is second nature and you don't even have to think about it.
The second example is the one that gets me. I don't know that the time it takes to flip the safety off is going to make a big difference if you train and are proficient doing so. I think that if something is going to go down so fast that you don't have time to disengage the safety, you aren't going to have time to even unholster your gun.
All my guns have manual safeties but I can carry them without having the safety on if I choose to. I was just wondering what everyone thinks on this subject or if anyone has firsthand experience where a manual safety worked against your favor.