Manual Safety on a Self-Defense Handgun
Rob PincusDescription
Using a Springfield Armory XD and a Beretta 92 as examples, Rob Pincus defines appropriate manually operated safeties for defensive pistols. When we talk about choosing a self-defense handgun at this point in the evolution of defensive firearms, we recommend that you have a firearm that does not have any manually operated external safeties that require actions that are not already inherent in the process of defending yourself with the firearm.
What Does That Mean?
It’s easy to understand that cumbersome language when looking at a self-defense handgun like the Springfield XD, on which there are two manually operated safeties. One is the grip safety and the other is the trigger disconnect safety on the front of the trigger. Both are parts that you must engage to fire the XD. You are not doing anything extra—not taking any extra steps that are not part of firing the gun. The XD has appropriate manually operated safeties.
Older Models
The Beretta 92 has a manual safety that you must disengage by making an extra movement that has nothing to do with firing the gun to defend yourself. You must use your thumb to push the safety lever forward and make it so that the trigger and the hammer are actually connected. Making any extra movements with a self-defense handgun is not a good idea when you are under stress in a worst-case scenario and when every fraction of a second counts. The Beretta 92 does not have appropriate manually operated safeties.
Safer and Better
The XD’s controls are not only more efficient for the defensive shooter, but also safer because both safeties must be disengaged before the weapon will fire. There is very little chance this will happen and cause a negligent discharge.
Compare the types of safeties when doing handgun training to appreciate the differences.
I'm gonna talk about appropriate manually operated safeties for defensive pistols. Now, when we talk about choosing a gun at this point in the evolution of defensive firearms, we recommend that you have a firearm that does not have any manually operated external safeties that require actions that are not already inherent in the process of defending yourself with a firearm, i.e. shooting the bad guy or presenting from the holster. Now, when we look at something like this Springfield XD, that cumbersome phrase gets really simple. All that phrase really means is that if there are manually operated safeties that actually aren't passive inside the gun but are manually operated when you are shooting the gun, but don't add an extra step that you wouldn't have to go through otherwise to defend yourself with a gun, we're good to go. So it doesn't make the situation any more complicated than needs to be. On the XD, there are two manually operated safeties. One is the grip safety, and one is this trigger disconnect safety, this little lever on the front of the trigger. Now these guns obviously have been cleared, everyone on the set has checked them. And I'm just gonna push in on that little lever and you'll see it just move out of the way a little bit. Okay, the little better angle for that camera, and you'll be able to see that when I push that lever, it gets out of the way, and I haven't started to press the trigger yet, I've just made it so that the trigger can be pulled. And if I put my finger behind that lever, and try to pull the trigger, it doesn't go anywhere. Even if I were to pull the trigger and not have this grip safety to press, then the gun wouldn't go off either. But what's interesting here is that, unlike an older style gun, like this Beretta 92, I don't have to do anything extra with this gun that I wouldn't do any way to defend myself, when it comes time to use this gun in a worst-case scenario. With this Beretta, if I have this manual safety lever engaged, well, I could obviously get a good grip on the gun, I could touch the trigger and press the trigger, but nothing's happening here. Nothing's happening here because I haven't gone through the extra step, to use my thumb to push this lever forward, and actually make it so that the trigger and the hammer are actually connected. So again, these guns have all been checked but it's easy enough. I have this one in my hand. We'll take a look at it again. No magazine, nothing in the chamber. And what you'll see is that, when I decock the gun and have the safety on again, I pull the trigger, nothing happens. When I take the extra effort to sweep that safety forward, now, when I pull the trigger, you see this hammer starts to move back and we could go through the process of firing the gun. With the XD, when I grip the gun, I deactivate that grip safety. And when I touch the trigger and begin to press, I deactivate that trigger block lever. So now I've not had to do anything extra. The gun is very safe. If something gets in on the trigger and presses on it it's not gonna go off even if I get full purchase. Obviously, even if I have a grip on the gun, and I were to get startled and my fingers slipped down and catch the edge of the trigger, but not engage it fully, the trigger's not gonna move because the trigger block safety. If someone were to grab the gun and try to make it go off and they reached in and just hit the edge of the trigger, it wouldn't go off. And if I let go of the gun, the grip safety would become undepressed, and it would actually engage again, and the gun's not gonna go off. So this gun is inherently very, very safe. It lives in the holster. It lives in a quick access safe. When I get my good firing grip on the gun which I need to do anyway, I deactivate the grip safety. And when I start to engage the trigger when I've decided to shoot, that's when I'm gonna be disengaging that trigger block lever. So the trigger block lever remember, it's going to stay engaged until you just about out in your shooting position, even if that's a retention shooting position. You don't put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to shoot. That's when you deactivate that trigger block safety lever. These two safeties are manually operated. Be disingenuous to say that they weren't, they have to have operation from you, they're not inherent inside the gun. But they are not going to add any extra steps, and that's what makes these manual safeties on the Springfield XD, appropriate for defensive handgun.
My concern about having a manual safety is that I provide security where there are several children present. Have had issues with kids running into you,exposing my gun.
I'm one of the fee who still prefers a manual safety on a defensive firearm, but for a completely different reason. Let me back up a moment and say that I used to avoid manual safeties for the same reason as stated in the video...an extra step that could slow down response time. Well, several years back, I was holstering a Glock 23, while keeping my eyes forward towards possible threats, as trained. However, as I started to push my firearm down into the holster, something didn't feel right. As I pulled the gun out to take a look, I found that the draw string on the hoodie I was wearing had managed to slip inside the trigger guard without my noticing it. Had I continued to holster the pistol, the string looked as if it would have defeated the trigger safety and forced the trigger back, firing the weapon inadvertently. Now, I prefer a manual safety, but I only put it on while I holster the gun and once it is secure in the holster, I flip it OFF to make the weapon ready. I use the safety for that one purpose alone...to safely holster the gun while my eyes are elsewhere, scanning for threats. I never leave it on so I don't have to worry about that extra step when drawing, but after a potential negligent discharge while holstering, I feel much better about having a manual safety for the purpose of holstering the gun and ALWAYS flip it off once the firearm is secure.
In my opinion, the greatest threat of an accidental discharge from a pistol with only a trigger safety (Glock) or a trigger safety and grip safety (Springfield XD non-E) occurs when holstering. Trigger snag is in line with the holstering direction on the Trigger Safety models and with the holstering hand push on the grip safety if it has one. I do like to have a pistol ready for action with one hand and also like a SD/DA with decocker and safety (Springfield XD-E) to minimize an accidental discharge. It slows things down a little, but minimizes risk.
I came from the old school of Law Enforcement when we transitioned from revolvers to pistols. We were taught and trained to carry with the manual safety on. This was for two main reasons, 1) If your gun was taken away, the chances of the bad guy knowing to disengage the safety gave you the extra seconds to grab your BUG. 2) The hammer block was engaged, so if dropped, an AD was prevented. We trained that once we cleared leather, the safety was immediately disengaged. All of my EDCs have a manual safety, eventhough, I am no longer in uniform. Personal preference for me. . .I prefer the extra safety measure, as it is instinctual to take it off, once leather is cleared and to re-engage it when putting it back into the holster.
Of course some people get guns with external manual safeties for the wrong reasons. And of course some people who have external manual safeties do not train to use the safety, when you must train for that. And thirdly, of course even those who have handguns with manual safeties do not support any laws making them mandatory. That said some people saying they are never helpful are imagining their own usage is the same as everyone else's carry usage. In my combination of work and the carry laws in my jurisdiction, I have to not only remove gun in holster to store in my car once a day, I must also unload the firearm. This means removing the gun and holster from my belt, removing the gun from the holster in a semi public area (something other carriers may never do ), removing magazine, and unchambering the chambered round. I also have to reverse the procedure when leaving. Over the years this is thousands of manipulations of a loaded firearm in semi-public environment. On a light trigger weight ( say under say six or seven pounds) pull striker the risk starts to add up non-trivial levels for anyone. it is not about the simple minded "keep your finger of the trigger" answer people blurt, but about accumulated risk
I am much more comfortable with the manual safety. I was brought up starting with the 1911, just what I'm use to. I have fallen in love with the XDe, in my case the perfect carry.
This article is pure opinion and preference. A manual safety is fine. Depending on the level of traininIng, high stress situations, the 1911 in Condition 1 (round chambered, hammer cocked, thumb safety applied ("On") -or any other auto with a manual safety that, when applied before or after firing, prevents the pistol from firing is inherently safer than any pistol without a manual safety. There have been many documented incidents where suspects have been shot by officers who Thought that their fingers were off the trigger but experienced "startle convulsive response" and touched a round off when ah, startled by an unexpected sound or action and convulsively clenched their gun hand when their support hand also clenched, irrespective of whether or not their support hand was on the gun. An applied manual safety would have prevented that. The XD is a nice gun. It is not my gun. The only Springers I own are 1911s (Professional and a Gunsite GSP). My other carry pistols are Colt, Wilson Combat and Nighthawk 1911s, SA/DA SIGs, Glocks, and a CZ75 PCR, depending on where I go, with whom, and when. The most important thing is for everyone to be intimately familiar with the operating characteristics of the weapon(s) they choose to carry, and train with it or them to the point that the chosen firearm's manual of arms is second nature/subconscious to them.BTW, the Beretta 92 safety can be modified to the M96's, which turns the safety to a decocker, like the SIG.
A very safe and appropriate option with DA/SA guns is not engage the safety and only use it as a decocker which many designs are already meant to do. When the Illinois State Police began to carry this type of pistol this is what they did. There is no reason to carry these pistols with the safety engaged.
Rob, My issue weapon when I was in the US Army was a M1911A1. Training made a downward sweep of the safety second nature. I currently carry a striker fired pistol that also has a manual safety, again second nature to take the safety off when necessary. I just purchased a Taurus PT92 and again a downward sweep of the safety makes the firearm ready weather in single or double action. For me a manual safety is not a bad thing. Keeps me ready over a broad range of firearms, if it's not there I have lost nothing.
It seems that if we have a firearm without safety, let's take the grip and the trigger, the firearm is just as safe as with safety when we follow proper technique. How likely is it for a firearm without these two types of safeties to fire without being touched? Fairly impossible. So, are not the safety systems just there to appease gun ignorant group and then another mechanism that may fail and / or that must be maintained? With the safety at the slide with proper technique one does not need to engage this safety to holster the firearm correct?