The SIG P365 and P320, Springfield Hellcat and Pro, S&W M&P and Shield Plus… Seems like every new pistol on the market comes in a version with a manual safety and one without it. People are divided, with groups firmly planted in each camp believing one is superior. Traditional shooters seem to embrace the thumb safety as an assisting tool, while more “tactical” shooters tend to shy away from them. I believe there are pros and cons to each option.
The manual safety is meant to assist in the safe handling of the firearm, but it is still up to the individual to be responsible and act with care. Pulling the trigger equals fire, if you don’t want a Bang! Oopsie!, practice good trigger discipline.
Internal Safeties
Before we get into discussing manual safeties and their merits, I want to first cover some internal, or passive, safeties that most modern pistols incorporate. One of the most common passive safeties, often found on striker-fired pistols, is the trigger safety. This is a secondary lever on the trigger that prevents it from traveling rearward without your finger on the trigger. As you naturally pull the trigger, you depress the lever and the gun can fire.
Another common passive safety is the drop safety, or firing pin block. As you pull the trigger, a plunger in the slide is depressed, allowing the firing pin to travel forward. This, and lightweight titanium firing pins, make it nearly impossible for the firearm to go off without pulling the trigger. This is important for your safety and the safety of bystanders.
Hammer-fired pistols tend to feature a secondary (half-cock) notch in decocked position to catch the hammer if it breaks the sear. This should relieve some of your tension when seeing that cocked-and-locked 1911 at the checkout.
Additionally, a grip safety or magazine safety provides more layers of security to prevent unintentional firing. The loaded chamber indicator is a type of safety, as it helps you visually and sometimes tactilely determine whether there is a round in the chamber. Even the trigger disconnect, which limits the semi-auto pistol to one shot every trigger pull, is a safety, as it prevents the gun from firing when out of battery.
What does a thumb safety do?
Manual safeties are designed to further prevent an accidental — or negligent — discharge. Most manual safeties do this by preventing the trigger from being pulled via a lever or catch. Disengaging the safety unlocks the firing mechanism, allowing the pistol to be fired.
The most common type of manual safety is the 1911-style lever. It tends to be the most effective for most people. The longer lever is easy to manipulate and the sweeping motion is natural. Some pistols, such as the M&P and others, feature an amended version of this that is a bit sleeker, but can be harder to actuate. Some, such as the Mossberg MC2c, even feature a cross-bolt style safety, though this is more common on rifles and shotguns.
Pros
I will not fawn over the manual safety, in fact, I will admit I tend to prefer guns without one. But I recognize my opinions are not fact and others have different beliefs. I do see the value in a thumb safety — sometimes.
The main advantage is emotional. Some shooters are just comforted by the additional security of a manual safety. And that’s alright. Not everyone lives a high-speed, low-drag lifestyle filled with tactical operations. Many simply need a pistol to toss in the pocket when going to the store. If you practice drawing and sweeping off the safety, you’ll likely make it home at night. I’m not saying tactical gear isn’t tactical for a reason, but I think some people place too much importance on the equipment.
I remember speaking with a friend who had just purchased his first pistol. This was a newer friend who did not speak with me first. He decided on a SIG M18 because of its military ties. Well, a few weeks and several YouTube videos later, I saw him again, only to learn he has since sold off the M18 (at a loss) and acquired something new, a Glock I believe. His reason: “I heard having a manual safety will get you killed.” I just shook my head. I’ve been there, most of us have. We believed the false profits of the YouTube gods… I didn’t necessarily disagree with his decision, just his reasoning.
The other advantage of a manual safety is you have a backup. Obviously, the real safety is between your ears, your brain. Use it, and a keen sense of attention, to keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire. Remember the rules of firearm safety. Unfortunately, people aren’t perfect and they make mistakes — frequently. You should not rely on the manual safety to keep you safe. You should build good habits. However, if you do make a mistake, the safety may catch it and prevent a discharge.
Another factor to consider is the time your gun spends idle. Whether that’s in a holster, car, drawer, safe, whatever. Most of the time our firearms are at rest. Most people will go their entire lives without needing to deploy their firearm for defense. However, accidental firearm discharges happen. I’m aware this sort of counters the common logic of carrying a firearm. It spends most of its time sitting in a holster, why carry it at all? But I’m merely using it to highlight that some may not be so disadvantaged by a manual safety as others would have you believe…
Cons
The major con to the manual safety is that it’s just another thing to do — or forget. Murphy’s Law is often cited. If something can go wrong, it will. You may forget to sweep the safety off, the safety may get stuck, or the mechanism may break and prevent you from firing when you need to most. This is enough reason for most to ditch the thumb safety altogether, and I wouldn’t necessarily blame them. More moving parts means there are more parts to fail, no doubt. But this occurrence is rare at best. It always happens to someone’s brother’s cousin’s waiter, never them directly.
But what about speed? That extra step takes time. Sure. But competition shooters far better than you or me can attest to the validity of training. If you seriously train with your firearm and practice sweeping off the safety, you can be just as fast as you would be with a gun without a safety. 2011s and CZs are all over the competition scene for a reason, and both feature fantastic manual safeties.
Another notable issue of the thumb safety is placement and design. This can be a big determining factor in a pistol’s success and, if it’s done incorrectly, will be a major con. Most safeties are frame mounted. This makes the most sense, as it has the least impact of the manipulation of the slide. Some are higher, lower, forward, rearward, and will work better or worse with your specific hands and grip. For me, a lefty, an ambidextrous safety is essential, as a right-side only version is useless. Even if you are a righty, an ambi safety is not obtrusive and will help you run the firearm if you injure your dominant hand. If you have a manual safety on the firearm, I see no reason not to have it be ambidextrous.
Carry Guns/Options
I think most people who take issue with the manual safety, do so in regards to the carry gun. At the range, a thumb safety can be easily ignored.
For nontraditional carry methods, such as a backpack, purse, or fanny pack, a manual thumb safety may actually be preferable. It is no supplement to a good holster that protects the trigger guard, but it is an additional layer of security. I frequently carry a Shield Plus with a manual safety in a Galco fanny pack holster when I am out walking the dog. The inner holster is a universal leather type. It features some adjustment options, but still must fit a wide range of handguns. I appreciate the reassurance the manual safety provides in this case. And when I carry in this fashion, I take special note to remember I am carrying a firearm with a manual safety that will need to be disengaged before firing. Perhaps this is not ideal, but I am comfortable with it.
An important note for those that carry a firearm with a manual safety and choose to “just ignore it” and carry with the safety off: Practice sweeping the safety off during the draw, even if you don’t plan on using it, just in case it accidentally gets activated by brushing up against something. Even if you’re carrying a firearm without a manual safety later, this motion will not impede anything.
Final Thoughts
One of the main things I would consider when deciding whether or not to purchase a firearm with a manual safety, is how it relates to my other firearms. How many other guns do you have with a manual safety? Will it be different than all the rest? How trained are you with a manual safety and are you willing to put in the effort to become proficient with it?
The Late Great Chuck Taylor said “Manual Softies are for Professionals only’. I agree with that statement 100%, As a Sargeant for the Los Angeles County Sherrif’s Department I can say that the manual safety on my S&W revolver saved my life. A revolver safety? Yes “dedicated personnel” carried the Murabito 1911style safety on their revolvers, which allowed the Deputy to fight with (2) hands. In the old days, Phencyclidine (PCP) gave the felon SUPER STRENGTH, and Cops were getting killed because they couldn’t keep their revolvers in their holsters. The manual safety saved my life several times because I could fight with (2) hands and use my back-up gun if needed. Same thing with the S&W 4506 and the 1911.
The Late Great Chuck Taylor said “Manual Softies are for Professionals only’. I agree with that statement 100%, As a Sargeant for the Los Angeles County Sherrif’s Department I can say that the manual safety on my S&W revolver saved my life. A revolver safety? Yes “dedicated personnel” carried the Murabito 1911style safety on their revolvers, which allowed the Deputy to fight with (2) hands. In the old days, Phencyclidine (PCP) gave the felon SUPER STRENGTH, and Cops were getting killed because they couldn’t keep their revolvers in their holsters. The manual safety saved my life several times because I could fight with (2) hands and use my back-up gun if needed. Same thing with the S&W 4506 and the 1911. It should be noted that in my day, at least half of the firearm/defensive tactic instructors were in their positions because of WHO the new, not WHAT THEY KNEW.
I wish all manufacturers would make guns with ambidextrous safeties!! I have skipped purchasing certain models because the guns are only designed for righties.
For me… no safety. I grew up shooting revolvers. My first LE issued sidearm was a revolver. So the “safety” is between your ears and proper handling. Although hilariously we DID have one detective “Barney Fife” his own heel holstering his. I know, not really funny but c’mon. It was actually a guy I went to school with and how he made detective was beyond me because the guy was barely above room temperture IQ. Then we transistioned to the S&W M&P .40 when it first came out… yes, an entire statewide LE agency issued a duty pistol with no safety… imagine that. So having or not having one isn’t what is making the Gov’t wanting to take away your stuff. Stupidity on both sides can count towards that one. But if you like them and what you carry has the option for one and that’s what “trips your trigger”, go for it.
Manual safeties for me. I spent decades hunting with shotguns before ever buying a pistol. Clicking off a safety before a shooting is too ingrained in my brain.
Been shooting pistols and guns for 40 years. I was taught how to use a manual safety and cannot imagine owning a gun without one. This is part of responsible ownership of owning a gun. Irresponsible ownership of guns is what is leading the government to limit our ability to own guns.
This is a “no-brainer” to me. If you don’t want the libs to keep limiting your ability to own guns, learn how to use them responsibly. Even if that means learning how to use a thumb safety. They are not that hard to learn.
On 1911s, of course. On these striker guns – never! Almost impossible to use do to their small size & close to pistol. De-cockers on the S&Ws are OK, just don’t use them unless de-cocking & make sure you push them back up. No safety on a revolver, right, just don’t pull your trigger unless you need to, that’s the safety.
Kudos to the author for his thoughtfully well-balanced – and almost comprehensively covered – pros and cons reflected in his “Handguns – Manual Safety, or No” article. However, I’m compelled to add the following, critically important, additional distinction: although the various forms of so-called “passive safety features” incorporated into so many modern pistol designs are excellent for preventing unintended discharges NOT involving actual trigger pulls, conversely, the traditional manual thumb safety is virtually the ONLY “real” safety that requires a deliberate manual action by the person gripping the firearm to make it actually fire. With even a modest amount of practice (for those who are not already familiar with this rather natural safety lever flip-off thumb action), moving a thumb safety from safe to fire position can be accomplished during the process of drawing and aiming, thereby requiring virtually no additional time delay in discharging a weapon. By contrast, operators of firearms that lack such manual thumb safeties are relying completely on their ability to infallibly control their trigger fingers at all times. A single mental oversight – such as under a high-stress situation…or a moment of distracted absentmindedness – results in an accidental, and possibly disastrous, discharge. That’s why I ONLY purchase and carry handguns having manual thumb safeties. I recognize that I’m human, and therefore, fallible; and the thumb safety guarantees me that extra, significant level of protection against my own potential human fallibilities when handling such a potentially lethal instrument.
If yours has a safety, then you have the choice to use it, or not. If yours does not have a safety, then you cannot use it. I like to have choices. 🙂
I won’t own a gun without one , just my personal preference..I appendix carry and prefer not to blow my Johnson off accidentally ..my lady would complain..
I carry a pistol with a safety in the event that my pistol falls into the hands of someone else who may not know firearms or is just an outright nut it buys that last little measure of safety to bystanders or a police officer facing that weapon . Remember you may be down and gone but some kid may pick it up or a newbie working EMS or any scenario that puts that gun into innocent or criminal hands . I am willing to risk that fraction of a moment for that . And I am retired after many years of carrying a Glock for my former Department . And my beat was in as rough a place as ever there was one . I relied upon my ability to pay attention and read my environment . Im still alive .
Regarding my use of decocker on my Beretta, I have all the muscle memory need
ed to operate my Beretta safely and efficiently to carry my way. I recently got my license to carry in Texas and when I went for required weapons qualification, I had not even fired my weapon since 2021 I managed to Qualify with a 249 out of a possible 250. My memory using my weapon was still with me. By the way I am 76 years old . Haven’t lost it even after all these years.
Being A former Police Officer I carry a 92FS Beretta. I always carry it in the decocked mode. It is easy to cock while Drawing from My holster or belly bag.I always decock when re-holstering or placing back in belly bag.
Safety?
My Ruger auto has both, firstly the Ruger has the transfer-Bar system, so safety is on until the trigger travels a Bit, The Manual safety is also a de-cocker, so pointing the weapon a safe direction and putting the safety on, drops the hammer, making it safe to turn it off and carry and since the pistol is DA/SA, one simply takes a longer, heavier Pull for the first shot, Trigger discipline is a must after the first round, Until de-cocked or Empty Again.
As for Bo and “The Incoming fire Chaos”, yep, did that in the ‘Nam, this set-up would have worked well there,…. If the ’16 had it, or the grease gun, did, And the Only “AD” I knew of back then was when on boring nights, some young guy would practice the Matt Dillon draw, with a 1911 (Not Smart) and shoot himself,…. severing the femoral artery, and sometime his pecker Too.
Either way you go home in a box
Good article, although I was a bit surprised that a distinction was not made between a traditional “safety” and what many consider to be a safety that is really a hammer “decocker” masquerading as a “safety” for the uninitiated. This is important because although they both function to in some way disconnect or stop the usage of the trigger when engaged, they mechanically function as abstract opposites of each other. A traditional 911-style safety, (the preferred type in my opinion) is deactivated by sweeping the thumb downward in a natural sweeping movement. The decoker/safety functions just the opposite when engaged and requires a sweep of the thumb upward, a clearly unnatural movement. For those who might own weapons that feature both methods, this can be disconcerting under stress. The argument of the efficacy of either method will rage on long after we’re gone as long as they make weapons with both. However, the trend away from the decoker seems to be overwhelmingly prevalent in newer weapon designs. More importantly, how you choose to carry the two diverse designs has been debated even among major law enforcement agencies. I recall when L.A.S.O. (yeah I know it’s L.A.S.D. now) transitioned to the autoloader and I did some certifications of deputy/officers on the range and was exposed to the diversity of the department to L.A.P.D’s official policy. Sheriff’s policy was to carry the Beretta 92F/M9 “decocker engaged.” Obviously, that meant the decocker must be disengaged with the unnatural upward sweeping motion before firing on the range in the academy. Interestingly, L.A.P.D. had a policy in place that was the exact opposite. Weapons were to be carried ignoring the decoker and disengaged. The only time it was to be used was for what it was designed for, to drop the hammer safely when necessary to put the weapon on safe. L.A.S.O. had a hard time with recruits in the academy, I believe because the motion was such an unnatural one. Ultimately, range staff relented telling recruits to ignore it as well so people could qualify on the range. It was bad enough the weapon was a large handgun with a double stack magazine carrying grip that was much too large for the small-handed men and many women learning to fire a handgun for the first time. I believed the L.A.P.D. policy was the correct one. (Don’t tell anyone I said that). Officers/deputies transitioning from wheel gun revolvers were unaccustomed to extracurricular activities to get their weapons online to fire. Introducing this decocker as a defacto safety was simply a bad idea. The singular rationale that prevailed was that “if your weapon is taken away from you, the suspect will lose time trying to figure out how to activate the weapon giving you time to respond.” Interesting since most coming from wheel guns had no such experience and I always thought perhaps spending a tad more time on teaching deputies to hold onto their weapons would better serve the purpose. But, the policy is policy. The Beretta had a long fairly stiff trigger pull on the first shot that mimicked the wheel gun, so functionally not much different, at least in getting your weapon online under stress. They functioned and felt the same. Subsequent shots were single action and that would be a new experience, but that is where the training should have gone, along with the use of the decocker, in my opinion. I’m an old cantankerous ex-Rangemaster who doesn’t pretend to be a gun expert, but I am an expert trainer of troops. Colt 911 got it right a long time ago, and throwing in a grip safety took it over the top in design and function. No sense screwing with a good thing.
As I have said before, I carried a 1911 when I was overseas back some 50 years ago. I managed to procure a tanker’s holster to carry my weapon, (Read: I stole it when someone left it where I found it, ripe for taking) and when we were in the field, I seldom had the holster’s retaining strap fastened in order to retrieve it quickly should we get any surprises out there. That being said, we always carried our weapons cocked and locked, safety on. It was almost second nature to move the safety off with my thumb as I withdrew the weapon and wait to place my finger on the trigger until I had a good sight picture, meaning I acquired the front sight and the target before my finger left the trigger guard, at least on the first shot. After that first shot, not so much.
Over the years, I had known a good number of men who, in pulling their weapon from its holster, disengaged the safety and touched the trigger with the resultant accidental discharge (AD). They got in a hurry and forgot trigger discipline. That happens in times of major stress, like facing incoming fire. Before anyone casts shade on these men, consider that if you have never been under hostile fire with ill intent on the part of the other party, you have no idea what true chaos is. Because when one is under fire, there is a chaos that those who have not walked that path cannot understand. And no matter how many movies you watch, you will never understand unless and/or until you have been there. I never saw any of our guys injured in these ADs, but I heard of some who were. And I knew of men who shot themselves drawing their weapon when there was incoming.
Since the author mentions Murphy, it is during those chaotic times that Murphy raises his ugly head and one of his Rules of Combat that is relevant to ADs is “Friendly fire, isn’t.” Another of Murphy’s Rules of Combat that definitely applies to the chaos of incoming fire is, “Don’t worry about the round with your name on it: worry about the one that says, ‘To Whom it May Concern.’” That becomes more real when there is incoming fire.
I have more than one 1911 currently, and they are all loaded, cocked, and locked, safety on. I still practice drawing each weapon, taking the safety off with my thumb before my finger goes to side of the trigger guard. All of them have a grip safety, but I am a fan of the thumb safety and have it engaged unless the weapon is unloaded and being cleaned.
As far as ADs with a 1911, in my experience there are two kinds of people. Those who have had them and those who will. Been There, Done That, albeit MANY years ago. It always seems to happen in times of stress and most people learn from that experience. I have seen many people who think “It will never happen to me.” And those are the people who are usually distraught to discover they are human and subject to human error. You know the saying, “Pride goes before a fall.”