Most Important "Safety Feature" on Semi-Autos

[Renegade]

All I want is a gun that goes bang when I pull the trigger, and one that does not when I do not pull the trigger (assuming round in the chamber). Locks, decockers, safeties, etc., are all kluges to fix bad designs.

[stroo]

Keeping your finger off the trigger is not necessarily the only safety needed. There have been reports of glocks and other guns without decockers or manual safeties going off when reholstered because something got into the trigger guard. For that reason alone, I prefer a gun with a manual safety. A long hard trigger pull is my next fallback although I still consider that problematic. That said, keeping your finger off the trigger is the first and foremost safety.

[KBCraig]

I don't trust decockers. A friend of mine had a decocker cause an accidental discharge on a weapon of his.

On a Ruger decocker system, it's virtually impossible to cause an AD. Not only does the decocker rotate a positive block before the hammer drops, the hammer can not hit the firing pin unless the trigger is pulled (which moves the transfer bar into place). It is physically impossible for the hammer to contact the firing pin unless the trigger is pulled, decocker or no.

Kevin

[Thane]

I voted "None/finger," despite carrying a 1911 with its various redundant safeties, simply because stupidity and carelessness has a way of bypassing any mechanism, given time.

Accidental discharges are possible, and have happened with, all types of guns - 1911s, Glocks, Sigs, revolvers, decocker models, DAO models, SA pistols, etc . In the vast majority of cases, the discharges were caused by user error, not weapon malfunction (and were therefore negligent). Therefore, the user is the major potential weak point, not the firearm.

Proper trigger discipline is the MOST effective "safety device" that exists.

[badkarma56]

Great responses, people.

Although I was originally motivated to create this poll by another member's unfortunate ND incident (thankfully, neither he, nor anyone else, was injured), I think it's helpful for all responsible gun owners to occasionally reflect on safe firearm handling practices (i.e., the four rules, trigger-finger discipline, chamber inspection/verification, etc.) and the supplementary safety features that are featured in modern weapons. Indeed, participation in these types of discussions serve as valuable reminders...sort like "continuing education" seminars that certain licensed professionals like attorneys and doctors must attend. As an attorney myself, I'm always happy to engage in these sorts of conversations, particularly as this one relates to my favorite hobby!

Engagement in this sort of dialogue is both socially responsible and educational, for the experienced and the inexperienced alike. One of my hopes for this poll was to further educate some of our fellow members with little or no firearms experience, hopefully that was accomplished. I've been shooting since I was six years old, but even I have found all of the responses enlightening in one way or another. Furthermore, while we may not all share the same preference of weaponry/features (e.g., manual safety v. decocker, 1911 v. revolver, DA/SA v. DAO, Glock v. H&K, etc.) we should all be in complete agreement with respect to "common sense" and personal resposibility.

Humans ain't perfect creations, we have all made mistakes and errors in judgment in our lives...let's just make darn sure that those future "mistakes" never involve the negligent handling of firearms.

-BK