Guns and Mechanical Safeties
What is the difference between passive and active handgun safeties?
A passive safety system disarms itself when the gun is being properly used. It requires no special input or oversight from the user. One of the reasons Glocks are so popular is because passive safeties are their only safety. The ‘Glock Safe Action’ uses multiple redundant safeties to reduce the possibility of the gun discharging if dropped or mishandled. The trigger tab keeps the trigger from moving on its own, the firing pin block ensures the trigger must be moved to allow the striker to ignite, and the drop safety keeps the striker locked in place unless the trigger is being pulled. This is a very robust system that has served police departments well over the years.
Active safeties are levers, buttons or other locks that require deliberate effort from the user to disarm. On some firearms, the safety is a simple block or plunger that prevents the trigger from moving (but does not necessarily lock the action in place). The Browning 1911 uses a thumb lever safety that prevents the sear from rotating. The Beretta 92 has a safety lever that completely disables the firing pin from being struck at all. Not all safeties are created equal; it is better to block the action itself than merely preventing the trigger from being operated.
The major advantage of a manual safety is that it reduces the risk of injury from mishandling. A lot of people get hurt every year because they leave a gun in a pocket or pouch with keys and pens. With a manual safety in place you have one last check against the gun going off unintentionally, whether it is dropped or somehow snags while drawing/holstering. Amusingly, there are a handful of incidents reported where a hostile actor got their hands on someone’s gun and were unable to use it because they were unfamiliar with the gun’s safety system. The FN 5.7 has a safety so weirdly unique that only someone familiar with the platform would be able to use it effectively.
The disadvantage of a manual safety is that it demands practice. Defeating it needs to be an instinctual action during the draw stroke, one that can be completed single-handedly. Some safeties may be physically impossible for some shooters to operate single-handedly. They may not have the hand strength or finger length to handle it effectively. And, they may not be willing to put in the effort at dry-fire to master the mechanism. This is one of the stronger selling points of revolvers: there is no special manual of arms for them beyond just pulling the trigger.
Most gun owners will never employ a weapon in self-defense. But we will carry it. We will load it and unload it and take it to the range and dry fire and take it in and out of the holster very frequently. Anytime we do this, we must be conscientious about our safety habits. A manual safety adds one more layer of protection against mishandling. It makes it more difficult for unauthorized users to discharge the weapon, whether it is a burglar accessing the safe, a mugger on the street, or a child getting unauthorized access.
Safety is not a yes/no. It is a continuum of practices that are ‘more safe’ or ‘less safe’. The lack of a manual safety is not inherently dangerous; it is just another data point on the risk/safe number line. It is ultimately up to you to decide where to draw the line between safety and ease-of-use.
For what it is worth, my carry guns have thumb safeties. I am willing to put the time in behind the gun to ensure the safety is not a liability for me. Casey prefers guns without manual safeties because he sees them as one more part that could fail. The decision is ultimately yours to make.