The Problem with an External Safety on a Pistol

With mad respect for the 1911 pistol’s historical significance spanning two world war victories and for the aesthetic qualities of this century-old workhorse, I still can’t get past the problems I see with thumb safeties. External safeties are obsolete and there are good reasons why.

Recently I overheard a guy at a gun store discussing the pistol he was going to buy for his daughter. Of course it’s awesome to see—a father teaching his daughter to shoot and how to defend herself against attackers. I highly encourage that (unless the girl is 4 years old of course).

But then the daughter started asking about external safety switches and it took a lot of restraint not to transform into one of those gun store know-it-alls who launch into a lecture extolling the virtues of advanced pistol technology. As you might have noticed, every gun shop is filled with plenty of those guys—self-proclaimed subject matter experts.

So, instead of pouncing, I decided to address it here. External safety switches are a thing of the past.

Safety Switches Are Obsolete

There are plenty of shooters in the world who love 1911-style pistols, the majority of which are constructed with external thumb safeties. Some of these shooters have trained endlessly on drawing, flipping that switch, and presenting their weapon with speed and precision.

They can crush competitions and can competently defend themselves because they’ve put in the time and repetition required for mastery.

I have nothing against these shooters or against their respect for a tried-and-true gun construction that helped us win two world wars. The 1911 .45 was built with trench warfare in mind. It could stop attackers at close range, and the thumb safeties protected fellow soldiers from misfires.

The development of external thumb safeties also allowed for storage and conceal without the need for holsters. You could put it in a bag, pocket, or in the back of your pants without too much worry (theoretically at least).

So yay for that.

If you're ever storing your gun like that, maybe an external safety switch is the way to go. But I don’t recommend that—at all. With advancement in pistol and holster technology, it’s now much easier and safer to store our weapons in a secure, conceal carry holster.

Guns Belong in Holsters

A gun in a holster means you know where it is when you need it, there’s not a chance of it going off in your pants or dropping from your belt line, and you don’t have to worry about whether the safety is on or off when storing it or drawing it.

And holsters have become so much more comfortable and concealable. So, you don’t have to worry about undue bulk when deciding on where to store your weapon on your person. The game has evolved.

So, while we’ve stood with gratitude on the shoulders of giants, I think it’s worth considering the more advanced technology. It’s safer and more efficient.

Gun manufacturers—such as Glock and Shadow Systems—have taken the benefits of older technology, discarded the weaknesses, and provided conceal carriers with much better options.

Newer, Safer, Faster Guns

Thank you for hearing me out on this. External safeties can be very unsafe. Here’s a scenario.

Imagine that you’re face-to-face with somebody trying to kill you, and you sense this little opportunity to put them down. So you go to move your garment, grab your gun from concealment, present it, and you pull the trigger. Nothing happens. The safety is on.

You’ve just wasted precious milliseconds that might cost you your life. Attackers are always ahead of you. They’ve planned it out. By the time you think to draw your weapon, they’ve already halfway won the game. And now, in your stress and adrenaline, you have to think to draw, flip the safety, before firing.

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The average gunfight lasts three seconds, you’ve spent a third of that just getting your pistol ready to fire. If you think you’re too well trained for this to happen to you, what about high-stress situations that involve hand-to-hand entanglement.

You’re fighting for your life and now you have to remember whether you flipped the safety switch. If you’ve ever reviewed surveillance footage of real-life gunfights, like on my friend John Correa’s channel ASP: Active Self Protection, you’ll see how so many guys will try to fire their weapon only to be held up by the thumb safety. Anyway…

Why Modern Guns Are Actually Safer

Modern striker-fire weapons, such as the Glock 43 or the War Poet line of pistols created by Shadow Systems, there’s no external thumb safety switch. But there are four safety mechanisms involved in these newer weapons.

The Holster is the first safety. As I mentioned before, guns are meant to be coupled with holsters, and with holsters you don’t have to guess about size and fit. Now holsters are custom-made by third parties. You can find a holster that fits both your build and your gun, and every time you stow it, there’s a positive click that means it’s in place. And the trigger well is guarded on either side so there’s no way to access the trigger without drawing the weapon. The holster is all the external safety you need.

Internal safety mechanisms. Modern guns do have safeties, but they don’t manifest in the same ways as older-style guns. These include the trigger safety that’s built right into the trigger itself. Unless the finger is fully planted in the trigger well and is pulling back on the trigger, the firing pin will not engage. 

The firing pin safety inside the gun prevents the pin from striking the primer unless the trigger is deliberately pulled. The drop safety keeps the gun from going off when dropped accidently. Don’t try this, but if you loaded this gun and threw it against the wall, it would not go off. Don’t do it because that’s stupid, but it wouldn’t go off.

The fourth safety. The most important safety of all is the one between your ears—your judgment and training.

New Tech for New Shooters

I’m not new to shooting, as you probably know, but I still choose to carry these newer-style fire arms because they’re safer and faster. I don’t have to think of or switch off another thing once I’ve decided to draw my weapon. I can draw, present, and fire. In stress-laden environments when every fraction of a second counts, forgetting “safety off” can cost me my life.

And this is why I recommend Glocks, WarPoets, and the like for newer shooters as well. They’re safer in storage and faster in fights. After getting your new shooter one of these, get them some good training as well. That’s the ultimate safety mechanism.

Train Hard. Train Smart. Live Free.