Safety

ken56 wrote:

It is unfortunate that people who own firearms can sometimes be careless with them and their children pay the price for that. I am sorry for that but they are YOUR children, not MINE and I am not responsible for their safety, YOU are. Taking MY firearms away will not keep YOUR children safe.......and yet we put up with fools behind the stearing wheel of a 2 ton death machine and thats acceptable.

Actually "careless" isn't even a part of the problem. The mind-boggling stupidity and horrendous decision making of some people who have firearms around children comes closer to pinpointing the issue.

First off: Children must be educated because they could come across a firearm anywhere and anytime - it's not just your firearm you need to worry about. If my pistol is sat on the table and I ask my now 10 year old girl "What's that?" she has always replied "It's your pistol. I mustn't touch it. You will teach me how to use it when I am able". Simple. She will not touch any firearm she sees/finds anywhere and if she finds one she will report it to an adult she knows. Trust me on this - I know her...

Second: We've all heard about "hair triggers" but come on!! They are downright dangerous insofar as you lack control. It's quite possible you will fire several shots simply because the recoil causes you to pull the trigger while you try to maintain control of the pistol while it goes through it's recoil cycle.

Anything less than a 2-2.5lb trigger pull is, frankly, irresponsible. If, as has happened, a small child can reach into his mother's purse to find candy and cause a pistol in the purse to fire, (hitting the mother), then the choice of trigger was astronomically stupid on the part of the mother. All but the most disabled or infirm can pull a 2.5lb trigger in a stressful situation but a kid groping for candy isn't likely to.

Third: Safety catch either not applied or non-existent. Holy cow, the utter stupidity of having a "hair" trigger on a firearm that lacks a safety or it is not applied when the weapon is in a ready state is grounds for prosecution for both negligence and stupidity.

Having said that, I am a big proponent of the Sig Sauer P2xx(x) series of pistols. Despite my last paragraph I have my Sigs in the ready state at all times and, shock/horror, there is no safety catch on this series of pistols. That "deficiency" is more than made up for by a device called a "de-cocker". When one places a round in the chamber the hammer remains "cocked" back and ready to fire. In this state the force required to fire the pistol is 2.5lb. Not heavy but not a "hair" trigger. When you activate the de-cocker the hammer comes _safely_ forward to the de-cocked position. In order to fire the pistol now one requires 10lbs of pressure. You simply don't fire these guns by accident when they are de-cocked.

All my family could fire the Sigs when the pistol is cocked and my wife and I can pull the 10lb de-cocked trigger too but my daughter is not yet capable of exerting that pressure. So, even if she did chose to break the golden rule of not touching she cannot yet make the pistol fire, (I test this theory from time to time just to be sure).

I did not stumble into this choice of pistol by accident. It's selection was the result of extensive research and discussion with military and LEO friends of mine. Initially, I was against having a pistol without a safety but was convinced by those friends to check the Sig P2xx(x) series. I am very glad I did.

Yes, I know that little rant was a little "off topic" but it really frosts me when these mind-bogglingly stupid people are given the benefit of being "careless" when they cost the life of a kid because they don't spend the time and effort learning about their options that will help keep their, and other's, kids safe.

Oh, and for the peace of mind of those who would think I leave my guns lying around I don't. It is always very close to me or holstered. If my daughter has friends over it is holstered or locked up because they are probably unaware of the "golden rule". The rest of my firearms will be locked away in the safe.

See, gun owners can be safe, responsible and, dare I say, an asset to society.