Carrying a gun with safety OFF

[fightnut]

Does anybody carry a gun that has a manual thumb safety, with the safety off?

I'll explain why I'm asking. I'm a lefty, and up until now I've always carried guns with ambidextrous thumb safeties (and always train to flip the safety when drawing, so it's second nature).
So now I'm looking for a new carry gun, and I have 2 ways I can go:

1. Go with another gun with ambi safety. The down side is that leaves me with limited options.
2. Go with a gun with NO thumb safety. But again, sort of limited options.

But I've been considering a 3rd option. Go with a gun with a non-ambidextrous thumb safety (safety on left side only) and just leave the safety off all the time.

My main concern would be the safety getting bumped "on" without me knowing it, and I go to draw in an emergency and....well, I'm screwed.

So I'd be interested to hear from anyone that carries this way. What model of gun? Has the safety always stayed where you left it? Has it ever been bumped into the "on" position?

[Lee-online]

Have you tried shooting a Glock, If you like the fit and feel then that solves your dilemma.

[jthrelf]

What models are you thinking of? I think there are plenty of options without safeties that wouldn't require the extra concern around that.

[Remington788]

It depends on the gun.

On my 92fs, ambidextrous slide safety off.
On my PT1911, ambidextrous slide safety on.
On my P3AT, and my revolvers, no external safety.

I seldom carry the 1911. No issues with it, just not as comfortable as the 92, which has never has a problem. I carry it in a leather pancake holster that has a retention strap.

[Kabloosh]

My Nano doesn't even have a manual safety so yes.

As long as your carry gun has I would say a 4+ lb trigger pull, and firing pin block built into it, it is safe to carry with the manual safety off. Of course check the user manual of the firearm choice.

I personally wouldn't even carry a gun that requires the use of the manual safety.

When you inspect a new gun check to see how the manual safety works. Any gun I have carried either doesn't have a manual safety or the safety was rather solid to where you couldn't accidentally bump it on.

[Didnotcomply89]

I will not carry a gun with the safety on. The only time I will carry a gun with the safety on is in the case of a 1911 style action where you cock and lock it.

[Cyclops]

I had a Riger Lc9 that I CC'd. I picked of because of its small size while being a 9mm. It has a redundant safety system that really turned me off. I would leave the thumb safety off because it had a much too long trigger pull and I did not worry about about an accidental discharge.

Last week I bought the Ruger Lc9s Pro. All the redundant safety features are gone. It is striker fired while the Lc9 was hammer fired. The Pro model has only one safety, a trigger safety so that ti will not fire until pressure is pt on the trigger. To safely accommodate that feature I purchased two new holsters: a Fobus IWB and Fobus OWB. Both fully cover the trigger and thus make the accidental discharge of the gun very unlikely. Both are also designed to allow your trigger finger to be in perfect position when drawing.

I want to avoid the problem this LEO had when he adjusted his holster: read here

Keep your own safety in mind when you decide about the safety on your gun.

[Ricochet]

None of my carry guns have safetys.
Ive been carrying for 20 years and never had an issue.

Just keep your booger hook off the bang switch!

[saleen322]

Ayoob wrote about this in a 2011 article. It is one person's opinion but since you asked the question.....

http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/...HMA11/?Page=32

[Kabloosh]

Ayoob wrote about this in a 2011 article. It is one person's opinion but since you asked the question.....

http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/...HMA11/?Page=32

That's an interesting perspective.

I don't know if LEO confrontations are necessarily a good comparison to what a civilian could be facing especially if you conceal carry versus open carry. Open carrying this actually may make sense but again I don't know of any cases where an open carrier was disarmed and shot with his own gun while he was minding his own business.