Do all guns have a safety switch? What year did it become a standard on guns?

Question

Do all guns have a safety switch? What year did it become a standard on guns?

Answer 1

Nearly all semi-automatic pistols have a safety of some kind and have been that way since the beginning.  Some are levers on the side, some are incorporated into the trigger mechanism.

The only year it became standard was in 1968 when the Gun Control Act was passed. It mandated all imported firearms to be fitted with a safety. For a couple of years you couldn't buy a revolver, then someone came up with a crossbolt safety on revolvers. They are still used on some. My son bought a new .22 revolver about 2 years ago and it is fitted with a crossbolt safety.

Answer 2

the vast majority of revolvers have no safety

for semi-auto handguns, it is about 50-50, some models do, some models don't.

One of Glock's selling features is it is a very simple gun, very few external controls, so no safety swith on it.  (there are internal safeties that keep it from firing if dropped, or even if whacked with a sledgehammer)

I don't know why Glock thought it was a good feature...oh wait, yes I do!  There are some cops who are smart and honest and know about guns, but usually cops are deficient in at least one of those 3 catagores, sometimes more.   So a gun that you simply "point and pull trigger" is good.  What could go wrong with that? Humm, let's see what this DEA cop does http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am-Qdx6vk...

Frequently, for a gun to have the safety on, it needs to first have the hammer ******.

A safety feature found in many guns is that it takes a big long hard trigger pull to fire the first round, or with some older guns like the cowboys used, you can pull on the trigger all day and the gun will never fire, you have to thumb-c.ock the hammer first for every shot.

Answer 3

Not all guns have safeties, and there is no standard.

Some firearms are designed to fire Double Action Only, which means you have to pull the trigger completely through to fire them. Revolvers and some pistols are designed this way, and that is considered a safety in the design.  It is common on LEO firearms. Small pocket automatics like the new Ruger LCP don't have a safety.

Certain states prohibit the sale of firearms with no safety. It does not mean they aren't safe - what California prohibits, other states allow, and in some police departments, is required. It is dependant on the type of action and use.

Manual transmission cars don't have "Park," like automatics. And "Park" still requires you to set the emergency brake in most owners manuals. A safety on a firearm doesn't make it safe, it requires the user to know what they are doing.

Answer 4

"No they do not. Walther PPK style guns are double action only."

Incorrect.

I have handled and used dozens of Walther PPK series guns.

They all have manual safeties.

Not one of them was double action only. They were all conventional double action.

Answer 5

Not all guns have a safety switch. It never become a standard for them to have any switch. I just bought a Kel-Tec P32 that was manufactured last year. It doesn't have a safety switch. The gun is double action and your safety is your finger.

Answer 6

One addition to the above posters observations

Guns imported to the US must have manual safeties

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Then explain this bill Torran

http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/99-00/bill/se...

Reread my statement

I said imported guns must have manual safeties not gun based on the design of an imported gun and not guns made by the same maker that imports similar style guns

Do a little research on those Walther PPKs and then explain away the Walther PPKS

I will admit that I should have used the word pistol instead of gun

If you will admit that you should have done some research before making a statement of fact

Answer 7

revolvers do not have manual safeties. There are many semi-autos that have no external safeties such as a thumb safety but have internal safeties.

Glock has no externals but internals. The Smith and Wesson Sigma has no externals. Beretta 92 and such have a thumb safety and a decocker as well.  

It all depends on the model and make.

As for when. I think even the first set of 1911s had thumb safeties, but someone correct me if I am wrong?

Hope that helps

Answer 8

No they do not. Walther PPK style guns are double action only. HK P2000's are the same way. Although the P2000's do feature a seperate method for decocking, they do not feature a dedicated safety button/switch.

Answer 9

No, ALL guns do not have safeties.  ESPECIALLY in the replica Black Powder guns, although even some of them have a "safe" position that puts the hammer BETWEEN the caps and prevents an accidental discharge.

MOST semi-autos have a manual safety, especially in single-action.

MANY of the safety switches on semi-auto weapons are not called that anymore.  They are called "decockers" which allow the hammer to fall part way only protecting the weapon from accidental discharge.

Double-action weapons normally do not have a safety mechanism other than the fact that they can NOT be fired except by pulling the trigger through its full required travel as they c**k and fire in one operation.

Revolvers, especially single action, are NOT considered to have a safety mechanism, but many have what is known as a half-c**k position which is effectively a safety mechanism. (It keeps the hammer and/or firing pin, from resting on the cartridge)

Actually, there is no 'hard and fast' rule regarding whether or not the manufacturer installs a safety mechanism, although most do so on the majority of weapons.

Answer 10

revolvers do not have safeties. some handguns do not have a switch, but a sort of second trigger that stop the gun from functioning. Glocks and XDs have this.

Answer 11

Revolvers usually do not have them, but some 1880's S&W pocket revolvers have a "lemon squeezer" safety on the back of the grip. Later, the "Centennial" also had this grip safety. Semi-auto pistols had them from the first. In 1893, Hugo Borchardt made a successful but clumsy pistol that was refined by George Luger into his military model. More useful was the 1896 Mauser nicknamed the "Broomhandle". I own one of this model, and I do quick draw with it, since its safety lever is handier than the Luger's. As you see, you can pick the 1880's or the 1890's for introduction of safety catches on pistols. EDIT: I see some wrong data in other answers, e.g. the Walther "PP" and later "PPK" and P-38" are not "double-action only" pistols. You can pull back the hammer or just pull the trigger for the first shot with them.

Answer 12

Some revolvers have a key-lock 'safety'...more of a revolver lock.

See the link.

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I believe VANGION is right...my TT33 was designed without a safety; to import it a safety was kludged onto it.

Answer 13

To this day, not all guns have a safety switch. Installation of such a device was never mandated or required by law.

Here's a few examples to demonstrate this point.

Colt Single Action Army revolvers have never had a safety switch since the design began to evolve back in the blackpowder era surrounding the Civil War. Exact copies of these guns are still in production today.

They even had a safety flaw. All 6 chambers could not be safely loaded at the same time, - as a blow to the hammer would fire the round under the hammer! Thus the old West six-shooters were actually five shooters, as wise cowboys left their hammer down on an empty chamber. Like I say exact reproductions of these guns are still in production, flaw and all, in some models.

Double action revolvers do not have safety switches either. The heavier Double action trigger pull acts as a safety mechanisim in these guns.

DAO, (Double Action Only Automatic Pistols), also have no safety switches on the standard DAO models. They again rely on a heavier trigger pull for safety.

The lack of a manual safety mechanism does not make any of these guns less safe in the hands of a trained individual. It is the gun owners experience and training that ultimately makes any gun safe or unsafe, regardless of mechanical additions placed there in an attempt to aid the situation.