Rant: Annoying "Safety" stuff from S&W

[Walden]

I was just looking over my M&P Shield and noticed the warning on the the slide: "Caution- capable of firing with magazine removed". Really? Do you HAVE to put that there? The buyer assumes the responsibility of handling the gun safely upon purchasing a semiautomatic pistol. Nobody is going to pick the gun up and say to themselves: "Jeez, glad I read that just now". Its moronic, and I don't know if there is legislation requiring this warning in Massachusetts, but I am annoyed that someone thinks I should be reminded about the basic function of a semi-auto pistol every time I pick one up.

The same thing applies to the internal locks on S&W revolvers and Taurus semi-autos. In the case of S&W revolvers, the locks ruin otherwise amazing guns. People seek out earlier dash models and no-dash models in favor of the newer and "safer" guns. I can't imagine this helps sales (although the firearm industry doesn't seem to need help right now) and it destroys the resale value of guns with internal locks.

Am I crazy? I don't want kids to pick up their dad's gun and shoot themselves, but I believe the most effective way to prevent this problem is to keep the gun in a safe or holster at all times. I will wait until S&W abandons their locking system before dropping $750 for my 4" 686+.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Thunder71]

Don't like it, don't buy it.



Tapatalk - Helping people post from bathrooms since 2009.

[iguanadon]

The one and only reason that stuff is on there is because of lawyers. I'm willing to bet someone shot themself with the magazine out (but one in the chamber) and sued. Therefore, guess what...

Just as all McDonalds coffee cups and lids say "Contents may be hot".

Just as irons say "HOT SURFACE"

Just as marriage licenses say "RUN AWAY NOW"... ok, they don't, but they should...

[glockman10mm]

I don't like the locks either, but have never had an issue with it.

[lchamp]

Got to keep their lawyers fully employed.

I just read the sig that I'm carrying now. No warning signs on the gun. I guess Sig figures that we know that a gun shoots those nasty bullets out of that hole in the front of the gun.

[Realleycat]

Don't like it, don't buy it.



Tapatalk - Helping people post from bathrooms since 2009.

Good reply!!!

[msgt/ret]

This will probably be added next.

gun-safety-warning.jpg

[sigs]

Got to keep their lawyers fully employed.

I just read the sig that I'm carrying now. No warning signs on the gun. I guess Sig figures that we know that a gun shoots those nasty bullets out of that hole in the front of the gun.

It is not their lawyers who are at fault. Smith and Wesson is merely playing self-defense because of ambulance chasers. Most if not all companies in the U.S. are forced to do likewise.

[dukalmighty]

I believe it's more due to the fact that in some States the Guns need to have a magazine disconnect to be sold there,therefore some guns of the same model are sold with disconnects where others aren't .So they are covering their bases assuming some idiot is going to pick up a gun without a mag inserted and pull the trigger thinking "No Mag...No Bangie" and then pull the trigger putting a hole in something that a hole wasn't intended to be put in

[Lish]

I've assumed those types of things is part of making them CA compliant (can they even have guns there that fire without the magazine?) or thanks to lawyers.

The pretty prominent red loaded chamber indicator on the LC9 used to irk me...

My XDsc doesn't have that written warning on it or the obnoxious loaded chamber indicator on it. :)

[Kilowatt3]

It's the world (country) we live in. Get over it. If you won't buy stuff with stupid crap embossed on it, before long you won't be able to buy anything.

My new chain saw has a warning that you should not attempt to sharpen the blade with the saw running. I'm not making this up.
Lawnmowers routinely include a warning that you should not place your hands or feet under the deck while the mower is running. I'm not making this up, either.

Regards,
Jim

[MamaMaria]

I've assumed those types of things is part of making them CA compliant (can they even have guns there that fire without the magazine?) or thanks to lawyers.

The pretty prominent red loaded chamber indicator on the LC9 used to irk me...

My XDsc doesn't have that written warning on it or the obnoxious loaded chamber indicator on it. :)

First time I picked up a Ruger at the gun store, I had to laugh. Made this face:
youdontsay.png
Bought it anyway. I chuckle every time I use it at the range. I imagine someone, somewhere, going, "Whew, I'm glad I remembered to read my gun before shooting this target. How did anyone know a gun was loaded before this modern technology?"

[LouisianaMan]

We'll really know we're in trouble when they start making guns with a big orange arrow pointing at the muzzle, with "WARNING: BULLET COMES OUT HERE" stamped into the steel.

As a retired soldier, I like to actually read the manuals that come with stuff because you can actually learn lots of info the "easy way" by doing that. I've almost given up, however, because 80% of the material is in a variety of foreign languages, and most of the remaining 20% is devoted to inane warnings of the type we're discussing.

I commented to "revolvergeek" the other day about how interesting & refreshing it was to sit down with my reprint of a 1920's manual on the Remington Model 51 pistol. It has pages of material devoted to repairs and adjustments you can make without special tools, and includes things like how to saw off, remove and replace a bulged barrel; filing down extractors to fit; filing away parts of breechblocks, etc. He commented that it was a testimony to the decline of our civilization, and I have to agree. That old manual is an artifact of a world in which high school & college diplomas were relatively rare, but common sense and general mechanical knowledge weren't.

The South of my youth was scattered with older men with a pinned up sleeve, and farm equipment of some sort was the usual cause. But the idea that things would have improved with all kinds of superfluous warnings was ridiculous--"DON'T GET YOUR SLEEVE CAUGHT IN HERE" was not going to help if you slipped, got tangled up, or whatever. The idea that slip-and-fall artists would hound companies relentlessly and drive up equipment prices, bankrupt companies, etc., was mercifully foreign. I imagine the one-armed men, if asked about safety lessons on the farm, would have simply looked at you for a long moment, spat, and then told you not to get your dad-gummed sleeve caught in the dad-gummed cotton gin. . . Would love to see one of today's investigative TV journalists with his $100 purposely-uneven haircut try to have that conversation at one of those old cotton sheds and warehouses.

[lchamp]

my wife was reading the "manual" that came with her new pistol. We both had to laugh at all the CYA lawyerese that was there.

[Eagleks]

I remember the picture of the guy ... who decided to hunt with a .44 cal revolver..... and put the thumb of his left hand right up at the front of the cylinder when he fired..... and flew off the top part of his thumb.

So, to answer the question...... yes, there are some people dumb enough to not realize it. There are people who buy them ... and have no gun experience at all, and a lot of times, haven't gained any common sense yet either.

So, companies have to protect themselves.... and say all those things .... and assume nothing, so some other idiot does sue them for a lot of money.