Gun Digest's Choosing a Handgun for Self Defense eShort by Massad Ayoob

Author:Massad Ayoob [Ayoob, Massad]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4402-3412-5
Publisher: F+W Media
Published: 2012-04-12T04:00:00+00:00

Additional Safety Factors

The trigger pull should be smooth on a defensive handgun, but not particularly light. One factor that occurs to human beings under stress is vasoconstriction. Blood flow is redirected away from the extremities and into the internal organs and major muscle groups, as if to “fuel the furnace” for the superhuman effort about to come. This is why frightened Caucasians become deathly pale, and it is why people in life-threatening stress situations become grossly clumsy. A light trigger pull can now much more easily discharge prematurely and unintentionally.

There are two problems with this. One is the potential for unintentional discharge itself. (Yeah, I know, it’s trendy to call it “negligent discharge” unless there was a mechanical defect. I’ve worked in the criminal justice system since 1972, and I still believe in the “innocent until proven guilty” part. The automatic assumption of negligence if the discharge was not caused by mechanical failure seems to have arisen from firearms academies sponsored by liability conscious firearms manufacturers. I’m still comfortable with the term “accidental discharge” (AD) until negligence has been clearly and convincingly proven.)

Accidental discharges, sometimes with tragic and fatal results, have been clearly and convincingly related to very light trigger pulls over the years by countless police departments. Decades ago, the police departments of Los Angeles and New York City went to double-action-only revolvers, because so many bad things had happened with revolvers cocked to single action. NYPD now mandates a nearly twelve-pound (NY2, or “New York Plus”) trigger module in all Glock pistols carried by members of their service. The New York State Police, for the exact same reason, pioneered the original “New York trigger” (NY1) for the Glock 17 9mms they adopted in the 1980s, and for the Glock 37 45 GAPs they carry today. This brings pull weight up to 7.75-8.0 pounds. It works well under stress for accurate hits; it’s actually less likely to break than the standard trigger spring it replaces; and I for one have it in each of the several Glocks I regularly carry concealed. In a 1911 pistol, no street-wise police instructor or gunsmith will recommend a single-action pull weight of less than four pounds, and most suggest something closer to five.

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