Reply #172: They are built as safe as possible [View All]

[krispos42]

Guns have to contain a high-pressure explosion tens of thousands a time.

Past that, what do you want? What is the firearm analogue to seatbelts, airbags, and crumple zones? Guns have safeties, and modern guns have such things as decocking levers (no more pulling the trigger while lowering the hammer with your thumbs), safeties that disable the firing pin, and tranfer-bar firing systems so accidental drops don't set off a cartridge. Some also have magazine disconnects so they don't fire when the mag is out. Many newer guns have loaded-chamber indicators.

Any reasonably modern gun is safe. It will only go off with the safeties disengaged and the trigger pulled!

The cause of nearly all of the accidents is usually "I thought it was unloaded", which is operator error/stupidity, not a design flaw or mechanical failure. Yeah, a few might be cause my worn-out parts not working properly, or not being familiar with the controls, but most genuine accidents are people not realizing the gun was loaded. This is especially true with auto-loading pistols, where you can remove the magazine from the gun but still have a round in the firing chamber.