How many think a first time gun owner should get a Glock

You’re right there! I tried a 1911 at a range, and there was no recoil compared to my trusty Glock 17. But you need a trailer hitch to carry that thing around!

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Yes. Just like Revolvers, Glocks don’t have a manual safety. Many police officers found that the transition to a Glock was much easier due to no manual safety. Im not a fan of a manual safety, they require fine motor skills and tend to lend themselves to unsafe handling “hey the safety is on.” Glocks are used ny over 70 % of American police departments .

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It’s Just my opinion, your opinion matters more. Get the firearm that fits you best, that you feel confident with, that is reliable, and you can shoot accurately. If you are not sure, go with some friends and try theirs, rent one before your buy one. Better to be out $25 bucks than to drop $500 - $700 and find our you don’t like it. My personal preference is a Rock Island Double Stack 1911, but I do own a Glock 19, three Glock 17s, a couple other 1911s and a Springfield XD Mod 2 subcompact. The 1911s all have manual Safeties, the XD and Glocks do not. My carry time is split between the RI 1911 and the XD. And when I draw the XD or a Glock, I still sweep down on the side with my thumb as if there was a safety. With any firearm I have the finger doesn’t go into the trigger guard until I drive out to shoot. I started out 45 years ago with the 1911, but the modern firearms that are striker fired do seem safe and quite frankly after you flip off the safety, the real safety is always going to be you.

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I think any modern Carry firearm will be good.First learn the basics of only put your finger on the trigger when you are ready to pull it.
I carry P320 and it has never failed me. I’m not a Glock fan. If you have to defend yourself you may not have time to slide the safety and in the heat of the moment come in second place :frowning: . Just my thoughts.

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Honestly i think you assume that people log the same amount of training time that you may. If they don’t then that should not hinder their want to carry a gun. Regardless of the law, everyone should have the right to carry. Yes digest that one for a minute, take it in slowly. Be it concealed or not. They may not be the person you are., they may run from trouble even while carrying but if cornered have one. Not everyone is a hero and we probably don’t want many who carry to try to be heroes. It sounds very leftist to judge those who believe in a safety or want to hinder their God given right to carry.

I think you may have quoted the wrong person.

I haven’t had any issues with my 1911 with it’s multiple safeties, nor with my double action S&W revolver sans a safety. I think either would make a fine first centerfire pistol if the new owner takes the time to learn how to shoot them.
I cannot comment on Glocks because I don’t own one

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When I took my Basic Pistol class I used a Glock 17. It didn’t bother me that it didn’t have an external safety. I carry a Glock 43X as my EDC and not worried about an negligent discharge because I know enough to keep my finger OFF the trigger until I’m on target, my sights are aligned, and I’ve made a conscious decision to pull the trigger, and when holstered it’s inside a Kydex holster, not a soft holster. I also own a Beretta APX A1 carry, no external safety and I’m seriously considering buying a Taurus TX22, again, no external safety.

Personally I think a first time gun owner should own whatever gun fits their hand and they shoot well with it, regardless of whether it has an external safety, grip safety, or trigger safety.

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I grew up in the age of revolvers where your finger was the safety. In the context of self-defense and preservation of life, you want something reliable. Complexity reduces reliability. A Glock pistol has three PASSIVE safeties. PASSIVE is the key word for every additional human manipulation a person must go through beyond pressing the trigger to get the gun to go bang (under stress), that is a possible failure point. Yes, I know that training is the key and I fully agree with that, whether it is a Glock or anything else. But if you are going to train a person to consistently and properly manipulate a thumb safety then you can just as easily train them to keep their finger off the trigger until it is needed there and then you don’t need the added training for a thumb safety. Given enough time, effort, and ammo you can train anybody to do almost anything. To those who choose a thumb safety (like my wife), God bless you. But in the area of life and death, simple is better (in my opinion). PS If you want more safety than the lighter press of a Glock, buy a Kahr. They have a longer press than a Glock and still no manually operated safety.

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I’m a Glock fan so I’d definitely recommend a Glock for a first time gun buyer. My first firearm was a Glock.

  • Its dependable - everytime you pull the trigger it will fire
  • Its safe - it won’t fire until you pull the trigger
    -Its a tool that does its job very very well

Leave it in the holster till you need it, leave your finger off the trigger until you need to fire. I don’t see where or why a Glock is dangerous for a first time buyer.

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Actually saw a video on youtube done on “The Honest Outlaw” channel. The video was done before pandemic, inflation and Ukraine war prices. It was about the 5 best guns for $300. He mentioned Glocks for first time buyers since they are easily broken down for cleaning. Ithought that was a great point! Doesn’t mean i would recommend a Glock, however I have suggested new users not by certain guns based on the difficulty of breaking them down. Needing three hands to field strip a firearm is never good.

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@Kevin399 Welcome to the community, we are glad to have you here. :us:

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My first gun was a Beretta 92fs. The guy in the shop steered me away from the Glocks because of his own personal dislike, but more because of the lack of the safety. Unfortunately, a lot of sales people in shops just want to make a sale. And fortunately, in my instance that wasn’t the case.
I have always told people new to shooting to “play touchy feely” to see what feels comfortable in their hand. And then absolutely go shooting with an experienced shooter before they make the purchase. Some shops actually have ranges on site where you can try out your potential purchase. And in most cases they also have an experienced range master to help.
Lastly, if someone I know is considering a first time purchase, I always invite them to the range to at least try out what we have, go over the different features and SAFETY.

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Let’s break this down. First, you state the only safety on a Glock is your finger. To be generous, I’ll presume you mean that Glocks do not have external safeties such as a thumb safety, grip safety or both.

Then you ask if a new gun owner should be trained first. Trained first about what? External safeties? Why would a new Glock owner need to be trained about such things as thumb safeties or grip safeties?

How have you determined that a lot of Glocks are returned because there is no thumb safety, grip safety or other dingus?

IMHO, a Glock is a fine first pistol.

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If someone wants a reliable firearm, out of the box, a Glock is a good choice. They are a safe gun when handled properly, just like any firearm. Some people feel more comfortable with a NY1 trigger spring installed to get that heavier pull weight.

I know many people like manual safeties and that’s fine depending on the type of safety and how it works. I’ve seen manual safeties that were ineffective either through wear or a dirty firearm. In some cases people make changes to a firearm and don’t bother to check if a safety still works. If you don’t know how to verify that your safeties are working, then that’s a problem just waiting to happen.

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I would argue that by saying a s&w 380 EZ trained the heck out of my mom and beat basic firearm safety and handling into her head as she had to learn to grip the gun firmly, no limp wristing it, check to see if the safety was on, and to check the firearm if it’s loaded since it had a load chamber indicator. Now she runs a p320 and checks it instantly when she picks it up.

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Glocks in my opinion are a marvel of engineering. They are simple in design and function. This said, I do not and have not ever recommend, suggested a Glock for a first time firearm owner/user. Unless they plan more extensive hands-on training (at home and range time) in its use, take-down considerations as well as cleaning. This would include drawing from holster, reloading etc.

I am not a fan of trigger mounted safeties. as with inexperienced individuals have the physical tendency to place fingers on triggers as they grip the firearm and have pre-mature firing as it drawn from the holster. Training to keep one’s finger of any trigger until you ready to fire is skill that must be practiced consistently.

I am also a fan of allowing new users to try out different firearms to see how they feel, discuss what their intent is (open carry, concealed, or home defense etc) Way too many people obtain a firearm that does not meet their or is beyond their level of training to effectly and safely handle.

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** Theodore37,We agree with you 100%**

Great post Mr. Mac.

In the following vid, our friend Lenny (had his tummy for 1 yr when I was in my 20’s), shares different views on Glocks and chambered vs. un-chambered. Classy dude, he goes over quite a bit.

For 1st timers, having a thumb safety or carrying un-chambered, to me, makes sense in terms of reducing chance of an accident. Then, over time, learn if a Glock has a place for you, chambered or un-chambered. Then our pal Maggie illustrates that even popular spread of info of how Glocks are supposed to be easy, they do have one layer of complexity in that they don’t have that external thumb safety:

Recent family visiting making me consider at least un-chambering it before I step outside me car.

we agree with you