No no, I appreciate your being honest and direct. And in the context you put your thoughts, I believe you are right. A lot of newer pistols have put practices into place that I think are dangerous and absolutely do NOT apply to handguns in general; the best example is pulling the trigger of any pistol to drop the hammer and make it ready to carry but not discharge. A truly bad idea that sets up someone for a big surprise when meeting other pistols that ARE NOT like that, as all of them used to be.
I would also agree that it is not a particularly friendly pistol to newbies, people with small hands, or perhaps smaller people in general, at least in the usually found caliber (.45 ACP). It is a bit kinder in .38 Super I think and especially 9 mm but those are not the more common calibers for this particular piece.
As I said before, a Glock is hard to beat in pure function; rack the slide and pull the trigger when needed. Otherwise the pistol is ready to fire but still in a safe condition.
I am more of an auto- loader kinda' guy myself but many years ago Elmer Keith made a list of reasons why revolvers (modern double action revolvers) were better in virtually every way than autoloaders and it was so well thought out and reasonable as well as really quite accurate that I found myself persuaded. One of the points he addressed was the inherent safety of a DA revolver in that it has no 'modes' or 'conditions': it is always ready to fire, does not have nor does it need a mechanical safety (a heavy and long trigger pull is sufficient) and its condition can be determined by anyone quickly (loaded or not, cocked or not). He especially recommended them to those new to firearms and those who had casual usage of them such as most LEO's who are really not firearms enthusiasts. So given what you have said, and what Keith said so long ago, I really do understand the points and believe they probably are quite valid. More complex auto loaders such as a 1911, a Luger, a P-38 and a host of others are more demanding and require more attention and care to handle safely.
And my condolences on your job: I would have to grow eyes in the back of my head to deal with new students and autoloaders. :-) I used to be a competitive pistol shooter but those folks were all veterans and safety was really not much of a problem.
Brian
Very well put Brian. Now I will explain my comment. Personally I don't have a problem with the 1911. But being a firearms instructor for the past 20+ years has given me a whole new prospective on the topic. In the right hands the 1911 is a fine weapon with superb accuracy. However in the hands of an amateur they are one of the if not the most dangerous weapon out there. I cannot tell you how many students show up at my concealed handgun classes with a 1911, not because that's what they need, but rather because one of their friends told them that that was what they needed. A 1911 in the hands of someone who has no idea what the buttons and switches are for is probably the worst scenario I can think of. And most of them also do not realize that when you drop the slide the gun is ready to rock & roll, but they never give a second thought to the gun being safe. Pardon me for being so blunt but I have seen some very scary stuff at those CHL classes.
