Jeff Gaudette says: Personally, I like the magazine disconnect feature on a pistol and here’s a couple of my reasons why:
1. Recently, a woman’s 4 year-old child gained access to the mother’s concealed carry pistol and accidentally shot himself in the leg. Apparently the mother, a concealed pistol license holder, left her loaded firearm in the car when she took her kids into a Kroeger grocery store in Troy, MI. When they came out, the kids got into the car as the mother loaded the groceries in the trunk. The 4 year-old was able to get the mother’s loaded, Glock 26 9MM pistol out of the glove compartment. The car had no lockable center console or glove compartment. I know the mother could have taken extra precautions such as locking the pistol in the trunk or in a locking case, but had she been able to remove the magazine to disable & safely store the gun, this very unfortunate incident, and many others like it, could have been avoided. Bottom line: there’s no real excuse for complacency with firearm safety, but the magazine safety disconnect feature is a very nice safe storage feature.
2. This is a tactical reason; If I’m in a physical struggle with an attacker for control of my gun, in the course of the struggle I have the presence of mind to push the release button & shed the magazine. If my pistol is taken from me, the attacker can’t shoot me with my own gun; even with a round chambered.
3. An extra margin of safety for unloading the pistol. With the magazine removed, the safety can be disengaged for the slide to be racked back to eject the chambered round without the possibility of a negligent discharge.
I currently have the S&W 469 and 6904 series DA/SA 12+1 compact pistols with the magazine safety disconnect feature. While I CC these 9MMs IWB, sometimes I need a thinner & slimmer 9MM for occasional pocket carry. My current 9MM considerations are: Kahr PM9, Taurus PT 709 Slim, SCCY CPX-2, and the Ruger LC9s. I’ve settled on the diminutive Ruger for three reasons: the trigger, the 1911 style frame mounted safety, and the magazine safety disconnect.