The "do it the way I do" or "if he only would have had my gun" accompanied by posed pictures from so many that have never made a mistake in their life.
Well, I've certainly made mistakes in my life. I've tried to learn from them though, and also tried to learn from the mistakes of others so I don't have to make as many myself to gain knowledge the hard way.
Pointing out a mistake and ways to avoid it doesn't imply faultlessness on the part of the person who's doing so. I carried for years, when I first started out, using a method that I would strongly suggest others not try to duplicate. Fortunately, it never backfired on me, but if it had, about the only way I could have defended myself was to claim I didn't know any better--which would have been a pretty sad defense. Well, I can't go back and change things, but it is possible to try to help others make good decisions, and often the best way to do that is to give real-world examples of people who made poor decisions and to show the consequences.
Also, I think if you read carefully, almost all include options for carrying a gun safely or for the type of gun to carry. It's not so much "do it like I do" or "use my gun" as much as it is, "here are some ways it could be done safely" and some "types of guns that could be used safely". These forums are about sharing experiences, good & bad, and knowledge. The nature of reality is that everybody only has a limited amount of experience and knowledge to share. Of necessity, that means that any given person will only be able to provide some options from experience and some options based on knowledge, but the beauty of this format is that many people can weigh in resulting in much more experience and knowledge being provided.
Not any useful information, just an attempt to make some posters feel superior somehow by belittling others.....and yes, the belittling/condescending of fellow gun owners to others does nuttin' to display a positive image of gun owners.
I would argue that a lot of useful information has been provided. As far as the guy who fired his gun intentionally in the mall while adjusting his pants, he deserves to be belittled and maybe even deserves to be charged with a crime. And while he might be a fellow gun owner, I'm not going to defend his actions nor keep silent while others do. What he did could have been easily avoided and could have had deadly results--people need to hear that, understand it and be provided with practical ways to avoid it. If it hurts the guy's feelings, that's too bad. Stupid actions have consequences--that's exactly the point of the this thread.
When I bought a S&W Shield, I put the aftermarket IWB belt clip on it...but I never would have done that if it didnt have a safety.
Yes. I mentioned that there are valid uses for manual safeties, and this is one. If a person decides to carry a chamber-loaded gun without a holster that protects the trigger and prevents trigger manipulation, a manual safety is required.
I'm going to stop just short of personally recommending this approach because I think there are better options (e.g. a good holster that protects the trigger), but it is one application for a manual safety that makes sense and one that I have used on occasion.