Armoredman is only PARTLY correct. He made that same statement on another forum. It is certainly safe to do this with a safety-equipped CZ, but it's wrong to say these pistols "are meant to be carried on the half-cock notch."
The CZ decocker models
are designed so that they DECOCK TO and START FROM the half-cock notch, as do a number of other guns on the market. (These models can also be started form the fully-hammer down position, and decocked there,too, but it would make no sense to do so.) You can also lower the hammer of Safety-equipped models when decocking and start from that position SAFELY. But the point remains: there wasn't even a decocker model available until YEARS AFTER the half cock notch/safety stop was added to the original 75 design.. (My first pre-B, one of the earliest ones -- but not a short-rail version -- did not have the half-cock notch; all later model CZs did.)
The half cock notch, when it was first introduced, was not meant to be a carry/starting position. It wasn't even intended as a decocked position. CZ, in one of the old manuals I've got stashed away (downloaded from CZUB years ago and dated 11/21/01) addresses all models then available, including decocker models (75 BD, 75 Police, 75 D and 75 SemiCompact) as well as a 75 (non-B) model that did not have a firing pin safety. This manual tells us the following:
Safety Stop on the Hammer - A half-cock safety notch is on the hammer so as to prevent it from striking the firing pin when the hammer is manually cocked, and a thumb could slip. When the hammer is on the safety stop, it is not leaning against the firing pin stop, but its position is further back.
The firing pin stop was still present in the 75, but all of the other CZs used a firing pin retention roll pin to keep the firing pin in the slide.
I also have a copy of an english translation of the CZ-75 (
not 75B) Armorer's Manual, and the safety notch is not even mentioned in the decocking instructions, nor is it mentioned as a starting position for carry. When decocking, you are instructed to manually lower the hammer until it rests against the firing pin stop, a small plate used to keep the firing pin in the slide.
You can't LEGALLY start from the half-cock notch if you're shooting a safety-equipped CZ in IDPA Stock Service or USPSA Production classes/divisions -- the rules don't allow it... probably because it's not a recognized starting position that is discussed in the user manuals.