Personally, I would never, ever recommend a Glock for a first-time owner, let alone someone without firearm experience. Speaking from personal observational experience and my upbringing, it is foolish to have a gun with a trigger that is so easy to pull or bump, with the capability of one in the chamber and no manual safety. It's asking for an ND when the person is unfamiliar with firearms, and it does seem to be one additional level of comlexity. At the very least, something a manual safety is in order.
I would recommend a .357 revolver, personally. The manual of operation is much more straight forward, as well as the procedure for cleaning it. There are several fewer indicators that you need to check to assure yourself that the firearm isn't loaded (open wheel, look in each cylinder, OK vs. take out magazine, rack slide, check cylinder, OK).
The main problem I have with a glock, specifically, is that they don't have a visible indicator that it's loaded, and the mechanism for breaking down the firearm is prone to ND as well (due to the requirement to pull the trigger and that it can be attempted with a round in the pipe). For this reason something with a chamber indicator and/or a hammer or safety which, at the least, says "theoretically safe" or "theoretically dangerous at a glance is infinately useful for those who do not yet have the 4 rules ingrained.
Of course, training is necessary either way. But most people just want a magical fix, so no point in taking chances.
Wow, I can agree that education is needed in regards to proper cleaning of a glock or any gun, but at the risk of seeming argumentative, which I'm really not trying to start anything here, but there's a few things I'm just not agreeing with here....
As for "easy to bump the trigger" I gotta call BS on that, the Glock trigger (unmodified) is not much easier than many revolvers, and has the added trigger safety to prevent ND that revolvers DO NOT have.
Many guns w/ the glorious manual safety may also have an even lighter trigger, so if the safety is off, and they're confused by that, more potential for ND than the glock or the revolver.
As for revolver being easy to see if it's loaded and glock having no visible way to tell, have you looked at any late model Glocks? My G19 purchased this year in fact has a loaded chamber indicator on the trigger side (if right handed), where I can look, or run my finger up the side of the chamber indicator and tell it's loaded. I do this every time I load the pistol, and every time I pick it up, even after looking in the chamber. As for the revolver, if it's too hard to tell if a glock is loaded, you also can't predict the stupidity of that person w/ a revolver, how many stories have we heard of someone seeing all the 'holes' were empty, not realizing there was still one in the chamber of the revolver? I know I've heard them, the looked in all but one cylinder apparently, coz it went bang.
Again, I'm not saying that the revolver isn't a good choice for a novice, because it certainly is, and your point about training in either case is certainly valid, I just take issue w/ some of the reasons you stated as a Glock being a less safe alternative compared to another semi-auto, or some of the comparisons made to the revolver, that could easily be a point in favor of a Glock compared to other semi-autos or the revolver, depending on how you look at it.
One thing about semis, and glocks in 9MM in particular, the recoil is very manageable as well. The couple in question from the OP was new to firearms, depending on who would be using the pistol, I have to wonder if some people, especially a petite or elderly female for example, would want to start out w/ a .357 round, and have a hard time believing you'd actually recommend that to a new shooter. Now the fact you can shoot the lighter load in it is noteworthy, but as others have said, there are issues w/ that too, switching loads w/out proper maintenance etc., but many people would not want to shoot .357 much, and would have a hard time being accurate w/ it, esp for follow up shots, IMO, comapred to a 9MM semi. I wouldn't recommend anything to a new shooter, except educate them about the options, show them safety and proper handling, and then rent them some of those options on the range, and help them make an educated decision.
Again, not saying it's the best option, or the only option, just saying that IMO people generalize too much, and say things about Glocks that don't add up to me. Since it's one of the guns I happen to know the most about in my short, but intense adventure in the wonderful world of firearms. If I owned a Sig or some other gun, and someone said something about it I didn't agree with, I'd speak up then too.
Thanks for the time on the soap box. Much love...
With a revolver when you start to pull the trigger you will see the cylinder and hammer begin to move; you can also easily see that it is loaded.
If you pick up a Glock it is not apparent if it is loaded, and when you start to pull the trigger...BANG! It is a lot easier to make a mistake with a Glock than a revolver, especially for a novice.
Again, Glocks have LCI's now, and a round can hide in the chamber of a revolver too, and they don't typically have LCI's, I understand you should see the round in the cylinder rotating toward the chamber, but what I mean is, for one thing like the guy posted awhile ago, someone had the hammer back on one w/ an obviously then light trigger at that point w/ one in the chamber and didn't know it, or if they look at the wrong place and miss the one remaining bullet in the gun, pull the trigger a few times and hear only clicks, then suddenly BANG! You know what I'm saying...
At any rate, I'm not saying there's not a difference between revolvers and semis in general, coz there is, but I just don't buy the theory that Glocks are less safe or somehow more problematic than other semis, and in some cases, Glocks have a lot more in common w/ revolvers than other semis do, as for reliability and simplicity, as simple as a semi can be, IMO
Karz
, self defence, both armed and unarmed, ment hand to hand combat. A person wishing to learn to defend themselves understood that he/she would have to commit themselves to serious training and practice to be able to defend themselves adequately.
