So the bean-counters are in collusion with the engineers and liability lawyers...
to save us from the idiots who can't see where the real gun safety responsibility lies:
The victim's family claimed the shooting could have been avoided if Smith & Wesson's Model 915 weapon had been childproofed and had been designed to show whether it was loaded.
My aching backside. Darwin will always win, given an inquisitive enough volunteer. A locked S&W revolver means our intrepid ankle-biter of a trigger-puller would've looked high and low for the key, and if he found it, (probably inside the foam of the original gun box) he would've proceeded to unlock the revolver and commence to lobotomize the victim. And then we'd be reading about the victim's family clamoring for a breathalyzer attachment for the gun that would detect the combination of Oreo cookies and milk, or Cheetos, and disable the gun. For only then would they truly be safe. It's for the children, you know...
Never mind how many safety steps were bypassed before Dufus #1 picked up the gun to begin with. You know them, the ones where the kid is butt-paddled to within an inch of his life by Dad for even touching the gun, Dad keeps the ammo and gun separate if he's not home, the gun is in a lockbox, safe, or he's not around to supervise, or if he's home, he has at least a modicum of situational awareness when the kids head for the nightstand or gun cabinet.
Stainz said:
If you have young children, you must be super careful anyway - the lock may be a great answer there.
Sure, but that's not the only thing you're gonna teach your kids about gun handling and safety, is it? Or are you gonna rely on that one widget to prevent harm to your children, it's the Holy Grail of gun accident prevention?
And that's why I despise internal gun locks, regardless if they're S&W, Ruger, Springfield, or anybody else's. They're a panacea, with a side effect that they sometimes prevent the gun from being used for it's intended purpose, too. I can't wait to see the next generation of S&W revolver, once the bean counters, engineers, and liability lawyers come to a consensus on what makes a perfect revolver. Reminds me of the horse that OSHA redesigned for safe cowboy work: