Pros / Cons of Magazine Safeties

Two out of the three pistols I own (Browning Hi-Power and .25 Baby Browning) have magazine safeties — chambered round can't be fired if magazine is removed. My PPS M1 doesn't but can be decocked and prevented from firing by dropping the magazine and popping off the interchangeable backstrap.The negatives are a slight increase in trigger pull need in the Hi-Power and not being able to fire a still-chambered round when the mag. is out of it is during a tactical reload in the middle of a firefight. But based on discussions about tactical reloading it seems most nowadays, especially with high-capacity pistols, don't count rounds as fired to know when to stop an reload with one still in the pipe.One of the negatives I repeatedly saw in reviews of the PPS M1 was "But what if the back strap pops off unintentionally during a fight?" The back strap safety is unusual and perhaps even unique to that model of Walther PPS and some owners who didn't read the manual don't even know how to remove it properly (without damaging it when attempting to). When undamaged and removed correctly it requires the mag to be dropped and then a two-handed a down-then-back action which isn't possible if the right hand is on the grip normally. So the fear of the gun being disabled in the middle of a fire-fight reload is unfounded.The obvious pro to a magazine safety is safety which is why I decided to leave it intact in my Hi-Power and selected the PPS M1 despite the negative "I'd never buy a gun like that" reviews.The less obvious "pro" in the context of self-defense which has occurred to me since carrying concealed and reading "what if" scenarios is the ability to disable my still loaded gun in the event I face being overpowered by a mob, or am bull-rushed and tackled in ways the opponents may not know how to deal with to avoid being shot with it.With my PPS I can fire the chambered round with mag. out during a tactical reload and the fact it holds 8+1 makes it easier to keep track of rounds fired: Double-tap x4, reload, rinse and repeat 2x until empty. But if cornered and about to be overpowered I can drop still full mag. pop off the back strap and completely disable the gun.Even if the assailants pick-up the dropped mag or one of the spares and reinsert it the gun will not fire unless the small black back strap piece is also found and re-attached. Chances of them knowing how to do that? Zero, probably.The same scenario with a Glock and most other striker fired guns? Pick it up and fire the chambered round even with the mag. out.I suspect Walther developed the back strap safety idea on the PPS Mi back in 2007 when it was introduced to eliminate the need to pull the trigger to remove the slide for cleaning — as with Glocks and other striker-fired guns — but I've come to appreciated that it also might someday prevent me from being killed with my own gun. via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/2FU585H