Smith & Wesson M&P Shield

All right, we're continuing our coverage of the NRA annual meeting 2013. Now if you didn't know this, and it wasn't obvious, all of these guns have been checked, and that's what this little yellow tag you've seen in all of our gun demos is. That means there's no firing pin here what-so-ever. We still try to be respectful of the firearm, but, just so you know, as we pass it around and use it as a demo, there's no firing pin, and of course this is standard procedure here at these events. Now I'm with Paul Flump, and we're gonna talk about the M&P Shield.

This has been one of the most popular editions in the firearms community over the last, what, year or 18 months? It's been about, a little over a year A little over a year. So this is a, a gun that was highly anticipated, and is being carried by a lot of people for personal defense. One of the things that you see me recommend constantly is not having extra levers and buttons. So one of the things I wanted to talk to Paul about is, this extra lever here, this safety lever on the M&P shield which doesn't exist on the versions of the M&P Full-Size and Compact guns that we generally recommend.

Paul, talk to me about the Shield in general, and especially about the optional safety. Well, the Shield was actually meant for one purpose only, and that, that's for, to be carried for self-defense. So we made this thing very thin. It's less than an inch thin at the, at it's widest point. So it's very concealable.

It's three-inch, three-inch barrel on this thing. And you look at it, and it does have, it's a full featured gun. And the only reason, you're right, it, Does it need to have a safety? No, this is a very, this a passive safety, but what it's there for, is the fact that we know people, there's a potential, like, women are gonna put it in their purse, there gonna put it in their pocket. So it's just an additional safeguard, so that, when it's in there, if you're reaching in there, if there's, especially in a purse, if you have stuff in there, it's just a, it's just an additional safeguard to make sure an accident doesn't happen.

That it could be the most safest gun that they could carry. Now I imagine that you would agree with me, that, the best way to carry a defensive gun is gonna be secured, in a holster, that covers the trigger guard. And that makes this, an optional safety, in terms of optional use. We certainly don't recommend people pull them out, or do anything like that. But it's not designed to require the safety use, and that's really important.

The other thing you remember is it is a very slim safety. This isn't very likely to be put on accidentally, and of course, that's what we want to avoid. And you're absolutely right. I mean, unlike a 1911 design, that's not made to come up and have a natural removal. You have to work at it.

Because we wanted this thing as thin and as flush as it could be. And that's what you see that is. It's very thin, it's very slim, flush. And it's like I said, it's just a secondary guard on it. It's not really intended to be, you know, your primary safety.

Right. Say, primary safety is always gonna be your trigger finger, make sure it's not on the trigger, and make sure that trigger guard area, including the entire trigger, is covered when you store or carry your personal defense firearm, your home defense firearm. Whether it's on your body, or in the purse. Paul, I really appreciate you spending some time with me. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Keep watching personal defense network for more coverage on the NRA annual meeting 2013.