My new EMP 9mm

Congratulations on your new gun Dennis. In that you have lightened the trigger, you might have significant legal exposure if you used your gun in what was ruled a bad shooting. Prosecutors or have been known consider such modifications as aggravating circumstances and enhanced the charges, and the sentence. I read about one guy who had ten years added to his sentence because his gun had been modified.

 

You're both right. We each need to decide what we carry based on our personal risk profile. There is legal risk in carrying a modified gun. There is legal risk in missing any shot fired in self defense. We each need to consider all aspects when we decide.

 

It may be the case each state has a specific trigger weight and a trigger must not be adjusted to a lighter weight. I'm unclear as to how it all works, but thought the OP should be aware so he can check it or if he wishes.

 

Once you wind up in court, the law gets real funny. Not haha funny, but... "Did somebody put something in my drink?" funny.

 

Anyway, the gun I always carry when I'm just spending the day out in the desert has a hellacious trigger. AD with it is not possible - I practice with it a couple of times a month.I compete with guns with very light triggers, and I am quite expert with them, but I occasionally fire unintentionally when the person standing next to me fires. I've seen international class shooters do that too.

 

I wonder if one could have the trigger smoothed, but not lightened without running afoul of the law. One could argue the smoother trigger enhanced accuracy and thereby protected unintended targets.

Anyway, the guns I carry are all Glocks and their trigger are fine as they are, for me.

 

Generally, anything that requires explaining will get you in trouble. Remember Columbo? Every time anybody started explaining something you knew they were guilty.

You want to be able to say:

I bought the gun new from an authorized dealer.

I sent the gun to the manufacturer every year to make sure it was always in perfect working order. Here is the statement that the gun is within factory specifications, signed by a factory representative.

I fired in self defense, fearing for my life.

 

I have seen this claim made over and over but have never seen anything to back up the claims. If you have any evidence of this, please post links so we can be more informed.

 

Again, I will defer to Bill Jordan as the all time expert on the subject of winning gunfights.

 

Geezer's got his dander up! I really think that specifics about the hardware are considered of little importance. It's all to do with what witnesses saw and what you say. If everything agrees, you get your pass. No lawyer will let you say much more than "yes", "no". If you choose to ignore your lawyer and start giving a lecture about the fine points of shooting people, you're dead meat.

 

There's more popes here than in Rome, but fewer than at THR.

 

Geezer, I don't remember where the specific incident took place I don't remember where I read it. I do remember the shooter was indited and the prosecutor "enhanced" the charge because the gun had been modified. The shooter was convicted and ten years added to his sentence. This is what motivated me to pass it along to the OP, for whatever it was worth, to be heeded or ignored, whichever.

Perhaps all the claims you've heard are out there because this is happening. Maybe, there is fire where there is smoke. I don't know, but I will err on the side of caution and not give a zealous prosecutor the opportunity to hit me with the sticks I handed him.

DennisE, I'm sorry for distracting from the purpose of your post. I've been considering an EMP also as I like simple and concealable guns. However, for me, the ambi-safety will have to go, enhanced charges or not.

 

Don't feel bad, derailing OP's is standard practice here.

 

Okay. I'm over it now.

 

The ambi safeties invariably have competition style tabs (correctly called the "thumb piece"), which are, as you say, easy to nudge. The original GI safety was easy to operate intentionally, and very unlikely to be "snicked off" accidentally, especially when correctly fitted. The designer of the Detonics pistol would reshape the safety tab to GI configuration on every Detonics that he could get his hands on after he licensed it. Why Colt changed the shape on the commercial pistol in 1949 is a mystery.

I used big, wide thumb safeties for a long time, but after finding a supply of WWII GI safeties, I found I preferred the tiny tab. Jim Hoag put Swensen ambi safeties on all his guns, and it stuck.