Rapier,
You make some valid points. As I do not know the story of how the military came to mandate their style of carry for the 1911, I will defer to your wisdom on that. As to the troops issued the gun through the years, there are many documented cases of combat troops getting and using arms they were not officially issued. I have a coworker from Boston who was in the Navy, he doesn't know one end of a gun from the other, but he knows he was issued a .45 pistol. So my point was, maybe a 1911 is not the best weapon for daily carry for an inexperienced individual. 1911s are more prone to being malfunctioned by the user, due to the safety aspects you mention. Thumb safties get knocked back on, a proper firing grip is not obtained activating the grip safety, slide stops get activated. Not to mention the fact that the more highly tuned they get, the more ammo finicky they are. In just about any match or shooting school I have attended the bulk of the down time is due to someone, usually an inexperienced shooter, trying to get his 1911 sorted out. My opinion, and everyone has one
, is that a glock, sig, or some such system is preferable for everyday carry. You cant beat those 1911s for target work though, and they sure are pretty.