They have a trigger safety. It looks almost like a tiny trigger within the trigger. Essentially means that it will only fire if you pull the trigger. It makes sense for trained personnel since they won't be pulling the trigger unless they intend to fire and mistakenly leaving a safety on when you need to shoot can get you killed. Still seems very sketchy to me even though I understand that logically, it's just as safe.

Glocks have three separate safety devices, but they do not have a toggleable safety switch on the outside of the gun, commonly referred to as a “thumb safety”.

You will not be able to make a Glock fire unless you put your finger in the trigger and pull it. They are 100% drop-safe, meaning even if you have the gun loaded and it falls off a table, etc., it will not fire a round (unlike guns in the movies).

This makes Glocks a very appealing self-defense handgun. In a real self-defense shooting scenario, it is unlikely that you will have the time or dexterity to disengage the thumb safety before firing. Assuming you remember to do it at all.

There’s something called the rule of threes in self defense shootings: most encounters happen at 3 yards, last 3 seconds, and 3 rounds are fired. If someone is sprinting at you from 9 feet away, the extra split second of fumbling around with the gun to turn the safety off could make a big difference. Concealed carry instructors will commonly tell students to submerge their hands in a bowl of ice water for a full minute, then attempt to handle their (unloaded) gun and operate the action and thumb safety. It’s nearly impossible. That’s the amount of dexterity you will have in an actual life threatening situation due to the sudden rush of adrenaline.

When carrying a handgun for self defense, we use other factors to mitigate a negligent discharge. For example, your holster must completely cover the trigger when the gun is seated so it cannot be fired when holstered.

I carry a Glock daily for self defense and have never had an issue with the lack of a thumb safety, because I follow the rules of gun safety very strictly.

I'll just add most (all?) revolvers have no manual safety other than a heavier and long double action pull on the trigger.

The safety is integrated into the trigger, so if you keep your finger off the trigger then the gun is supposedly in safety mode.

Glocks do have a safety, but legally speaking, guns don't actually need a safety. They usually have one since it makes things a lot safer for the guy buying it. In fact, I can't think of a gun that doesn't have some form of a safety, outside of some reproduction muskets and other black powder guns. But it's not legally required.

I believe they are integrated into the handle and trigger. It's not a switch that you turn on and off, just if you hold the gun in the proper way your are pressing in the safeties.

thanks for the good responses. i wonder if every gun had fingerprint sensor locks, would that help fix things? or just take away our rights?