In my opinion, carrying cocked and locked is a very dangerous methodology. Empty guns, as everyone knows, have a way of turning out to be LOADED. Safeties have a way of unexpectedly finding their way to the FIRE POSITION. A bullet in the leg or foot would represent the hardest way to learn proper safety procedures.
Huh? What does confusion over empty or loaded have to do with cocked-and-locked? A doofus who can't check the magazine well and chamber is just as dangerous with a Beretta 92 as he is with a 1911. That's completely immaterial to the current discussion.
I carry a 1911 cocked and locked. My safety has never been swiped off. I know, because I check. And even if the safety did get swiped off while in the holster, how would that cause the gun to go off? There's still the grip safety and half-cock notch. A holstered gun is a safe gun. The only way it is going to go off is if I draw the gun from the holster, put my finger in the trigger guard, and pull the trigger.
Regarding Sigs, they are fine guns. But what makes them so much "safer" than 1911s? Many NDs occur while drawing and reholstering. Lets consider the difference between a 1911 and a Sig in these circumstances.
With a 1911 carried condition 1, when drawing from the holster, the finger should be kept out of the trigger guard until the gun is on target. As the gun is withdrawn from the holster and the barrel clears a 45 degree angle with the ground, the safety is swiped off. The gun cannot discharge until 1) the safety is lowered and 2) the trigger is pulled. How can this go wrong? If the shooter gets his finger on the trigger too early but the safety is still on, nothing bad happens. If the shooter gets his finger on the trigger too soon AND lowers the safety too soon, then something bad can happen.
Now consider the draw stroke with the Sig. There's no manual safety on the Sig. As the gun comes on target, the finger gets on the trigger. How can this go wrong? If the shooter gets his finger on the target too soon, then he can have an ND. There's no manual safety that might or might not save him. The Sig's DA trigger is longer and heavier than the 1911s trigger. Might that reduce the chance of an ND, all other things being equal? Maybe. But I've read that when startled, people tend to clench their fists and in doing so can easily exceed a force of 50lbs in their trigger finger. The difference between 5 and 10lbs of force isn't going to save someone in that event.
Let's now consider reholstering. The typical reholstering ND happens when the shooter forgets to remove his finger from the trigger guard while reholstering. What happens then is the finger is stopped by the holster, the gun keeps moving downards, and thus the trigger is pulled. Here's an example of where this has happened:
http://www.frontsight.com/safety.htm Scroll down to Unintentional Gunshot Wounds.
Suppose the shooter is using a 1911 and reholsters with his finger on the trigger. If he remembered to apply the safety, then nothing happens. If he forgot to apply the safety, then there's a short, light trigger pull to be overcome and he will probably have an ND.
Suppose the shooter is using a Sig and reholsters with his finger on the trigger. If he remembered to apply the decocker, then he's got a somewhat longer, harder trigger pull to overcome, but is still likely to have an ND. If he forgot to decock, then he's in the same situation as a 1911 with the safety off -- a short light trigger pull to overcome, likely resulting in an ND.
So how, exactly, is a 1911 in condition 1 much more dangerous than a Sig? I just don't get it.
Don't get me wrong, Sigs are fine guns. I own one. But this idea that 1911s are unsafe in condition 1 is something that I just don't buy.
As others have pointed out, shotguns and rifles are carried cocked and locked. They also have much heavier firing pins and generally do not have a firing pin safety. As a result, they are much more likely to go off when dropped than a handgun. But the same people who are terrified of a cocked 1911 are unafraid of a loaded rifle or shotgun. I just don't get it.