I'm new to both the forums and CHL. Course was in May, plastic was in July.
In regards to the Beretta 96, I own the 92 and this has been a topic of concern for me as well. However, as FlynJay recommended, I must second his assessment that you should practice drawing from your holster while concurrently disengaging the safety. It's easy to be comfortable with functionality you know well, however as gun owners we do not have the luxury being comfortable to the point of assuming we'll know what we are doing. That's when we lose respect for the firearm, and that's when we become a passive threat to others and ourselves.
I understand there may be differences in functionality with models in 90-series (my 92fs is the M9), but with my 92fs, my safety/decocker is ambidextrously installed at the back of the slide directly below the rear sights, unlike the Taurus models with thumb levers above the grip. I find the 92fs very safe with "one in the pipe" when the safety is engaged because that means the hammer is decocked, and the firing pin is not exposed (as you already know). As CHL carriers, I understand that for protecting my life, that if I need to pull my weapon I better be ready to shoot, and I feel that I've TRAINED with the gun enough to disengage the safety upon reach down, and I've TRAINED enough to know how to be effective with that initial DA pull... all without keeping a cocked, hot gun in my holster stuck in SA mode especially in a Beretta. In essence, I would consider keeping the safety OFF, only after having decocked the hammer with one in the pipe still. That first DA shot is quite a pull and your accuracy may suffer as a result and that could be a risk you are not willing to take... practice, practice, practice.
I cannot stress the importance of training with the weapon you choose to carry. Recently, I've been practicing with my unloaded Glock 19 how to pull and rack the weapon instead of keeping a bullet chambered. The more you train safely, the better your muscle reflexes will be for any reason, God forbid, that the situation becomes real.
Either way, I think we are asking the right questions, and there are definitely people here with perspectives that should help you narrow down the best and safest methodology you the individual are capable of employing.
