About fifty years of turning an underlever cam or dog in and out (like rotating the latch on an old ice box) should be enuf to make anyone appreciate a "snap" action. Most of us haven't had that experience but have sufficient imagination to see why a spring-loaded lockset is a labor-saving mod con. I also am not an advocate of whanging the gun shut with abandon. There are some front parlour conventions for handling other people's guns: holding the lever over and releasing slowly, using snap caps to test trigger function, not swinging the barrels into door casings and lamp stands.

jack