Firearm with safe axis firing pin and center aligned barrel

A handgun with a firing pin safety mechanism, the handgun comprising:

• a frame;
• a slide assembly slidable along the frame, the slide assembly having a socket and a lateral protrusion;
• a firing pin assembly, comprising:
• an elongate firing pin having a shaft defining a firing pin axis and a firing pin protrusion selectively aligned with the lateral protrusion of the slide assembly, the firing pin configured to strike a primer of a cartridge with a forward tip portion;
• and
• a firing pin sleeve rotatably engaging the socket and slidingly associated with the shaft of the firing pin, the sleeve configured to allow axial movement of the firing pin along the firing pin axis;
• a trigger assembly pinned to the frame and configured to interface the firing pin assembly within the socket and cause the firing pin to translate and the firing pin axis to displace from a safety position wherein the firing pin axis is not aligned with the primer of the cartridge, to a firing position wherein the firing pin axis is aligned with the primer of the cartridge;
• and
• wherein the lateral protrusion of the slide assembly is positioned to interface with the firing pin protrusion and prevent the firing pin assembly from inadvertently displacing from the safety position until the trigger assembly translates the firing pin into the firing pin sleeve toward the socket such that the firing pin protrusion and the lateral protrusion do not interface when the firing pin assembly displaces to the firing position.