It sounds as if the catch for holding the lever over isn't working. Could have a missing spring or other parts broken or missing. I had one Ithaca Flues model on which the bbls would be released prior to the bolt latching, so on opening I had to be sure & push the lever to the end of is travel to the right to ensure the lever locked over. There would be no particular hazard to using this gun, except one would have to remember & push over the lever to retract the bolts prior to closing it.
I am not familar enough with all the eraly Ithaca models, pre Flues, as to say if they all had lever latches or not. Some doubles do not, on these the lever will normally be cammed over in closing. If on closing this gun you have to manually push the lever over to close, then it should have the latch.
