Hmm... may have just fixed my own problem...
I put the grip back on the gun after taking the pics, reattached the slide, and figured
**** it - Just tried the decocker and it worked like a charm. So, then I cocked the hammer about 20 more times and the decocker worked everytime. My only guess is that I possibly freed something up in the process of reconnecting the grip. Guess I may never know. But I suppose I can thank NES again, cause without posting this thread, I would have never took the gun back out for pics and thus - I would still have a non-functioning decocker
Thanks everyone... I can sleep better now haha