brakes question (Shims)?

I was looking in the honda manual and says i should ahve shims with the brake pads???...I just bought new hawk hps...reason i ask cause my honda was stolening and I have nothing to go off of...some you say why I should look at the other side for an example...well you dont understand that it was stolen and I am starting from scratch...So blame the thiefs...4 days straight here in Modesto,ca they had front page about car thefts sense are county is number one in america...ya its sad...but if someone can tell me about the shims that would be nice...or if i just put the brake pads on and close the caliper???..not sure please help thanks in advance

when i got new napa pads they came with shims, the pads i took off had shims

Rear discs, no shims used and no issues either...

It depends on the pad, some are designed to have shims, others are not.

Rear discs, no shims used and no issues either...

im pretty sure my rear discs have shims

im pretty sure my rear discs have shims

Maybe. My new pads came with them but they just wouldn't cooperate so I bolted it up without the shims and no problem. A shop even had that side apart and replaced the wheel bearing. They're good guys and love business so I'm sure they would have mentioned if something was wrong and needed fixing...