Arguments for and against light mounted on one's CCW/HD pistol

Post #39, Daytona Beach FL PD....

Your welcome.
I'd bring up the point of all the trash, food items, furniture etc made clearing the house & IDing threats hard.

While you use a white light or laser in low light, be aware of ambushes & subjects hiding. The cops had a hard time moving through all the rooms.

If you can't see the video(s), check www.wftv.com or maybe www.orlandosentinel.com .
The Daytona Beach PD might have it on their own homepage or PAO section.

Clyde
 
You don't have to use it , but I'd say its good idea to have it. On HD gun more then CC gun.
That being said , you also have consider Law. In NY if you point. The gun at somebody ( even if you're just using light ) , it's considered assault with a deadly weapon. I'm sure there a few more screwed up states like NY.
 
Valerko said:
...you also have consider Law. In NY if you point. The gun at somebody ( even if you're just using light ) , it's considered assault with a deadly weapon. I'm sure there a few more screwed up states like NY.
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Nothing screwed up about that. In every State if you point a gun at someone it's assault with a deadly weapon or some other type of assault (it's called "menacing" in Alabama). Your defense will be that it was justified. So you better hope that you can establish that the circumstances met the legal standard for justifying assaulting someone with a gun.
 
Everything is a tradeoff. Gun at low ready means more time to react but avoids possibly inadvertently point a firearm at a loved one.....
 
First off... in NY if you point a firearm at a person, and cause that person to fear for their life it's menacing.. not assault.

Sorry gang.. for being late to the party.

Lights mounted on handguns...

Having had to draw a gun during a real life situation I can testify it can be very stressfull. A person under stress is subject to making controll surface errors. Not saying it will happen any or every time... but it is much more likely to happen under stress. The flashlight, and the firearm are two seperate tools, with two seperate controls. Putting them into one package I believe would lend to a possible disaster that could easily be avoided.

The reason for drawing a firearm indicates at least the possiblity of your opponent being armed. IMO The gun mounted light makes a really good target. Just because a person have a flashlight either on the gun or off it... is no guarente that the officer/home defender will see the adversary first. If the defender is walking around in the dark with any kind of a flashlight... chances are the adversary will see them coming. That could end badly.

The flashlight and the handgun are seperate tools for seperate tasks. The more stuff you carry is the more stuff you depend on that can fail, or just something else that can be forgotten or left behind. The shorter the checklist in your head. The easier it is to keep up with.
 
Glenn Dee said:
... in NY if you point a firearm at a person, and cause that person to fear for their life it's menacing.. not assault...
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It fits the definition of assault, based on the Common Law:
an intentional act by one person that creates an apprehension in another of an imminent harmful or offensive contact.
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In some States (Alabama, and apparently New York, and perhaps some others) the crime is called "menacing" in the statutes.
 
I,m a "keep it simple" kind of guy. I have a weapon mounted light on my HD pistol in the quick access safe by the bed along with a good, bright hand held flashlight. But on a practical note, making it part of my EDC pistol just causes more problems than I care to deal with. Just finding holsters that accomedate a mounted light adds more expense and starts to make the gun more cumbersome and more likely to be left at home in favor of a mouse gun. I don't spend a lot of time out and about after dark anyway, I believe in John Farnams theory that you should be home in bed by 10 PM if at all posible. I do always carry a good flashlite on my person as well.:)
 
my current setup for SD & HD is sig p226, using TLR-2 light/laser as WML + separate dedicated light (surefire executive defender).
 
Light is good, light is your friend, BUT I don't think a light should be on a weapon. And for the reason often stated, pointing the light also means pointing the gun.

Now, as others have said, you don't have to point the light directly at the object (potential target), but unless you are a highly trained individual (and how many of us really are?) who never breaks training, then at some point, you WILL point the light (& gun) at someone.

Now, while this may not be bad tactics (depending on the situation) it certainly is bad manners.;)

The fact is that if you are awakened in the night, you don't know what is going on. The bad guy does. The only thing he doesn't know is if you are armed, unless you are one of the "rack the pump gun" types, or you announce you are armed.

I see no point to a light on a carry gun. Or more correctly, no point for me...
Added weight and bulk (even if not much) and questionable utility. Add in the fact that most holsters aren't made to fit a gun with a light...

I do find it somewhat humorous that some will explain how a full size gun is "too big" for CCW, and then they go on to choose a smaller gun, and add a light, which brings the total package back up to (or even possibly beyond) the size of that "too big" gun that they spurned...

You should do what makes the best sense to you, considering your personal situation. My situation is that I am not a cop, nor young and fit. I live in the country, in a small house, with one other person (and some pets). Outside of a (rare) power outage, there are some lights on in my house, 24/7. I have a yard light, and other than my car (a short distance from the front door, and not in complete dark, either) there are no things of significant value (or portability) outside my house. So, for me, the point of having a light attached to my defensive firearms is rather moot.

As to having a light when out and about, I'm still in the camp of "the light should not be on the gun". In my life, there is nothing that requires me to be out in dark places, and so, I rarely do it. Also, there is the consideration that a light, while useful, is not desperately needed, as absent night vision devices, the bad guy can't see in the dark any better than you can.

I'm not going to be clearing any dark buildings, nor do I have family members that might come and go in the middle of the night. My wife's 35lb shaggy mobile alarm system serves quite well, and is fairly cheap to operate (unless the price of treats goes up:D).

your situation could be completely different, and you should evaluate things based on that, not on what any well meaning internet advice says. Take it under consideration, sure, but don't blindly follow it just because the author sounds like they know what they are talking about.:D
 
I disagree on a few points.

First, is that most people shoot significantly better using two hands. A mounted light allows this quite easily. I think that is the largest point in favor.

Second, being able to see as well as an intruder/attacker may not be enough. An intruder can assume anyone in the area is a threat. Most good guys need to be able to not only determine that there is a person, but they must also verify that the person is a threat.
(I had that exact thing happen at an airsoft event. I saw three people enter the building I was in, but I couldn't tell which side they were on. I had to illuminate them to make sure I didn't shoot my own teammates. Sadly, I also discovered the true fact that lights DO attract attention. I hit one adversary and just missed a second [guess I need work on target transistions!] when they hit me in the stomach. :( Good thing it was just an airsoft game!)
 
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raimius said:
...most people shoot significantly better using two hands. A mounted light allows this quite easily. I think that is the largest point in favor...
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Wow! Déjà vu. See post 29:
Frank Ettin said:
raimius said:
I shoot a whole lot better with two hands,...
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Which suggests to me that you might want to start training some more in one handed shooting. And there are some techniques which allow a good two handed grip on a pistol while holding a flashlight.
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Yes, now show me that a significant portion of practiced shooters can shoot faster and more accurately with one hand, verses the Weaver, Chapman, or modified Iso. I'd be VERY surprised if there is research that shows one hand is better than two.
 
raimius said:
Yes, now show me that a significant portion of practiced shooters can shoot faster and more accurately with one hand, verses the Weaver, Chapman, or modified Iso. I'd be VERY surprised if there is research that shows one hand is better than two.
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If one learns how to manage a gun and separate flashlight properly, he won't be shooting one handed.
 
Yes, now show me that a significant portion of practiced shooters can shoot faster and more accurately with one hand, verses the Weaver, Chapman, or modified Iso. I'd be VERY surprised if there is research that shows one hand is better than two.
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It is largely situation dependent. I was doing some FATS training some years ago on a traffic stop scenario that turned into a shooting. The other people in the class found it interesting that the flashlight in my left hand never moved as I drew and shot the video BG three times.

A weapon mounted light is A tool.
 
I am a firm believer ih keeping flashlights separate from the weapon.
1. no chance of putting the muzzle on an unidentified innocent.
2. You can hold the light away from the body in case you draw fire.

It's old school but it still works.
 
I like having a weapon mounted light. It means I always have a light with the weapon. I don't have to use it, but it is there if it is needed.

It can be hard to manipulate objects when each of your hands is busy holding 1) a pistol, and 2) a flashlight. It can be to clear a malfunction without first putting the light somewhere if it isn't weapon mounted.

People do not multitask one-handed very well, getting one hand to perform multiple functions at the same time, especially when stressed.

If one learns how to manage a gun and separate flashlight properly, he won't be shooting one handed.
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At that point, it is almost like having the light mounted on the gun, LOL.
 
I shoot better with one hand than two. I have tried to learn 2 handed shooting, taken lessons, etc, but my scores are much better one handed. I may be the exception to the rule, but I really think decades of shooting one way will score higher than any different technique.

Obviously individuals vary so I question that one can make a valid blanket statement about which technique is best for all. As for the light, I use my non shooting hand to hold it if I need it.
 
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