Light Or No Light On A Home Defense Pistol?

I have a laser built into one of them, and one for each of the other two, but not lights. I usually keep lights on in the house. Yes, I know a savvy burglar could cut the power, or I could be more vulnerable during power outages, but I have about a half dozen flashlights on my nightstand, plus one in my pants pocket.

Surefire xc1. There's no reason, other than a light ND, not to run one on a Glock.

At night, there's not a lot that you can do, with a modern light in your face. Try it with a sparring partner.

I use the Harries technique, it's better than the Chapman technique, for me at least.

Not really a concern shooting with 1.5 hands. At least for many people.

It's a crucible that won't make sense until you try it. Unfortunately, no trainer wants to get in a night house with a newb, so there's always a ton of classes that need covered first:
https://www.tdiohio.com/product/level-6-handgun/

I have a Viridian light/green laser combo unit on my HD pistol. I keep the laser set to solid and the light set to strobe. I think target identification is paramount in an HD situation. If the dazzling and disorienting effect of having a super bright LED strobing in their face gives me a split second edge over the bad guy, so much the better.

Strobes disorient all looking at it, not just the target. (Though they're great tripping at a concert-so I hear....)

No light for me. between motion night lights in the kitchen, a good dog, and ambient light from night guards on the streets front and rear, there is enough light. With only my wife and I (dog and cat) I see no need for the added weight

I have mine set for a very fast strobe. To my eyes, (strobe pointed away from me and at the target) it is not disorienting at all and the green laser dot and my iron sights are both very easy to locate. Standing 15-20 feet away and looking at the strobe, it's painful and hard to focus on anything. From that vantage, you can't even tell a laser is aimed at you. You just see the bright, rapidly flashing light.

This is just my opinion and I claim no great gunfighting expertise but on a HD gun I like a light. You don't have to turn it on but the option is good. My bed is on the opposite wall from the light switch so if I need to grab the gun in the dark while I'm in bed there's no way I'm going to get to that wall in time. I have a few hand held lights by the bed as well but I like options.

Yes. The reasons are simple and mathematical: On this planet, it is dark about 50% of the time. Most of us sleep, or at least wind down during these periods, so an incident during a period of darkness will generally occur while we are not 100% mentally switched on. Additionally, often criminals like to take advantage of these periods of darkness. Turning the lights on may not be possible or a wise tactical position (time, exposure to hostiles, giving away your presence and position, or a power outage due to a savvy criminal or storm). Even during hours of daylight, you may need to search dark areas like storage sheds, basements, crawl spaces, closets, etc.). A light is crucial in these situations to identify your target and place accurate fire on that target, and to determine that what you are hearing is not a pet, a trash can banging on the outside of the house due to wind, a sleepwalking family member, etc. "Recon by fire" (shooting at movement, noises, or shadows) is not a sensible engagement method. You should also have a secondary light source (another light NOT mounted on a weapon) handy, as it isn't always appropriate to point a gun at everything. As with any defense tool, getting some training from a competent instructor can't be overstated- simply mounting your light and playing with it a little bit isn't enough. Along with periodic sustainment training. I even keep a light mounted on my S&W M&P 22 pistol, so I have the opportunity to do some "sustainment training" whenever possums show up and start stealing my outside cat's food.

Kleanbore said:

No.

Tom Givens wrote this:

https://rangemaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02_RFTS-Newsletter.pdf

Click to expand...

I really like the logic and advice Tom Givens provides, but WRT a weapon mounted light, I’m gonna have one on my primary home defense and woods guns. Here is why...

1. I live in an area without streetlights and houses are on acre lots. Some neighbors use outside lights, some don’t. If cloudy or the moon isn’t out, it’s pretty dark at night.

2. My WML’s are all 500 lumens or more. They will blind a bad guy who’s eyes are really dilated.

3. If I had to go outside at night, I need a good light...even if I have outside lights on (and mine are auto on at dusk)

4. They don’t weigh much, and you don’t have to use them if you choose not to...

5. Having done some walking around with my firearm to see what works and doesn’t work in the wee hours, they work for me.

The myth that using a light on your gun is dangerous because you are flagging everything is overblown. A good WML will have a lot of spill light. I can hold my handgun at low ready, pointed at the ground 5-7 ft in front of me, and the spill will completely light up the entire room.

If you’ve tried it and don’t like it, fine. But if only basing your opinion off what you read in a magazine or online, you should try a WML for yourself. They don’t need to cost a fortune...Streamlight and Olight have some reasonably priced options. And this may be another...

https://lapolicegear.com/lapg-fl-xwl01-sliderail-xwl-light.html

YMMV

Yes.
All of my midnight engagements have been four legged. I intend to keep it that way.
I like to see what I'm shooting at. Sometimes I'm holding back a dog.
All of the naysayers may continue to blow smoke, but as for me, I'll take the mounted light.
They do have on/off switches.

No light for me. When I hear a bump in the night I turn my house lights on, either inside or out. In my opinion more light is better than less light. Besides I have flashlights that are much more powerful than any pistol light. I have reluctance to point my firearm at things or people I may not want to shoot. While checking out a noise I'd rather have my gun pointed down. Less chance of shooting my wife or son in a bright lit room and my gun not pointed at them.

I follow Claude Werner on Facebook. Within the last week he posted the story of a guy in St Petersburg Florida who woke up in the middle of the night with somebody in his room. He shot them and then found out that he'd killed his pregnant wife.

Apparently they were able to deliver the baby who lived but in addition to living with that throughout the rest of his life at some point he's going to have to tell his child that he killed its mother.

Target identification is Paramount. So is good decision-making skills.

Having said that I don't use a weapon-mounted light because it's not something that I have any training or experience with.

I use a hand held flashlight because that's what I'm familiar with.

Kleanbore said:

No.

Tom Givens wrote this:

https://rangemaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02_RFTS-Newsletter.pdf

Click to expand...

Sounds like a guy trying really hard to justify not having/using tritium sights or a weapon mounted light.

WrongHanded said:

Sounds like a guy trying really hard to justify not having/using tritium sights or a weapon mounted light.

Click to expand...

I see his point. I work nights and I have for several years. There's almost no place I've ever been that it was pitch dark almost.

I was thinking about that article and trying to frame a response when I remembered one night that wasn't an almost.

I was walking around a substation at around 2AM. Generally when I did checks like that I didn't walk around with my flashlight continuously on because that just made me a target.

So I'd walk a little bit then stop and turn on my small flashlight and kind of scan the area then turn it off and keep going.

One of those times I turned on the light and there was a guy standing in the trees about 15 feet away from me.

Nothing happened. He was drunk and just trying to walk home but it definitely made me stop and think.

I remember that incident every time I have to go check something in the dark and I'm very careful to light up the dark spots before I enter them.

But having said all that I also have to point out that had my job not required it I never would have been there in the first place