The majority of the laser-bashing that I see on gun forums seems bizarre to me, and makes me wonder if these people ever actually used a decent green laser like a Crimson Trace CMR 203 or 206 (shown on a couple of the guns below).
The main reason I like a laser for HD situations is that I can hold my POA precisely
without focusing on the iron sights. In such a situation, one of the most important decisions one might make for the rest of their life is whether or not to pull the trigger. I would hope that situation never arises, but if it did, I want to be able to focus on the target to see what the target is doing so that I know whether or not I have to pull that trigger. I do NOT want to be distracted at all by focusing on the iron sights or even a red dot. With a laser you can focus your vision on the subject and exactly what the subject is doing, while at the same time maintain a precise aim without looking at the gun or the sights. I would not have an HD handgun without a laser of this type on it.
Beyond that, some of the hate-claims that I see being made against lasers do not fit with my experiences at all:
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Laser is difficult or somehow distracting to turn on and turn off. -- I don't understand this because the wing-switch is immediately in front of the trigger (there's a switch on each side, so it doesn't matter if your left-handed or right-handed). If you can't quickly learn to use this device, I'm not sure you can use a safety or a hammer.
- Laser dot is hard to find. I REALLY don't understand this one because the laser dot co-witnesses the iron sight POA within the ranges that one would use the laser. If you can't immediately find the laser dot, just look where the iron sights are aiming and your dot will be there. How can this be an issue???
- The laser dot exposes my shaky aim. So? It doesn't exacerbate the shaking, it only exposes it. Possibly the laser will help you reduce shaking if it makes you aware that you aren't holding a precise aim.
- Can't see the laser dot in the sun. A green laser is visible on most surfaces in direct sun, MUCH more so than a red laser. But for HD situations bright sunlight is rarely an issue, plus there are always the iron sights if needed.
Here's a magazine full of rounds fired from the P-01 above (top right) from 11 yards with the laser. I don't shoot handguns a lot, and am not a great shot. But shooting a target like this with the same gun using the iron sights (instead of the laser) gives me less than half the accuracy in about twice the time required to put the rounds accurately on target with the laser.