In 2019 weapon lights are mandatory....convince me otherwise

[Duke]

Thank you all for refresh of topic. I read the other thread Linked.

Observation - a lot of folk who say wml not needed on a pistol say all their rifles have lights. What’s the difference ?

I’m not trying to over simplify a layered approach.

[blues]

Thank you all for refresh of topic. I read the other thread Linked.

Observation - a lot of folk who say wml not needed on a pistol say all their rifles have lights. What’s the difference ?

I’m not trying to over simplify a layered approach.

I'm going to let others handle this one for the most part...but a couple quick thoughts:

Long gun usually means two hands on the gun. Doesn't leave a third hand for the light.

If the long gun is for home defense and the chances of a home invasion or robbery or burglary would be at night when lights are off and you have to grab the long gun...it stands to reason that the light "may" be useful in putting your plan into effect.

[Duke]

I'm going to let others handle this one for the most part...but a couple quick thoughts:

Long gun usually means two hands on the gun. Doesn't leave a third hand for the light.

If the long gun is for home defense and the chances of a home invasion or robbery or burglary would be at night when lights are off and you have to grab the long gun...it stands to reason that the light "may" be useful in putting your plan into effect.

Sure.

So in project mayhem - weapon lights on rifles are for general threat searching but pistol lights aren’t.

Lighthearted sarcasm and jesting implied.

[blues]

Sure.

So in project mayhem - weapon lights on rifles are for general threat searching but pistol lights aren’t.

Lighthearted sarcasm and jesting implied.

My plan, in a home invasion at night is to have my wife go to her assigned location and grab her assigned gun, man the phones and hopefully manage the dog.

The plan, for me, is to take a position and wait for the threat to enter the fatal funnel and take appropriate action. That may or may not require lighting him or them up. I only have to account for my wife and dog. Anyone else is a bogey. (This is not searching or hunting the threat. This is letting the threat walk into the web.)



Out and about with a handgun there is usually enough ambient light to identify a threat without a light. (But always have a light, regardless.)

[voodoo_man]

Why?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I actually posted why and it only posted the first three lines, hmmm.

Short of it - I found myself using it very sparingly on duty and in real world application, to the point I decided that it just isn't needed for what I do on a daily basis. On top of that for concealed carry, on and off duty, I found better application without a light.

The only two considerations I'd advise is that if you don't live somewhere that has street lights then you should probably have one, I have street lights everywhere. This is only applicable to pistols applied by the average pistol user. If you run a dog, a shield, or something of that nature then yeah, totally need a wml.

My personal experience has shown it's not needed in th vast majority of applications.

Now I carry one from time to time in order to eval a holster or a wml. But that's not my go to.

[jnc36rcpd]

My former employer had quite the ordeal with WML's, much of it self-inflicted. I believe we first authorized and then mandated lights mounted on rifles, followed by shotguns. We then had the issue that the firearms training coordinator went nuts when he realized shotguns in the armory did not have lights. I wasn't up for purchasing Surefire forends for unused shotguns, but eventually the lieutenant calmed down and the armorers realized they could mount Surefire G2's to the shotguns at a reasonable cost (though that was never a great solution on a slide gun).Sometime later, someone (possibly the now promoted former firearms training coordinator) realized that while we intended (and I wrote) policy mandating lights on gauges, it had never been actually put in the general orders. The former FTC was now all about the budget, but I did try to point out that lights on long guns are a really, really good idea.

Then came the pistol mounted light issue which went full bore when newly purchased 226's came with light rails. The chief went nuts over these and, reasonably, wanted an official opinion from firearms training. While I wasn't that enthusiastic about them on pistols, I ended up tasked with research and writing the proposal. (Research and writing were skills not widely known in the firearms training staff.) Our chief, who could be passive aggressive, can't refute my logic, but mandated that if anyone has a pistol-mounted light, we will all have pistol mounted lights. Good idea, but it would have blown our budget at the time. More research and writing and pistol-mounted lights become optional.

Fast forward a few years and a new firearms training coordinator decides pistol-mounted lights will be mandatory on our new FNS-9 pistols. Great idea, except the FNS-9's malfunction consistently with lights attached. Some abandon lights forever while others, like me, leave our lights at home until FNH corrects the problem. (Never lked that gun, but great service by FNH.)

Since I was thrown out the door, the agency transitioned to Glock 17's and 19's (except for the new chief, the weight of his duties forcing him to carry a Glock 26). Lights are mandatory for all (except the chief) which has led to conflict between the training sergeant and the internal affairs lieutenant with cross accusations that neither has a light on their pistol.

After that walk down memory lane (illuminated by a TLR-1), the pistol-mounted light can be useful for policing and, less so, for self-defense applications. If I ever go into uniformed policing or armed security, I would prefer one on my duty pistol, For off duty or self defense applications, I think you need to balance comfort and concealability with the utility of the PML.

[Jay Cunningham]

No one unless they are a threat.

How do you determine that they are a threat?

[BehindBlueI's]

Observation - a lot of folk who say wml not needed on a pistol say all their rifles have lights. What’s the difference ?

Number of hands and context of deployment. Note that many have also said "night stand gun", which would have a deployment perhaps more similar to the long gun then your EDC walking around gun.

I also *do* sometimes use a WML as part of a general search. Long gun lights have historically been brighter by a far margin over handgun sized WML, although of course these days handgun lights can be incredibly freaking bright as well. Depending on distances, etc. you can use the edge of the light or splashed light to illuminate an area you are searching and not muzzle any area you haven't already cleared.

When clearing buildings I tend to switch back and forth between handheld and WML based on context of the moment.

[gato naranja]

Note that many have also said "night stand gun", which would have a deployment perhaps more similar to the long gun then your EDC walking around gun.

This.

Here at Casa del Gato, the "NSG" is an outlier in many ways. In addition to being equipped with a WML, it also has a longer barrel, a few extra ounces are not a negative, etc.

gn

[Hambo]

How do you determine that they are a threat?

You seem to want to argue one line at a time. What are you getting at?

WMLs are not stand alone lights. Use a handheld to search, and a WML (if you have one) to illuminate your target.