This is a concept that I strongly disagree with. "I'll never be in a situation where I'll need a WML" is a commonly held notion. I've seen members here post about how they'll never need to draw their gun and use a WML, because they will have already identified a threat prior to drawing their gun.
Recently, Officer Noor of the Minneapolis Police Department was convicted of murder. Here's this tidbit:
So, there's a lot going on with this guy that caused this incident...primarily the party line that he shouldn't have been a cop to begin with.Prosecutors argued that Noor acted unreasonably when he fired, and was too quick to assume that Damond was a threat. Noor and Harrity should have considered whether Damond was the 911 caller, the subject of Damond’s 911 call or a woman from a previous 911 call placed earlier in the night by a neighbor, prosecutors have said.
Prosecutors leveraged Harrity’s reaction against Noor. While Harrity testified that he was spooked by the noise and the sight of a silhouette at his window, he also acknowledged that he had been unable to see Damond’s hands and that it was premature to use deadly force based on the information he had at the time.
Yet, still, we have a picture-perfect example of a situation where a WML would be useful, whether you're a LEO or private citizen. "I won't draw my gun unless I need to use it, and I certainly would never point it at somebody unless they had already been identified as a threat!" scream the internet.
So, if you're stopped at night-time and for whatever reason a person slamming on your car alerts you that they're possibly or likely a threat (real-speak: it scares you), and you see them raising a hand towards you, you're going to say, "Hey, hold on for a minute. Stop while I get out my handheld flashlight so I can assess whether you're a threat before I draw my gun."
Or, would it make more sense to draw your gun in response to an articulable threat, assess with a WML whether shooting needs to happen, and then choose your course of action from there? If they're actually a threat, taking the time to take out your flashlight is taking your initiative deficit and increasing it exponentially....now you really won't have a chance if they are a threat. It doesn't make any sense. Not drawing your flashlight can lead you into a situation like Officer Noor, where he fired without fully assessing.
So does your plan/gear make sense? Are you planning for reality to conform to your preconceptions on how a CCW gunfight will go down, or are you planning to address the gray areas that reality more often presents than square range training where an instructor gives a search command followed by targets facing?
My Point:
The tools to address these situations are available. There's a plethora of CCW-friendly WMLs that you can use, and there's really no good reason to not have one.