I've tried the various flashlight techniques over the years. The downfalls to the laser/light set-up are very minor. The most annoying is holster selection is limited. Fobus makes a nice cheap one that allows you to carry any light you want, but it's not a high level holster for gun grabs. I used to have some of the others concerns, but then realized they weren't that valid once I started carrying w/one. I use a Streamlight TLR-2 laser/light combo on a Glock Gen 4 .40 cal for my duty gun (K9 officer). I plan on equipping all of the home guns w/similar set-ups. The main downfalls are expense & practicing w/it to train into muscle memory the ability to switch it on & off.
The downfall of giving away your position for home use is minimal. For street use, you need to adjust your tactics to adjust for this. The laser allows you to successfully aim at your target from a much better position of cover without exposing yourself. You only have to be lined up behind your light if you really want to. In effect, you slice the pie w/the laser/light from back around the corner w/your head in a different position. The combo allows you to open doors, flip on lights, & still be able to use your gun & light w/a single hand.
The downfall of having your gun aimed at a person when trying to use the light is easily remedied w/correct tactics. Use the light beam splash to illuminate the target (ie aim to the side of the target). The tac lights are extremely bright & will easily light up a whole room when aimed into a corner. Personally, if you aren't able to control your trigger finger, you probably shouldn't be trying to use the gun.
It gives you some big advantages over the light not on the gun, & you can still carry separate light if you want. I do. You have a much more stable shooting platform w/2 hands than one. The light is blinding. Your situational awareness is much better. You can see the suspect much better as the laser allows you to look over the top of the gun to watch the suspects hands as you are taking them into custody or waiting for back-up. As an experiment, look at one of the person targets, get your sights lined up at center mass, then look at how much of the target you can't see. With the laser, you can lower the gun, see all of your target & what the hands are doing & know right where the bullet is going if you have to suddenly fire. All of our officers that have tried mine (even the ones that didn't like it) where able to shoot better with it than any of the other flashlight gun shooting positions. A couple of other benefits, the laser helps you to know where your rounds are going, allowing you to better avoid sending rounds through the kids room. It really helps you to practice clearing your house (after all safety precautions) as you can see exactly where you are sweeping the gun barrel. If you don't want to give away your position, don't flip it on. In reality, it's blinding & intimidating. I've defused some situations by making sure the bad guy has seen the laser. Nothing makes your point quite as literally as the bad guy in the car seeing the laser move from his dash to the his shoulders, to his chest/back. The biggest downfall is I have to remind the other officers that it's not a Taser aimed at person.
The downfall of giving away your position for home use is minimal. For street use, you need to adjust your tactics to adjust for this. The laser allows you to successfully aim at your target from a much better position of cover without exposing yourself. You only have to be lined up behind your light if you really want to. In effect, you slice the pie w/the laser/light from back around the corner w/your head in a different position. The combo allows you to open doors, flip on lights, & still be able to use your gun & light w/a single hand.
The downfall of having your gun aimed at a person when trying to use the light is easily remedied w/correct tactics. Use the light beam splash to illuminate the target (ie aim to the side of the target). The tac lights are extremely bright & will easily light up a whole room when aimed into a corner. Personally, if you aren't able to control your trigger finger, you probably shouldn't be trying to use the gun.
It gives you some big advantages over the light not on the gun, & you can still carry separate light if you want. I do. You have a much more stable shooting platform w/2 hands than one. The light is blinding. Your situational awareness is much better. You can see the suspect much better as the laser allows you to look over the top of the gun to watch the suspects hands as you are taking them into custody or waiting for back-up. As an experiment, look at one of the person targets, get your sights lined up at center mass, then look at how much of the target you can't see. With the laser, you can lower the gun, see all of your target & what the hands are doing & know right where the bullet is going if you have to suddenly fire. All of our officers that have tried mine (even the ones that didn't like it) where able to shoot better with it than any of the other flashlight gun shooting positions. A couple of other benefits, the laser helps you to know where your rounds are going, allowing you to better avoid sending rounds through the kids room. It really helps you to practice clearing your house (after all safety precautions) as you can see exactly where you are sweeping the gun barrel. If you don't want to give away your position, don't flip it on. In reality, it's blinding & intimidating. I've defused some situations by making sure the bad guy has seen the laser. Nothing makes your point quite as literally as the bad guy in the car seeing the laser move from his dash to the his shoulders, to his chest/back. The biggest downfall is I have to remind the other officers that it's not a Taser aimed at person.
