Lights & Lasers on Guns? Why!?

[Avtomat-Acolyte]

I have frequently seen (on forums) or heard (in The Real World) the untrained, ignorant Everyman question or downright deride the choice of others to add (in)visible LASER or weaponlights to their handguns, rifles or shotguns. Their raison d'etre is to point out, usually condescendingly, how "it gives away your position" or "now they have a target to aim for!"

It is very frustrating to see someone so obviously ignorant exchange their excusable (and easily remedied) ignorance for blatant, moronic ****nuttery.

If your only training(sic) with weaponlights and LASERs is from watching tv, movies and playing videogames, then of course you're going to run your mouth about how detrimental these tools are for battlefield survival. It's like expecting a LEGO afficianado to expound intelligently about structural engineering and understand load bearing ratios for support columns.

When you have a light or LASER on your weapon it is never switched "ON." These devices have "momentary on" push-buttons for a reason. You quickly identify your target, you fire, then release the "momentary on" button and continue mission.

As for the "BUT THE ENEMY CAN SEE YOU!".... well NOshit. They'll see your goddamned muzzle blast, too. Each tiny burst of light should be about the same in terms of duration. After firing you should be moving to a new position anyways, so them firing at where you used to be only serves to illuminate THEM. And, if you're not firing and manuevering.... well, then, you definitely haven't ever received any kind of training and it's no wonder you think these invaluable tools are a hinderance rather than a godsend.

Lights & Lasers = Great!

 

[TheSwampFox]

+1

At minimum I keep a white light on any gun I keep loaded. My nightstand gun has a Streamlight TLR-4 light/laser combo. If someone is kicking down my door 3 am I don't want to be trying to get my sleepy eyes to focus on three little green dots when I can focus on one red dot and my target. Plus if you have other people in your house target identification is paramount. Not everything that goes bump in the night is evil. It could be an ankle biter going on a midnight cookie raid.

 

[Avtomat-Acolyte]

+1

Not everything that goes bump in the night is evil. It could be an ankle biter going on a midnight cookie raid.

Sometimes they're one and the same!

 

[TheSwampFox]

:lol: Thats not an ankle biter thats an ankle blaster.

Sometimes you have to pick your battles and give up the cookies :lol:

 

[Tigerstripe]

lights and lasers on guns, why? exactly, why?

im not on a battlefield. im in my home. you seem to be entering my home looking for me with a light or laser. i promise you will lose. when you flash your light or laser you are not guarenteed to see me. if you come through my front door i know exactly where you are. when you flash your light or laser i will be half way through a full auto 30 rd mag dump. you wont be shooting back. my wife will be behind me if she is here, there is no person behind any wall to worry about, there is no house that will be in the way to recieve anything that goes outside even though if someone outside dies as a result of your felony you are responsible. so flash your light or laser or not, nothing coming through my door or window will see me but they will receive a hail of gunfire.
if we are on the battle field i would not enter a home flashing a light or laser. thats what hand grenades are for.

 

[biganimal]

I see the practical reasons for a light on the weapon as it frees up the other hand. A lazer is a pretty good sighting device as long as its mounted and sighted in correctly. I have one on my 45 and it has been a major intimidation factor. Found a guy trying to jimmy my car door once. Put the dot first on the car door then on his nutsack when he turned around. At that point he hauled ass.
Now to address the statement that in the dark you should fire and change position. In theory its a good idea but not always something that can be done effectively. Believe me it is damn tough to fire and move before some someone sends a rd where your muzzle blast was! I know this because I witnessed two Marines get hit by VC return fire and I shot a VC out of a tree mere seconds after seeing his muzzle blast. Let me tell ya the real battlefield and those in Hollywood are very very different.

 

[Avtomat-Acolyte]

lights and lasers on guns, why? exactly, why?

im not on a battlefield. im in my home. you seem to be entering my home looking for me with a light or laser. i promise you will lose. when you flash your light or laser you are not guarenteed to see me. if you come through my front door i know exactly where you are. when you flash your light or laser i will be half way through a full auto 30 rd mag dump. you wont be shooting back. my wife will be behind me if she is here, there is no person behind any wall to worry about, there is no house that will be in the way to recieve anything that goes outside even though if someone outside dies as a result of your felony you are responsible. so flash your light or laser or not, nothing coming through my door or window will see me but they will receive a hail of gunfire.
if we are on the battle field i would not enter a home flashing a light or laser. thats what hand grenades are for.

 

[biganimal]

That's right!!!
But heavy artillery is better!

 

[TheSwampFox]

I feel they assist me in getting a rapid target identification and target acquisition. A 30 round mag dump that I spray and pray into the darkness would be hell on my walls and I live in a subdivision with houses pretty close to each other and I would be accountable for each round that left my barrel. I would like my shots to end up in the bad guy and not the neighbors kid who is sleeping in his bed.

Sure a flashlight is a two way street but what separates us from the bad guys is we are RESPONSIBLE gun owners. Round accountability may difficult but it at least should be attempted.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

+1 on the light. Every HD weapon should have one. AND have a hand light. Last thing on Earth I want to do is point an AR at my child making a 'cookie run' because that's the only light.

Always thought lasers were only good for teasing kitties. But I might consider a TLR for the bedside Glock now.

Excellent initial rant

 

[PCShogun]

Tiger, I can guarantee you that if someone has a class III weapon involved, at least one of them will be taking a dump.

 

[Tigerstripe]

as i said. there will be no person in range except the one that breaks through my reinforced door. any person doing that does not belong. no kids, no neighbors can possibly be hit. trees only. miles of trees.

why worry about walls? the door is busted down, and there is an intruder inside. you are right, its not tv. there is no reason to speak, ask who or ask intention. no need to wait for his light or laser.

this is me in my house. i dont have the problems others have. thats what im saying. there need not be a warning. other defenses will alert me to a presence. if the door is unlocked with a key i will already know who it is. my situation is way different than most. when i had kids in house it was different. in an apartment was different. now its been taken into consideration.

 

[Tigerstripe]

if we are on the battle field i would not enter a home flashing a light or laser. thats what hand grenades are for.[/quote]

battlefield. dont take the last sentence out of context. battle field.

damn, my ears would hurt, PCS, i hope im dumping mags and hes dumping blood.

 

[Midnight Raver]

Backward flags are for right shoulders on uniforms. That way we don't look like we're retreating. Otherwise, follow the code- R. Lee Ermey says so.

 

[Avtomat-Acolyte]

Backward flags are for right shoulders on uniforms. That way we don't look like we're retreating. Otherwise, follow the code- R. Lee Ermey says so.

I don't take flag etiquette protocols from Hollywood actors that ETS'd years before I enlisted. Staff Sergeant Ermey's opinions are irrelevant.

 

[11B3XCIB]

I still wear one of my IR flags on the velcro-front portion of a multi-cam baseball cap I've got. It's just a tribute to the 13 months that particular flag patch spent in combat. The edges are curled up and it's wrinkled as hell, but it's not retreating.

I think mis-used lasers and lights are nothing more than a waste of money for people who aren't going to hit what they're aiming at. Can't tell you how many times I've been at the range and seen someone blasting away at a 7 meter target with a laser, and their shot group still looks like 50 yard bird shot pattern.

I don't mind an invisible laser that I'm using with nightvision that's only visible to me but I personally haven't found a use for a visible laser that I can replicate with using the sights.

I keep a Surefire 6P on my nightstand next to the carry pistol of that particular day. If I'm woken up out of a dead sleep, I need something to help me focus on what I'm going to be shooting at. I keep an older SureFire Millenium on my go-to AR.

 

[PCShogun]

Anyone have experience with "Dazzlers"? Lights or lazers on the weapon that flash quickly to blind (and supposedly disorient) a target?

I would image it would need to be REALLY bright so that the globe of light is large enough to cause a shooter to miss the target simply by effectively hiding them behind the glare of the beam. They would not seem to work very well to me, but then I've never had to stare into one while trying to shoot back.

 

[Tigerstripe]

great idea PCS.

plant one in the cornerwith a remote switch, where you wont be, to draw fire.

good use for a light

 

[PCShogun]

Right after I put these 30 phone books into my bedroom wall so I have a place to stand behind when they enter my home. Seems a lot of folks do not realize bullets will go thru drywall quite easily.

 

[Midnight Raver]

Backward flags are for right shoulders on uniforms. That way we don't look like we're retreating. Otherwise, follow the code- R. Lee Ermey says so.

I don't take flag etiquette protocols from Hollywood actors that ETS'd years before I enlisted. Staff Sergeant Ermey's opinions are irrelevant.

You may have allegedly been in the service, but you sure come across like some militia member with anger management problems. I was joking by invoking his name but THERE IS a specific code of conduct pertaining to our flag. You sure like getting things riled up don't you? :roll:

P.S.: R. Lee Ermey continues to serve this country in a very POSITIVE way- you could learn a lot from him. :idea: