Lumberjack98 wrote: The laser should not replace proper training with your pistol and it's sights, it's just another tool.
Well said!Originally i was for lasers, not so much for helping me shoot as I try to work on being an instinctive aimer, but as pure intimidation to the bad guy. There's a mental difference between looking down the barrel of a gun and looking down the barrel of a gun and seeing that red dot on your chest. A distinct difference in my mind. I did some research on lasers about a year or two ago and found numerous police officers searing by them for just that very reason. They all described incidents where they drew down on someone with little effect and then turned on the laser and the guy just layed it down because he suddenly realized he was really about to get shot. There's something to be said for that imo.
More recently though I've switched philosophies. The above may be true for law enforcement but in most scenarios I can see myself getting into I want to be in a position where I've already shot the guy before he even knew i was armed. I find myself going back to these words a lot
I don't want to advertise my presence or my intent to the BG in most situations so a laser is probably not something I want in a home defense weapon.In small unit tactics sheer surprise may totally invert numerical superiority
- Jeff Cooper
However, it would be nice to have the option of a laser so that i can just turn it on at the flick of a switch if I want it as I can envision some scenarios that might benefit from that as well as a tactical light which is very nice to have imo.
On a different note, why are lasers and lights so darn expensive? I can get a cat toy laser from petsmart for under $10 and a quality mini-maglight for about the same. Adding a $5 rail mounting bracket doesn't justify a $150 price jump imo. I looked at a model the other day that was both laser and tactical light with a rail mounting bracket that was over $230. I'm blown away by that.