Originally Posted by Volzfan

I have never shot a gun with a laser so I don't have personal experience. I have rarely seen anyone at the range that was using one either. The first time that I saw one being used was at an indoor range and the guy a couple of lanes over had one on his gun. He couldn't come close to holding it still and it was only about 20 ft. away. I thought that if I couldn't do any better than that then I wouldn't want one. Maybe I'll get a chance one day to shoot someones gun that has a laser and then I'll change my opinion and have to have one.

Originally Posted by Jeff.Slim

So I wanted to put up a brief thread about my opinion about the value of a laser sighting device (Crimson Trace, Lasermax, etc) on your home defense/carry weapon.

Let me start off by saying that I am a HUGE backer for use of a laser device on any weapon you are going to use for defense. I see the laser better suited to an offensive application, such as military, LEO or SWAT. Target acquisition becomes more difficult as the lighting becomes brighter and target gains distance. The dot, especially red, can be hard for the human eye to pick up. In a SWAT application, the shooter may have more time to setup and acquire the target. Why? Well my personal opinion is that it functions in multiple way, which I will cover in my "points" below. No matter your skill level a laser is one advantage you should not overlook. I personally carry a laser device on every firearm I use for defense, simply put its another tool in my bag of "tricks".

PRO's:

- Quicker point of aim- instead of having to bring the firearm up to eye level in order to engage a target accurately, you can quickly gain a point of aim with a laser device even from the position of removing it from the holster. We all know that the faster you can get on target the faster you can react to a threat of deter a threat. Repeating my earlier point here, the target acquisition can actually be more difficult as lighting and distance increase.

- Less thought process involved, instead of having to remember your four basic steps of acquiring a target: Pull, hand at chest, gun meets hand, forward extension, you can again reach POA faster (see point 1) You actually add a step here, you have to make certain the laser is activated. Some of the CT have a momentary switch which is activated by the finger adjacent to your trigger finger. I find this fine motor skill to be very challenging in high stress situations.

- Low light condition advantage, giving you a clear POA in low light conditions Yes, the dot does help illuminate the POA, however, the laser will also create a light path back to your location, providing a beacon for your adversary, should there be any particulates (dust, smoke, etc) in the air, which will be very likely in the situations we are discussing here.

- Decision time for your attacker, when an attacker see's a laser on there chest/body and see that laser coming from you it will mentally play with your attacker into quickly deciding if they want to continue there course of action or quickly break off from there attack. If I am in a life threatening situation, one of the very last places I will ever consider looking is at my chest. The likelihood of your adversary being aware of this dot on his/her person is almost nonexistent.

-Stress shooting, alot of people that carry aren't trained completely or fully in the art of high stress life/death situations, and only having to worry about getting a "dot" on a target instead of holding sight picture can help the defender feel more comfortable with the situation at hand, and also goes back to point #1. One situation I can see that the laser would could provide an advantage is in an unconventional firing stance/position. Let's say you are crouched down behind the last row of seats in a movie theatre as concealment. Due to physical space constraints, you are unable to get the sights in line between your target and your eyes. Holding the handgun off to the side of the seats, you will be able to find the POA in this unconventional position much more readily.

CON's

-Price, while you can't put a price on your life, property or loved ones, I do understand that not everyone can afford a $300(average) system to enhance there firearm. Not asking you to fore-go your mortgage, insurance, etc in order to finance a laser device. But if you can find a way, buy it. I don't like to skimp on cost when the lives of loved ones are involved and will gladly spend the money if the device fits into my scheme/plan/training.

-Concealment, most laser pistol grips add some width to your firearm, so again selection of a firearm, or holster is key in concealment.

- Holster Compatibility, devices other than Crimson Trace and Laser Max (rail mounted devices) can cause a problem with finding a proper holster. If you are going to use a flashlight/laser device that mounts to your rail, make sure you pick a firearm that has holsters for attachments readily available. Most custom holster manufacturers will make a holster to accommodate most models of handguns with most WML's and lasers. And these holsters will not necessarily break the bank!

-Batteries, we all know anything with batteries requires you to remember when to change them. My recommendation is to change your batteries every 6 months to a year. Yes shelf life and life of battery are longer, but do you really want to chance it not working? I personally rotate my Crimson Trace batteries every three months, but I drill with my firearm daily, and shoot with it weekly.

Adding a laser device is a personal choice, but one that should not be overlooked. Any advantage you can give yourself is one less advantage an attacker has.

*The information I give here is opinion only, it is not legal information given to you, user is responsible for safe use,storage and operation of firearms, and needs to know all local, state and federal laws in regards to firearms in this area. If you are unsure of anything please consult your local police department or local instructor for more information. This is opinion based information only.