In this post (with a throw away line base on an old internet trope), Other Steve makes a damn fine and valid point:
You know. Some day If you actually take some low light training, you might stop being so damn obtuse about things.
If you ever happen to get to take low light force on force, and see how many times your flash light hand is hit, because people shoot at lights, you might get that you are entirely wrong about what you think is clever mocking.
I agree with that 100%. But that’s likely not to ever be something I’ll have to worry about. Some people do have to train and prepare for that stuff. Some military units, SWAT teams, security details, and countless others. And they all have many things in common. One of those things is that they are not me.
We put lights on all manner of things to make them more convenient or to give them better utility. Here’s my Bosch drill giving away my position to my daughter:
The light is there to make it easier to screw things when the lighting is poor. The light on my gun is there for pretty much the same thing.
Unlike the guys mentioned above who train for that sort of thing, it’s very unlikely that I’ll ever be in a gun fight. And, if I’m in 100 gun fights, it’s unlikely that in any one of them I’d be worried about giving away my position. The aforementioned military units, SWAT teams, security details, and countless others, however, are more likely to have a need to prevent their position from being known. Me, not so much. I’m just a regular Joe. So I’m quite content putting lights and lasers on my carry gun. They’re not going to give away my position. The place where the shooting sounds are coming from will. Also, the place where the cussing, screaming, and maybe the smell of poop because I just shit my pants, having realized I’m in a gun fight will give away my position too.