Lights undoubtedly save lives. When things go bump in the night, we can better identify whether or not we’re facing a threat if we use a light. It allows us to have a chance to see whether that person we’re facing has a cell phone in his hand, or maybe a set of car keys, or a gun. So lights, in and of themselves, are generally a good implement when they’re used properly. However, it is a bad idea to use a weapon-mounted light (WML) for searching. I’ll explain why.
Not For Searching
During a search, everything that you look at using a WML, you are pointing a loaded firearm at. Now that’s not a problem if you have a sofa or refrigerator in the beam of your light. At some point, though, there’s a good chance that a person will come into your field of view.
Many people believe you can search a building/house/area by pointing the light at the ground and the beam will reflect up, illuminating anyone who is in the place. That is pretty much true. Lights these days are amazingly bright, far brighter than those of just a few years ago.
The problem with that is when you see a person, the instinct is to raise the light (and, in turn, the weapon) and point it at the person because you want to get a really good look to see if they are a threat. In that instance, you are now pointing a gun at another person. The question is…who is it? Is it a burglar? Is it your child who decided to raid the fridge for a midnight snack? Is it your wife (good luck surviving that encounter)?
If it happens to be a burglar, you are good to go. Hopefully, he gives up and there’s no bloodshed. When faced with a home invader, you likely fear for your safety, and so you’re justified (depending upon your jurisdiction and laws) in displaying force. Hopefully, the authorities come and take away the bad person.
Where It Goes Wrong
What if the person in your beam of light has a right to be where they were? In such a case, you just pointed a loaded firearm at a person whom you should not have. You’ve just committed Felony Aggravated Assault because you placed that person in fear for his or her life. You do realize the penalties for committing a felony, correct?
We’re talking prison time, folks. And you’ll never be permitted to own a firearm again.
Even if you don’t happen to be pointing the gun directly at the person (maybe you have it pointed at the ground in front of them), they are still in fear for their life. And you still could very well face felony charges. Putting another in fear of death or serious bodily harm without legal justification is the general definition of Felony Aggravated Assault.
Don’t do this.
Don’t treat the WML as if it were a laser aiming device on your pistol. Or even a scope on your hunting rifle. You wouldn’t point either of those devices at another person unless they were a direct threat to you, would you? The WML is the same way.
The scoped rifle is especially pertinent here. We’ve seen people in the hunting field glassing an area, checking for game, with their scoped hunting rifle. They sometimes look in areas that are inhabited by other hunters, and they know those hunters are there! And yet, they still point their scoped rifle in the direction of other people to use their scope to look for game. This is not a smart move! By the time the hunter sees that he’s looking at another person through his scope, it’s too late—he has already pointed a loaded rifle that them. A better option is to scan using binoculars so you’re not pointing a loaded rifle at everyone else in the woods around you.
When we do a search with a weapon-mounted light, we are, essentially, doing the same thing as the hunter searching with his rifle scope.
Unfortunate Things Happen
Let’s say you’re searching with that WML. You’re nervous or even scared because you believe a threat might be around the corner. Normally, you’re an expert weapon handler, but on this night, you might want to get a jump on the bad guy because you really believe someone might be out to kill you. You’re taking no chances, and you have your finger on that trigger because this time, it’s not the shooting range, it’s for real. Your flashlight beam picks up a person, you get startled, and you squeeze off a round.
You’ve just killed an innocent person.
Think about that for a few moments. If you think that doesn’t happen, you’d be damn wrong, because it has and does happen on occasion. The tragedy is that it is preventable.
Search with a hand-held light. Never your weapon-mounted light.
Use the hand-held light to find what you suspect may be a threat. When/if you do identify a threat, you can drop the handheld light and use the weapon-mounted light now with both hands on your pistol. Later on, you can always retrieve your dropped flashlight.
Dropping the handheld light should pose no problem because if you’re using a tactical switch (also called a Dead Man’s Switch), the light goes out as soon as you stop putting pressure on the button at the base of the light.
Once you’ve identified that the person in your beam is a threat, it is permissible to now use the weapon-mounted light (both legally and morally, generally speaking). If firing your weapon becomes necessary (we pray it never does), the WML will help you hit what you are aiming at.
Think of the handheld light as though they were the binoculars to your rifle scope. Used for searching. The weapon-mounted light will be akin to the rifle scope. Each tool has its job and, if used properly, enhances our safety and that of those around us.
Do you have any experience with using lights? We’d love to hear from our readers on the subject!
