The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Good vs. bad of installing a laser sight on pistol?

444 · December 12, 2001, 12:49 PM

Here is what I am thinking C.R. I was dating a woman who lived with her son in a single story house. When I met her, she had something like a Jennings .22 auto. She was concerned about personal protection and wanted something else but didn't have the money for it. I came across one of those Hi-point 9mm Carbines with a laser, 4 mags, and most of a case of ammo for $75. I bought it because I figured I couldn't get hurt on the deal. If the gun turned out to be as bad as it looked, I could sell the gun and keep the ammo. After trying it, the gun turned out to be pretty good. It had never jammed and was fairly accurate. I took the GF out to try it and she had a ball using the laser. It occured to me that this might be the perfect HD gun for someone in her situation. Much easier to hit with than a handgun, cheap, gives a little more power than a 9mm handgun without any significant recoil, and she was quickly hitting fairly small targets with the laser. It seemed to me that if she was awakened in the middle of the night with someone breaking in, she could grab the carbine and stay pretty much behind the cover of the doorway while she covered almost of the whole house from that position. She has no way to turn the lights on in the rest of the house from there, so the person breaking in will be in the dark. She wouldn't know immediatly if he had a gun or not. She might be able to get away with just shooting and asking questions later, but I would put the laser on him instead. This gives you several things, #1 you are now aiming the gun at him even if you can't see the sights since it is dark. (no, someone that can barely keep thier head above water isn't going to pay for nightsights) Yes she could have a flashlight that also takes batteries, takes one hand to operate, is something else to remember to grab and find under stress, and defitely gives away your position. It also ruins your night vision. #2 In the excitment of the situation I couldn't see her using the sights anyway, if she used the laser that would be a bonus. She did a very little bit of shooting; she wasn't experienced with guns. You and I would probably be looking through the sights without even thinking about it, I doubt she would. #3 if he wasn't armed or he had the gun stuck in his waistband he might see the laser and decide it would be a lot better to leave or surrender rather than trying to draw saving everyone concerned a terrible nightmare. If he doesn't see the laser we have lost nothing over the same situation without the laser and we have better shot placement. #4 If she hit him in the eyes with the laser this would certainly make the situation turn in her favor. If you shine one of these things in your eye you will see what I mean.
So, you had people in a class that didn't know the laser was on them, sure, they were in a lighted room and they didn't see a little red light on a rifle pointing at them from behind the doorway. Why bother ? Because I the last thing I would want to do is shoot someone. It would be a last ditch effort, If you have the element of being in position to shoot and am behind cover I definitely will try several forms of intimidation before shooting if I can. If he starts shooting, all bets are off. If he isn't shooting or I don't see a gun, I would put the dot on him and try to talk him out of doing anything stupid. These run on batteries, yes, so what. If you don't keep tabs on your weapon and the batteries are dead you are no worse off than if you didn't have the laser at all. I think I bought this gun at least two years ago. The last time I checked the batteries in the laser still worked and I have no idea how long the batteries were in it prior to me buying it. If this is an issue, replace the batteries every year. Most of us change out our ammo every so often, most of us switch mags every so often. I don't think it would be out of the question to check that the batteries were good once in awhile and change them during preventitive maintainence at least annually.
I don't feel that much of this is an issue for me. I have a rottweiler, I have handguns with night sights, I have shotguns, I shoot a couple times a week, I feel that I am better prepared mentally than someone in her situation. But for her, this seemed to solve a lot of problems.

December 12, 2001, 12:49 PM	#23
444 Senior Member Join Date: November 20, 2000 Location: Ohio Posts: 3,968	Here is what I am thinking C.R. I was dating a woman who lived with her son in a single story house. When I met her, she had something like a Jennings .22 auto. She was concerned about personal protection and wanted something else but didn't have the money for it. I came across one of those Hi-point 9mm Carbines with a laser, 4 mags, and most of a case of ammo for $75. I bought it because I figured I couldn't get hurt on the deal. If the gun turned out to be as bad as it looked, I could sell the gun and keep the ammo. After trying it, the gun turned out to be pretty good. It had never jammed and was fairly accurate. I took the GF out to try it and she had a ball using the laser. It occured to me that this might be the perfect HD gun for someone in her situation. Much easier to hit with than a handgun, cheap, gives a little more power than a 9mm handgun without any significant recoil, and she was quickly hitting fairly small targets with the laser. It seemed to me that if she was awakened in the middle of the night with someone breaking in, she could grab the carbine and stay pretty much behind the cover of the doorway while she covered almost of the whole house from that position. She has no way to turn the lights on in the rest of the house from there, so the person breaking in will be in the dark. She wouldn't know immediatly if he had a gun or not. She might be able to get away with just shooting and asking questions later, but I would put the laser on him instead. This gives you several things, #1 you are now aiming the gun at him even if you can't see the sights since it is dark. (no, someone that can barely keep thier head above water isn't going to pay for nightsights) Yes she could have a flashlight that also takes batteries, takes one hand to operate, is something else to remember to grab and find under stress, and defitely gives away your position. It also ruins your night vision. #2 In the excitment of the situation I couldn't see her using the sights anyway, if she used the laser that would be a bonus. She did a very little bit of shooting; she wasn't experienced with guns. You and I would probably be looking through the sights without even thinking about it, I doubt she would. #3 if he wasn't armed or he had the gun stuck in his waistband he might see the laser and decide it would be a lot better to leave or surrender rather than trying to draw saving everyone concerned a terrible nightmare. If he doesn't see the laser we have lost nothing over the same situation without the laser and we have better shot placement. #4 If she hit him in the eyes with the laser this would certainly make the situation turn in her favor. If you shine one of these things in your eye you will see what I mean. So, you had people in a class that didn't know the laser was on them, sure, they were in a lighted room and they didn't see a little red light on a rifle pointing at them from behind the doorway. Why bother ? Because I the last thing I would want to do is shoot someone. It would be a last ditch effort, If you have the element of being in position to shoot and am behind cover I definitely will try several forms of intimidation before shooting if I can. If he starts shooting, all bets are off. If he isn't shooting or I don't see a gun, I would put the dot on him and try to talk him out of doing anything stupid. These run on batteries, yes, so what. If you don't keep tabs on your weapon and the batteries are dead you are no worse off than if you didn't have the laser at all. I think I bought this gun at least two years ago. The last time I checked the batteries in the laser still worked and I have no idea how long the batteries were in it prior to me buying it. If this is an issue, replace the batteries every year. Most of us change out our ammo every so often, most of us switch mags every so often. I don't think it would be out of the question to check that the batteries were good once in awhile and change them during preventitive maintainence at least annually. I don't feel that much of this is an issue for me. I have a rottweiler, I have handguns with night sights, I have shotguns, I shoot a couple times a week, I feel that I am better prepared mentally than someone in her situation. But for her, this seemed to solve a lot of problems. __________________ You know the rest. In the books you have read How the British Regulars fired and fled, How the farmers gave them ball for ball, From behind each fence and farmyard wall, Chasing the redcoats down the lane, Then crossing the fields to emerge again Under the trees at the turn of the road, And only pausing to fire and load.