[dtjobrien]

I'm sitting here pondering a scenario such as someone entering my home at night, and me having to defend myself and my family, and because my XD-40 has an XML light on the front of it, I suddenly wonder, "Is this really a good idea?"

For instance, my first instinct, and common sense, tell me that I should NOT leave the bedroom and go out into the dark house in search of the BGs, but instead, barracade myself in the bedroom behind something solid, and keep a bead on the door. So in that case,

what is the light for??

Will it blind the BG and disorient him as I shoot?

Or will it just give my position away and give him a target if he is armed??

I welcome opinions and advice on the use of these lights.

 

[949GUNZ]

My plan is to use the light to indentify the target, confirm it is a bad guy, give verbal warning to stop and put hands up, if the command does nothing or the BG goes for a weapon I shoot and hope that I hit him before he hits me.

 

[dtjobrien]

My plan is to use the light to indentify the target, confirm it is a bad guy, give verbal warning to stop and put hands up, if the command does nothing or the BG goes for a weapon I shoot and hope that I hit him before he hits me.

That's an interesting reply. I guess it depends on your particular home situation. For instance, if you have kids, etc, of course you want to be sure who it is, but in my situation, it's just me and my wife..

If someone was crazy enough to be inside of my house in the middle of the night, I would already have my mind made up that I would be shooting them. No sense in wasting people's tax dollars on trials for scumbags..

 

[MisFire]

My senario would be to "light up" the BG ............. shoot first and then tell him to put his hands up.

 

[949GUNZ]

I just don't want to rush into shooting anyone, that's all. Plus I guess, I don't even really use a pistol as my home defense. I always keep one around just in case, but I keep my Mossy ready to go for home defense.

 

[dtjobrien]

My plan is to use the light to indentify the target, confirm it is a bad guy, give verbal warning to stop and put hands up, if the command does nothing or the BG goes for a weapon I shoot and hope that I hit him before he hits me.

I forgot to add to this, what if when the light hit the BG, he's already got a gun in his hand, and it's now pointed at you?

Bang....you're dead.

 

[949GUNZ]

Well, in order for me to hit him with the light I obviously need to have the gun already pointed at him right? So this changes the scenario a little. If I hit him with the light and a weapon is already present you shoot no questions asked.

 

[ttheobald]

My plan is to use the light to indentify the target, confirm it is a bad guy, give verbal warning to stop and put hands up, if the command does nothing or the BG goes for a weapon I shoot and hope that I hit him before he hits me.

That's an interesting reply. I guess it depends on your particular home situation. For instance, if you have kids, etc, of course you want to be sure who it is, but in my situation, it's just me and my wife..

If someone was crazy enough to be inside of my house in the middle of the night, I would already have my mind made up that I would be shooting them. No sense in wasting people's tax dollars on trials for scumbags..

And now that you've written this and it has been archived on some mirror site on the internet, your local DA will fry you in the electric chair for premeditated murder.

T

 

[dtjobrien]

My plan is to use the light to indentify the target, confirm it is a bad guy, give verbal warning to stop and put hands up, if the command does nothing or the BG goes for a weapon I shoot and hope that I hit him before he hits me.

That's an interesting reply. I guess it depends on your particular home situation. For instance, if you have kids, etc, of course you want to be sure who it is, but in my situation, it's just me and my wife..

If someone was crazy enough to be inside of my house in the middle of the night, I would already have my mind made up that I would be shooting them. No sense in wasting people's tax dollars on trials for scumbags..

And now that you've written this and it has been archived on some mirror site on the internet, your local DA will fry you in the electric chair for premeditated murder.

T

so what you are saying is.....that premeditated breaking and entering, robbery and murder is ok to do, and I'M the one who fries for defending my family in my own home??

 

[949GUNZ]

Shame on you for owning a gun to protect your family. You should have never shot that poor guy who was breaking into your home to rape your wife and steal your **** for meth money! What were you thinking?!? :shock:

 

[dtjobrien]

Shame on you for owning a gun to protect your family. You should have never shot that poor guy who was breaking into your home to rape your wife and steal your **** for meth money! What were you thinking?!? :shock:

well, that's what I was thinking...

I really meant for this to be a tactical discussion about the use of the light instead of the gun laws...

 

[larryb]

Im sure all the laws differ from state to state as far as shooting a perp in your home. Be aware of what the law in your state allows you to do especially if the perp is unarmed.

The good part about having a weapon mounted light is that it allows you to quickly identify that you do have a unauthorized perp in your home before you take that lethal shot. A weapon mounted light is convenient as it is mounted to your weapon and there is no fumbling around at night trying to find a light.

The bad about a weapon mounted light is that it also gives the perp something to aim at if he does have a gun. With a hand held light you can hold the light off to the side so if the perp does shoot at the light he should miss you if you dont get the shot off first. With a hand held light you can also shine it in the perps eyes basically blinding him while holding your site of aim center mass or low ready for a quick double tap if the need arises.

Last but least always watch the hands. Cops have been shot cause they have been so focused on holding the sites on the perps center mass that the perp with his hands down was able to get a gun out of their waist band and fire a shot without the cop knowing it. The hands is what will kill you. Keep that weapon low enough so you can easily look over the top of it and see his hands. Utilize good verbal commands while watching his hands, order the perp to put his hands up, face away from you, while facing away from me get on your knees and cross your legs, etc. Also while all of this is going on hopefully someone has dialed 911 already. If the perp reaches for a weapon and draws it you can quickly come up to point of aim and place a quick double tap center mass.

 

[dtjobrien]

Thanks Larryb, very good points...

 

[JackD]

My plan is to use the light to indentify the target, confirm it is a bad guy, give verbal warning to stop and put hands up, if the command does nothing or the BG goes for a weapon I shoot and hope that I hit him before he hits me.

That's an interesting reply. I guess it depends on your particular home situation. For instance, if you have kids, etc, of course you want to be sure who it is, but in my situation, it's just me and my wife..

If someone was crazy enough to be inside of my house in the middle of the night, I would already have my mind made up that I would be shooting them. No sense in wasting people's tax dollars on trials for scumbags..

And now that you've written this and it has been archived on some mirror site on the internet, your local DA will fry you in the electric chair for premeditated murder.

T

so what you are saying is.....that premeditated breaking and entering, robbery and murder is ok to do, and I'M the one who fries for defending my family in my own home??

Some states consider your home your castle and you may defend as such. In those states, if someone is in your home uninvited, it is already safe to assume that your life is threatened.

Having your mind made up that you would shoot to kill this person in your home ahead of time doesn't make it premeditated murder... it's just the same as saying right now that if someone holds a gun at your face, you'd shoot them if you could. Your life is threatened, so you will shoot. Same thing applies here.

 

[larryb]

[/quote]Some states consider your home your castle and you may defend as such. In those states, if someone is in your home uninvited, it is already safe to assume that your life is threatened.[/quote]

Unfortunately, I seriously doubt California shares this same view

 

[MisFire]

Actually .........what I have at home is a light pointed halfway down the hallway...... flip the light switch and it will illuminate the BG (very bright light) and temporarily blind him (in theory) so I can make a determination as to his weapon or lack of.

 

[dtjobrien]

In case anyone is interested regarding California....

http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/forms/pdf/cfl.pdf

 

[larryb]

In case anyone is interested regarding California....

http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/forms/pdf/cfl.pdf

Great link. Every one who resides in california needs to read this very carefully.

 

[Verm]

the M3/M6/XML lights are bright enough to temporarily blind an intruder even in a lighted setting. At night when their eyesight is accustomed to low level light, they can give you the extra seconds by not only blinding them, but disorientating them. (usually when someone is hit with a bright light in the eyes the instinctive reaction is to turn away from it, not just close eyes)

I use mine to identify and blind an intruder, then I move and make my decision as to next action.

 

[TeamXD]

I have a M6 Tactical laser illuminator on my XD-Tactical 9MM and Verm is correct in his statement. My M6 is more than what i need...but then again i like the edge.