I don't care how good a shot you are, no one shoots as well with a flashlight in his support hand as he will with it wrapped around the gun's grip/shooting hand. I spent 12 years in SWAT, 11 years on patrol and five years in narcotics looking for my share of bad guys in dark environments. In the early years I would have killed for a weapon-mounted light--especially during those times when my support hand was needed to open doors, turn on lights, push non-hostiles out of the way, defend against non-deadly attacks, defend the pistol when in close quarters and hold on to handrails so I didn't fall down the steps. These are the realities of room clearing.

The author has used lights from companies such as SureFire (left) and Insight (right) in actual law enforcement situations and can vouch for their effectiveness. The popularity of gun-mounted lights is such that nearly every pistol maker offers a model with an accessory rail. These lights can be great tools once you learn their proper use.

I have searched my own home only once for potential hostiles, and on that occasion it was my daughter's boyfriend, who had, unbeknownst to me, stayed the night on the couch. (Since he eventually married my daughter, I'm glad I didn't shoot him.) But in 30 years of law enforcement work I have searched hundreds of structures looking for burglars and robbers while serving search warrants and when making dynamic entries. Do you know what the difference was between searching my own home and those that I did while on the job? Nothing--the tension and stress were the same.

As a matter of fact, searching my own home was probably the most stressful search I have ever performed because I was working my way to my kids' bedrooms alone in an effort to defend them from a possible invader. Defending myself is one thing; defending loved ones adds a dynamic that's hard to describe.

When so much is at stake, accurate fire is essential, and that is harder to do when the support hand is holding a flashlight instead of gripping the gun. This being the case, I am a big fan of using rail-equipped handguns for home defense. Yes, I know that you should never point a firearm at anyone you are not willing and legally justified in shooting, and this is the primary disadvantage of a weapon-mounted light: The muzzle is pointed anywhere the light is pointed.

Using a handheld light allows the light to be pointed in multiple directions separate from the gun, which is a distinct advantage. Nonetheless, this article is not directed at street cops but the legally armed citizen who is protecting his or her home and family, and when faced with this circumstance, I am willing to point my gun and light at anyone in my home until I determine he is not a threat--period.

This requires great personal control and focus, which is outside the scope of this article, but allow me to point out that making deadly force decisions has always been fraught with peril. They usually have to be made within milliseconds, and because of that I want every advantage I can get--and having a light attached to my pistol is just such an advantage.

A rail gun is any handgun that will allow the easy addition (within a couple of seconds) of a white-light source that can be operated with either the shooting or support hand. Such a gun will have a Picatinny- or Weaver-style rail built into the dust cover of the frame forward of the trigger guard, and the light can easily be slid on from the front or pivoted on from the side.