An article by James Tarr in the Guns & Ammo September 2025 issue called “Light Discipline” has this to say:
As readers of this column know, I’m not a fan of lights mounted on concealed-carry pieces of citizens because it’s almost impossible to employ them without violating one of the four basic gun safety rules. With the light attached to a pistol’s accessory rail, you’re pointing a loaded gun wherever you point the light. They’re mostly a fad, I believe. […]
I wish I could agree with James Tarr that these lights are a fad, but I don’t believe they are. Much concealed carry training is derived from law enforcement training, and most people believe violent crime happens mostly at night.
The key question, though, is how much of this training applies to civilians in self-defense situations. A typical response is that you may need a weapon light to sweep your house for an intruder. However, simply thinking about this for a moment reveals how disadvantaged you are. An intruder hiding with a willingness to harm you is going to see you coming from a mile away and will likely get off the first shot.
I cover home defense a lot in my book. One way to avoid this situation is to use emergency lights. Emergency lights come on when power is removed from them. This can be done via a switch or a power outage. Having a light switch that can flood the inside of your home with light is going to be a powerful ally against any nighttime home intruder. It is your house, and you can prepare it so that any intruder will be at a crippling disadvantage against you. Under no circumstances should an intruder have the upper hand against you just because they happen to be there.
The following typical response is the dark robbery scenario. You feel your life is in danger, but cannot see the offender. You draw your weapon, and the light helps you aim accurately. I believe this is a valid scenario, but I would probably go with instant-on Viridian technology as the appropriate way to activate the light (or laser and light). However, these situations are also challenging since the light can blind you if it reflects off a wall, a car, or some other reflective material. Some instructors recommend a strobe light to disorient your attacker – I’m not sure if that would help reduce the light blinding you as well.
What would happen if the person were not an attacker? For example, let’s assume you have your car parked in a parking garage. You live in a cooler climate, and as soon as you left your vehicle, a homeless guy crawled underneath it and went to sleep. When you get back to your car, it is dark, and right before you go to open the car door, the homeless guy wakes up and panics. You draw your weapon and see that it is a homeless guy. The homeless guy sees your weapon and runs away.
What happened? Well, you just committed an aggravated assault. You and your firearm put the homeless guy in fear for his life. If the homeless guy flags down a police officer, you could be in trouble. If your state has mandatory sentencing for gun crimes, you’ll probably beg for a plea deal if you are charged rather than run the risk of a jury trial. In any case, lawyers could be involved, and it may not go the way you want.
Obviously, a separate flashlight solves this problem. However, I have never gotten the impression that concealed carriers like a separate flashlight. The reason is that there is an incredible emphasis on draw speed and on two-handed control. Training to use a flashlight and a handgun together is tough and requires a tremendous amount of practice.
All in all, I’m very much in agreement with James Tarr about weapon lights.