Lights, Lasers and Strobes
I think people do get carried away with firearm accessories, but I have found that training with defensive tactics using flashlights is well worth it. I don’t think a flashlight is going to stop a threat, but it surely can out a threat, identify innocent people, and possible distract an attacker for a few seconds. Many of the situations that people have been in that were considered hostile and mostly women, could have been dealt with, with non-lethal force. Pepper spray and mace are a good companion because firearms have far more legal ramifications.
When it comes to using lasers, that’s a personal preference, I personally find them to be more useful for less trained shooters to give them for confidence, and they work well for those in environments where using cover is more probable and having a laser may give you more accuracy while the majority of your body is out of the view of a threat. Streamlight flashlights have a TLR-1, TLR-2 and the TLR-3 they will give you the standard flashlight, laser, or the laser and strobe depending on the model you use. I would give caution to putting too much on a firearm and put more into the training of the operator. Manual safeties complicate firearms as much as putting too many switches on one.
