Things that go bump in the night. That has often been a phrase used to
describe the feeling of being suddenly awakened by a noise in the dark of
night. Sometimes it’s just the wind blowing against a loose shutter, or a
stray dog turning over a trash can. Sometimes it is not. These sounds in
the night are the reason that we keep a bedside gun. Whether it is a
forty-five on the table, or a twelve gauge in the corner, the purpose is
the same. When the wolf is at the door, or already inside the house, the
gun must be within easy reach. You are rudely awakened from a deep sleep,
and have precious few seconds to react. "React" is the key word
here, for you are responding to an act that is in progress. The intruder
has had time, maybe even days, to plan the invasion. He is fully awake, and
has a plan. He is almost certain that you are asleep, and has a pretty good
idea of your location. He has been thinking about this. He has been sipping
coffee, or snorting coke, and has been waiting for you to fall into a deep
sleep. He has just about every advantage. By the time you hear that
bump or the creaking of the floor, he is already inside. At the range, you
can hit pretty well the paper target at 25 yards with your pistol, but how
good are you at three in the morning, half asleep, across the room, in the
dark?
Let’s suppose that you are a good citizen who
has decided to get your concealed carry permit. Your state has
passed legislation allowing you to pay for the privilege to
exercise your God-given Second Amendment rights. You took a
class, submitted to fingerprinting and a background check, paid
the wonderfully friendly personnel at the state office a chunk
of cash, and finally received your permit. Now you can carry
your weapon with a degree of hope that should you ever need to
use it, at least you will not go to jail on a weapons violation.
Maybe the instructor at the training class told you that you are
most likely to be physically accosted or robbed at night, but I
doubt it. It seems that most thugs in our society prefer to work
the night shift. They love the cover of darkness. The dregs of
humanity most likely will not bother you at a crowded Wal-Mart
at noon, but prefer that lonely, dark parking garage to ply
their trade. Cretins look for an easy target and the cover of
darkness. When they attack, they like to surprise their victims,
do their harm, and slip into the darkness. When you trained for
your permit, you did pretty well qualifying. How will you do
when three punks are coming out of the darkness at twenty feet,
and closing fast? They have the advantage. Is your weapon within
easy reach? Is it fully loaded and ready to fire? Can you
accurately place your shots? Try this; go into a dark room
of your house or outside at night, and try to aim your weapon
quickly and accurately at something. You can probably see the
target somewhat, but can you see your sights?
I get email everyday from people who want advice
on guns to resolve uncomfortable social situations, or in other
words, to save their lives and the lives of the ones they love
and have a duty to protect. I try my best to offer guidance
towards a gun that is best suited for their abilities and
situation. I do not dwell as much upon caliber selection
as I do on the ease and swiftness in which the weapon can
accurately be brought into action. I would much rather carry a
.22 Magnum that I can hit with under adverse conditions than a
.454 that was too big and slow into action. Above all else, you
must be able to hit your target quickly, and with a reasonable
degree of combat accuracy. Every second counts, as does
every shot.
One of the best investments that someone can
make is to get a good set of tritium night sights. They should
be a factory option on any serious defensive weapon, but they
are not. I have a Springfield 1911 .45 Auto on which good
tritium sights were installed at the factory. It is a much
appreciated feature of that weapon. Most tritium night sights
are of a three-dot pattern, and make a world of difference in
the ability to place your shots in the dark. Most times, you can
adequately see your target, but not the sights. Tritium night
sights make it much easier to align your weapon with the target,
quickly, and they never need batteries. They are worth their
weight in gold. I have on my S&W
342PD, a Big Dot sight from
XS Sights that gives a quick reference point for the
front sight, and works very well on that little pocket gun. On
my larger framed autos, I have sights made by Meprolight
and Trijicon. I have also recently tried out some tritium
sights made by AmeriGlo of Atlanta, Georgia. All of these
seem to be excellent sights. The tritium sights on my Glock
19 have been on that weapon for over eight years, and still glow
as brightly as ever. I prefer a different color for the front
sight than for the rear. Any firearm that you carry for defense
should have sights that you can see well at night, for that is
most likely when the weapon will be needed.
Any firearm that you keep by the bed should have
sights that you can see in the darkness. The last thing that you
want to do is to turn on the lights. A good flashlight
beside the gun or on the weapon can be handy for momentarily
illuminating a room, but turning on the lights in a room that
you have just entered is not a good idea. A quick flash to scan
the room is preferred. Even then, a flashlight will give away
your position, but is sometimes necessary. I have a powerful
light attached to my Alexander Arms
.50 Beowulf that has a momentary switch that will give a
quick flash to identify a target or scan a room. The light can
be easily bumped on for a quick look, or left on if desired. I
prefer the quick flash. The light on my Beowulf is the M3X
model made by Streamlight, and has proven to be very
durable, and provides an extremely bright white light.
Streamlight also makes a dandy rechargeable hand-held light, for
those that prefer the light apart from the weapon, as I do with
a handgun. The weapon light attaches securely to any
Picatinny rail and has different options available for the
activation switch.
Also on the Alexander Arms Beowulf rifle I have
a Trijicon Reflex sight.
The Reflex is a red dot sight, but is always on, and needs no
batteries. It uses tritium for the dot illumination. This is the
quickest sight that I have ever used to get on target quickly,
in any lighting condition, but especially in the dark. Both eyes
are left open, and the weapon is brought to bear on target. It
works great.
Lately, I have been trying out some laser grips
from Crimson Trace Corporation (CTC). I will admit to
being a bit slow to warm up to lasers on handguns, but they do
have their place. I especially like them for training, as they
allow a shooter to dry fire their weapon and see where the dot
is on target when the trigger is pulled. They also make for a
quick aiming point on a target in the dark. CTC makes laser
grips for just about any gun made that has replaceable grip
panels. I even tried one on a single action Ruger pistol.
While it looks a bit odd on that gun, I have to admit that it
does work. In use, a switch is pressed on the grip, and the
laser is projected upon the target. The dot is bright and easily
seen, even at long range, depending upon the light conditions.
The CTC lasers were easily adjusted for both windage and
elevation to sight in on the target.
All of these optional sighting devices listed
are unobtrusive and are high quality products. They definitely
help with accurate shot placement in poor lighting conditions;
the kind of lighting conditions that criminals prefer. If
someone accosts you in a parking lot or forces entry into your
home, they already have the advantage of preplanning and
surprise. You need every edge that you can get, and every second
counts. I realize that this is not a pleasant topic, but a
necessary one. I would rather test target guns and hunting
rifles. However, there are those in our society that would do us
harm, and for this we must be prepared to react swiftly,
precisely, and with a vengeance.
Check out the products referenced in the article at their respective
websites:
www.trijicon.com
www.streamlight.com
www.ameriglo.net
www.crimsontrace.com
www.meprolight.com
www.xssights.com
Jeff Quinn
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