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I have a grip-mounted Crimson Trace laser on my Buddy, my EDC, who is a SW 686 snubby .357 mag. At night Buddy is within arms reach when I'm lying down in bed, as are my eyeglasses. Given enough time I can put my glasses on AND grab the gun. In which case I can use either sights or laser. At 12' the laser appears on the target, day or night, as a bright orange dot that's about 1" below and 1/2" right of the point of aim. In a SD situation I'd use the laser, as it allows my eyes to be focused on the target rather than on the front sight. Which is optimal when you need to be looking at target to see if it has a weapon in either hand, etc. When an assailant who was charging you has halted and is backing away in response to the gun, your eyes need to be focused on his left and right hands, not the front sight. The time I found myself in this situation I found the bad guy's two hands very far apart, and could not focus simultaneously on the front sight. But I had done a lot of point shooting practice basically aiming the gun using a point focus in which my eyes were focused on the attacker and the entire front end of the gun barrel became the sight. So that's what I did. (My EDC in those days was a revolver with no laser.)(Bad guy had left neighbors window in broad daylight carrying a tv and started across my back yard, saw me, put TV down and charged me. I was instantly in an appropriate stance with my EDC of that era, a charter arms .44 Bulldog drawn and pointed, and bad guy was desperately trying to stop and yelling "Lady! Be cool with that gun!" When he managed to stop he then slowly backed away with his hands up. Had he at any point have drawn a weapon I would have needed to shoot him, so my focus had to be on his hands.)
But what if I'm lying in bed and discover attacker on his way through the bedroom door, in which there would just be time enough to grab gun without eyeglasses? Or glasses have been knocked off in a blow or struggle before I can draw the gun? Without my glasses, night or day, I can't see either the front sight or even the muzzle end of the barrel. However, the laser appears to my uncorrected vision as a huge obvious blob on the target that appears to be about a foot across at 12'. Very easy to see. And the gun doesn't need to be on the line of sight between eyes and target either.
But what if I'm lying in bed and discover attacker on his way through the bedroom door, in which there would just be time enough to grab gun without eyeglasses? Or glasses have been knocked off in a blow or struggle before I can draw the gun? Without my glasses, night or day, I can't see either the front sight or even the muzzle end of the barrel. However, the laser appears to my uncorrected vision as a huge obvious blob on the target that appears to be about a foot across at 12'. Very easy to see. And the gun doesn't need to be on the line of sight between eyes and target either.
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