SHOTGUN, FLASHLIGHT , HOME DEFENSE – Part 1

As I promised and announced, today I want to deal with a quite complex topic in which, as often happens in this industry, myths, popular legends and superficial information, often incomplete or even false, have taken the place of LOGIC and COMMON SENSE.

INTERACTION OF ELEMENTS

As always, we must start from the genesis of the topic when we talk about firearms.

Since these are simple tools, their correct and effective use depends on the first fundamental interaction, that is the one between the user and the tool. This essential interaction, therefore creates a binomial SUBJECT – FIREARM, in this binomial it is the subject that must adapt to the instrument and not vice versa.

The more correct and effective the interaction of the two elements is, the safer and more effective the result will be.

When the binomial Subject – Firearm is inserted in an environment, regardless of which is the latter, there will necessarily be another fundamental interaction, namely that between the binomial and the environment.

The interaction with the third element generates the fundamental trinomial

subject – firearm – environment, in this case the binomial will have to adapt to the third element (environment) because the opposite will never happen.

If on the one hand it will be the environment to impose and define the dynamics, on the other hand the subject will always remain the essential fulcrum of the interaction of every single element whatever this may be.

It is important to define the process of interaction of the fundamental elements in order to better understand the insertion of another element, the FLASHLIGHT and its interaction with others, so we will use this filter to analyze its use.

THE FLASHLIGHT

 

Today the market offers an infinite range of possibilities in terms of Flashlight and the technology related to this instrument.

There are many types of tactical flashlights, with different technical characteristics for completely different applications and needs. The flashlight is a tool that has various functions but which basically allows us to interact in environments or conditions of low light or darkness.

Its main applications are mainly divided into 3 types, each of which groups different applications:

A ) It allows us to interact in low light or dark environments by acquiring the surrounding environment, be it natural or artificial. In the low light field relating to firearms, it allows us to manage the problem of “lighting”, dark areas, shades and threat discrimination .

B ) In the tactical field it serves to “blind” thus creating a visual disturbance, a reactive delay in anyone who enters the light beam or in anyone who is pointed with the flashlight.

In this function it serves to conceal our figure and to better acquire the detailed image of a subject that cou

ld be a potential threat or not, as well as to define and recognize the physiognomy of subjects in low light or dark conditions.

C ) it serves to illuminate in a functional way, that is, providing the light necessary to perform any action that requires the interaction of our eyes in a dimly lit or dark environment.

In order not to wander too much, however, and get out of what is the application of our interest, I would begin to make the first fundamental classification between the two types or conditions of use of the flashlight:

1) Flashlight integrated or mounted to the firearm, the Weapon Light ( W-Light )

When we talk about flashlight integrated into the firearm or mounted directly to the same, we are talking about an instrument that has only 2 of the 3 main functions, which are A and B and in no way can it be used for the C.

Since this is a torch mounted on a firearm which therefore will always be considered loaded (rule number 1), it

will be a torch that will have an application directly connected and parallel to the firearm itself and we will never have to consider it separate.

This means that if we consider the W – Light as any flashlight we make a huge and potentially fatal mistake, because where we will aim our torch, we will aim the muzzle of our loaded weapon.

Just think if you need to provide light to someone in your family to perform any action, if you need to shed light to look for a family member in a room, if you need light to wake them up or exhaust them in the case of children for example, if someone

The W-Light has only two functions applied to home defense for a civilian, to make you acquire the environment (hoping that you know how to do it and you are trained for that ) by detecting and defining a possible threat and creating a reactive delay due to the flash in it. or yourself need of light to perform any action, having only a light in your firearm, it will make everything extremely complex and very risky especially considering the high level of stress to which all of you will be subjected.

2) Flashlight separated from the firearm (hand flashlight)

Unlike the W-Light, the Hand flashlight ( H-Light ) has a wide range of applications including direct and correlated use through specific techniques with the firearm.

A H- Light has a tactical use which includes all 3 main applications A B C but which for A and B requires a rather high technical coefficient on the part of the subject.

This is the first knot to be solved in which there is always a lot of confusion and errors of evaluation are generate

d that can be fatal, especially in the layman or in those who have little experience but behave as if they had any, to make you understand better I want to make you two examples that concern you directly.

Example 1

A few days ago I posted a photo of an option where I transformed a cartridge belt into a two-point sling for my shotgun, placed in the cartridge there was also a flashlight and immediately many wrote what a second flashlight was needed since it I already had one mounted on the shotgun.

The fatal error of example 1 is constituted by the fact of considering the W-Light as a generic flashlight that can therefore foresee A B and C when instead C must absolutely not be a contemplated application.

Considering the flashlight a fundamental tool in the context of Home Defense, we will insert it among the elements that are subject to the rule of the “tactical trinity”.

For those unfamiliar with this rule: 1 = NOTHING, 2 = 1 and 3 is the key (solution)

Going to apply the rule as a filter for the use and application of the flashlight, the result is the following:

– Weapon Light only: 1 = NOTHING, so it’s deeply WRONG and in this case also extremely DANGEROUS

– 1 Weapon light + 1 Hand flashlight: 2 = 1

Being a Home Defense application and therefore an extraordinary event, with a limited environment, space and time, it may be sufficient, but we must remember anyway, that if by hypothesis and logic the H-light goes OFF for any reason we will find ourselves again at

ONLY W-LIGHT and therefore at 1 = NOTHING AND DANGEROUS