The downside to carrying a pistol (with or without light) all the time are obvious. For me, my lifestyle, my occupation, my location etc, the downside of carrying a pistol routinely is more trouble than I’m willing to accept relative to my assessment of the daily threats that I face. One can call it rationalization, I don’t care. It’s an active choice I make fully assessing the risks vs benefits relative to my own particular situation. As to home defense, the accessibility of my firearms and the steps that I need to take to bring them into play likewise reflect my own personal assessment of risk/benefit. These are choices I’ve made over 30 years of having a permit to carry and living in this location. I understand your confusion. Different situation, different mindset.
You are correct, I have no tactical experience and state that in a large portion of my posts, must have forgetten it in this one. However, I’m not spewing here-say. Just stating my non-professional view from what I have seen in local news stories and the areas Im in. Im not saying a handheld is tactically better at all. This was not to be taken as proffesional advice, just a point of view. I was only saying It fits my needs better and explaining how I got to that conclusion. I cannot hide a weaponlight as my gun alone is on the threshold of too much bulk much of the time. I appendix carry a g19 size gun, a light makes it more noticeable than I am comfortable with, and its not that important to me to buy a new wardrobe.
Again, I was sharing my reasoning only for another perspective, not a position of knowlege. If it came across as more than that, I appologize.
I live in a decent neighborhood, work, house, and GF house are all well lit. The chances of me needing to use a gun are VERY slim - the need for a light is even smaller, and a weapon mounted is even more specific still. I draw the line after the handheld, this is my PERSONAL decision, I was offering for perspective, not advice.
im not a fan of the M&P but i will say that a glock 34/35 is about the same length as the light when its mounted. when carrying iwb, i actually find that the longer slide of my 35 is more comfortable to carry than the 17 or 26 as it doesnt hit that certain nerve in my hip. the extra length pulls the grip into my side a bit better as well.
Agreed. I was using a HK PSP P7 before, and I liked how thin it was and the ‘slick’ sides, but it is butt heavy to the extreme and the squeeze cocker added front to back on the grip, raising it further in IWB applications to get to the gun. So much so that I couldn’t AIWB it with out the gun having a tendency to ‘flop over’ or torque my belt. A light, to me, helps keep the gun in the right orientation- though mine is and apples and oranges comparo.
I do. If I don’t need the light, it’s cool that the extra weight on the muzzle end of the gun can help mitigate recoil slightly, which helps me get faster shots on target.
There are pros.
I CCW a handheld light several reasons behind that but it mostly boils down to “I cary to much shit already” - I want a flashlight to be handy to pull out without drawing a gun, and I’m not gonna carry both.
I regularly practice using my pistol and HH light at the same time.
I decided long ago that I don’t really need car insurance. After all, I’m a really good driver and I’ve avoided several accidents because I’m perpetually scanning for threats and practicing active collision avoidance. I haven’t caused an accident in over 25 years and the overwhelming majority of other drivers carry insurance, just in case they hit me. Yet I still carry lots of insurance.
I do the same with potential threats of violence. I’m continually scanning for threats, avoid high risk areas and high risk activities. Yet I still carry a gun everywhere except work (federal law against it, so I keep a “car gun” for to and from work).
I used to be the same as you. I live in a sleepy, low crime area that’s a suburb of a suburb. Up until a woman was shot in a pet store robbery less than a mile from my home that we frequent, in broad daylight, I thought the risk was minimal. Fact is, anything can happen, anywhere, anytime.
When you walk out of your home without a gun from now on, ask yourself one question. “Will I feel really stupid if I have the means to save my life, but fail to carry it because the risk of needing it today was really low?” 
Merged…because using Search to make sure we’re not rehashing boilerplate material, with a new thread on an annual basis, is SO very difficult…
Wow…