I gave careful consideration to having a red dot and being battery dependent. So I have setup regular checking/replacement of the battery. Also, the red dot I have stays on overnight when I am most likely to use it. I has an auto level so as long as the sight is in a dark place, like a drawer, very little power is used.

As for a light on/off the gun. If you use a handheld light, then you are shooting with one hand with it's potential inaccuracies even if you use the cross wrist technique. Yes, it gives the bad guy a aiming location but that is the tradeoff.

As for using a laser, it is great as long as you can see the laser on the target. If you are too close (inside the distance you sighted in the laser), you won't see the laser dot. While you can see it in the dark, w/o light you can't see what you are aiming at.