There's a lot of old-school thinking going on in this thread. I know, because I'm an old guy, too. If I have a railed gun on my bed-stand, which I often do, I put the weapon light on it. Why not? After all, I do own four of those lights. I always have a gun next to me at night, but I don't always set a railed one out.
I also have a nice, bright, flashlight next to that gun. Sometimes I'll even have a shotgun with weaponlight attached next to me, too.
OK, now I've got all these guns and lights with me. Do I have to turn those flashlights on just because I have them? (The answer is no.)
If I don't turn the lights on, but do decide to shoot, what am I shooting at: a sound, a dark shadow, movement of some sort? Am I going to hit what I want if shooting; maybe, perhaps not, if I can't see well enough due to darkness.
If my light is on my gun someone will shoot me first? Maybe, maybe not. If we're dealing with some type of super-sniper, perhaps that person shooting at me will hit the light or me, especially if I'm also lighting myself up with that light. Holding the light away from me is old school and even if a person does shoot at the light, I'll still be likely to get shot as the other guy probably isn't that accurate of a shooter anyway and will hit me regardless of the way I'm holding that light.
A weapon mounted light allows a person to use one's familiar, practiced, accurate 2-hand hold. If you shoot just as well with one hand (I know I don't) then hold that handheld flashlight anywhere you want with that other hand.
We're just talking handguns here, I think, but it gets even harder if holding a flashlight and working a pump shotgun. I don't like it. I prefer mounted weaponlights on shotguns, which leads me back to also having one on a handgun (along with a handheld light).
What's this about pointing guns at loved ones? What are we doing pointing our guns at anybody in that scenario? Are we afraid for our lives or great bodily injury only to find it's our child coming home unannounced? Why did we use a weapon mounted light instead of just a flashlight? Too many lights? Why didn't we just take the weaponlight off and go old-school with a gun and separate flashlight.
OK. We've just pointed our gun at someone we've now identified and wouldn't want to shoot. Well it's a good thing we were able to see them well enough to know that because we at least had some type of light isn't it? We don't keep pointing the gun at that person, dog, or animal at that point do we? No, of course not. Go to depressed muzzle, holster it, or otherwise stop pointing that loaded gun at something you no longer want to destroy. By the way, this happens in police work all the time. Things change fast and what was a possibility of lethal force can quickly change to no longer being lethal or any force needed.
If you're not comfortable with a weaponlight, then by all means, don't get one. If you are, then practice &/or go over the various scenarios even if you monthly take your unloaded gun and walk around your house dry-firing at shadows (but shadows made from your light/weaponlight.)
There are various home defense methods. I understand that. One method is to preselect a place with cover & concealment and wait it out, ready to kill anything which invades or discovers that place. Oops, that doesn't always work in all locales. Even if you're afraid, that may not be good enough if who you shoot, let's say it's a bonafide burglar, is unarmed.
There are a lot of what-ifs to be imagined here. I say get a light or two to have. The old saying was to have it but not need it, rather than needing it but not having it, or something like that.
