When it comes to everyday carry (EDC) pistols and all of your related accessories you might need, most of us are fairly good at picking out the essentials. When it comes to your sidearm, you will want something that is both concealable yet controllable if you were to present it at the sign of a threat. You will want a holster that is both concealing yet comfortable enough where you will be willing to use it and carry all day long. There are other creature comforts to consider as well like potentially carrying an extra magazine, add-ons to your firearm like night sights, and then there is the can-of-worms of what hollow-points (HP) are best for self-defense. Many of us gun owners are mindful enough to account for all of these things because they are lessons learned through friends or our own life experiences. But how does this all change when we begin to think of a home defense pistol?... Some people might enthusiastically state it is the same thing as our EDC pistol (which it can be), but often times it will be vastly different.
There are different unique challenges that may arise when you are defending your home – your castle – that will alter what kind of pistol you may use (if you have decided to go the route of a pistol versus other firearm platforms). For one, within your own home, you are not in need of concealing your firearm so there is no need for your home defense pistol to be small. You might store it in a small or large gun safe out of the reach of children, but you are not hiding it on your person. For this reason, most people settle on full-size home defense pistols.
The next most important thing you may want to consider is a flashlight. This could either be a handheld flashlight you store beside your home defense pistol at all times, or a weapon mounted light like the common Streamlight TLR-1 that I use. I would highly recommend a weapon mounted light as opposed to carrying one in your non-dominant hand for multiple reasons. For one, it takes more training and reps to be able to manipulate 2 key tools while under extreme duress. Also, we are all less accurate shooting a handgun one-handed as opposed to two-handed. With a weapon mounted light, you can flick the light on and then focus your grip on controlling the firearm and finding the threat that went bump in the night inside your home. 
I found the need for a light on my home defense pistol in a scary way 2 years ago on a dark, cold night in Minnesota. In my community there were police reports of thieves cutting the power to people’s houses at night and then breaking in and stealing electronics. Sometimes homeowners were still at home, and skirmishes occurred while other times no one was home. On an extremely cold night at about one in the morning my power went out! My heart raced remembering the police reports. I keep a Glock 17 with night sights on my nightstand, but I came to realize how painfully dim my night sights had become. “Where are my flashlights?!” I could not remember and started scrambling through a junk drawer in the dark of my kitchen. All 5 flashlights I owned had dead batteries! I retreated to my bedroom and turned a light on from my cellphone (too cliché for a millennial gun-owner, I know).
Turns out someone had run their car into a telephone pole and it was a ‘false alarm’ in regards to a burglar trying to get into my home. This night made me painfully aware how night sights simply are not enough, and why I needed a light – a weapon mounted light – in a really bad way. Let my awkward night of home defense be a lesson for all of us. Shed some light on your situation and be more prepared than a Boy Scout if danger should ever come knock on your door. Let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below about how you try to protect your home! We love it when you participate in our articles and keep the conversation going!
