Shooting exposes weaknesses in Louisville police gun-safety rules

In summary, the officer involved shooting (OIS) in this instance, resulted from inadequate training in the use of the weapon mounted flashlight.  One of the main safety guidelines outlined by the weapon light manufacturers, is to only use your support hand thumb to activate the light.  Never use your trigger finger to activate the light, because under stress, you may unintentionally pull the trigger.

Do you utilize a weapon mounted light?  How do you train?  What happens if your support hand thumb can't activate the switch on the light?  I have long advocated for anyone using a light mounted on their pistol to spend the extra money and purchase a pressure switch.  While it adds an additional expense to having the weapon mounted light, it virtually eliminates the issues of negligent discharges, like the one seen in the above article.

The pressure switch also allows operation of the light with one hand.  Never assume you will always have both hands available to operate the gun and light.  There could be times your support hand is occupied, like opening a door, moving a loved one out of the way, or could have been injured in the fight.

The pressure switch is integrated with the back plate of the light (with Surefire and Streamlight tac lights),  and replaces the standard back plate switch.  To activate the light with the pressure switch, a small amount of additional pressure is added to the grip of the firearm with strong hand, usually the middle finger.  The light is turned off by releasing the pressure.  A toggle is still present, which can be flipped on to keep the light on for a longer period of time if necessary, to presumably prevent "pressure switch grip fatigue".

Remember that failing to train, is training for failure.  Don't make that mistake.  If you utilize a pistol mounted light, get a pressure switch, and train with it.