by Rich Grassi I just received a facsimile of a newspaper piece that ran a few weeks ago in the Dallas TX area. The headline was breathless - something about a gunmounted flashlight being to blame for a police shooting. It was a narcotics deal. The officers were covering a purchase of heroin. There's no doubt there's danger inherent in such activities. An officer wisely had his sidearm out. He extended into a gunpoint and, needing to shed light on the situation, he attempted to turn the flashlight on "causing the gun to fire." To understand this, we have to look at the flashlight and its switching. According to the news story - gained from police documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests - the light was the Surefire X300 with the pressure switch that fits against the front of the pistol's grip frame, below the trigger guard. The officer, seeming to complain about the loss of the Surefire X200 he'd previously used that had a side-of-the-grip tape switch, said the new arrangement was all his agency allowed him to have. Look at the picture here. The gun is grayed out. The switching unit comes from the rear of the gun light, travels against the underside of the trigger guard, terminating in a vertical element with a button on the front. Grip the gun, light comes on. Loosen grip, light goes off. Cop-simple. There's no doubt this was a tense situation. While the officer singled out the Surefire switch as the cause of the tragedy, the agency, when asked by the paper for comment, stood by Surefire and the switch. They're right. There's nothing wrong with the DG Grip Switch Assembly. I've used it. I've even used the light without shooting the gun. Studies have shown that officers under stress very often do "trigger checks," a quick flick of the index finger to the face of the trigger just to make sure it's still there - or that it can be quickly reached if needed. Again, this is a gunpoint situation. It's easy for me to fall back on Rule 2 and Rule 3. I preached Rule 2 and Rule 3, the "two main physical safety checks," when I was still on the job. Gunpoint is muzzle off target, finger off trigger. The gun should be directed such that the gunlight bounces illuminating the potential threat. If the threat moves to end your life, muzzle on threat, finger on trigger taking out the slack. Rule 2 is "Never let the muzzle cover anything you cannot (appropriately) shoot." Rule 3 is "Keep your finger off the trigger until the muzzle is directed into the threat and you've formed the intention to shoot." It's not Surefire or their switch.