>A question about the rails, too... Do the various bits you can clip
>onto a pistol actually...MEAN anything? Besides putting a flashlight
>under the barrel or something, that's simple utility; I mean like,
>scopes or laser pointers or whatever else can be put on a rail. Are
>those just being 'Tacticool' or are they actually remotely useful
>in...well, really ANY circumstances?

I can't speak to scopes, but laser sights (particularly grip sights because they don't snag on things) can be really useful, assuming proper alignment, in close-in defense situations. Some people clain laser sights don't help but they are banned for competition; which is suggestive. Most interesting use I have heard of for them is in training...watching how the dot moves through the shooting cycle apparantly is a reliable source of information on problems in technique.

You still, obviously, want to practice with iron sights and get good and safe without extra assistance. But if you just got out of bed without glasses as a mountain lion is coming in your back door...

-VR
and thanks to Hollywood, there are cases of bad guys running away once they see thr red dot...
"They copied all they could follow, but they couldn't copy my mind,
And I left 'em sweating and stealing a year and a half behind."