Trigger Point Technology: https://triggerpointtechnology.com/
I’ve been sitting on this article for a couple of weeks, hoping that Trigger Point Technology would get their website back online. As of today, they haven’t. Terry Abst, the inventor featured in the video above, has had trouble with trolls. The trigger activated light has caused a lot of controversy. After checking out the Trigger Point, I can understand why. Still, I think Abst is on to something. If I thought this was some gimmicky piece of crap, I wouldn’t invest the virtual ink.
The light activation on the AR version has a push button and a trigger activation.
Rumors, being what they are, often contain an element of the truth. When we first heard about lights and lasers that were turned on by pulling the trigger, I knew we would be covering the story.
What is Trigger Point Technology? Easy enough. The simple answer is this: Trigger Point Technology makes lights and lasers that are activated by moving the trigger. While this statement is true, it doesn’t tell the whole story. So before you launch into a diatribe in the comments below, keep reading.
Trigger activated lights and lasers, yes, but…. There are two versions of this technology, and those two versions are available for two platforms (AR rifles and GLOCK pistols).
Abst is having issues with how he’s labeling the end users. What we call ourselves, here in the pro-2A community, can get contentious. Who is and who isn’t a civilian? What kind of training would allow someone to safely use a device like this?
Let’s start with the AR tech. The basic version (that’s what I’m calling it) is simply a control box that can be wired to operate a light, laser, or IR device. Activation happens at a button on the rear edge of the mag-well. Push the button and the light comes on. Nothing too controversial there.
Inside the control module.
The advanced version still has the button operation, but it throws in an additional step. What looks like a built-in trigger safety is actually the switch. So the button might turn on the IR and the trigger itself could activate a laser. Or both could run a light.
Imagine clearing a house. You can hear an assailant, and need to take cover. How long would you have between the time you need to light-up the situation and pull the trigger? Target acquisition issues will still be issues–I’m not denying that. But I can see how this could be useful.
Or think about going in with the element of surprise. The approach can be made with IR, but then the breach and clear could be made with the advantage of blinding white light.
Is there the potential for something to go wrong? Yes. Involuntary muscle movement–sympathetic muscle movement. And if you’re one who keeps the finger off the trigger until the exact moment you need to fire, then the benefit might be negligible. But who actually does that? During active target acquisition, most shooters I know have their fingers on the trigger. They take up the slack. In that circumstance, you’re lighting up your target. And then if you need to move–just let off the trigger, and everything goes black again, and you haven’t had to reach for any buttons or switches.
The GLOCK laser on a 19.
So who should be able to own the advanced version? That’s the question. Trigger Point wants to make sure you have advanced training. The basic version is simply a push button control for lights and lasers–so no worries there.
The GLOCK version is slightly different. The basic version is a green laser that’s illuminated with a switch at the front of the trigger guard. When you push back on the trigger safety, the laser flashes. But you have to turn it on manually. The advanced version is slightly different, in that the laser can be activated independently with the trigger safety alone, or with the button.[one_half]
The laser device is actually very compact.
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These posts are how it connects with the frame-mounted hardware.
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This is all that’s hiding in the frame.
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If you look closely you can see where the controls have been added behind the trigger. When the trigger safety moves, even slightly, it breaks a magnetic connection and the laser flashes.
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Another cool addition. Behind this Steiner laser is a woven steel cable lock that anchors the plugs in place. No shooting these loose.
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The push button switch also has a secure connection.
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The cable bends easily, and won’t crimp when you open the gun up.
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And they’ve even devised a clasp for keeping the cables organized.
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I see a good application for this type of system. I was searching for a non- dry fire training laser that I could use without having to rack my AR, because I wanted to be able to do rapid fire simulations on the move. All that would be needed was to integrate the unit talking to the laser beam in the chamber. That would be ideal.
A very good review. Clear and accurate.
Thank you.
Website is up.
Terry
I really don’t understand this product? Why do you want your trigger finger to do anything except pull the trigger? You want your off hand to do everything, check door knobs, signal to team members oh and yes turn your laser on and off. Also if this is for SF as he claims and an operator is going into a situation where a fraction of a second means the difference be living and dying the operator will have his laser turned completely on before the breach.
This idea is just plain stupid. Anyone with “additional training” will recognize it as a Really Bad Idea. Hopefully the stupid company will go belly up and these little trinkets will just be ebay toys to collectors of gun memorabilia. hahaha
WOW I am shocked! This trigger activated device goes against every principle of gun safety! I can’t believe anyone would think this is a good idea!!!!
Man! I knew this was a bad idea before I even read the article, just looking at the pictures. This will get people unintentionally killed and ruin many lives in the process. Run this past your lawyer before you market it! Before someone takes everything you ever had.
Can you imagine stacking up and doing a building search equipped with these! Recipe for disaster!
Mr. Abst, you’re being “assassinated” by people who think having your finger on the trigger under immense amounts of stress is a recipe for disaster? Get real guy! I understand the concept of this product and in a perfect world, it makes sense. In this world, it is going to cause a lot of cops and civilians to get arrested on murder charges because they did not intend to pull the trigger.
You have to activate the light or laser by putting your finger ON THE TRIGGER. There is no misapprehension here. It’s a bad idea. There is a cop on trial for murder in NYC as we speak because he unintentionally discharged his service gun while investigating a crime in a housing project. His finger was on the trigger. Now your product requires us to put our finger on the trigger to illuminate our surroundings.
By the way Mr. Abst, before you point your UNCLEARED AR15 at the cameraman’s face, lock the bolt to the rear and please check the chamber. Better yet, don’t point an AR at someone’s face you don’t intend to shoot in the face.
Trigger Point Technologies is based in California…isn’t marijuana legal there?
What worries me is that this toy is being marketed to (civillian) law enforcement, a group that:
A:) point their guns at things and people they *don’t* intend to kill/destroy (all the time.)
B:) thinks they’re “special” and “well trained”, but as a whole, they often have less actual firearms training (30-60hrs) than people who change the sheets at nursing homes (CNA’s in my state get 120 hours of training + have to pass a state skills test with a 3rd party examiner).
C:) because of their “extensive training”, civillian LEO’s think it’s fine (for them) to point their murder/death/kill sticks at live people who *aren’t* actively threatening them, and they manage to kill thousands of them a year without an independent 3rd party investigating the deaths to make sure they weren’t accidents, and thus, the number of innocent people killed by these “extensively trained” civilians is greater than zero, but unknown – and that’s without this device being used.
D:) this device, in the hands of anyone *human* will invariably result in unintended discharges, and that, coupled with the egos & poor training that are rampant among *civillian* LEO’s will result in deaths of people who don’t deserve to be killed.
This isn’t “trolling” , this is just stating the facts.
I’m not worried about regular (non Leo’s) having this device, if they accidentally kill someone with it, they will face consequences. It’s too expensive for many of them to buy in any great quantity, even if they were thick enough to think it was a good idea.
I am extremely concerned about yokel law enforcers buying these in bulk (using grant funds), and murdering people without consequences.
Balls. We agree on one thing; this is a BAD idea. The rest of your drivel is, well, drivel. Sure, many cops get 30 to 60 hours of FIREARMS training but many get a lot more. Not only that, the average training time in the academy is about 720 hours. Included in that is not just firearms training but also force on force (shoot/no shoot) legal training, defensive tactics and many other complimentary skill sets. Your fictional nurse faces nothing more serious than getting diarrhea on her shirt, cops, ah, not so much.
Firearms training is predominately HOW to shoot. Force on force, use of force, defensive tactics, verbal judo and other training is WHEN and more importantly, when NOT to shoot or use force.
Your “facts” are nothing more than rhetoric right out of the BS spewed by liars like Black Lives Matter. American police officers do NOT kill “thousands” of other Americans a year and especially not “thousands” of innocent, minding their own business Joe Citizens. The VAST majority of those shot by police are criminals who thoroughly deserved to be shot. Cops aren’t perfect but then, neither are citizens; witness the gal with a CCW who thought shooting at fleeing shoplifters was OK….
3rd parties look at cop shootings all the time. Many, many jurisdictions have police oversight committees with citizens on the panels. As in Ferguson, many have grand juries who review the evidence (and, as validated by the DOJ and FBI, happened to get it 100% RIGHT in that case) or its sent to another DA in another jurisdiction to review. Finally, the courts often review the shootings when wrongful death lawsuits are filed so quit with the BS about unaccountable shootings by cops. I don’t know a single cop who wants to be in an officer involved shooting these days; too much worry about the consequences if the suspect happens to be the wrong color, ethnicity, sexual orientation or whatever group happens to be in vogue this week. Darren Wilson was a good cop, doing a job he loved and he did nothing wrong when he shot Michael Brown after he was attacked by him yet his life is ruined forever. I don’t want that and neither does most any other cop.
Even if we believe some of the more outrageous numbers out there, cops kill less than 1,000 people per year and most certainly less than that. Here’s a link to a wiki page that tracks police killings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States,_December_2015
Go ahead, tell me how many of those folks we innocents? One out of the 12 in December 2015. One more than is acceptable but your trolling (for that’s truly what it is) is based on lies, half truths and BS. I train my officers that if their gun is out, they better be prepared to use it. Cops should NOT be pointing firearms at people they don’t intend to shoot, period. I lecture my officers; flashlights are for target identification, weapon lights are for target illumination. Big difference. If I’m at an alarm call at 0200 with a broken window or other signs of forced entry, I’m calling for back up, my weapon is out and I am actively looking to identify a potential threat with my flashlight but I’m ready to activate my weapon light and engage if necessary. I’m not gonna use my weapon light to illuminate the ticket I just wrote you for speeding…….
I say again, I am NOT a fan of this product and agree with Booch below. BAD IDEA.
I can’t even believe you actually printed the words, “But who actually does that?”
I am a police officer in one of the biggest departments in the country, a full-time firearms instructor and competitive shooter for 23, 10 and 17 years respectively. Mr. Higginbotham, that is the most irresponsible and outrageous things I have ever heard anyone say. You sound like the liberal left wing morons who don’t want people to be responsible for their actions. “You really should call a cab instead of drinking and driving, but who actually does that?” Absolutely ridiculous.
Training will produce competence, proficiency and efficiency, but the sympathetic nervous response cannot be “untrained”.
I wholeheartedly agree with MP. Keep your finger out of the trigger guard and off the trigger until you have properly identified your target and have made a conscious decision to fire. Period. That’s what professionals do. That’s what I teach every cop and recruit before they ever touch a firearm…and shame on this company for manufacturing it, they should know better. I hope they have a lot of lawyers on retainer.
This goes totally against better judgment IMO. Assess the situation , validate the threat , then if necessary engage the trigger to eliminate the threat … you never put your finger on the trigger until you have decided to fire … I have a TLR1 light laser combo that i can activate with my support hand without risking trigger engagement and accidental discharge … this is a solution to a problem that does not exist … at least for people that have 2 hands and better judgment. my2c.
” What we call ourselves, here in the pro-2A community, can get contentious. Who is and who isn’t a civilian?” We are all civilians unless we are members of the US Military. Cops are civilians, FBI are civilians Only members of the military are not civilians.
“Who actually does that”
???!!!
Professionals do. People who have invested their hard earned money and invaluable time in training- people who know that sometimes skill and practice are 10x more precious than some new gimmicky hardware. Responsible gun owners. That’s who. Does that.
Y’all are the reason guns will be banned. You want rights without responsibilities.
A bunch of arm chair ninjas running around with clearing rooms with their fingers on the triggers is gonna equal a lot of dead people who weren’t supposed to be, and that’s all the most potent ammunition the anti-2A factions need.
Keep. Your. Finger. Off. The. Trigger. Until. Your. Sights. Are. On. Target. And. You’ve. Made. The. Decision. To. Fire.
Say it with me folks…
Couldn’t have said it better myself!
Once again!
Keep. Your. Finger. Off. The. Trigger. Until. Your. Sights. Are. On. Target. And. You’ve. Made. The. Decision. To. Fire.
What could possibly go right here? This is just an ND waiting to happen in a high-stress situation. Furthermore, it holds no advantage over having the switch for your lights etc on a foregrip. Here’s what will happen with this: something will go bump in the night, and someone will accidentally shoot their teenager who’s sneaking in late.