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Sometime around the early 20-teens lasers were touted as the solution with all kinds of silly marketing ideas that only made sense if you'd never had any real training or considered the realities of a defensive handgun use. That, combined with the relatively low battery life of the time, meant they faded from popularity relatively quickly, and ironically about the same time handgun makers stopped trying to have propietary rails and started offering picatinny rails.
About a decade has passed and while we've seen many formerly custom-shop features become standard on most handguns, and seen a few trends recycle, but one that hasn't made a return is the laser despirte some significant advancements in the technology. The beams are better focused, devices hold zero better, battery life significantly improved, but they seem to be largely ignored.
"Why get a laser when you can have a red dot?"
I believe part of this is a lack of understand of one major tactical advantage a laser provides: You don't need to have your face behind the gun to aim! I recently upgraded my bedside gun to a more-appropriate indoor light and laser combo via the Viridian Weapon Technologies C5L laser/light combo and while zeroing it opted to film the brief demonstration below (Rumble link)
As you hopefully saw in the video above, the laser offers defenders the extra security of keeping more of their body behind cover or concealment while aiming. This of course requires some practice, and my example of a 12" plate from 20 yards is unrealistically difficult, but makes a point.
I'm not alone in arguing that in the event of a "bump in the night" you stay in or go to your safest place, hunker down and be ready to defend yourself while you wait for law enforcement. "Sweeping" the house is generally a bad idea. It's far safer and more effective to ambush an attacker than to give them the chance to ambush you. The only exception is if there's a need to get to loved ones who can't defend themselves.
Light
I'm sure there will be some questions about my choice to go to a less-bright light, so I'll address it here. I believe there is such a thing as too bright. Weapon lights have been getting more and more powerful and that's great, but in my house I do not need 1,000+ lumens, in fact, lights of that strength in my house make it more difficult for me to see clearly. This is because light that bright reflects all over the place and casts had shadows through which I can't see because my eyes can't see in the extreme contrast between 1,000+ lumens and darkness.
It's my belief that such strong lights are better suited for outdoor use, for example a police officer needing to postively identify something across a parking lot. In my house 10 yards is about as far away as anything could be line-of-sight, and I do not want to blow out my eye's adaption to the darkness by turning on a sun in a hallway. I've tried a few different lights, and firmly believe it comes down to personal preference including color (the "cold" white versus "warmer" slightly yellow colors).
My Choice:
Viridian Weapon Technologies C5L w/ Safe Charge
For the record: I bought this, full retail.
There are two different versions of the C5L. The one I bought is the slightly-larger one featuring "Safe Charge". This kit includes a 5000mah battery and magnetic cable for charging that lets you charge the light/laser (or anything else USB) while the light/gun is in storage. I like this features as more than once I've pulled a mostly-forgotten house gun out of its hiding spot to find that the light batteries had died. While that can certainly still happen, it's much less likely to happen with this kit. Because the connection to the light is only magnetic, there's no need to actively disconnect a cable while grabbing the gun, simply moving the gun is enough to break contact.
Features I like:
Three different light intensities
The ability to select between light, laser, or both
Safe Charge
Indoor-safe light intensity (200, 300, or 650 lumens)
Green laser is much easier for my eye to spot than red
The included 5000mah battery pack is slim and features a charge indicator
Other Interesing Feature
"Safe Charge"-equipped holsters that not only provide a charge to the light, but can also be set up to turn the device on instantly when you draw.
To conclude, handgun lasers may not be the answer to everything, but they are the only method I know of currently to be able to aim a handgun without needing your face behind the gun. We've seen the night vision crowd use this technique because they can't use both night vision and a traditional rifle aiming method, so why not take advantage of the same tactic for home defense with a handgun?