Ruger pistols are equivalent to Colt 1911’s in days of yore. Each needs about $500 worth of tuning to make them as reliable, and accurate, as they should be. Both will last 200 years in their oem shake rattle and roll condition, but both can be made into “go to guns” with a little work. Or, you can avoid the issues by getting a Glock, to start with.

I am all for lights on pistols. It does take training though; you have to know what your light is capable of, how to properly search with it, what not to do (use it as a regular flashlight and flag everything/everyone), etc. But having both hands on the weapon is a much better option than trying to coordinate a light in one hand and pistol in the other.

Wow — old but excellent discussion here. As regards loading/unloading at home, magazine safeties were invented for situations like that. I carried a full-size S&W M&P40 with a mag safety for 10+ years working armoured. We had to load/unload at the beginning and end of every shift. If your training doctrine is to remove the magazine while your gun is still holstered, you can unload in perfect safety [as perfect as a mechanical device can make it anyway], no matter how tired, clumsy or inattentive you may be.

Loading and where to point your gun? I have a solid wood bookshelf in my den with stacks of magazines on it, and I feel quite confident that they would stop a handgun bullet with no difficulty and no damage to anything but my nerves and pride. Forethought and good habits=safety