Here is how I roll....bedside gun is H&K VP9 iron sights with a nice light. Carry is a H&K P30, hammer, no safety, condition 1, iron sights, Favorite range gun is a H&K VP9 with some work done to it and Red Dot. I have a Beretta 92 loaded, chambered, safety off sitting right inside my gun safe in case I'm ever directed to open it. I have a few others around the house.To me the red dot on a handgun is a novelty. Mine is a Walther PDP with the Trijicon RMR and it's a pretty cool setup. But it won't be one of my carry self defence weapons, I feel it would complicate the situation for me in a real life scenario. Maybe a bedside gun because of the low to no light but for now it sits in the safe until I go to the range.
I firmly believe a Red Dot with practice would make anyone more proficient than they ever could have been with iron sights. For a carry, would you put in the time to do so. The bigger question is do the pros of the red dot win over the cons FOR YOU.
Things that you have to take into account with red dots....it has to be zeroed, you have to maintain the battery, it is more fragile than iron sights, will the glass fog up, will you be able to find the dot in a life and death situation, will it fail, will it lose its zero, how much does it obstruct the target over iron sights, how does it perform in rain, in what environment would light impact the optic negatively.
Now these are things I think of that could go wrong. Now I don't know that I would have an issue with any of those. But I owe it to myself to ask them and say to myself is it worth having a better shot and am I going to train enough to even make me more proficient in the first place.
With all that being said...sigh....this is my opinion and where I am currently in my proficiency with red dots and iron sights. I am totally fine with anyone that has difference in opinion on where they are in their proficiency. My views could change with growth as they have in the past.