Years ago I bought a night vision scope for a rifle. It ticked me off that the illumination device for really dark areas made a red dot that basically painted a target on you if you had human foes. Though useful in moonlight (without the illumination), this flaw made me weary on whether it was useful in home against home invaders. So now, I have a tool that is unarmed (no batteries) in my defense place, but it will not be my go to weapon anytime soon.
I also had a pair of Russian night vision binoculars, but made the mistake of loaning them out to a fellow employee who returned them in non-operational condition ($800 lesson on loaning stuff)... He swore they worked for him when he had them...