Saturday, July 14, 2012

A Quick Lesson in Self-Defense


This is another one of my columns that expands on an idea that was forwarded to me earlier this week.  It isn’t the first time I’ve seen it either, and I’ll bet you’ve seen it too.

The message I received concerned self-protection for those who don’t or won’t have guns in their house.  There are a lot of people who, either because of fear for small children on the premises, or their own fear of guns, will not keep any weapons in the home.

The solution for those people is to keep a can of wasp and hornet spray handy, not for killing the flying pests designated on the can, but for warding off intruders into your private living space.

The highlight of the message is that you can use the directional spray up to 20 feet to incapacitate the possibly armed and dangerous interloper by spraying it in the eyes or at least the face.  It is also somewhat more effective than a pistol, since you can spray it continuously while adjusting your aim.

Neat suggestion, and I took it to heart and went out and bought one of those large cans of wasp and hornet spray.  That stuff doesn’t come in small cans.  I guess they figure you need a lot of it once you rile those critters up.

Anyway, I now have a huge can of spray in the house, so if you plan on coming over uninvited, be forewarned!

No, that isn’t what I wanted to convey at all.  After I bought the can and realized what a task it might be to actually use it on a B&E would-be burglar, I decided to do a little more research.

What I found—well, I had some help from my cousin who is a retired lawman—is that there are pepper sprays—equally effective if not more so—that come in the shape of a gun with trigger and all.  Now you might be able to scare the nasty guy off by just pointing it at him. But in the more likely event that he detects that it isn’t a real gun, you can do great harm to him with it.

What’s more, you don’t run the risk of pointing the damn thing backwards and spraying yourself with it, a very real possibility with those big old cans of hornet spray.

The gun-shaped pepper sprays aren’t cheap; so don’t expect to get one for less than $40.  However, if it gives you peace of mind it’s worth every penny.

Oh, and one other thing that my cousin advised… If the other guy has a gun and you don’t, don’t be a hero.  If you can’t get away and you can’t spray him before he gets that gun out and pointed at you, then peacefully submit and take your lumps. 

However, that says a lot for having the right caliber locked and loaded to begin with. Make him the one staring down the barrel of a .45!

Have a nice day. :-)

No comments: