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. :-)
