carrying a weapon

[SFC JeffJ]

What I don't understand is the group of people that say, I only carry a weapon when I need too. Isn't the nature of an emergency is that it's unexpected?

Jeff

 

[IcemanSK]

I used to carry a weapon of some sort when I was in college. Mainly because I hung out with a bunch of my buddies that also trained. We thought it was cool & NEVER needed them.

I'm much less paranoid, but a lot more aware of real dangers. I don't hang out where the real dangers are.

 

[thetruth]

Often times, I carry a pistol, knive, pepper spray, and an ASP. It might seem a little excessive, and I know exactly why I do it. I've been in some rough situations, mainly durring my military carreer, and the thought of something like that happeing without having any weapons at all scares the crap out of me. So I'll admit it, it's like having a security blanket after a bad nightmare.

Jeff

Wow that's a serious arsenal. I feel soory for the mugger who may decide to have a crack at you. I don't carry and cannot see this changing in the future. There are no areas in Melbourne where carrying a weapon would benefit you. If you get confronted by anyone in the dodgy areas it is in a gang so in my mind unless you were seriously gifted with a knife or batton having a dip at a gang this way would only get you killed. They all carry weapons and are less likely to use them if you don't have one
Cheers
Sam

 

[Hand Sword]

You have very nice thugs! They won't pull unless you do? A fair fight? I can't even imagine that anymore.

 

[althaur]

Paul, great post!

I carry by habit of being in the military for so long. You never know when a tool may come in handy. It may be for something as boring as opening a box. It could also be something much more important like cutting the seatbelt of a trapped vehicle accident victim.

 

[rutherford]

I have a low expectation of having to use my knife for self defense, and I've trained with it a lot using it as a striking tool without opening the blade because I think a minor altercation is more likely than needing to slice and dice some poor fool.

But, I like knowing it's there, and I like being able to pull it out and play a bit, should the mood strike.

 

[Wild Bill]

1. I have always carried a knife. I had one as young as 8 years old. I used to carry my swiss army knife to school many many years ago. It was just something that a young man needed to have like a hankerchief(sp?)

2.

Simply put, my self-defense, the defense of my family, and the defense of my community is not the military or law enforcements responsability. My self-defense and that of my family and community is ultimatily my responsability. And, our laws basically state this fact. Therefore, it is important to carry the tools for the job.



Paul

This is absolutely true.

 

[Cruentus]

Wow that's a serious arsenal. I feel soory for the mugger who may decide to have a crack at you. I don't carry and cannot see this changing in the future. There are no areas in Melbourne where carrying a weapon would benefit you. If you get confronted by anyone in the dodgy areas it is in a gang so in my mind unless you were seriously gifted with a knife or batton having a dip at a gang this way would only get you killed. They all carry weapons and are less likely to use them if you don't have one
Cheers
Sam

Don't take offense to this, Sam, but from my point of view this demonstrates the victims mentality; of someone who is willing to turn in his life to his attacker(s) to the detrament of his family, those who love him, and society.

First off, by limiting your self-defense potential in hopes that your would be attackers won't hurt you (that bad) or use weapons on you means that you are putting the trust in your attacker(s). It means you are putting TRUST in the very people that MADE THE CONCIOUS DECISION TO HURT AN INNOCENT PERSON (YOU) IN THE FIRST PLACE. That is a trust that you and your family cannot afford, in my opinion.

It is people who comply with their attackers in hopes that their attackers will let them survive who get assaulted in the first place. And, it is these people who are more likely to be killed.

I don't fully blame you for this mentality, though. This is a mentality that tends to be propigated in societies with strict controls or bans on weapons. Your government has taken away your ability to defend yourself effeciently with a weapons ban, so the response tends to be along the lines of "Well, I hope I don't get assaulted, and if I do I hope I don't get killed, and if I am assaulted I hope the police or someone else will come to my rescue."

I would recommend that, despite the laws of your society, you have a winning mentality. Your mentality should be that if you or your family or an innocent person is threatened, then you are willing to fight until that threat ceases or until you stop breathing. And, you are willing to do this through any means available. It shouldn't matter if you are outnumbers, outskilled, or outgunned. It is having this winning mentality that will make you less likely to be a victim in the first place, and it is having this winning mentality that will make you more likely to survive with less damage if you are attacked.

I'll relay a story from an old Western film that stuck in my mind from childhood. I wish I could remember the title and the exact dialog, but here is the synopsis. Basically, the situation was a lone gunfighter was rescuing someone, and it ended up where he was facing a gang of about 30 armed men. The lone gun fighter says to the crowd, "If ya'll come any closer, I'm gonna open up and start shootin!' " The alpha 'leader' of the crowd responds, "Don't be crazy and surrender. You can't possibly shoot all of us!" The gunslinger responds, "Well, I can't shoot all of you. But I can promise that I can shoot at least 4 of you before ya'll kill me. And, I can promise that I will shoot you first (refering to the leader)." Needless to say, in the movie, they all paused, and the hero escaped.

That may be just a movie example, but I heard a similar true story from a cop friend of mine. I probably am going to screw up the details, but from what I remember, it was him and one other officer. There was a street gang of about 30 guys coming towards them. Backup was far away. The officer pulled his shotgun from under the seat and told the "leader" in very colorful terms that if they didn't stop where they were that he would open fire, starting with the leader and promising him that he would be killed regardless of the outcome. Needless to say, the gang didn't advance on the officers.

The point is, you have to have a winning mentality if you don't want to be a victim. The willingness to use a weapon is just part of that mentality. And, this is regardless of your countries laws or what you carry or don't carry.

Paul