Pros and Cons of Carrying A Weapon

[Bigshadow]

Unless you know your life is in danger; I`d say that carrying a gun or a knife is a very bad idea. These are tools for killing, not defence. If you know you are in danger from someone, contact the police.

I disagree with ALL of the above.

1. You generally never know when your life is in danger, until it is imminent.

2. Neither is a bad idea, as long as you KNOW how to use them, HAVE used them, and WILL use them with restraint.

3. They are not tools for specifically killing. Knives are used for many things, guns don't even have to be used to prevent criminal assault. Often times it prevents crime just by it's knowledge of existence. Other than that, guns and knives can be a life giver just as easily as it can be a life taker.

4. If you are being attacked (physically attacked, ie being knifed in the back), calling the police only means they can come mop up after your dead, faster! Your safety and protection is YOUR responsibility alone! They are not there to protect you, they are for keeping the peace in the community! There is a big difference. They are a reactionary force and they are not meant to be your personal body guard! Make the situation as safe as possible FIRST, then call the police!

EDIT: I edited #4 because it did not read as I intended it. The intent is if you are being attacked, defend yourself and get to safety then CALL the police.

When I say "you" I am referring to the readers of this post in general.

 

[shesulsa]

Oh my goodness.

There are some cans of worms begging to be opened here, but let's not do that.

I think what most of us agree on is that IF one decides to carry a weapon that lots of training is required, no? Situational preparedness (mental) is required as well, no?

I have to say one thing about the police ... should anything happen and you fight for yourself and fail to call the police, this would not look good in court should the police get involved to any degree - if you want to press charges against an attacker, you're going to have to call them anyway. Call them, please, no matter what they actually do, this is what they are there for. Let them do their job.

 

[Bigshadow]

I have to say one thing about the police ... should anything happen and you fight for yourself and fail to call the police, this would not look good in court should the police get involved to any degree - if you want to press charges against an attacker, you're going to have to call them anyway. Call them, please, no matter what they actually do, this is what they are there for. Let them do their job.

I did not mean to imply NOT calling! I simply meant that trying to call the police while someone is knifing you in the back is not going to save your life. Certainly, make the situation as safe as possible then call. Sorry if my post was mis-interpreted.

 

[shesulsa]

LOL! No, I agree ...

"*stab* help, I *stab* am being *stab* attacked"

... well maybe the ambulance could arrive in time ... dunno ....

Sorry if I misinterpreted your post, Bigshadow.

 

[Bigshadow]

LOL! No, I agree ...

"*stab* help, I *stab* am being *stab* attacked"

... well maybe the ambulance could arrive in time ... dunno ....

Sorry if I misinterpreted your post, Bigshadow.

That's ok, I read it and thought the same as you! I changed it.

 

[shesulsa]

That's ok, I read it and thought the same as you! I changed it.

:wink2: no problemo!

 

[Cirdan]

Really, if I lived in a neighborhood where I felt the need to carry a knife I would move as fast as possible.

And I did not mean that you should call the police if you are attacked and let them collect your body. If dangerous people seem to be following you around in the neighborhood then you should call or consider changing your habits.

Thinking that a knife can scare an attacker away is dangerous to say the least. There is no "safe" way to use a kinfe in a fight. The road to becoming a knife killer is really short. And don`t even get me started on the psycological fallout.

 

[Cryozombie]

If you know you are in danger from someone, contact the police.

That makes me laugh.

"Im gonna kill you, you ****ing jerk!"

"What? Hold, On, I gotta call the police."

"Oh, ok."

"Police 911, whats your emergency?"

"This guy is trying to kill me."

"Right now?"

"Well, no, right now, he's waiting for the cops to get here..."

Ok, I admit, thats a bit of an exaggeration, but lets face it, even in the best of situations, the cops can take 10 minutes or more to respond, based on how far they are, what they are doing when the call arrives, etc... And thats assuming the come to your aid in the first place. Remember, the courts recently ruled they are not required to... So Im gonna agree with Bigshadow and Shesulsa here.

It's only *MY* opinion, so I may be worthless to everyone else, but I'd rather keep my defense in my hands than hope that someone else saves me. Part of that is training with and against the appropriate weapons.

 

[Bigshadow]

And I did not mean that you should call the police if you are attacked and let them collect your body. If dangerous people seem to be following you around in the neighborhood then you should call or consider changing your habits.

I guess I misunderstood your post.

Thinking that a knife can scare an attacker away is dangerous to say the least. There is no "safe" way to use a kinfe in a fight. The road to becoming a knife killer is really short. And don`t even get me started on the psycological fallout.

Hopefully, nobody would try to use a knife to scare anyone away, if so that was not how it should be used. No, there is nothing safe about using a knife in self-defense, there is nothing safe about self-defense (with or without a knife), it is risky and it can get very messy. However, a knife can be useful, if needed.

 

[Cirdan]

Agreed
:redeme:

 

[Bigshadow]

Read again. "in danger" not "being attacked". Awareness is the essense of self defence, not combat.

I see it now. My apologies!

 

[Cryozombie]

Really, if I lived in a neighborhood where I felt the need to carry a knife I would move as fast as possible.

I have to hit on this as well, because its the #1 thing I am told when people hear how bad my neighborhood is.

It's nice to know you can afford to live someplace better. I cannot. However, I am accepting donations.

 

[Cirdan]

Some interesting reading on the subject of using a knife:
http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/knifefighter.html

 

[rutherford]

Yes. Marc MacYoung should be required reading for anybody thinking about carrying a weapon.

 

[MJS]

Lots of good advice here.

If you decide to move forward towards carrying a knife, gun or spray, you should practice with it - a lot. If you have the capability of using your imagination to where you can visualize an extremely fast-paced full frontal assault on your person to where your heart rate is up, you're shakey and physically try to pull whatever your weapon of choice is and use it effectively, that's fairly good training, but you need more, imo.

I couldn't agree more with this statement! I think that many times when someone decides to carry a weapon, they neglect the fact that they constantly need to hone their skills with it. As I said in another post, taking your training out of the normal relm, and working under some stress, low light, moving targets, etc. are all key things that are all too often neglected. Of course, the same can be said about our empty hand skills.

Mike

 

[MJS]

Yes. Marc MacYoung should be required reading for anybody thinking about carrying a weapon.

I agree. Marc has some very interesting material out there. He does a good job of showing what will/will not work.

Mike

 

[KenpoTex]

Really, if I lived in a neighborhood where I felt the need to carry a knife I would move as fast as possible.

This attitude is really naive.

It doesn't matter who you are or where you live, you can still be targeted as a victim. Just for the sake of example, I live in a small to medium sized city (approx. 165k ) with relatively little violent crime compared to other cities of this size. However on Monday at one of the local college campuses some guy dragged a female student into a restroom and sexually assaulted her. This happened right around noon (middle of the day, lots of people around) on a campus that's located in a "normal" part of town.

Stories like this (and numerous others that we could post) simply illustrate the fact that no one is immune to violence. You either prepare/train for it, or you don't. I highly encourage everyone to train with and carry some type of weapon. Carrying a firearm can be a little complicated due to age requirements and legality in various jurisdictions. Impact weapons can be good but again, they're often illegal. Pepper-spray (or similar products) is effective against many people but not all (and again, not legal everywhere). IMO, knives are a great choice because they can be carried into places where guns can't and I don't know of anywhere in the US that bans them completely (other than airports, courthouses, etc.). There are many times that I go somewhere that I'm not allowed to carry my firearm(s) but I can still carry my knives.

Regardless of what you choose to carry you need to put in some serious time practicing with it. Not only just using it against someone, but accessing it both prior to and during a fight. The knife in your pocket or the pepper spray in your purse won't do you any good if you can't deploy it.

Edit to add: Since this thread ties in with lady_kaur's thread I wanted to toss out a couple more ideas for items that you can carry for defense. As I mentioned above, impact weapons (kubatons, koppos, etc.) are often illegal. However, there's nothing anybody can say about a Super-Sharpie Marker, or a small flashlight (think mini-Maglite, Surefire E2-D, etc.) Both make devastating striking tools and can be carried anywhere, including secured areas of airports, courthouses, schools, etc. They're also about the same size as your average kubaton...coincidence?

 

[Cirdan]

This attitude is really naive.

It doesn't matter who you are or where you live, you can still be targeted as a victim. Just for the sake of example, I live in a small to medium sized city (approx. 165k ) with relatively little violent crime compared to other cities of this size. However on Monday at one of the local college campuses some guy dragged a female student into a restroom and sexually assaulted her. This happened right around noon (middle of the day, lots of people around) on a campus that's located in a "normal" part of town.

Stories like this (and numerous others that we could post) simply illustrate the fact that no one is immune to violence. You either prepare/train for it, or you don't. I highly encourage everyone to train with and carry some type of weapon. Carrying a firearm can be a little complicated due to age requirements and legality in various jurisdictions. Impact weapons can be good but again, they're often illegal. Pepper-spray (or similar products) is effective against many people but not all (and again, not legal everywhere). IMO, knives are a great choice because they can be carried into places where guns can't and I don't know of anywhere in the US that bans them completely (other than airports, courthouses, etc.). There are many times that I go somewhere that I'm not allowed to carry my firearm(s) but I can still carry my knives.

Of course it matters where you live. If you "must" arm yourself with lethal weapons in a peaceful community that`s just sheer paranoia or "the seventeen uzi wielding ninja syndrome." Honing your awareness and practice running are much better self defense than training with knives.
No training in the world will prepare you for stabbing another person.

 

[shesulsa]

Of course it matters where you live. If you "must" arm yourself with lethal weapons in a peaceful community that`s just sheer paranoia or "the seventeen uzi wielding ninja syndrome." Honing your awareness and practice running are much better self defense than training with knives.
No training in the world will prepare you for stabbing another person.

While what you say bears merit, it is important to understand that preparedness is not paranoia. Peaceful communities don't remain that way because people relax under those circumstances - that's like a hunter finding an untouched wilderness chock full of prey.

Crime happens everywhere - EVERYWHERE. More in some parts of town, but it still happens everywhere. The unsuspecting victim feeling errantly secure because they are in a nice part of town might as well wear a large target upon their person.

Smarts + preparedness does not paranoia make. And as some on this board (Don Roley, are you listening) would say ... it's not whether or not you are paranoid, it's are you paranoid enough?

However, there's nothing anybody can say about a Super-Sharpie Marker, or a small flashlight (think mini-Maglite, Surefire E2-D, etc.) Both make devastating striking tools and can be carried anywhere, including secured areas of airports, courthouses, schools, etc. They're also about the same size as your average kubaton...coincidence?

Excellent suggestions. Everyone has use for a minimag!

 

[Cirdan]

While what you say bears merit, it is important to understand that preparedness is not paranoia. Peaceful communities don't remain that way because people relax under those circumstances - that's like a hunter finding an untouched wilderness chock full of prey.

Crime happens everywhere - EVERYWHERE. More in some parts of town, but it still happens everywhere. The unsuspecting victim feeling errantly secure because they are in a nice part of town might as well wear a large target upon their person.

Notice what I said about awareness? I did not say "be stupid"

And oh yes, the minimag is great