Self Defense – Distance Matters
Jun 01
2010
2010
Just as in hand to hand close quarter combat scenarios, so too in the realm of self defense, distance is an important consideration.
If you are subjected to an attack and you lack the expert skills of a martial artist or don’t like the idea of carrying a firearm, then you will want a self defense deterrent that affords you some protection at a distance that’s further than grappling range.
Stun batons offer you the same power as a stun gun, but allow you to maintain some precious distance between yourself and an attacker.
July 4th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
A comment on “…or don’t like the idea of carrying a firearm…” I would say that if you do carry a firearm, you should carry something that is LTL, like pepper spray or a stun gun too. Not every situation where a physical confrontation is imminent is a situation where you can legally pull your gun and shoot somebody. Even for a guy like me (6′2″, 205lbs,) rolling around on the ground in a fight while I have a pistol on my hip is a very bad idea. It’s just begging to get shot with your own gun. If you have a firearm, you can wind up in a catch-22 unless you have a 2nd or even a 3rd method for dealing with confrontations where you are not justified in using your gun. You might not be able to convince a jury that you were in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm, yet once the first swing is made and it is too late, you could very well end up in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm from your own gun.
I’m speaking from experience here with a close call. It was a gang banger who was pissed off at me because I wouldn’t give him any change. I did not do anything that would be considered provocation by a reasonable person, but people with gang tats on their neck right next to the scars from cigarette burns are not always reasonable. At first I thought he was going for a weapon (he was lifting his shirt,) then he stopped when he realized that I was armed and about to draw and shoot. (I never did actually draw, FYI, but the motions that I was going through made what I was doing obvious.) He continued to talk smack for about 45 seconds after that and was close enough that it would have been no margin for error if he had come at me, even if he had not been armed. I had tipped my hand, and because he stopped, I had to stop. I never found out if he actually had a weapon. I never let him get his shirt up far enough to see. The situation got real murky real quick. Was he armed with a gun and I just had the drop on him? Did he not fancy the idea of bringing a knife to a gunfight? Was he just trying to look like a badass for his little girlfriend by taking his shirt off? I don’t know. After he stopped advancing and lifting up his shirt, I could have ended it in an instant with pepper spray and then I would have been out of danger from both major criminal prosecution and the other bad things that go along with throwing hooks with a gang banger.
All in all, I’m glad that I was armed, I’m glad that he stopped before I even had to draw and I really had the point driven home to me that I should have had another option available to me. It’s better that I learned this lesson that way instead of from the inside of a court room or in a way that is permanent. If you carry a gun, carry something else too.