Are guns really necessary for self defense?
I was camping with a girlfriend.
Six guys in 3 canoes pulled up by where we had just vacated along the 11 Point River. They were drunk. They stopped because they had seen a girl. They spread out and advanced rather threateningly. I told my girlfriend to get out of there.
They told her to stay and asked what I thought I would do about it. I pulled a gun they hadn’t seen before. One idiot said, “You can’t get all of us.” I leveled the gun on him and said, “You’re first, so let’s see.”
They stared at us for a few seconds, then I said, “3, 2…” and they ran back to their canoes. Fired a couple of rounds over their heads. They paddled faster. If I would have had a banjo, I might have played it….
I have several more instances where my gun was the trump card in a bad situation.
The presence of my firearm has prevented several rapes, robberies, etc., and possibly murders.
So, Molon Labe.
Are guns really necessary for self-defense?
Of course not. Some people suggest urinating in your panties and vomiting on yourself is good self-defense against rape. Others say a shrill whistle is good. Some think you need to kick and run.
You could be a 10th-degree black belt and feel you don’t need a gun. Yet I doubt such an accomplished individual can stop a bullet fired at him from any distance.
Whatever tool you choose for self-defense should work well in as many scenarios as possible.
Pissing yourself likely won’t stop an armed ATM robbery or home invasion. Any close-in weapon – taser, mace, stick, purse, knife, and so on has the failing of being “close in.” They allow your adversary to get very close to you. Tasers don’t always work, and pepper sprays taste good to some people. Not to mention, anything sprayed is wind-driven and may hinder YOU instead of your attacker.
If you’re close enough to poke your attacker with a knife, he’s close enough to you to take it away or land a heavy blow, rendering you incapable of defense.
Only a gun gives you 20–50 meters of effective defensive range. Only a gun keeps a 100lb petite female on par with a 6’5” and 250 lb rapist. Even if your adversary has a gun, your gun is still an equalizer. Would your knife or pepper spray be any contest against the attacker’s gun?
Are guns really necessary for self-defense?
I’m 70 years old and have health problems. Any attacker will be younger, stronger, and faster than me. If I tried to defend myself with an impact weapon, such as a bat, golf club, etc., or with an edged weapon, such as a knife or even a stun gun, I would have to get within arm’s length of the attacker.
I might get in one decent blow, one stabbing motion, or one zap, and then the attacker would take away my weapon and kill me with it. That is, assuming he doesn’t just pull out his gun and shoot me.
Pepper spray is iffy and can affect you and the attacker. It might make the guy mad. A Taser is also iffy, especially if the attacker wears a coat or other heavy clothing, and you only get one chance to place the electrodes effectively.
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My only viable option is to defeat him well outside of arm’s length using a gun. And, when faced with more than one attacker, a gun is the only option for almost anyone.
As the saying goes, “I’m old to fight and too slow to run, so I’ll just have to shoot you.”
Are guns really necessary for self defense?
Is it becoming increasingly difficult for civilians to own and use guns in self-defense?
If those un-American communist US-hating democrats like Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, and others get their way, it Will most definitely become more difficult.
That idiot Biden doesn’t mind giving the Afghanistan Taliban thousands of fully automatic weapons and tons of ammo. But he sure wants to take the American’s firearms.
That idiot Biden even said he would make Beto O Rourke his gun control czar and have him remove the American’s guns.
How can a firearm be considered defensive?
Take a 25-year-old man 6′2″, 250 lbs. He’s a bodybuilder able to bench press his body weight. He’s in the prime of his life.
Take a 22-year-old woman. 5′3″ 100 lbs.
Imagine the two are in a room, and the man wants to kill the woman because she’s “done him wrong.” How is the woman going to stay alive?
This gun weighs 1lb 6oz. If the woman has this gun and the means to use it, she can defend herself from the man.
The gun just made his weight and strength irrelevant. It leveled the differences between the man and the woman.
There has never been a greater tool of equality, which is why there was an old saying in the West:
“God Created Men and Sam Colt Made Them Equal!”
Are guns really necessary for self defense?
What is your opinion on self-defense with the use of firearms?
When someone uses a firearm to defend themselves from any attack, that’s a pretty good means of defense. I’m in favor of it.
Using properly applied force from a firearm will do two things.
- When the bullet hits the right location on the suspect, it can immediately stop the perpetrator’s nonsense.
- It warns the pals of the first stopped perpetrator that there is someone out there who means business and that they shouldn’t be messing around in that location. So, it’s also a warning device sending a clear message.
What is better, buying a shotgun as self-defense at home or just relying on calling the police in case of some danger?
A friend in CA had two guys enter his house; he pushed them out twice, and they came at him a 3rd time. By then, he grabbed his pistol and fired a shot between them, and they stopped. His wife called 911 and reported the break-in, that shots were fired in self-defense, and the guys were being held at gunpoint.
FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, THE FIRST COP ARRIVED.
And he was from a neighboring district.
Yeah, go ahead and call the cops to save you. Of course, all they’ll do when they arrive will be draw the chalk outline and write a report.
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Do people need guns for self-defense in America?
No one needs a gun for self-defense unless that person NEEDS a gun for self-defense. On a given day, 330 million (plus) Americans do NOT need a gun for ACTIVE self-defense. I read every day about a few who use them for self-defense. I have never fired a gun in self-defense, but twice, I have presented a gun to avoid death or serious bodily injury. That’s two days in 70 years.
Lying in bed last night, I heard three quick shots near my house. I looked through the blinds but didn’t see anything. I watched for about 30 minutes. I went back to sleep. Did I need a gun last night?
Many in the firearm training community equate a defensive firearm with a fire extinguisher or insurance. We wouldn’t need either in an ideal world, but I keep both.
Are guns really necessary for self defense?
Which weapon would be better for self defense, a gun or a knife?
Either is better than nothing. However, I’d choose a gun. I’m an athletic, quick, and strong guy, but the problem with a knife is that to effectively use a knife, a lot more training is necessary than using a gun.
I wouldn’t presume I could use a knife effectively without many hours of training. Plus, if I’m close enough to use a knife on someone, they are close enough to use one on me. I don’t like that idea.
With a gun, I can be far from the attacker to be effective, and it takes less training to use it properly.
If knives were better than guns, we’d see stories of people using them for self-defense. Guns, on the other hand, are used quite often for self-defense by regular people.
If more people carried guns, would the crime rate go up or down?
It would drastically drop.
With the law in Kennesaw, all that was required was for every household to have one firearm. Imagine how low the crime rate would drop if the law allowed people to carry firearms…
Are guns really necessary for self defense?
Do guns cause crime?
A major storm came through my neck of the woods about a week ago. Trees were toppled over, decks were ripped from houses, and people started having street accidents thanks to heavy flooding.
It was then that I saw something I hope never to see again.
Walking down the street on legs, I did not know they possessed guns and were looking for trouble!
The leader was an AR-15 who said, “Let’s loot some stores, and find some people to harass.”
Turns out guns are sentient creatures. So yes, they cause crime. Just kidding. I saw no such thing.
A gun is an inanimate object until somebody picks it up and uses it. Whether they use or misuse it is entirely up to the person carrying the gun.
Guns do not have this magical ability to create bloodlust in people or sway them toward criminality. That was already in the person’s heart before they even picked up the gun. The answer to your question is no. Guns do not cause crime.
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What is the worst firearm for self-defense?
I will double down and say that in addition to being the most impractical firearm in human history, Cobray’s Ladies Home Companion is the worst home defense gun.
For those unfamiliar with the Cobray Company, it was a firearms manufacturer in the 70s and 80s. The firm is most remembered today for its “Street Sweeper” shotguns. The Street Sweeper was effectively a revolver shotgun. Shells were loaded into a drum cylinder, which acted as the gun’s magazine. The magazine was then wound, leaving the user with essentially a semi-automatic 12 gauge.
In an era of saiga-12s and plentiful options for automatic shotguns, the Street Sweeper doesn’t have much of an appeal. It is a hard-shooting, poorly-designed 12 gauge, with much better alternatives on the market.
However, when the street sweeper debuted, ATF ultimately found that the gun’s marketing was so egregious that they banned the guns as “destructive devices.”
Cobray’s Ladies Home Companion is a Street Sweeper rechambered for .45–70. You heard that right; the Lady’s Home Companion is a pistol that fires a cartridge designed to take down bears.
Are guns really necessary for self defense?
I honestly have no idea how most people would have a prayer of firing that gun without breaking their wrists! And the jackasses behind this gun named it the “Ladies Home Companion.”
As if it is bad enough that if you try to wield this thing in anger, you are almost certain to break your wrists. Then, there is also the problem of overpenetration. Remember, the round that the LHC shoots is designed to stop bears.
Bullets from that gun could penetrate the walls of two or three separate homes. As a result, if you are not careful, there is a chance that you could take the head of your neighbor’s kid three homes away in an attempt to defend yourself.
Lastly, there is the issue of reloading. The Lady’s home companion only holds eight rounds. If you manage to blow through your entire drum without breaking your wrists in a fit of rage, you have to go through the whole cumbersome process of loading and winding the gun all over. If you try using the LHC to face an opponent using a gun with box-detachable magazines, you will be in a world of trouble.
What can I do for self-defense if someone points a gun at me?
If you have a gun yourself, you shoot them. This is why you should have a gun.
If you don’t have a gun, you can try to take theirs – and I hope you’re larger, stronger, in better physical shape, and better trained than they are. If not? You’re somewhat f*cked.
Or you can run. Running isn’t necessarily a bad option, nor does it inherently make you a coward or anything. It could well be the best option.
Are guns really necessary for self defense?
Are pocket knives perfect for self defense?
Self-defense?
Let’s get one thing out of the way — knives are not self-defense weapons. In most jurisdictions, (counter)attacking someone with a knife is considered assault with a deadly weapon.
However, legality aside, you want to know if a pocket knife is suitable when you fear for your life. That depends on what you consider a ‘pocket knife.’
So let me show you some pocket knives from my collection. When you say ‘pocket knife,’ the image that appears before you depends on the culture you grew up in. For instance, if you are from the Sami culture, your pocket knife would look like this:
Fixed blade, in a sheath hanging from your belt, suitable for chopping wood. The same type of ‘pocket knife’ goes for the (admittedly shorter) Yakut.
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And the Finnish ‘Puukko’:
While not actual fighting knives, they would be pretty good in a scrap, although ideally, you want a knife made for deep penetration with a keen edge, a sharp tip, and a crossguard to prevent your hand from slipping from the blood-slicked handle onto the knife when you stab someone repeatedly.
So, if I were to take a knife to an actual fight, I’d take my Fairbairn-Sykes dagger:
Fairbairn himself described the design:
In close-quarters fighting, there is no more deadly weapon than the knife. In choosing a knife, there are two important factors to bear: balance and keenness. The hilt should fit easily in your hand, and the blade should not be so heavy that it tends to drag the hilt from your fingers in a loose grip.
Are guns really necessary for self defense?
The blade must have a sharp stabbing point and good cutting edges because an artery torn through (as against a clean cut) tends to contract and stop the bleeding. The wounded man will quickly lose consciousness and die if a main artery is cleanly severed.
But the F-S dagger is purposely built for killing, not a pocket knife to peel potatoes or skin a rabbit. Claiming self-defense when pulling an F-S is like hunting squirrels with an elephant gun. This is an assault knife, pure and simple.
So, if you mean ‘pocket knife,’ you probably mean some folding knife. To be upfront about folding knives and fighting — most folding knives are ill-suited for stabbing someone, especially if you also have to penetrate clothes and stuff because most liner locks are not sturdy enough to handle the kinetic energy of stabbing.
If you want to try out if your pocket knife is suitable for that purpose, go and stab a piece of wood and see if your knife won’t break off, and the liner lock will collapse and fold the sharp edge on your fingers.
Fixed blade knives like the Sami, Yakut, and Puukko have a tang that extends through the handle so that they won’t break off at the hilt, but folding knives are rarely that strong.
For years, I carried this lovely Smith & Wesson folding knife:
Instead of the ubiquitous liner locks (shown below), the S&W has a lock that has to be depressed from the back of the handle to fold the blade. The handle of this knife is thick and solid, and I had the originally smooth edge serrated near the handle to make it into a ripper. I don’t carry it anymore, though. It’s quite bulky and difficult to clean. So what do I carry?
The Netherlands has strict laws on weapons, so my current EDC knives are true pocket knives, mostly tools that cannot be construed as weapons.
Are guns really necessary for self defense?
First, there’s my regular pocket knife, a Kershaw OD-1. The OD stands for OverDrive, meaning the knurled flipper in the back of the knife that allows the knife to be unfolded single-handed. While it can be unfolded as swiftly as a switchblade, it’s all in the design — the knife doesn’t have a spring to assist opening like a switchblade. Assisted opening knives are illegal here.
As you can see, the OD-1 has the often-maligned liner lock, but this one does flip in and wouldn’t unlock when stabbing. However, I consider the OD-1 a good tool and only suitable as a weapon if nothing else is available.
Another advantage to this folding knife is that it is screwed together, so you can take it fully apart and soak it in some cleaning solution if you get it dirty.
My other knife was a gift, a razor-sharp Japanese pocket knife that doesn’t lock but cuts well. Unsuitable as a weapon, though.
So, Martyn, are you telling me you no longer carry weapons?
I’d love to carry a push dagger, but they are highly illegal. I guess you can tell why:
Even a small push dagger like this can damage able hands extensively.
However, I often need a screwdriver because the bell on my bicycle tends to loosen, so I carry this handy little palm screwdriver around.
Are guns really necessary for self defense?
It has a good rubber grip that fits in my palm. In a pinch, it could put some punch to my fist, but it isn’t long enough to reach vital organs. So, if we’re talking self-defense, I guess this couldn’t be considered ‘assault with a deadly weapon.’
A ‘ tactical pen ‘ is another item often touted as a ‘self defense weapon’. However, carrying around a pen designed to be used as an inefficient stabbing weapon or kubotan would raise a frown with Dutch judges. So I don’t carry around a pen made by Uzi or Gerber. Instead, I write with a full-metal Parker Jotter, available in department stores worldwide.
“I was just jotting down the sketch of a poem when someone grabbed me, officer. I didn’t even notice I was still holding my pen when I punched him in the face…”
If you’re worried about your safety, take a course in Situational Awareness. That will keep you safer than a knife will.
Should I buy a gun for protection?
Before you acquire a firearm for self-defense, you need to make sure you are comfortable with killing someone as a possible result. Before you pick up a firearm to confront an intruder, you must make peace with that.
I strongly recommend you read materials from people like Massad Ayoob on self-defense and the perils and pitfalls that accompany it. Legal, moral, emotional, and financial. Financially alone, defending yourself in court can easily run north of $100,000.
If you cannot imagine yourself pointing a gun at another human being and pulling the trigger in your mind before the door breaks open, do not purchase a gun for self-defense. You do not want to make those moral decisions in the heat of the moment.
If you agree, a gun for self-defense is a good idea. Too many people do not think about using a gun and the consequences of that act when they buy one with the idea of self-defense. They believe having the gun will be a talisman of safety at that moment. It is not.
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Are guns really necessary for self defense?
After you agree with that aspect, you don’t leave an unsecured firearm where a 4-year-old can access it. A responsible gun owner with children will purchase a quick-access safe to store the gun in that the child cannot get into. There are many models on the market that you can attach to furniture and have capable locking mechanisms that will deny a child access.
Preventing a 4-year-old from shooting you in your sleep is merely ensuring they can never get their hands on the gun in the first place.
From there, learn your gun backward and forward. Learn it by feeling. Learn to shoot it accurately and reload it quickly. Know where every control is blindfolded. Fit it with night sights. Maintain it religiously because your life will depend on it.
Like envisioning shooting someone, you don’t want to be learning where the safety is or the steps to reload it when an intruder is coming up your stairs.
Would you carry a cane for self defense?
I would and do sometimes. Have done so since the age of 11. A cane has major advantages as a weapon. It’s normally carried in the hand, so it is quicker into action than any weapon that has to be drawn.
And one does not hesitate to strike another human being or animal with a cane so much as one hesitates with a knife, gun, etc. You can legally carry a cane almost anywhere.
Dogs normally will not attack a person who carries a cane; in my experience, only sometimes if one brandishes the cane. I have encountered many unfriendly dogs while carrying a cane, but I never had to strike one.
Are guns really necessary for self defense?