The problem of defense
Jennifer posts a story of a a colleague who is confident that her attitude is going be an effective defense.
Here’s the problem with that strategy. A confident look will deter attackers who are deterred by a confident look. It may encourage a goblin into finding a different prey item. But then again, it may not. And then you are left without much place to go.
This is the exact same problem that we face with pepper spray, stun guns, brass knuckles, harsh words, angry gestures, and self-imposed vomiting. They all work…until they don’t. And when they don’t, you are awfully likely to find yourself without a lot of good options.
Folks, I’m going to let you in on a set of uncomfortable realities:
- You may, at some point in your life, be required to defend your life or the life of someone you love.
- There is no way to predict when or where you might need to do this.
- When that moment comes, you will have seconds to take action
Once you come to terms with this uncomfortable reality, why on earth wouldn’t you choose to have the tool that would be best able to do the job? Namely, prevent your death and/or maiming, or to prevent it from happening to someone you love?
A difficult lesson
I’ve written in this forum before that one of the hardest steps in becoming an armed American is internalizing the knowledge that there are people out there who don’t think like you do. They don’t see fellow human beings, they see resources to exploited. Robbing or maiming or even killing you is just like picking an apple from a tree. Alan at SnarkyBytes has a link to the story of a man who learned this fact the hard way.
Like Alan said…pay attention to what is going on around you.
Uncomfortable realizations
My journey in becoming a gun owner and a gun rights activist has been punctuated by a series of uncomfortable realizations. I think that this is the journey that lots of new gun owners face. Each step is a revelation of the reality of the world around you.
I discovered the first uncomfortable realization in reading Mas Ayoob’s excellent book “The Truth About Self Protection“. The lesson was simple: there are Bad Guys* out there, and they don’t think the way you and I do. They are not deterred at all by the thought of visiting violence on another human being. They are at best agnostic toward violence…it is just another part of their job. At worst, they welcome violence and the power that it gives them over other people. But either way, you are not an individual to these Bad Guys. You are a resource.
The second uncomfortable realization is that you are on your own. Simply put, you may be called on to defend yourself someday from a Bad Guy. The lawless looting in the wake of hurricane Katrina is a classic example. The police couldn’t protect anyone. It doesn’t take a Katrina. Bad Guys are out there, looking for victims every day. And, as the saying goes, when seconds count…the police are only minutes away.
The third uncomfortable realization is that if you are going to have to defend yourself, you should use the best tool for the job. This is where a lot of people, I believe, break down and compromise. The tremendous number of goofy self-defense gadgets on the market are a testament to that. Even worse are articles like this one that Don Gwinn found, in which the city of Oak Park is giving whistles to its citizens, presumably so that the would be attacker will crap their pants and run away when confronted with the deadly whistle. Or this page, in which the Illinois State Police recommend that you vomit on yourself if you are a victim of sexual assault in order to discourage the attacker. I’m a 5’10″, 170 pound skinny computer geek. There is no way in hell that I am going to be able to fight off an attacker with a nail file. A firearm gives me the ability to defend myself…it brings me to parity with those who want to do me harm.
Which brings me to today’s uncomfortable realization, which I had in reading the linked Oak Park article. The chain of thoughts went like this:
- Certainly the government of Oak Park knows that there is the possibility that their citizens will need to protect themselves. Why else would they issue whistles to the populace?
- The ISP must know that their advice in defense of sexual assault is ludicrous. I mean, they deal with criminals every day, right? They know that there is no way that an average citizen can fight off 250 pounds of yard-hardened criminal.
- If there is one thing that we have learned in the 20-odd years of the restoration of concealed carry rights, it is that it doesn’t make things worse. I happen to believe, based on Dr. Lott’s work, that it in fact REDUCES crime, but you don’t even have to go there. It certainly doesn’t make it worse. If it even saves one life, it is worth it, right?
- Although I’ve been picking on Illinois, since Don made the links easy, examples are rife throughout the country of governments trying to chip away at citizen’s gun rights.
- Cognitive dissonance. One the one hand, governments know that citizens need access to firearms to protect themselves, and yet they seem hell bent on preventing access.
Uncomfortable realization: Your government doesn’t think you are worth saving. It is more important to them preserve their power then it is for you to be safe. You are nothing to them. A cog. Replaceable. Not worth protecting.
Uncomfortable realization number five: Number four looks an awful lot like number one….
When seconds count…
…the police are only minutes away.
From Xavier, a story of a woman that was forced to shoot a man trying to break into her home.
My take away was this: Time from initial call to break in: 12 minutes. Time until police arrive: 24 minutes.
Stay safe, people.
Thoughts on Mumbai
I’d meant to get this out sooner, but I’ve spent much of the last week nursing a sick kid. Rotavirus. Wash your hands. Enough said.
Breda and Roberta X have some good thoughts on the event. Instapundit asks the question that I’ve been thinking about. Would armed citizens have made a difference?
I’ve spent some time in India. Gun rights don’t exist there the way they do here. Private gun ownership is essentially prohibited. News reports right now are saying that there were 10 attackers. Chances are, even a small number of armed citizens would have made a difference. It will be interesting to see the reaction over there. Interest in firearms has been rising in the wake of the Indian successes in the Olympics this summer. Perhaps the time is ripe for Indians to begin to reclaim their gun rights.
A final thought. My parents were visiting us for the Thanksgiving holiday. Sadly, we spent most of it in the hospital with my daughter (see the aforementioned rotavirus.) While walking into the hospital, we saw a “No guns allowed” sign, and my father (who knows about my interest in firearms and gun rights but is not really a gunnie) asked me if I was armed. I told him that I carry whenever I can. He asked me: “Why, because of terrorism?” and I replied “Because you never know. And my kid deserves to grow up with her dad.” I think that was the first time he got it.
As an aside, I will mention that in North Carolina, “No guns allowed” signs are legally binding, even for concealed carry permit holders. This means that you can be charged not just with trespassing but with a more serious crime if you are caught. It is a terrible thing to force someone to choose between being legal and being safe.
Some Good Advice
There are lots of myths about self defense out there. Here is a list of the some common ones.
My favorite is number 10. Yes, you learn how to protect those parts pretty quickly.
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Do your part!
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