- #51
Moonbear
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
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If an intruder is unarmed, and you use deadly force against them, yes, you are the one who might face the charges. Self-defense as a defense only allows you to use comparable force against someone...if they hit you with their hand, you can't use a baseball bat to hit back. And if the gun you used is unregistered, you're in an even bigger heap of trouble. At least in the U.S. Some of you are talking about Canadian laws I suspect, and I don't know what those are.
As for the sexual assault example, any sort of weapon or tool for self defense is useless if it's in your purse. Quickest thing is for the criminal to just snatch the purse away and get it completely out of the picture. And even if they don't do that, do you think they are going to wait while you fumble through your purse trying to find that can of mace? When I lived in an area with a high crime rate, I carried a small knife in my pocket and walked with my hand in that pocket. Chose a small one because it wouldn't be deadly (I wasn't going to stop someone with a gun by using a knife) and that way it wouldn't kill me if I had it turned against me, the point was just to injure the attacker enough so they couldn't chase me while I was running away. I always figured if I needed to use it, I'd aim low...most men's natural response is to protect their crotch when a woman aims low, and I'd let them deflect my hand right toward the femoral...or at least do a good number on their quadriceps. If that didn't work, then I was taught to just wait for the right timing...at some point he has to take his hands off you just long enough to undo his fly if rape is his intent, so that's when you get away.
I was also taught a really easy move that even a small person could use against a large person, but the problem was that while it would let you pin them in place, you weren't going anywhere yourself either.
A cop once told me that most people who carry mace have no idea how to use it and often wind up being the one it is used against. Either they don't know how to operate it at all or they point it the wrong way or the attacker gets it out of their hand and sprays them with it. He suggested practicing hitting a target on a tree with it to make sure you know how to use it.
With guns, the moment you hesitate, you're dead. Most law-abiding people hesitate, and the criminal won't.
*Oh, one other thing a cop told me...there's no single answer to every self-defense situation. Sometimes you just have to use your instincts and hope they are right. Some people will brandish a weapon, but are scared to death to actually use it, others will fire at the slightest flinch. All sort of things have worked to thwart sexual assaults, from the basics of just fighting back, to someone who rolled up in a ball and wouldn't budge, to someone who just didn't fight at all, or one woman who told the attacker she had her period and he stopped cold.
As for the sexual assault example, any sort of weapon or tool for self defense is useless if it's in your purse. Quickest thing is for the criminal to just snatch the purse away and get it completely out of the picture. And even if they don't do that, do you think they are going to wait while you fumble through your purse trying to find that can of mace? When I lived in an area with a high crime rate, I carried a small knife in my pocket and walked with my hand in that pocket. Chose a small one because it wouldn't be deadly (I wasn't going to stop someone with a gun by using a knife) and that way it wouldn't kill me if I had it turned against me, the point was just to injure the attacker enough so they couldn't chase me while I was running away. I always figured if I needed to use it, I'd aim low...most men's natural response is to protect their crotch when a woman aims low, and I'd let them deflect my hand right toward the femoral...or at least do a good number on their quadriceps. If that didn't work, then I was taught to just wait for the right timing...at some point he has to take his hands off you just long enough to undo his fly if rape is his intent, so that's when you get away.
I was also taught a really easy move that even a small person could use against a large person, but the problem was that while it would let you pin them in place, you weren't going anywhere yourself either.
A cop once told me that most people who carry mace have no idea how to use it and often wind up being the one it is used against. Either they don't know how to operate it at all or they point it the wrong way or the attacker gets it out of their hand and sprays them with it. He suggested practicing hitting a target on a tree with it to make sure you know how to use it.
With guns, the moment you hesitate, you're dead. Most law-abiding people hesitate, and the criminal won't.
*Oh, one other thing a cop told me...there's no single answer to every self-defense situation. Sometimes you just have to use your instincts and hope they are right. Some people will brandish a weapon, but are scared to death to actually use it, others will fire at the slightest flinch. All sort of things have worked to thwart sexual assaults, from the basics of just fighting back, to someone who rolled up in a ball and wouldn't budge, to someone who just didn't fight at all, or one woman who told the attacker she had her period and he stopped cold.
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