My "less-lethal" carry items are pepper spray, small flashlight, and a folding pocket knife (closed). The last two would be used as impact and/or pain compliance options.
regards,
My "less-lethal" carry items are pepper spray, small flashlight, and a folding pocket knife (closed). The last two would be used as impact and/or pain compliance options.
regards,
^^^be very careful with the knife. I have yet to see a law mentioning knives that differentiates between open and closed. Might seem like common sense to us, but a decent attorney might have an easy time convincing a bunch of John and Jane publics that a knife is a knife, legally. Dick move, sure, but cold comfort. JMO.
Brother, you took the words right out of my mouth. Except that I rarely carry my issued baton (only authorized to carry the 16" ASP), and we don't have Tasers. So, on or off, it's de-escalate, depart, or go to work (hands or guns, whatever's appropriate).Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's
I don't carry any non-lethal options. I might consider mace or another chemical irritant but I don't really see a good need for it now and definitely don't feel up to investing in the time/training to learn how to use it correctly.
I do carry a knife, but only for its utility as a cutting tool. Would be an extreme last-ditch option if I did have to use it.
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I'm familiar with the site, and like it, but I'm not sure what you're pointing out.
Speaking of clarity, I should have been more direct in my last post: defending yourself with a knife is generally considered deadly force, so far as I understand it up to now. Saying "yeah, sure, but it wasn't open..." may not cut it, no pun intended. That's all I was getting at; using a knife as a pain compliance tool or blunt force object isn't far removed from using a 4" k frame Smith the same way. You might need to be really convincing to explain why it wasn't lethal force. Caveat: IANAL. Maybe a lawyer can chime in on this, as well.
You may be able to convince someone that it isn't deadly/lethal force, but I'd be impressed if you can convince someone that a knife isn't capable of causing grave bodily harm...
...9mm?
(Sorry... Couldn't resist.)
Carrying a cane really is much more about what kind of cane you carry and how, than how old you are. Without knowing you any better, you absolutely could carry a cane today if you wanted to.
...On the other hand, they can get in the way and be annoying to deal with. So they definitely have their downsides. (I'm referring simply to living with one, not usage in a defensive situation.)
Over here, OC sprays are regulated. (You can get one if you fill out a permit application and convince the police you "need" one. But for regular folks, that is a really big thing to do, and most won't ever even try. Plus the police are surprisingly reluctant to approve permit applications.) As the security situation in this country has been deteriorating for a while now, non-regulated defensive sprays have become massively more popular. A lot of big stores that you previously would never have guessed would be interested, are selling them. The latest stuff has menthol as an irritant, whereas the older stuff was basically just dye. Seems silly, I know, but lately I have been wondering if those things have any merit at all - at least to give legal justification for stronger use of force if nothing else. ("The spray had no effect on him so I had no choice but to...") If the stuff didn't have dye in it, I would be interested in trying it on myself - but walking around several days with red paint on my face doesn't sound appealing...
Tony1911, in the situation you describe, a cane would move far up my list of preferred carry choices regardless of need as a walking aid.
For those of you who do not worry much about nonlethal options consider this thread?
https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....a-Hawaii-hotel
What do you think would have happened had the original poster in that thread used pepper spray rather than a knife?
Regarding use of a closed knife as an impact weapon, like so many other things in the law, it depends. The fact that it is a knife would put one at a disadvantage in terms of jury perception right from the start, and the fact that, if opened, it could inflict a lethal wound would not help. Even a blunt impact to the right (or wrong, depending on what is justified in a given situation) could potentially be fatal. However, with the knife in a closed fist, it is not coming open unless the user wants it to come open, and strikes directed at the arms and hands with the closed knife would be unlikely to cause death or serious injury. I am not aware of any specific caselaw on the subject, and as with any legal unknowns, don't be the test case.
How likely are they to contribute to the defense fund?
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