Self defense for a women's office?

[JHC]

I have a thought exercise for us that I hope will prove beneficial for my wife and her business partners. My wife is a part owner in a counseling group practice. This consists of 1-4 female counselors working out of basically a strip mall. My wife has her own office, but it is also shared by others after hours or on weekends. This can equate to her (or other young females) being alone with their client (think larger male) in a room and sometimes being the only two people in the office. For the first time in a long time, my wife has become concerned about her safety. My wife is currently 32 weeks pregnant, and not yet comfortable with guns. I have tried to get her to train with me, but before recently she didn't feel much of a need to. Now that she is big and pregnant, live firearms training is out the window. She is not opposed to training to the point of comfort but this won't be possible for some time.

I come to ask those with more experience on ways to help keep her and the other ladies in her business safe until she feels ready to carry a gun full time. In the near term she's mentioned a taser or pepper spray, but I warned her about the use of pepper spray in an enclosed office (think medium size Dr. office). I also am concerned with the effectiveness of a taser in the same setting. The part that makes this difficult is that it's a shared office space, so I don't see a safe way to hide a gun where it would be accessible in the amount of time she might have if attacked. I initially thought about somehow modifying her chair, but I don't see how to keep it safe, but accessible (the same goes for pepper spray or even a taser).
With all of that said, what ideas can I present to her to help keep her safe and help her feel more comfortable in her office.

Any input will be appreciated and discussed with her.

YMMV

Outside of the realm of previous mentioned physical security equipment/technology layers, at the last defense personal level, I'd probably work up for a female in my family in this scenario, a system of OC spray and a small fixed blade knife with a great concealment and access rig. Now the females in my family all possess "the spirit of the bayonet" when it comes to self defense so there is that to consider.

The old dictum that knives "aren't much use without the training and reflexes of a Green Beret" . . . I called BS on that the first time I read that in the '70's or '80's.

YMMV and I could be FOS. But I don't think so.

[Wise_A]

I forget the exact number and source but recall significant percents of assault. A fellow student when I was in school lost his front teeth to client. He was doing his internship at a hospital and the client jumped out of the first floor window. Instead of just calling for help, the student climbed out the window after the client. The client was waiting for him and belted him the face a few times before help arrived. That's a lesson - take care of yourself.

That sort of thing seems endemic to the industry. I took a call from a woman concerned about her neighbor, as he had a pretty significant mental health history, and he was walking up and down their very deserted road carrying an axe at 2330. She then proceeded to drive up to him, get out of her car, and talk to him (obviously against my instructions). When she finished, she admonished me for "interfering" and stated that he was "no threat".

[JCN]

Concerns of my wife getting disarmed and having a firearm used against her led me to this solution a number of years ago.

[DDTSGM]

The magna trigger always has had a couple of disadvantages in my opinion -

1) You have to wear a ring.

2) The ring has to be on the correct hand in order to use the revolver - so if your wife is overpowered, the bad guy grabs the revolver, she is able to partially wrest away from the assailant and gain control of the revolver with her weak hand, no joy. Granted, that can be accomplished by purchasing a second ring to wear on the weak hand.

3) Other family/tribe members wouldn't be able to use the revolver. Granted you and your wife could clink magna rings and give each other a chaste goodnight kiss ala surburban 60's before going to sleep, but you get my drift.

4) I think if you have a magna trigger you have to say stuff like 'I'm now drawing my Magna-Trrigger by Joe Davis equipped revolver to engage the target' every time you touch the pistol.

I can see in a scenario such as an office revolver or nightstand revolver, the Magna-Trigger has merit. Unfortunately, for revolvers, S&W generally, although I believe some older Rugers could be re-worked.

[Clusterfrack]

Concerns of my wife getting disarmed and having a firearm used against her...

I've heard this concern come up often--especially from females. The easy answer is for them to use OC spray instead. I've never seen that magnetic trigger disconnect, but it does seem like a viable answer as well. However... if there's a big disparity in size and strength, the BG can likely kill her without using her own gun. I think the best answer to gun retention concerns is a good class that covers gun grappling and similar self-defense topics.

[octagon]

Along the same lines for knives I would use a push dagger. More difficult to be disarmed and easier to train/use for non dedicated user.

[Totem Polar]

I’ve followed this thread closely, and I still haven’t seen a suggestion that resonates with me more than a clinch pick, the eye jab, and judicious scheduling to make sure that if there’s any signs of instability coming off a patient during intake and initial, they get scheduled during prime time hours going forward.

Beyond that, @okie john posted a copy of some rules that contained this gem:

“If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact, not to be solved, but to be
coped with over time.” (Shimon Perez)

When working closely and confidentially with people for a living, it is going to be almost impossible to securely distance one’s self from said people.

JMO.

[Clusterfrack]

What about a medium or large dog? I psychologist I know who works with criminals has a GSD in his office.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

That would depend on the client and their reactions to dogs, I would think. Also, if the dog acts up, that's a liability. There's no easy equipment solution. The p-f answer is H2H defensive training, with hands, OC, knife and gun (if allowed). I think Dr. Silverman had the right idea even if was against the rules but I can't recommend someone risking their jobs.

[UNM1136]

Like the dog idea. A well trained beast is a joy, but the initial and sustainment training can be daunting. With the trend to theapy dogs, and emotional support peacocks, I doubt anyone will bat an eye. And a trained dog is necessary, if protection is a goal. 95%+ of the dogs out there will not protect owners, no matter what the imagined bond and trust levels are like. They likely won't have the nerves, or psychological makeup to do it, and they have likely been taught since they were puppies not to bite. A bunch of "protective" behavior is simply posturing, in an effort to avoid the fight. It is not fair to expect a dog to "rely on its instincts" to protect a person, paricularly at the risk of injury to itself. In nature canids do not frequently fight with other species. They fight among themselves for relative ranking, and those fights are rarely injurious, let alone fatal. Posturing and timely submission are the hallmarks of intraspecies fighting. They prey on smaller animals, and try to avoid pissing off larger ones. I would go so far as to argue that there is little instinctive behavior that makes a dog protect a person. Much of it is posturing, panic, and desperation. Some dogs will do it, just like some people will "rise to the occasion" of a self protection situation. A vast majority will default to their level of training. And zero training is zero training.

A close friend of mine, who has known my working dog since he was about 9 weeks old commented a few years ago that he believed my dog would protect me. At the time my dog had only bit bite pillows, tugs, and bite sleeves. Those were all visual cues that he had pemission to bite, and biting rules applied. I was under no such illusion. Even a decent sports dog will get confused the first time it is offered a leg sleeve, let alone being offered a body bite. They have to be taught the rules of biting and frequently they need a couple of bites giving them permission to take something other than an arm.

ETA: If deterrence, rather than protection is the goal, then most of what I posted is null and void. But if deterrence is the goal, do not expect the dog to protect.

@Coyotesfan97

In the same vein, I get a kick out of people who tell me that a woman should not carry a knife (fixed blade) for defense, because it will be taken away from her and used against her. Training is preferred, but desperation and panic can work. During that askhole discussion I offer the woman an uncapped marker and challange dude to take it away from her without getting "cut" to hell and back.

@Cecil Burch

pat