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Guns Verses Non-Lethal Personal Safety Devices

June 21, 2008 on 12:02 pm | In Pepper Spray & Mace, Personal Security, Stun Guns, Tasers | No Comments

When most people think about what the ideal weapon to have at your disposal to defend yourself in the event of a violent assault, the natural instinct is to wish for a gun. However, practical reasoning and real world statistics prove that relying on owning and keeping a gun in your possession for the purposes of self defense is in many ways a sense of false security, and may actually put you at greater risk of injury or death than simply remaining unarmed.

There are several reasons why owning a gun can be a danger to yourself and those around you; and we’re not necessarily talking about those you want to keep at bay. Thousands of American adults and children alike are shot and hundreds killed every year by accidental gunshot wounds from friends and family members who had absolutely no intention of harming the person in the first place. Thousands more are maimed or killed in the heat of passion, simply because a gun was at the disposal of an enraged or impassioned acquaintance or loved one who acted rashly and solved their anger with a permanent and irreversible solution.

What many people don’t realize is that there are several non-lethal alternatives to owning a gun, and many of them are even more effective than a gun for practical self defense in real world assault situations. Pepper spray, Mace, Tasers, and stun guns are all viable alternatives to carrying a firearm, and each one is highly capable of disabling an attacker in a non-lethal manner that requires no more strength than pulling a trigger.

In fact, in most cases one of the main factors that contribute to making these more reliable defenses is the fact that pulling the trigger of a powerful handgun and aiming the weapon while firing off a round requires a good bit of strength and technique. Most people assume that guns are simply point and click devices, when if fact a powerful recoil makes it very difficult to accurately use one in the instant it takes for a violent assault to occur. Alternatively, self defense sprays and shocking devices require very little if any strength at all, and rely very little on aiming. All of these devices can be safely used with very little training, and best of all, you’re not going to kill anyone if you accidentally discharge one of these devices.

While a gun may pose a formidable threat to any assailant, there is no guarantee that firing it will necessarily stop or disable an attacker. Even a direct shot to the gut may only maim a charging assailant, and drunk or drugged attackers may be impervious to any pain. Though perhaps even mortally injured, an infuriated attacker often will be able to struggle for several minutes after sustaining a gunshot wound, which is easily enough time to continue their aggression and possibly even wrestle control of the weapon out of the owner’s hands to use against them. Guns are also difficult to use against an animal attack, while self defense sprays work on all breathing animals. Pepper spray, Mace, Tasers, and stun guns will definitely disable an attacker if used properly, and do not pose a mortal threat to the owner of the device if it is taken and turned against them.

Consider also that guns are highly regulated, and will no doubt be restricted from many of the places you will find yourself in day to day situations. It might be convenient to have a gun in the home, but carrying it with you is highly impractical if not completely illegal.

Guns are also much more expensive than alternative forms of self defense, which typically can be purchased for as little as $20 through the Internet. This is another point: convenience. You can easily buy pepper spray and tasers online from a reputable online site such as PlanetMace.com, and receive your self defense products overnight through the mail. You can also purchase these devices at most local convenience stores and supermarkets.

While even non-lethal self defense products require some education and training in order to maximize their effectiveness in the case of an actual assault, they are still a much more practical and ultimately safer than a firearm.

Pepper Spray Verses Stun Guns: Which is Right for Me?

June 21, 2008 on 12:00 pm | In Pepper Spray & Mace, Stun Guns | No Comments

When considering non-lethal self protection, there two classes of products you should consider buying: pepper spray and stun guns, and each has their own inherent benefits to consider. While both self defense devices provide adequate means of disabling an attacker during a violent assault, people should consider their own physical limitations and circumstances and do some research on each of these products before purchasing a self protections product.

Pepper spray is essentially pepper extract from the plant Oleoresin Capsicum known as ‘Capsiacin’ that has been concentrated into a potent resin. This is combined with a propellant and a binding agent that carries the resin as it is released from a pressurized canister, and often a concentrated dye that can be helpful in identifying attackers after the assault. Pepper spray is an inflammatory that works by causing intense swelling in the eyes and upper respiratory system of an attacker and can disable attackers of any size in just seconds. Once afflicted, an assailant will be unable to see; as his eyelids swell shut and his pupils dilate, and breathing capacity will be reduced to the level where he can barely gasp for enough air to retain consciousness. This condition will typically last for anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, which is plenty of time to get away from danger and alert authorities of the situation.

Stun guns, on the other hand, work by rapidly transferring a high voltage, low amperage energy dump into the attacker’s muscles, causing them to do a rapid amount of work in a short period of time. This exhausts the stored energy in the muscles, and interrupts brain signals to that control the bodies functions, causing the assailant to fall to the ground and loose consciousness for up to 10 minutes, which is enough time to escape and get a safe distance from danger.

Recognizing that each of these devices has its own practical utility, there are still some advantages and disadvantages to each of these personal protection devices, and understanding how these differences apply to your lifestyle is essential to selecting a product that will be best suited to saving your life in the face of a violent attack.

For pepper spray, the advantages are that it can be used at a distance, provides adequate stopping power for disabling an attacker, and keeps an attacker our of commission for up to 45 minutes. The drawbacks are that pepper spray may be less effective in windy or rainy scenarios, as the stream of the spray can be diffused by these inclement weather conditions. Additionally, as there is a short 2-5 second delay from the time pepper spray is discharged onto an attacker and the full effects of the spray are realized, there is a slight chance that an aggravated assailant will have time to briefly attack before being completely disabled. Stun guns, on the other hand, are not affected by weather, and work instantly to disable a violent aggressor.

But stun guns have drawbacks of their own as well, chiefly that they require close contact with an attacker in order to be deployed, and therefore pose the risk of being hit or disarmed from a defendant and possibly even used against them- though many come with a safety pin that disables the device if removed from the bearer’s wrist. This is particularly relevant in the case of wild animal attacks, which are rather alarming if hand-to-body contact is required to effectively disable an attacking beast. Another limiting factor is that stun gun victims recover more quickly, which means they are more likely to escape before authorities arrive on the scene.

Before you make a decision to buy either of these tried and proven self defense devices, make sure you also check with your local state and county laws regarding pepper spray and stun guns, as many of these products are controlled and can only be bought at licensed distributors and in controlled concentrations and voltages. Make sure you are thoroughly trained in how to use your devices, and do some research online to further educate yourself about the proper use and diversity of products available so that you are sure to find something that suits your lifestyle and personal safety needs.

Of course, you can’t go wrong in purchasing both a pepper spray and stun gun device, but even so, there are still benefits and detractions for each product for different situations, so even when preparing yourself for all types of violent encounters, you know which self defense weapon to use in each varied circumstance.

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