Comments on: Gun Alternatives?

By: North End Groper: How Gun Control Works | Weer'd World

North End Groper: How Gun Control Works | Weer'd World — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:42:20 +0000

[...] Could Happen Anywhere” (that’s true) -One woman is thinking about getting Mace: (Will it even work?, and if it DOES work, will the person it works on be yourself? Also I suspect this woman has no [...]

By: Cincinnati Police Officer Shoots, Kills Knife Wielding Suspect « BornLib's Blog – Life, Liberty, and the Firearms that protect them both

Mon, 02 May 2011 01:49:38 +0000

[...] “from a distance”, in this context, is 50 feet. What are the effective ranges of non-lethal alternatives that a patrolman would be [...]

By: Weer'd World » Should You Carry Less-Lethal?

Weer'd World » Should You Carry Less-Lethal? — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 13:25:50 +0000

[...] let’s just get the value of less-lethal devices out of the way be going back to my old post here. The effective stopping power of Tasers and Chemical spays is effectivly zero. Even if they work [...]

By: Dixie

Dixie — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 17:01:06 +0000

Then there’s the other end of the spectrum– some people react very badly to OC spray. I’d imagine that there’s at least one case out there where a bad guy got hit with a snoot full and promptly had an asthma attack.

By: Dixie

Dixie — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:57:19 +0000

And then some of us live in warm climates. Carrying a can of OC spray PLUS my normal loadout (gun, spare mag, light, knife, keys, wallet, phone, pocket notebook, pens) would be pushing it– even cargo pants can only carry so much.

By: Weerd Beard

Weerd Beard — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 12:49:49 +0000

another VERY valid point. How much storage ability do you have, and are you willing to have with you?

Some days All I can manage to easily pack with me is my wallet, keys, cell phone, and my J-frame. Not even a reload. If I had room for a tin of pepper, I’d rather just put two speed strips in its place.

Most of us don’t have, nor are we interested in a batman utility belt, and if we DO have one its already loaded with the goof-ballery of modern life. (Two cellphones, multitool, knife, flashlight, gun, magazine carrier)

Why carry something that will have dubious results when you can carry something else that will work MUCH better and on more grave applications.

By: Sevesteen

Sevesteen — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 03:38:43 +0000

Not much to disagree with in either the post or comments. I lead a boring life, and avoid situations likely to result in violence. As a result, there is a limited amount of crap I’m willing to carry for contingencies. A handgun has the best balance of convenience to effectiveness. If I’ve got a handgun, nothing else adds enough capability to be worthwhile.

By: Weerd Beard

Weerd Beard — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:50:56 +0000

I don’t know if I 100% agree with you, Lissa. Certainly nothing is a magic talisman and a person can be bested or win ANY fight, be it one-on-one, or angry-mob vs. one, or anything in between.

That being said a Taser specifically can only engage one target. It might scare everybody away saying OMG DEATHRAY!!!! But more than likely thug or thug’s buddies will take your now dead and useless taser and shove it up your ass.

OC spray can engage multiple targets, but not many, and not if they’re spread far apart, and the wider the spread of engagement the more OC you’re going to get on yourself.

With a firearm, you can most certainly engage multiple targets. Hell even at my least armed I’m packing a 5-shot revolver. So long as there aren’t more than 5 guys I have enough ammo to engage ALL of them. Maybe I’ll miss a shot or two, or maybe I’ll only superficially wound some of them, its still a HUGE force multiplier.

With my 1911 and two spare mags, that’s a LOT of ammo to dispense, or say somebody with a Glock 19 or 17, ect ect.

One tactic I’ve heard that sounds very good is if engaging multiple targets you engage EACH target with one shot each, THEN re-target for follow-up shots as needed.

Just something to think about.

By: Linoge

Linoge — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:16:17 +0000

I stopped being interested in OC spray when I had to be dosed with it for the military. In order for us to carry it on the quarterdeck, we had to go through an experience ourselves, which consisted of being sprayed, waiting 30 seconds, and then engaging in four separate “obstacles”, including taking on a red-suit-armored agressor, weapons retention, weapon disarmament, baton implementation, and submission of a particularly unwilling individual.

To be certain, that gos-se hurt like hell, and I was not able to open my eyes completely for aobut two hours, and not be completely pain-free for about six hours, but the fact is, I was able to complete the post-spraying engagements.

In fact, everyone was. And a few individuals (namely, a Pacific Islander and an Irishman – both first generations) did not seem to suffer from any reaction at all. So after I had the time to calm down and think through the training, I suddenly realized that over 250 separate individuals got sprayed with the OC, and yet were still able to inflict what would have been some pretty significant harm on folks had they not been padded batons and padded suits. It slowed us down, to be sure, and it would probably discourage a purse-snatcher, except that the use of OC typically counts as assault and/or battery, depending on the state, and then it becomes a complicated situation indeed.

If folks want to give it a figurative shot, more power to them, and if it works out, awesome. But I will pass.

By: Lissa

Lissa — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:44:10 +0000

Numbers, numbers, numbers.

If the bad guy has two or three large friends they’re going to laugh at your Taser and beat the crap out of you. If not worse.

Can you take on three or four bad guys with one firearm? No — you almost certainly cannot.

Will you be watching all four of them sprint for the hills as soon as you down the first one? (Or as soon as your weapon is drawn?) Probably. Unless they’re drugged up, in which case your Taser or pepper spray also doesn’t work.