COMING SOON:

Stun Guns: Are They For Me?

 

PERSONAL DEFENSE COVERAGE INDEX

With the publication of our recommendations for a Personal Emergency Response Kit, we began to receive a flood of E-Mail from readers asking more about Personal Defense and Personal Defense products. TCTR made the decision to enhance our firearms publication to include other items for Personal Defense. This is now a part of the TCTR Law Enforcement & Security Briefing, and covers other items such as O.C. [Pepper Spray], C.S. [Tear Gas] , ASP and Side-Handle Batons, Stun Guns, as well as Situational Awareness, Defense Tactics, and topics related to Personal Defense.

Our LE/Security Editor is a licensed and trained Armed Security Officer, Concealed Firearms Permit Holder, an NRA Firearms Instructor and Utah-certified educator.

Because I am most familiar with the Laws of the State of Utah, most of what I write will be from that perspective. You will need to find out about the laws in your own State, City, and County. We take no responsibility for our readers going off half-cocked and doing something stupid.

  • To put it bluntly- If you don't have the brains not to get yourself into trouble, you shouldn't be reading this section of our publication.

To start with, I'd like to refer to my article on "Why Carry A Concealed Firearm". Here are several excerpts that cover what I am talking about...

    If you are a person who goes looking for trouble, you don't want a Concealed Carry Permit. A permit does NOT make you a cop, and it will get you into more trouble than you can handle.

    Also, if you are a person who is subject to cases of road rage - don't get a CCW permit. Get a bus pass. You have to become a VERY calm person when you carry a loaded firearm.

    I have a metal sign in my office with an old seafarers saying on it...

    "A SUPERIOR SAILOR is one who uses his SUPERIOR JUDGEMENT to avoid situations requiring the use of his SUPERIOR SKILLS"

    I keep this in mind whenever I am carrying a firearm. The firearm I carry is the "superior skill" in this saying. I avoid places where the sort of activities often necessitating a lethal-force response may be found.

    I do not frequent bars or places where alcohol is in abundance. I avoid rock concerts, and places that look like trouble - such as gatherings of Ohio football fans after a lost game, or certain gatherings of European soccer fans.

    I use my situational awareness to determine if it looks like someone is following me with intent to perform harm. If I find this - and I have a couple of times in my life - I head for an area where that person would not be able to perform any acts that might require a lethal-force response.

    In short, I do not go looking for situations to use my concealed firearm. I avoid them whenever possible so that I don't need to use it. If I have done what I can to avoid the situation and wind up in the middle of it anyway - then I know that I have it and I am prepared to employ it if necessary.

The same can be applied to any Personal Defense item. I can substitute "pepper spray", "side-handle baton", "stun gun", or just about any other Personal Defense item for "concealed firearm" in the paragraphs above.

You will note that I mention Situational Awareness frequently. Basically, Situational Awareness is using your powers of OBSERVATION - taking careful note of your surroundings at all times. You can find more about this principle, and the other basics at the PRINCIPLES OF SELF DEFENSE link at the top of this page. Good situational awareness can keep you from getting to the point where you have to actively defend yourself.

There is something in law called the "Duty to Retreat". You need to become familiar with it. It basically states that if someone comes up and wants to start trouble with you, you have a duty to retreat from that trouble if possible - within reason.

If some drunk comes up and tries to throw a wild punch at you that came nowhere near you - you can't draw your firearm and take him down. You need to get away if that option is available to you. If he is staggering and obviously not able to walk 5 feet without falling down, you should be able to get away.

Retreat from the situation a safe distance, and call 911 to report an agressive drunk. Let the police handle him.

What if he had you backed up into a corner? The situation may change a little. You might be required to use a degree of force to create an opening so that you can get away. Do you have defensive physical combat training? Do you have some O.C. [pepper spray]?

  • What is the option that a reasonable person in the same situation would use?

  • What is the least-force option you can safely use to keep yourself or someone you are protecting [wife, kids, date, etc] from getting hurt while enabling you to retreat from the situation?

What if he had a knife in his hand? That changes the dynamic even more. What if you have your wife and a baby or small children with you? That changes the dynamic to an even greater degree? Lethal force might be an option that a reasonable person would use.

What if he had a gun in his hand? That changes the dynamic a lot. In that case, you may again be legal in using lethal force to defend yourself. If you turn and run - no matter HOW drunk he is - there is a good chance that you or someone you are protecting will get shot in the back. It isn't worth taking the risk.

Before all of this happened, you should have been asking yourself "Should I be where I am now?" This applies both to the area you are in, and to the situation and people around you.

  • If you were innocently walking down main street with your family in tow, the answer may be yes.

  • If you were walking down a dark alley in a bad part of town with your family in tow, the answer may be no.

  • If you saw the drunk coming from a mile away and - by OBSERVATION - you noted that he was acting strange or violently and did nothing to alter your path to avoid him, the answer may be no.

In short - use your brain. Don't KNOWINGLY go walking into situations where you will likely be forced to defend yourself.

There is also the "Castle Doctrine". This applies in most States, but check to see in your local area to make sure. It basically states that your home is your castle, and you don't have a duty to retreat from it.

If someone enters your home with the intent to do harm such as raping your wife, killing you, etc, you are fully within your rights to deal with them using lethal force. The State of Utah puts it relatively plain in law under Utah Code - Title 76 - Chapter 2- Subsection 405...

    76-2-405. Force in defense of habitation. (1) A person is justified in using force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent or terminate the other's unlawful entry into or attack upon his habitation; however, he is justified in the use of force which is intended or likely to cause death or serious bodily injury only if:

      (a) the entry is made or attempted in a violent and tumultuous manner, surreptitiously, or by stealth, and he reasonably believes that the entry is attempted or made for the purpose of assaulting or offering personal violence to any person, dwelling, or being in the habitation and he reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent the assault or offer of personal violence; or

      (b) he reasonably believes that the entry is made or attempted for the purpose of committing a felony in the habitation and that the force is necessary to prevent the commission of the felony.

      (2) The person using force or deadly force in defense of habitation is presumed for the purpose of both civil and criminal cases to have acted reasonably and had a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or serious bodily injury if the entry or attempted entry is unlawful and is made or attempted by use of force, or in a violent and tumultuous manner, or surreptitiously or by stealth, or for the purpose of committing a felony.

It's really common sense. If I wake up in the middle of the night and someone is standing in the doorway of my bedroom - and I know that my wife is sleeping right next to me and we have no houseguests - that person isn't there to come shine my shoes as a free service.

That person is most likely there to hurt or kill one or both of us. If I shoot him, that last paragraph sums it up. That person obviously entered surreptitiously or by stealth. Therefore, The person using force or deadly force in defense of habitation is presumed for the purpose of both civil and criminal cases to have acted reasonably and had a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or serious bodily injury.

The same sort of thing applies to Home Invasion. Note that the same principles apply if "the entry or attempted entry is unlawful and is made or attempted by use of force, or in a violent and tumultuous manner". That's how most home invasions go down.

Remember that this is in Utah, chack in your local area. It is YOUR responsibility to know your local laws.

Of course, there is an ounce of prevention here that MIGHT just keep you from needing 230 gr. or more of cure. I recommend that you install a good ALARM SYSTEM and that you USE IT - even when you are home. There is a link to an article about them on the bar at the side of this page.

Now, what about Personal Defense for those who may be required to enter situations that are less than ideal? When I wrote my recommendation for a Personal Grab-And-Go Kit for HAM Radio Operators who may have to respond in an emergency, I included several Personal Defense items.

In a disaster or emergency affecting a great area, the police will be occupied with rescue operations and other things. They may not be readily available to respond to YOUR emergency.

Often, those involved in providing emergency communications don't think about potential dangers - after all, you are out there to help people. If you are a HAM assigned to report on damage in a given area, you may run into looters or others who see the opportunity to grab some expensive looking radio gear. What happens if you are the only radio operator in a given area and some young punk walks up to you - pulls a knife - and says he wants your radio [thinking he can sell it for some fast cash or drugs]. You are performing a duty that may be life saving.

In short - you need to be where you are.

Likewise, if you are a Security Officer, you may be on your own. What if you are accosted by one or more individuals thinking you are one of "them" and deciding to take their frustration out on you.

This is where keen Situational Awareness - coupled with the right training and equipment - will be truly necessary. Try to avoid those people if possible by OBSERVING the actions of those around you. But what if those with ill intent come looking for you?

The ability to defend yourself - and diffuse the situation, de-escalate the force required - may be needed. Something as simple as a 2 or 4 oz. can of O.C. or a side-handled baton visible on your belt may be enough to dissuade those with ill intent. But if the appearance of those items is not enough to keep them from approaching, you need to have the proper training to employ those devices.

That is the purpose of this section of our publication. It is our goal to provide you with reviews of the best items that we can find, some proper information on how to employ them, and information on how to get more information and training.

Please feel free to drop me a line [lawsec@commtechreview.net] and let me know what you think.

-- James Bell Jr. - Law Enforcement/Security Section Editor for TCTR