Weapons for protection

[Adrian 155]

I found myself in a rather awkward situation yesterday in the non racial city of Atlanta. I am curious as to what some on this forum do for protection for themselves and their helpers. Know that I have been "Color blind" towards different nationalities all of my life. My disbelief ( or stupidity ) was my downfall yesterday. Total shock was my enemy yesterday and caused me to stumble. Now unfortunatley I must recognize the ever changing times and come to grips that I do not ever want to be caught unprepared again.

Not just for me and my helper, moreso, I have a family.

Just curious

stun gun?

baton?

shotgun or pistol ( questionable in my world, but not totally out!!!)

star trek utility belt

RPG

Jet Li

Feel free to share your situations as well and how you handled it....... know that it could help me in the future.

..... and thanks to my new found Daylight I must come up with a new motto to go along with it...... something like Judas is everywhere and he carries a gun!!!!!

or ............keep your enemies even closer!!!!!!

or..... Trust no one , everyone is the enemy.........

There really is no Utopia.......... my bad!

I love my XJET........ ( just wish I had it hooked up at the time)

[Kory 14]

Atlanta isn't a racist city . It cant be everyone hates everyone. I just moved from woodstock the first of the year. Racisim is the only thing I dont miss about georgia. I do own a 9mm Glock but I dont carry only because I feel it could get me in more trouble than my mouth could talk me out of.

[Adrian 155]

That's kind of my train of thought as well about a gun.

But, again, I have to rethink things.

[splashandash 15]

Thats a question that i ask myself often, as i have had to fight my way out of situation at 3 in the morning one time. I think if i was to carry a gun i might have shot somebody that night. I watch my back all the time at night.

[Celeste 341]

I'm thinking that they make that zero degree tip for something.

Celeste

[Adrian 155]

I'm leaning towards a stun gun or taser.

Anyone have any experience with these.

Stun gun = much cheaper = somewhat effective results

Taser = expensive as a .45 with non lethal results.

Gun = permenant results = life in prison

baton = questionable results = no garauntees

mace spray = buys a little time to run and stay alive

0 degree tip = applied to the achilles tendon or family jewels would slow them down ( but will they wait for me to switch from my xjet)

jet Li = priceless

very serious post folks.

very concerned and shaken a bit even still.

[Jeff Robison 14]

I have thought about mace as well, I have seen some that comes in a bottle that attached to your leg. Kind of like Dog the Bounty Hunter. It would give you enough time to call 911 or grab a wrench and beat somebody with it. It would be visible so if anyone really approached you to start trouble you know they would have to be serious about it.

I was very upset about a situation a couple of months ago in Atlanta as well in broad daylight. A very intimidating man approached me and wanted a couple bucks, told him to get a job and it escalated from there, basically grabbed the fire hydrant wrench and he walked away. But, it was scary none the less

Jeff Robison

Titan Exterior

678-360-2518

[James 625]

Spray bottles with acid and stripper are handy.

[Chappy 138]

[JFife 14]

1st thing: Get to know your local law enforcement, alert them to your problems.

2nd thing: I'm assuming you have no criminal record. If you don't, you can do about anything and come out pretty clean. I'd be more concerned about civil suits.

3rd thing: A policeman told me that if you were ever in a situation where a gun became necessary, make sure to kill the person (hey, were talking "serious" here). He said if you are a good citizen, no record, etc.....you only want there to be one story to tell at the end of the day.

4th thing: There are consideration to make, such as, if you are the size of an Off.Lineman, and being attacked by Gary Coleman, and you shoot him, you've got problems. The law assumes you should have been able to defend yourself without deadly force.

So if you are truly afraid of a bad situation, get your finances in order to deter a civil suit or not have much to lose. Could you live with these consequences?? Seriously, you may be better off living fearlessly, and if you get killed by some loser taking advantage of someone that is a pacifist, then maybe death would be better than a life of misery having done something you regret.

[JFife 14]

Chapman,

....I'm trying to think hypothetically how much money I'd pay to operate that thing for about two minutes. I tell ya, if it came down to getting to spend two minutes behind that gun or spend two minutes (that'd be about it) with Shakira, I might take the gun:)

[Celeste 341]

I think from a standpoint of ease to grab & use, the pepper spray/mace/ whatever ouchy stuff comes from those cans on your belt is going to be your best bet. Too many folks killed by their own guns....taser/stun gun could prove bad for you as well. You must must must consider what will happen if they get their hands on your weapon before you do.

If your x-jet is on though, chems to the face would be pretty effective I would think......or grab the QC at your gun, disconnect and swing that puppy from the x-jet end......whack upside the head with the gun end!

Celeste

[JohnW 14]

I'll add in my opinion. I used to work security in a heavier crime district in downtown Atlanta. Through my experience I learned a couple of things. If you're ever in a situation where you think things might get ugly, never let your fear get the best of you and don't lose your head. First and foremost, do whatever possible to leave the situation even if it means giving up some pride.

As for personal protection, an asp baton and a taser aren't the best of defenses. Think proximity. You are going to have to be within arm's reach of your suspect in order to disable him with either of these. That puts both off my list almost immediately.

Pepper spray or OC, I believe comes in different percentages. I would be more prone to use this as a non lethal alternative if you don't want to carry a gun. The pepper spray is pretty effective on most people with the exceptions of a couple nationalities. You will cause the person to forget about harming you and trying to find water will be their new objective. Some of these even leave a red mark on the sprayed substance, so if the police are searching for them, it makes their job easier.

Personally, I choose to carry a glock pistol. I believe that a gun is the most effective form of personal defense. I would say, get your CCW permit (costs about $50) first. The problem with using something less than a gun, is that if your held up or put into a situation and the attacker has a knife or a gun and you pull pepper spray or a baton, you might not live to tell about it. I've been in a couple of situations where I'm very glad that I had my gun. My wife is also well versed in how to use it. We go to the range every couple of months for practice.

If you aren't sure or have never handled a gun, come down to Fayette and I'll be glad to help you out. Hope that helps you make a better decision. I will have to agree that Metro Atlanta isn't as safe as it used to be.

[JohnW 14]

I have thought about mace as well, I have seen some that comes in a bottle that attached to your leg. Kind of like Dog the Bounty Hunter. It would give you enough time to call 911 or grab a wrench and beat somebody with it. It would be visible so if anyone really approached you to start trouble you know they would have to be serious about it.

I was very upset about a situation a couple of months ago in Atlanta as well in broad daylight. A very intimidating man approached me and wanted a couple bucks, told him to get a job and it escalated from there, basically grabbed the fire hydrant wrench and he walked away. But, it was scary none the less

Jeff,

I'm surprised that anyone actually challenged you, you're a pretty big guy to start something with :)

[HotShot 34]

Glock 40--

If there is anyway for me to run away that would be my first option, if somebody is really looking to hurt or kill me, they better be a quicker draw.

[R L S 14]

I agree alot with John W.

I as well carry a sidearm on my person most of the time and always very close to me. Learn your states law about carrying a pistol get your CCW practice and become comfortable with a pistol. It is hands down the best form of self defense possible imo.

[Adrian 155]

Thank Jon Fife, and John W.

I don't have a record, and I am just pretty sure after this incident that I still am not ready for a gun for anything other than hunting.

I now have a telescopic baton with hip attachment.( army - navy store)

A couple of palm sized dyed pepper sprays with belt attachment. ( army -navy)

A couple of 100,000 stunners w/ belt attachments on order.

Hunting knife as back up in work truck.

Extra tire irons in truck and trailer.

Even several years of Judo in my earlier days didn't kick in.

Kinda feels like I failed myself, but things could have been worse.

Local pistol dealer has classes, shooting range approval/certification/ registration and sells guns ( a .380 cal) for about the cost of all the equipment above. This will be my last resort as I really want to make sure my anger dept. is in check. I don't WANT to shoot anyone, after all.

Are there " Hazardous" rates for this industry?

[JFife 14]

You feel like telling us what happened?? There is no pride loss in still being alive after a bad situation.

Re: guns--Mine's a .40 Sig Sauer, trick is to find the best gun for YOU. I'd have nothing but a Sig.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

I had a sling shot growing up. Don't know what ever happened to it. Never was accurate with it.

Beth

[StainlessDeal 16]

That's my personal favorite self-preservation tool. I'd think a little bigger than .380 myself, but I used to burn more than 1000 rounds/weekend year round. (I still would, hadI the time) Jon is absolutely right though, what fits you best will serve you best.

As a side note, research bear bombs. They are fire extinguisher-sized mace canisters intended to take the starch out of bears in the woods. I've been told they aren't incredibly effective on grizzleys, but can attest with 100% certainty that they will remove all will to tango from any human, or dog, cat etc. exposed to the business end. Police routinely use them to quell riots, I've seen the effects up close. (PM or call, this doesn't get posted! lol)

Additionally, I know that actual Tasers are effective at short pistol ranges, hand-held stun guns, which are similar to cattle prods require you to be in a phone-booth-like proximity to your target.

Two other methods, one lethal the other only painful: Bang-sticks (like divers use on sharks) and actual cattle prods. These are not good deterrents, as the perps rarely realize what you have. They look a lot like improvised clubs, neither gets my vote.

Guns also should not be thought of as any sort of deterent: They are last ditch, lethal response tools only. Brandishing a firearm will get you killed.

[Mathew Johnson 123]

I either carry a sig 9mm or sig 45 when I am doing early AM, or night work or working in certain parts of some fo the cities.. It is kind of hard to get a conceald carry permit in some counties in this state, ours is pretty liberal if you have a clean background.

[Adrian 155]

In a nutshell....... I simply don't have enough horsepower in my truck.

Downtown ATL ( not mid-town or uptown ) , let's just say lesser districts at dusk rush hour is not the place to be stuck with 4 cylynders and an extra 1200 lbs (with tank empty) on trailer.

The car behind me has no time to waste by being behind me on a feeder to interstate. So obviously he makes time to jump around and in front of me to do a burnout, stop in front of me, get out and started doing a Homer Simpson type dance with a novelty bat that you get on bat day at the field. Blocking the entire feeder, with cars skidding and slamming into the curbs, with me kinda "stuck" in the direction I was going, Horns blowing plus a thousand witnesses to watch me get slain, this proper southern gentleman realized he must have forgotten his medication. He runs to my window swinging away, but never made any contact with me or truck.

So this guy decides to foot it the rest of the way I guess, which left me stuck behind his car that was in the opposite direction after the burnout.

The people that witnessed this and approached about the car, also shared this sountern gentlemans same hospitality that he shared with me, somehow holding me responsible for the man actions. A few minutes later

he came out from under the sloped(sp?) banks of the freeway and fired up that ride of his and decided to go into the direction the car was pointed in.

Facing my truck!!!! I swear he trew a rod reving that 80's something cutless. Yes I was really scared and worried. People were driving around the site after a few minutes, once word traveled to the back of the crowd. so there were essentially cars trying to get around and I was stuck. So he decides to drive into the crowd. Never hit anyone, and took another street off of the feeder to get lost a little deeper downtown.

Sorry... I said in a nutshell.

bottom line..... my truck has been a good truck. Still is. 400 miles on a tank.

Somthing is telling me to rethink the 8 cyl. route.

No pride lost, very thankful actually.

... as for my helper, does anyone know how to get urine stains out of truck seats? lol. kidding.

I am not ready to carry a pistol...... Don't misunderstand me though I have several forms of .12 gauge protection and normally I am not in "Downtown" mode. But I will not ever go out unprotected.

[TNT Pressure Washing 14]

I have a Ruger P85 9mm. I carry 2 full 15 round clips (1) is for target practicing (2) loaded with hollow points. The hollow point one stays in the gun at all times unless I am target practicing. I do have a permit to carry. If you decide to tote one I recommend getting the permit. My 2 pennies.

[Mathew Johnson 123]

TOO Bad you werent carrying.... In this state, driving a car into a crowd of people in an angry rage is assault with a deadly weapon and would be one of the rare situations in this state when you could defend yourself.

[Mathew Johnson 123]

I have a Ruger P85 9mm. I carry 2 full 15 round clips (1) is for target practicing (2) loaded with hollow points. The hollow point one stays in the gun at all times unless I am target practicing. I do have a permit to carry. If you decide to tote one I recommend getting the permit. My 2 pennies.

I do the same. hollow points in gun... target ammo otherwise... You also want to have a permit to carry in this state, otherwise you end up with a name change..... get caught with a pistol wothout a permit here and your new name quickly becomes "defendent".

[Adrian 155]

It's probably the same here with a vehicle.

It just simply caught me off gaurd and sucked the energy and reasoning out of me.

one minute ... fine.

next minute..... madman

next minute... angry traffic mob

next minute.... madman again

next minute..... driving home thinking I could be dead a few minutes ago.

In a way I am kind of mad at myself for not doing anything, but that might have been what got back on the freeway a few minutes later.