Self Defence/products on defending your family

[Smaug]

It's such a sad world, when we have to fear what happens when we hurt someone while defending ourselves.

I read that the humble baseball bat is the #1 murder weapon in the USA.

I think maybe knives are #1 in the UK. (not sure) hence the ridiculous knife laws. It's much easier to villify an inanimate object that to admit the person behind it is the problem.

Here, enough law-abiding citizens have been victimized by the shot and crippled intruder after the robbery in court that many here feel it is better to shoot to kill: that way, there's only one side to the story, and no one to sue over some ridiculous charge.

Over there, you're actually considering a small folding knife as a viable self defense weapon. I would say it is not that good, unless you some how get knife-fighting specific training. If I were going to mug a person or break into his house, I'd be carrying something much better than a knife. Even an axe handle would easily put the beat-down on the knife fighter. (unless he is trained and very good)

The moral of all that is that governments can ban or limit certain weapons, but the human imagination will always find a way. Nunchaku in China have an interesting history, for example.

If you're going to even mention airguns, you may as well go hog wild and mention slingshots ("catapults" in the UK) too.

[anditsgone]

It's such a sad world, when we have to fear what happens when we hurt someone while defending ourselves.

I read that the humble baseball bat is the #1 murder weapon in the USA.

I think maybe knives are #1 in the UK. (not sure) hence the ridiculous knife laws. It's much easier to villify an inanimate object that to admit the person behind it is the problem.

Here, enough law-abiding citizens have been victimized by the shot and crippled intruder after the robbery in court that many here feel it is better to shoot to kill: that way, there's only one side to the story, and no one to sue over some ridiculous charge.

Over there, you're actually considering a small folding knife as a viable self defense weapon. I would say it is not that good, unless you some how get knife-fighting specific training. If I were going to mug a person or break into his house, I'd be carrying something much better than a knife. Even an axe handle would easily put the beat-down on the knife fighter. (unless he is trained and very good)

The moral of all that is that governments can ban or limit certain weapons, but the human imagination will always find a way. Nunchaku in China have an interesting history, for example.

If you're going to even mention airguns, you may as well go hog wild and mention slingshots ("catapults" in the UK) too.

There are air guns that are capable of killing an elephant and are still legal in europe. Those are the guns you can have in europe. But these cost 1000 to 1500 euros.
A slingshot is ilegal in the netherlands. i shot a couple of times with a slingshot and home made balls of lead in germany and the lead balls almost went through a 3 mm plate of aluminium.
Of course none of these will compare to a sawn off shotgun. But only a very small group of people own these.
I dont think you will meet a burgarler with a PCP airgun.

If i would break in to a house and i would not be a knife collector i would carry a bag of small and large screw drivers, a crow bar and a flashlight. If i would try to rob someone i would not try to hurt them because you will go to prison.

I can not imagine just randomly hurt/kill some one but i would carry an axe or base ball bat if i weren't a knife enthousiast. And i dont think you will do a lot against an axe except for running away or using peperspray/brake cleaner against them. Using a knife against someone with an axe or bat is like coming to a shooting with a knife.

I agree that it is sad that europeans dont have the right to self defense.
If someone tries to kill me with a knife in an dark alley but i grab my knife and stab him once but in a crucial place and he dies even though i did not wanted to kill him i will punished for murdering someone.
Of course if someone tried to steal my iphone and i imeaditly stab him multiple times to death on purpose it would be a different story. (i dont know how this goes in america?)
I would really like to see this law change, but in europe it is very hard to undo a law once it has been accepted.

[Kampfer]

Of course if someone tried to steal my iphone and i imeaditly stab him to death in would be a different story. (i dont know how this goes in america)

You can only use deadly force when you fear for your (or others) life.

[Lynn LeFey]

I read that the humble baseball bat is the #1 murder weapon in the USA.

Nope.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/baseballbats.asp

Or if you'd prefer the data directly from the source...
https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded-homicide/expanded_homicide_data_table_8_murder_victims_by_weapon_2009-2013.xls

And keep in mind, the category listed by the FBI is 'blunt object'. Baseball bats would be some fraction of the total listed, since it includes other kinds of clubs, hammers, tire irons, bricks, etc.

[campussecurity]

I hate the time we're living in. No respect or consideration for others. The times are sad when you could go to jail for defending yourself. My home defense is a Benelli M4 semi auto shotgun. Weekend on person carry is my wheel gun. And weekdays is usually a 3"+ folder and this.
Works like a charm and really really hurts. I shot myself with it at arms length and couldn't see for 4 hours. I thing that pepper gel is a lot more effective and accurate without the risk of blowback. 

[anon]

I hate the time we're living in. No respect or consideration for others. The times are sad when you could go to jail for defending yourself. My home defense is a Benelli M4 semi auto shotgun. Weekend on person carry is my wheel gun. And weekdays is usually a 3"+ folder and this.
Works like a charm and really really hurts. I shot myself with it at arms length and couldn't see for 4 hours. I thing that pepper gel is a lot more effective and accurate without the risk of blowback.  (Image removed from quote.)

I used to have a couple of the original Piexon Pepperblasters but never fired any.

[Smaug]

And weekdays is usually a 3"+ folder and this.
Works like a charm and really really hurts. I shot myself with it at arms length and couldn't see for 4 hours. I thing that pepper gel is a lot more effective and accurate without the risk of blowback.  (Image removed from quote.)

THAT is pretty hardcore; shooting oneself with a pepper gel gun. What's the effective range on those?

[campussecurity]

And weekdays is usually a 3"+ folder and this.
Works like a charm and really really hurts. I shot myself with it at arms length and couldn't see for 4 hours. I thing that pepper gel is a lot more effective and accurate without the risk of blowback.  (Image removed from quote.)

THAT is pretty hardcore; shooting oneself with a pepper gel gun. What's the effective range on those?

3-12'. I used to do private security so I had to be tazed and OC'd. And I wanted to know if it was as good as OC. Well its definitely more effective and better range and more accurate. I have several and they are legal everywhere. 

[Etherealicer]

Outside Light: I recently did a lot of reading about outside light. The general consent is, that it is at best not very effective, at worst it might increase your chance of getting burglarized. Basically, thieves are afraid of the dark.
As a note: Interestingly, if they turn off the street light the crime rate goes down but people feel less save, if lighting is increased crime-rate goes up yet people feel saver.

My Home is my Castle: A good door and solid shutters can make it much harder to break in. I don't know how this is handled internationally, but here we rate doors in "How many minutes does it take to get through with powertools". A normal door can easily withstand 5 minutes. Leaving your shutters as the weak point, although good ones will probably slow down a thug considerably and breaking a window is noisy. Sadly, most break-ins occur during daylight (further proof that thieves are afraid of the dark )

Noise: A good soft layer when outside is noise. A whistle or personal alarm have a good chance of deterring the bad guys with lesser risk of escalation than pulling a weapon.

[Aloha]

 

[Etherealicer]

Funny in a movie... not so funny if it hits your friendly fire-fighter trying to rescue your kitty... And that is why booby-traps are illegal.

[Aloha]

Damn! Now I have to remove them all 

On a serious note, good lighting is important IMO for better picture/video quality.  Having cameras in home and around home requires light.  There are expensive units costing 10's of thousands of dollars with infrared.  There are many that aren't so expensive non infrared that'll capture good pictures when you aren't home but again require good light.