Most of us have been raised on a Hollywood depiction of firearms use(which gets incorporated into laws).
Or "any" weapons use. Which is often the reason for what many seem to think is the proper way to proceed on things. Much, if not most of that, is more dangerous to the person who feels they are the victim or are acting defensively.
The belief that producing and showing your weapon will cause your opponent to quake in fear, and run away, is very flawed thinking. Looks good in the movies though. They always like to play up the weapons, as if they give you some sort of magical power.
Reality is, if you truly feel your life is in danger, given no obvious way out (not that necessarily by law, you have to flee), the only response is to be explosively and aggressively violent, and use any means possible to win. This isnt a game. Laws/rules are meaningless at this point. You dont show your hand, until its in action. Self defense has nothing to do with "defense", its all pure aggression once it starts. Once it starts, if you are thinking defensively, your head is in the wrong place.
If you use a knife on an unarmed man,you may have a problem.
No more so if you use your gun, or whatever on an unarmed man. Just because someone is unarmed, doesnt mean they are not a deadly threat. There are other factors here besides armed or unarmed, and you may very well be justified to use deadly force.
Consider,as you go for your knife,the other guy may have his hand wrapped around his snubby .44 Spl.
As soon as you produce your knife,he is justified to dump a wheel in your chest.
And as soon as he wraps his hand around his snubby, youre justified to use your knife. How is one any different than the other.
I believe"The right to keep and Bear Arms"covers all the tools,but I'm not the Judge.
I do too, but Id prefer to be the one before the judge, than the guy in the morgue, who cant offer a contrary explanation of the encounter.
I've never seen a knife that could reach as far as a spray without being thrown.
My goal isn't to hurt or kill an attacker so much as it is to just get away safely.
That's more likely if I can blind them for even 10 seconds instead of getting close enough to literally touch them with a knife
If you are being "attacked" they arent waiting for you do be the aggressor, they are already doing so.
If I believe they mean to do me harm, I most certainly mean to hurt them, including kill them if necessary, and how they proceed, determines that. They are more than welcome to walk away unmolested, thats entirely up to them.
If they are determined and are already moving on you, that spray, may or may not have any effect at all, and they may very well be on you before they even know they were sprayed, and it even takes affect. And thats assuming you even got a good hit on them. Even if you should get a good, solid hit square in the face, if they are already on you, at that point, they know youre right there at the end of their arms, and if they get a hold of you, whats your plan then?
Have you ever been hit with pepper spray? While it isnt at all pleasant, it isnt something that is necessarily debilitating, and you can certainly work through it, albeit, at a lesser capacity, if your determined. Very often, the people you usually see sprayed with it, already were afraid of it, and didnt want any part of the fight anyway. Watch the accounts of people who were determined, or on drugs, etc, and pay attention as to how they react.
As far as throwing your knife, it looks like the movie influence is alive and well. Why in the world would you throw your weapon away? If you need to get it there, take it with you, and give it to them when you get there.
It seems there may be some misunderstanding as to what purpose these "less than a gun" weapons are for. Im assuming they are to be used "in place of" the gun, since the gun is not available, but for the same purpose. Not a lesser, non lethal option (although that can be a choice).
Non lethal alternatives are used as part of a force progression, but should not replace or be used in place of, weapons that can be used to a deadly end, if that level of force is necessary. That pepper spray can, isnt really a deadly option, unless the person is somehow completely incapacitated, and at your mercy. If your weapon of choice proves to be less than effective, whats your backup plan then, and are you ready to seamlessly move to it?
