TimeToHunt,
This thread, with all due respect, is not promoting anything except maybe you promoting a misinterpretation or misunderstanding of it. Where did anyone suggest that anything illegal or unethical be done? A question was asked that is all. Statements were made as to what weapons people carry, that is all. No one said - hey - go out to do something illegal, unethical or immoral. There is absolutely nothing wrong with carrying other defensive weapons where allowed by law.
In a self defense situation on the street, your concern should be getting away...
No getting away should not always be your concern, and certainly never the main one. The main concern you should have in any situation wherein you are threatened with imminent serious bodly injury or death is that you defend yourself sufficiently to survive. So when a bad guy grabs you from behind and throws you to the ground and starts stabbing you, tell me - are you going to run away? I could name thousands of other types of situations that require immediate 'fight not flight' action on the part of the victim. People would never carry weapons at all if in fact they were always required to get away. The fact is that is not a requirement if you reasonably believe you cannot escape without being harmed. If you ca escape unharmed, great but if not - then what? So what would you do then. Would you choose to always shoot someone instead of using lesser force? There are many situations where you could be attacked and need to use force to help you survive or even to be able to get away yet where deadly force would not be justified.
In fact, if you only carry a gun - then you may be doing something wrong or promoting bad behavior if only because you are not giving yourself the option of lesser force than deadly force. If you do not understand that then I suggest you learn the continum of force. You may be required to try to escape if possible but when escape is not possible and harm to you is imminent then you would be less than intelligent not to defend yourself with a legal weapon if you had one. If the amount of force being used on you does not justify deadly force yet does justify use of soft techniques or hard force in return, then tell me - would legal pepper spray or another legal weapon such as a legal expandable baton not be a possible, ethical and intelligent alternative to use of deadly force.
Bear in mind, no police department or law enforcement agency, in this country of which I am aware, tells their officers to only be a good witness when they are threatened with imminent deadly force or risk of serious bodily injury while they are off duty. Many state laws do not require their police officers, even those off duty, to retreat when threatened in such a manner - in fact, many do not even require non-law enforcement civilians to retreat.
Also bear in mind, we are talking about carrying weapons for self defense not about being John Wayne, or the flaming avenger or Paul Kersey. We were talking about whether or not people carry alternate weapons.
All the best,
GB