subject: Self Defense: All About Stun Guns [print this page] It's bad enough having to work late and go home, alone, in the dark, but after a long hard day you really don't want to have to worry about your own safety.
Although the heroines on TV seem to have no problem dispatching attackers who are twice, and sometimes three times their weight, have greater strength and longer arms, my suspicion is that this is largely fiction. Confronted with an attacker, most women know their options are limited. That's why some weapons are traditionally female and thoroughly sneaky. Why get hurt trying to beat a man up if you can simply poison his tea?
But the days of Lucretia Borgia and the poisonous femme fatale are behind us, so what is a woman to do? Surely we have the right to feel safe? There are martial arts which were specifically designed for women where you can learn to use a man's strength against him and make a virtue of the fact that most women are smaller and lighter. This is a wonderful way to keep fit, but women rarely have time for this sort of hobby because taking care of ourselves is usually lower in our priorities than taking care of everyone else.
Now that the police are carrying tasers, many women (and men) are turning to electroshock weapons to provide them with protection, but there are many different sizes and shapes. Well known brands like Stun Master, Z force and Barracuda have models which vary greatly in price ($20 to over $1000) and even more in voltage, with some capable of delivering a shock of over one million volts. Can this be consistent with most women's desire for non-lethal force?
The first thing you must consider when deciding whether or not to buy a stun gun is whether it is legal in your state. Stun guns are not considered to be weapons and are legal in most states, though they may be prohibited by specific cities and counties. As laws change on a daily basis please check carefully.
Secondly, you need to consider the type of weapon. The tasers carried by policemen are designed to work from a distance that is where your attacker should be. Most stun guns work on contact, some on contact with skin. Others deliver higher voltages which will work through clothing, which means that in a struggle you don't have to worry about where you hit your attacker, (it might be difficult to get skin in winter for example) only that you do hit them. Remember that while a mild sting, coming as a surprise might be enough to make an attacker let go, to be really effective you need them to let go for long enough for you to get away.
Thirdly, remember that a weapon is only useful if you can use it well. Make sure you know how it works, which parts to press and which parts to avoid. Practice taking your weapon out by feel alone and decide where and how you are going to carry it. Make sure it stays safe and is not able to do any harm to the curious.
But best of all, don't put yourself in harm's way. We should all be able to go wherever we want, whenever we want. We should be able to travel alone, whether male or female and however dressed without worrying about attracting unwanted company. But the world is not ideal, and never has been. The best way to stay safe is to avoid confrontation where you can. But, if there are places you need to go where you don't feel safe, you need to protect yourself.
