[leadcounsel]

I love discussing this stuff so bear with me and I appreciate the input of others, particularly Glenn, as I think he has a lot of valuable experience to divest.

So, here's my follow up discussion/questions.

For those that carry mace, knives, a flashlight, a kubaton, a club, a gun, or whatever else.... do you find that it might be crippling to decide what to use in any given situation? And what if the situation immediately escalates? Then do you "switch horses" midstream?

Mace seems great to de-escalate a non-violent situation where a person may need to apprehend or control someone. As a civilian, I'm not really into "apprehending" non-violent combatants. Also, I've sprayed mace in enclosed areas and the effects were painful for anyone in the room. Outdoors the direction of the wind becomes important (ever sprayed against the wind; my city can be very windy sometimes).

A knife is very handy for many tasks, but IN MY OPINION is a clear second to a gun in MOST circumstances for MOST people in a self defense situation. I love knives and own many and carry one too... But I recognize its limitations and it's mainly for DIFFERENT tasks than my pistol.

Also, is an extra mag or gun really necessary? I just don't know? Are you expecting a deadly situation that will unfold and resolve in moments with a few shots or an OK Coral style gunfight or a standoff that requires more than 10 bullets? I'm not being critical whatsoever... I have considered carrying a spare gun or magazine, but just never bothered. My primary gun has never failed and I can't really imagine getting into a real shootout or standoff where a second gun or mag is needed.

My mentality may be very different (and I suspect that it is) from many people on this forum. I visualize two different scenarios in public. One is non-lethal and the parties go their separate ways unharmed. The second is lethal and somone (or both) get badly hurt.

First scenario is a non-violent disagreement with someone where there is no threat of force and the parties disagree, maybe exchange some harsh words, and nothing is escalated and the parties go on their merry way. No need for mace, knife, gun, etc.

The second occurs when someone introduces deadly force or a weapon into the mix. It can happen as clearly as a knife or a gun, or introducing mace into the above non-violent situation MAY escalate it and turn it lethal in a moment. Imagine if you were in an argument over something trivial (e.g. parking space, spot in line for a show, whatever) and the other party reaches into his coat and produces a shiny metal object and points it at you. What is your immediate thought and reaction. Mine would probably be, "He's drawing a weapon, I don't know what it is, but I"m not waiting to find out the hard way," and I would react appropriately. Hence, I think mace is a bad idea.

Hence, I don't carry mace. It's either a situation I can walk away from OR a situation I must draw on. I don't see any gray area for a civilian. If I draw I can then decide whether it warrants shooting or not (I imagine some situations will dissolve with the show of force and shooting may not be necessary -- e.g a mugger is coming at you in a dark parking lot with a knife, you draw and he aborts his deadly assault, you call the police and file a report or go on your merry way). As a result, my "arsenal" is offensive and defensive. First I use my brain and feet. If I can leave a bad situation, I will. But in those situations where you cannot leave, or must stand your ground, I have a primary offensive weapon in a handgun, a secondary weapon and cutting tool in a 3" pocket knife. Third, I wear level II body armor, which was the price of a handgun, is comfortable, flexible, and lightweight. Statistics show that most gun fights are about 3 shots fired, and most are with a .40 caliber bullet or less, which a level II vest is designed to stop. If there are 3 shots, odds are at least one of them is coming my way. Odds are that it won't strike me, but if it does the majority of my vitals are protected with the level II body armor. I recognize that my gun, knife, and body armor have limitations, and I like to think I'll act accordingly.