Pepper Spray Great Non-Lethal Weapon

Pepper Spray
I can honestly say that pepper spray is often overlooked and under-rated as personal security device. Make no mistake – it is a powerful weapon that has many benefits without the kind of legal baggage that of knives, guns, and stun guns, and kubotans. If your state and county laws allow the purchase and carry of pepper spray do yourself a favor and seriously consider this..
Here are some advantages of Pepper Spray:

• Ease of use- pepper spray requires minimal training and maintenance. Its small size makes it easy to carry and conceal.
• Less risk of liability- It is considered non-lethal and has a low risk of permanent injury.
• Quicker trigger – It encourages less hesitation. Using lethal force such as a gun, knife, or club requires a fairly high bar of provocation, which often causes the defender to hesitate too long. Pepper spray is non-lethal so you are more likely to use it without hesitation. It also gives you more flexibility and keeps more options open for you since it can be used when force is necessary, but lethal force is not.
• Distance- Pepper spray can be used from a distance -- up to 20 feet with some units -- unlike a knife, a stun gun, or a kubaton. This can afford you more time to run or engage.
• Highly effective- The historical data on pepper spray shows an excellent history of success by law enforcement, security personnel, and civilians. This isn’t some kind of experimental weapon anymore – it’s PROVEN to work and many times save injury to both parties as it eliminates the need to “duke it out”.

Most of the documented cases of the use of pepper spray have been overwhelmingly positive. The success in civilian use seems to show a higher reported success rate compared to police use, (although both are high). I suspect there are three possible reasons for this:

• To avoid collateral exposure to bystanders police tend to use pepper spray that has a stream or foam delivery system. Although this does keep overspray to a minimum, the poor atomization of this type of delivery system lowers its effectiveness.
• Police officers are usually required to warn the suspect before using the spray. This takes the element of surprise away, the person resisting arrest now knows what’s coming and can “psyche up” for it. On the other hand, a person who isn’t expecting it, suddenly has his eyes on fire, lips burning and difficultly to breathing. The emotional shock is powerful. Advance warning removes the shock effect.
• As we’ve discussed, the objectives are different for police as compared to civilians. When dealing with hostile situations police must contain, control, and comply (the 3 C’s). A highly motivated person can still resist officers’ attempts to restrain them even while in pain and lack of vision. But your main objective is to simply “end the threat”. Believe me, a shot in the face with pepper spray will end the threat. Now get the heck out of there.