I am the Owner of "The Crime Superboard", which can be found at...
http://thecrimesuperboard.pro-forums.com
...and, I can be E Mailed, at...
This blog is here to house my thoughts about crime in the UK/World and about self-defence and Self Defence Implements (SDIs).
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(Some of this text may already appear elsewhere on The Crime Superboard's BLOG!)
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Some Downsides To Legally Owned/Carried SD Batons
EVERY SELF DEFENCE IMPLEMENT IS, BY NATURE, A WEAPON, ALSO (WITH THE POSSIBLE EXCEPTION OF SHIN-PADS AND SUITS OF ARMOUR!) THERE IS NO ESCAPING THE ESSENCE OF CAVEAT IN THAT DUAL DEFINITION!
THERE IS PROBABLY NO SUCH THING AS THE PERFECT SELF DEFENCE IMPLEMENT THAT IS NOT ALREADY ONE WHICH WE CAN DEFINE, ALSO, AS A WEAPON!
ASK THE POLICE - EVERY DAY, THEY CARRY WEAPONS WE'RE NOT ALLOWED TO!
THE TRICK IS TO FIND, AND/OR DEVELOP, THE LEAST DEADLY ONES AND PERMIT US TO CARRY THEM, ACCORDING TO VERY STRICT GUIDELINES, RULES AND (HOPEFULLY, ONE DAY) LAWS.
NOT EVEN BRINGING IN THE DEATH PENALTY FOR STREET ASSAULTS WILL HAVE A BETTER EFFECT ON LESSENING THE VULNERABILITY THAT THE PUBLIC FEELS, OUT THERE, THAN WILL BE OUR GOVERNMENT GIVEN RIGHT TO BEAR THOSE SELF DEFENCE BATONS!
The baton that I have in mind cannot be made foolproof and super-safe for all (even predictable) instances of usage - no Self Defence Implement is totally safe for use; some are just less dangerous than others. If a Self Defence Implement was utterly and completely safe, it would be no use to us as a Self Defence Implement, but might serve as a really meaningful ornament in a window, somewhere!
Given an opportunity to choose from a list of all possibles that includes the baton, the baton is the certainly the most controllable - the safest that could be adopted, for use. Batons are for hitting things, or people, with...so, how can they be "safe" for the recipient of the blow, or blows?
For example: the baton may one day be used against the head of somebody with a cranial condition and that blow, or those blows, may render them unconscious, never to regain it, again. The cranial condition may not be known about by the Self Defender - in almost all cases, how could they possibly know the medical history of their attacker/s.
Or, the blow from a baton may cause fatal internal consequences due to an impact on some other body part. A vein or artery could be smashed against a nearby bone, be breached by that pressure and the attacker might conceivably bleed to death while not even being aware that they are.
NO SELF DEFENCE IMPLEMENT IS PERFECT!
However, some are less imperfect than others and are, therefore, safer to use. If the Self Defence Baton was totally safe, it would be worthless as a Self Defence Implement!
But, the owner and bearer of a Self Defence Baton could still be risking a lot by banging away at an attacker with such a condition, without foreknowledge. Self Defence is too easy to convert to punishment at times of great fear or great anger, or at times of both. If it can be shown that a bearer of an SD Baton crossed the line and began to use the SD Baton as a means of inflicting punishment, then that bearer's SD Baton license is due for some points!
The cushioning specification of the proposed SD Baton is a measure towards REDUCING INJURIES (especially reducing, or eliminating, bone damage) during use against an assailant and will be one of the factors instrumental in making these SD Batons more likely to one day be owned and carried by us, legally.
ONE SERIOUS RULE FOR THE BATON IS THAT IT OUGHT NEVER TO BE USED ON ANYBODY'S SPINE, NECK OR HEAD!
If that rule is broken, by accident or by design, the owner of the SD Baton must be prosecuted, or at least investigated for this, if, in such a circumstance, it is believed true that misuse has taken place!
THE SD BATON LAW SHOULD, IN FACT, SPECIFY - IN A DEADLY SERIOUS WAY - THAT ONLY ARMS AND LEGS MAY BE ATTACKED WITH THE SD BATON...AT ALL!
(If a knife can no longer be held, it can no longer be used and the danger (from the knife, at least) has passed!)
(POINTS ON A BATON LICENSE ARE A CONCEPT TO KEEP IN MIND, HERE!)
And, that works out a lot safer for the victim and the attacker - the attacker gets to stay alive and unmaimed and the Self Defender gets to spend the next 5-10 years OUTSIDE prison!
NOT ONLY SHOULD THE SD BATON BE CARRIED WITH A TREMENDOUS SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY - IT SHOULD BE USED IN THE FULL KNOWLEDGE THAT MISUSE WILL RESULT IN PROSECUTION! THE PUBLIC IN POSSESSION OF THEIR SD BATONS MUST LEARN, SOMETIMES QUITE SUDDENLY, OF WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE OF THAT MISUSE!
(I can even visualise an invisible "dye" being on the SD Baton and that dye then giving away wherever the striking head of it has gone during a Self Defence incident. The chemical left behind could be made able to identify a person (SD Baton owner) as a particular owner. One flaw (of probably many) in this idea is that there is a lot of chaos and struggling during an attack and during our self-defending, so this method of detecting where the SD Baton has been used, on the attacker's body, may be very unreliable.)
No possession of Self Defence Implements (and, specifically, here...Self Defence Batons) should eliminate the responsibility, on the owner and user, to ensure the minimum possible damage is done in securing safety from the attacker/s.
The need for this crucial element is enough to inspire thoughts of safety procedures and even of training, involving a person and their Self Defence Baton.
It should be very rare that a victim needs to kill an attacker where specific alternatives in the use of the SD Batons are available and are known to be LAW...not just alternatives!
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The SD Baton As A Disarmer
Another benefit of the baton is that it can be used, primarily, as a disarmer of the attacker, by smashing their hand or arm where, on that side, a knife (or other attack weapon) is being brandished. It's better to smash their hand, or arm, than it is to maim them, or kill them. You get to walk away and they get to live - the SD Baton is the ideal Self Defence Implement to secure such an outcome!
THE MAGIC WORD, THERE, IS "DISARMER"!
All I'd need, during a knife attack on me, is a chance to cripple the hand holding the knife and then I'm off, home, where I'd sooner be, around then!
If the attacker persists, refusing to back off or coming at me again, only angrier and in pain, I'm happy to remain at the scene and destroy that other hand with the SD Baton, too. When you start using an SD Baton to defend yourself, you strike at the heart of the attacker's ego and a demon dwells within that should not be confronted if you have a faint heart!
After that, coming after me will be pointless, given that there is nothing left for him to hold his knife in! But, as long as the hand/s holding the knife is/are available for being pulped, there is no need for a victim to kill the attacker!
If kicks are used against the SD Baton carrier, during the attack, the ankles or shins can easily be repelled by use of the Baton, or made to feel so much pain that the owner of the ankles or shins couldn't possibly concentrate his efforts in any further assaults!
I'd call that a fair response to somebody attempting to stop my family allowance with his latest, overpriced trainers!
IN USING THIS SD BATON, WE ARE LIKELY TO BE TRYING TO SAVE OUR OWN LIVES, FOR GOODNESS' SAKE - THERE MUST BE PAIN OR DISUASION CAUSED FOR OUR ATTACKER/S IN ORDER TO DO THAT, WITH SUCH A BATON!
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The Holster As A Little Piece Of Home
I AM NOT KIDDING!
The SD Baton's holster should be legally defined as being a little piece of our homes taken along with us, while we are outdoors. As long as that SD Baton remains in that holster, it is as legal to have on us, outdoors, as it would be if we were indoors, at home, or at another's home.
Effectively, while our SD Baton is out and about with us and is still snugly set down inside the holster, that SD Baton should be considered back home, until we draw it and start to use it.
But, from the first instant that counter and date/time stamper clicks because we extract the SD Baton from the holster, that SD Baton is now a Self Defence Implement about to be used in Self Defence, and the holder of it ought to be liable to prosecution under OFFENSIVE WEAPONS legislation, UNLESS, on arrival, the Police can see that it was taken out for self-defence purposes, only.
The Law should consider preventing the carrying or, or ownership of the license for, the SD Baton, once a person begins to take the SD Baton out at a time when such was not warranted.
EVERY MISUSE OF A SELF DEFENCE BATON ENDANGERS OUR RIGHTS TO CONTINUE CARRYING OUR OWN!
The Law should also completely outlaw possession of an SD Baton, even still in the item's holster, if the carrier has ANY alcohol in their bloodstream, at all, or is found to be under the influence of drugs!
Judgement impairment, due to alcohol intake, might one day cause misuse, or overuse and result in a death whereas, had the carrier/user not been under the influence, the attacker might have been disuaded from pursuing the attack without having to be killed!
CRUCIAL POINT: Alcohol and Self Defence Batons DO NOT MIX!
CRUCIAL POINT: Drugs' effects and Self Defence Batons DO NOT MIX, either!
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Strict Controls On SD Batons Would Be Essential
The process of applying for, and getting the license to carry, our Self Defence Baton must NEVER be a simple, "rubber-stamped" affair!
If we allow the buying and carrying of SD Batons to become "casualised", we are doing something similar to allowing hopeful, new drivers to just nip out and get a car and start driving. But, in the arena of driving, lessons, tests, delays and examinations are a feature. Along with making new users of cars/vehicles safer when they do start to drive on our roads, this removes the flavour of the casual from the process and gives learning time and consequences a fair chance to develop and sink in.
A car can quickly become a weapon that can kill, if a person wields their own and has never been forced to take the time to given sufficient thought to their responsibilities in owning and/or driving it.
With the SD Batons, the rather stretched out application time, and tasks, would be designed along the same lines.
Rather than have new SD Baton carriers just buy-and-go, they'd have to take seriously their responsibilities in acquiring, carrying and in using their Batons.
The more time to adjust to their upcoming Baton ownership, fewer will be the times that that particular Baton is misused.
If you cut out that meditation and forethought period, the newcomers to carrying their SD Batons may not take seriously enough those responsibilities and the penalties associated with their improper use.
THE LENGTHY SD BATON APPLICATION PROCESS WOULD BE THERE TO KEEP PEOPLE AWARE OF THE BATONS' POTENTIALLY DEADLY PROPERTIES IN USE...THAT'S A TIME DURING WHICH THEIR AWARENESS WOULD GROW IN A HEALTHY MANNER!
This is like an extension to their self-defence, in fact.
Think about it this way: if they misuse their Batons, their license points will climb and, eventually, the license will be taken from them, along with their compulsorily surrendered Batons. Then, their personal self-defence capability will have just been drastically reduced.
Forcing people to take time and put much thought into their ownership of an SD Baton is a way of making sure that that is less likely to ever happen.
And, once their SD Baton has been taken away by the Police, the owner must wait for the full term of "confiscation" to be served and then must pay to get back their SD Baton.
And, it works better for all people allowed those Batons. If that long process isn't there for newcomers to Baton ownership and carrying, we might, after managing to win the right to bear them, see that right removed from us all.
The extra features that could be in some models of the SD Baton would be purely optional, however, including brightly flashing LED light on the holster, the screech personal attack alarm, etc.. But, members of the Public must still pay for their own licenses and Batons.
Every feature and provision concerning the SD Baton must be talked about at exhaustive length - some will, or may, work and other features may seem too unworkable or pointless to warrant further inclusion in the consulation processes.
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