To think that women should be allowed to carry CS gas?

[MrsKingfisher]

I know it's classed as a firearm in the UK and we aren't allowed to carry it but isn't it time the law changed to allow women to carry it in order to protect us?

How many more women have to be attacked before we are given the right to protect ourselves?

I carried it when I lived in the States, and did the self defence training. And I knew (and know) plenty of people who carried guns as well.

To be fair, that was as much a precaution against coyotes/javelina/bears

The problem is that they can lull you into a false sense of security. Most of us don't walk around prepared for a fight in our daily lives. But a stranger attacker is going to be bigger and stronger than you, and already running on adrenaline. Relying on a single weapon can leave you fucked if it goes wrong, especially if you've never practiced using it.

I think ultimately whether you get away or not is as much about luck as anything else.

As for making pepper spray legal... does it matter? Someone attacking you is already breaking the law. Are you going to worry about whether your means of defending yourself is legal? Do whatever you feel you need to do, but know what you're doing.

Lets all carry guns and illegal chemical warfare sprays everywhere!

I think people should be allowed handguns under concealed carry permits, but that's a bit extreme for most people. I'd happily carry one if permitted.

Did you watch the Dunblane anniversary programme last night? 5 year olds were massacred by someone legally permitted to own a handgun. In the midst of horrific grief those parents campaigned and achieved a ban on handguns which has ensured a tragedy like that is not repeated.
I dont think any sort of weapons should be the answer because the more available they are, the more they will be used by perpetrators of crime. It would be impossible to ensure they could only be used in self defence.
I saw a few years ago a report about kids carrying knives in their school bags out of fear, or hiding them in walls, between brickwork so they knew where they were, should they need to defend themselves. Has them being able to defend themselves prevented more knife crime? No. Its probably exacerbated the problem.

Statistically young men are far more likely to be attacked and killed.
I dont know why we cant be concerned and angry about women being attacked and killed and young men being attacked and killed?

As much as we need to educate men , we also need to educate women to walk away at the first sign of a red flag from a relationship and make sure there is the help there to turn to

No, we need to deal with the misogyny that creates men who think it's okay to rape.

Also, if the police officer tricked her it wouldn't have worked as she wouldn't have known to use it until too late. ☹️

Yabu.

Carry a rape alarm.

@Boatonthehorizon and who carried out majority of those attacks/murders.... MEN. The issue still lies with MEN. I’d love to know why? As a mother of a son, I’d HATE people to be wary of him, but I’d hate even more the thought that he could be someone to be wary of. What’s going wrong ?!

Not CS gas.
But you know what else hurts like an absolute mother when it gets in your eyes? Aerosol Spray on sunscreen. And totally legal to carry.

If I could buy it so could an attacker and use it to disable me. Why not go the whole hog and arm everyone with a gun, that's really going to make us safe?

Boys should be taught at home and in school that girls and women should be treated with respect

Absolutely not. It's horrible stuff once sprayed, it goes everywhere- if someone sprays it, they get covered too. Not great trying to run away if you're covered in CS.
I've used it as a police officer, we hate the stuff

YABVU - less violence cannot be achieved by more weapons.

No I don't think anyone should be able to carry it, I certainly don't think women should have rights to carry weapons and not men, some women are violent too. That said, I always have a means of protecting myself that is legal to carry with an excuse for why I'm carrying it. I will happily take any legal consequences over being raped and or murdered if I have to use it to defend myself.

It's available where I live.

I have heard no reports of it falling into the wrong hands or being used against women.

If that argument were valid, all women could feasibly use for defense is our own hands and feet, not keys, not handbags, not stiletto shoes.

The fact that women might fight back, even to the point of pulling a gun on an assailant (that's legal here too) doesn't stop men trying.

The problem isn't that women need more means of defending ourselves.

The problem is what goes on between the ears of men.

What are we teaching boys and men about women and girls, and about themselves?
What are men and boys telling each other about women and girls, and about themselves?

The problem of men attacking women won't stop until men decide to stop it.

So far, all they have shown themselves capable of on this matter is willful blindness and complete disregard.

Women's self defense has been taught in my DCs' school for many years now.

Also taught is a course called Step Back, directed at boys aged about 14. It seeks to challenge toxic attitudes boys can pick up on the street, from various media, and at home about masculinity, about girls, about sex.

I have no idea if either of these courses is effective. The boys' course was designed and authored by educators/ therapists from a local women's shelter, with school PE teachers trained to present it.

@PurpleDaisies, various techniques and scenarios were covered in the high school self defense course my DDs were able to do.

The course was designed and led by police officers, both men and women. It featured plenty of grappling, plenty of kicking the police in the groin.

There's not much you can do when faced with a gun, sadly.

My girls felt prepared all the same. Most assailants are not going to be carrying a gun.

That’s not even close to being a valid analogy, though, is it?

I disagree. Both are examples of somebody prioritising the group least at risk and this being questioned.

I don't think it matters what you carry. Is it not the case that if the police believe you are carrying it to use as a weapon they can prosecute?

The legality isn't an issue as the people carrying knives guns etc are unlikely to be concerned about the legal aspects of owning them.

"The best fight is always the one you can avoid."

Definitely agree with this.

@FleurPower123

If someone said 'We need to focus on police violence against black men' and someone piped up about police violence against white men, they would be rightly told to shut the fuxk up.

This is because institutionalised racism is a huge problem.

So is institutionalised sexism and the sexism that pervades society and informs the attitudes that create rape culture.

Saying Not All Men ignores the issue neatly illustrated by the lesson of the bowl of candy, one of which you know is laced with poison. They all look the same. You are invited to pick one candy and eat it.

Not all of the candies are going to kill you. But you don't want to pick a candy either.

The analogy is the men out and about at the same time you are one cold March night.