Urban Defense

The recent spate of conversations on the use of force have got me thinking. Now, I am the unusual because I have no intention of bugging out except in the extreme last instance, and then only reluctantly. I live in a small city. It isn’t a major metropolitan area. So I have to concern myself with self defense in an urban area.

Small cities are, almost by definition cooperatives, I think that in this kind of setting, guns are not going to be your first line of defense. They will be fine and necessary for the final defensive line inside the property, but they will draw unwanted attention to you in foraging/shopping/trying to find work activities.

I usually carry a knife, an old Gerber that I have had since army days (don’t ask...it was a looonnng time ago) it stays in a little pocket in my briefcase where I can get at it easily without opening the briefcase. I also use a “walking stick”. It is a six foot hickory staff (quarterstaff) that I got from Purpleheart Armory a couple of years ago. A while ago a young gentleman started wondering aloud concerning the contents of my wallet, a crack to the kneecap with the quarterstaff left him crying on the ground. A good standoff weapon, and if you practice with it occasionally, quite effective.

By just carrying close-in defensive weapons, I really think that I pay a lot more attention to my surroundings. Most of any self-defense is staying away from the danger. The trouble with guns is that they make you feel like a badass. We have all been brought up watching John Wayne and Dirty Harry movies, you know, the ones where Clint and Big John gun down the bad guys and bring righteous balance to the planet. But the truth of the matter is, from my point of view, this feeling of being a badass and ten-feet-tall, will interfere with your ability to observe the world around you in an objective manner.

Maybe the John Wayne movie that we should all watch is “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”. In this one, Jimmy Stewart distracts the bad guy and John Wayne gets real, he shoots the bad guy from an ambush setup across the street.

Now that is how you use guns.