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Taser -

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Lisa is so right! City dwellers are not immune to wild animal issues. Urbanites might be prepared for violence on two legs, but what about threats from four legged creatures?

I can attest to the fact that these threats exist. I was treed in my own carport by a raccoon and my DH has had to kill a possum in our master bedroom with a golf club!

It was easy to understand how the raccoon got inside the carport, but we still are puzzled over how the possum wound up in our bedroom.

Not that a possum is particularly dangerous (unless trapped in a corner), but rabies is always a concern.

Thanks for the link on tasers. I had wondered what happened if the attacker was wearing a jacket with no exposed skin. I wonder if the two inch thick layer of clothing that they mention is compressed thickness or fluffy? I would imagine if, say, the coat was down filled you might be dealing with four or five inches of thickness albeit lightweight and easily penetrable.

A possum in your bedroom?? Wow, that is amazing! I don't know what I would have done - we do have 2 sets of golf clubs so that is probably the safest option you have then ... longer than a baseball bat ...

The electrode things are propelled at high velocity and the 2" is probably how long they are to impale through to the flesh - so it would probably matter a lot how squishable the material was. If it was fluffy down jacket I imagine it would just squash it as it went. But if the person was wearing 4 layers of heavy wool sweater it might end up being more than 2" thick total.

However I suppose there's always going to be things to worry about, I would still go with a taser as being most likely to help out in most situations.

Time to write my state rep ...

I do not own a gun and am not sure if I ever will. I would worry that my grandson or his friends would somehow get hold of it, even if I took every precaution to keep it under lock. Here in Reno we have had a recent abduction/murder that has everyone very aware of personal safety; and gun use and safety classes are being offered to women. I just have not sorted out my feelings about this yet. The killer, by the way, is still on the loose.

I definitely understand the nervous about guns thing. A gun is a powerful weapon and needs to be respected. I wish that tasers and other "powerful but non lethal" weapons would be more readily available. That would provide an option for women who do not want to handle a gun but who need to be safe. It really concerns me that women are completely defenseless. Women should have the ability to defend themselves.

Hi Robin,

It's Sam - Editor of the Animal Rights site. I dropped by to snoop around the site and found this topic - I don't know if you guys are still discussing it, but I can address this with a little knowledge. This is my other soap box

I am the state coordinator for the Second Amendment Sisters. We are a group of women nationwide who own guns and fight for the preservation of the Second Amendment. We have events, regular training and safety workshops around the country so women can feel more comfortable handling a gun correctly and feeling secure about defending herself, her loved ones and her property if need be.

We don't have a gun problem in this country, we have a violence problem. For example, stricter gun laws would have had no effect whatsoever on what happened at Columbine. Harris and Klebold violated close to 20 firearms laws in obtaining weapons. Would 21 laws really have made a difference? The two shotguns and one rifle used by Harris and Klebold were purchased by a girlfriend who passed a background check, and the TEC-9 handgun used was already banned.

Of the 2,500,000 annual self-defense cases using guns, more than 7.7% (192,500) are by women defending themselves against sexual abuse. When a woman was armed with a gun or knife, only 3% of rape attacks are completed, compared to 32% when unarmed.

The probability of serious injury from an attack is 2.5 times greater for women offering no resistance than for women resisting with a gun. Men also benefit from using a gun, but the benefits are smaller at 1.4 times more likely to receive a serious injury.

28.5% of women have a gun in the house.

41.7% of women either own or have rapid access to guns.

In 1966, the city of Orlando responded to a wave of sexual assaults by offering firearms training classes to women. Rapes dropped by nearly 90% the following year.

Women who have rapid access to or carry a gun are far less likely to be slapped, shoved, pushed, hit, hair pulled or thrown against the wall during domestic disputes. They are also far less likely to be robbed or assaulted in parking lots.

OK, I'll put the box away now <laughing>

Sam