I got mugged

[AnnetteMarie]

I would love to have a handgun in my purse, just in case. I would hate to have a handgun in my purse, just in case.

In the end, a person who can defend themself without needing a purpose-made weapon, is the stronger person, and the safer.

Hubby always says if you have a weapon, you better use it, because it can be taken from you and used against you.

I don't know what the right answer is, and maybe that is because there is no one right answer.

 

[rodeo97]

Sorry to hear that you were mugged. I have a few points to make about this gun control topic that has popped up. First, I am not an incredibly large guy, so I am completely in favor of having a gun in the home. This is purely as a self defense measure. I don't really have a problem with shooting someone who is trying to hurt me or my family. I don't care about any martial arts crap. Some people are good at that sort of thing, but not everyone. Imagine you are trying to pull off some stunt and a big bad dude just knocks you on your ass and proceeds to beat you stupid. I don't feel that having quick reflexes and a good aim is any less honorable than putting someone into a submission hold. In the end, I am alive and well and the other guy is done. Plain and simple, problem eliminated. Beat my ass and let me live and I Will get revenge. Kill me and its done.

 

[Astroboy]

Siani,

You did the right thing to let the mugger have the money and not put up a fight. Ignore the macho male advice you get here. They are all full of shit. They have no business giving women advice in a situation like this and it is rather dismaying reading the bullshit "I'm gonna kick his ass" attitude.

First of all no matter what you have to protect yourself (gun, knife, taser, pepperspray, martial arts) it will only be as good as your ability to use it. If you can't aim a gun properly I'm sure your more of a danger to innocent bystanders as the mugger. If you don't shoot him in the right location with a large enough caliber it might not do much to deter him and more likely to lead to a deadly retaliation. Our guys in Iraq and Afganistan have been complaining about their smaller caliber M-16 not being able to put down insurgents with just one round. Only a head shot is guaranteed. Do you want to carry a large heavy caliber gun? Is a hollow point bullet legal in Briton? Most handguns that will fit in a purse are very small 22 calibers with is considered a pea shooter. You will wound someone but unlikely to kill them and you will give them plenty of chances to shoot you back. Criminals are less likely to carry little guns.

Even if you trained your whole life in Karate you will still have little chance in beating a full grown male. The first punch knockout is rare in MMA and boxing and even rarer on the street. You are counting on a very well placed/lucky shot to immobilize a man. The strength differential between a man and a women is tremendous. Women often fool themselves into thinking they can beat a man physically. Ever try wrestling your husband or boyfriend? He's just fooling around and using a small fraction of his potential strength. All you're going to accomplish is getting your attacker angry and you getting hurt.

Second, the weapon or physical training is only as good as the situation that you are faced with. Even if you had your hand on your weapon at all times (which you won't) if you are surprised from behind you won't have time to reach for it and the attacker will have a physical advantage over you. If the attacker had a knife and you tried to use one of your fancy martial arts move are you willing to risk a deep slash across your face or neck that will physically deform you or kill you? While a nice scar may earn you cool nicknames if you are a guy this doesn't work for women. What if you were grabbed from behind and you manage to free yourself to shoot him only to discover he was unarmed? A taser or pepper spray is only good if you have enough distance from your attacker that he can't reach you. It's no good if you are caught off guard from behind. A taser will be of no use unless you can hit skin or a thin shirt. Right now during the Winter most people will be wearing thick coats and a taser will not penetrate. If an attacker just knocks you on the head from behind you are not going to be in any condition to reach for any kind of weapon let alone aim it properly.

Let's be clear, I am not advocating not using some form of self-defense but it is all very situationally dependent to be effective. Give enough time/distance to deploy you weapon or preparation physically you may have a good chance to deter an attack. Your best defense however is always situational awareness. Be on the watch for people behind you. Stay away from dark areas or where people can hide. Have a co-worker or friend walk you to your car whenever you can. Don't park in vulnerable areas, pay for secure parking. Keeping these things in mind and some of the self defense weapons and training may be effective.

But just know that you cannot prepare for all situations and there are going to be times in which it is a better idea to hand over the purse. The value of the contents can be replaced easily. And in the scheme of things they are of very little value. Credit card and bank charges by criminals are totally refundable. The cash is not so don't carry too much. You have to ask yourself:"How much am I willing to pay not to have a 8 inch gash across my face?" I think you would pay several thousand times the value of your cash or more.

Most muggers are not trying to kill you. Don't give them a reason to. They just want your money with as little trouble as possible. If they decide to kill you and you are caught off guard there is very little you can do about it no matter what the other testosterone filled guys on this forum tell you.

Hope you are well.

 

[Loose Leaf Tea]

What a ghastly business. As if the incident itself wasn't bad enough, there's all the mental trauma to cope with afterwards. I hope the little creep won't inhibit your joie de vivre, Siani. I'm beaming good thoughts from Yorkshire.

 

[macavity]

You did the right thing to let the mugger have the money and not put up a fight. Ignore the macho male advice you get here. They are all full of shit. They have no business giving women advice in a situation like this and it is rather dismaying reading the bullshit "I'm gonna kick his ass" attitude.

Well said. Of all the bullshit I've read in the forums, this thread has to take the biscuit. Absolutely shocking

 

[Tommy Allison]

i still recall with clarity having him in a choke hold, flexing my arm muscles, so he couldnt breath.

he actually cried out to his mother, managed to croak help me mum... hes killing me.... and i was, i was killing him... he went limp and i knew that if i held that lock for just ten more seconds........


the guy had just split my wife's lip with her own broom, which he had stolen and displayed as a trophy on his porch .
when she went to get it back he beat her with it,splitting her lip and dragged her into his front yard holding her off the ground by the scruff of her neck and sneered at her, your husband cant save you......he doesnt have the balls

seconds later i proved him wrong, hit him like a freight train and proceded to kill him, it was a dirty fight, and i can confirm the "long pork" rumours, humans really do taste like pork, both flavour and consistancy, it was tooth and claw, but eventually i had him, but as he cried out to his "mother" in his last moments, i chose not to kill him. i remember the choice like it was yesterday.

i was never charged, and he was scheduled by police to the nuthouse, though he sued me , but it was thrown out of court. his lawyer even had a neuroligist testify that so brutal was his beating, his brain membranes tore and it was "sloshing" around in his head

i chose not to be a murderer, i dont need to fantasise about violence, ive been there

That's the point of my argument Mike.

Your argument is that nobody needs to be able to defend themselves. That's what guns are for. If you can't physically take your opponent, and they are planning to kill you, if you have a gun, you can more often than not end that threat.

It has nothing to do with "Fantasizing", it has everything to do with self preservation.

Having your wife's lip popped is not the same as having them raped while you watch. Having someone holding a gun to your head, is not the same as fighting some jackass with a broom.

Face it, you're wrong on this issue. My truth trumps your intellectual dishonesty.

If they ban the use of fists (guns) and all the criminals have them, and they walk up to you and knock the dogshit out of you, You have NO right to defend yourself. If you can't defend yourself, your family, or your property, you're not a citizen. You're a fucking slave.

Enjoy your slavery. May your chains clank lightly.

 

[Tommy Allison]

Siani,

You did the right thing to let the mugger have the money and not put up a fight. Ignore the macho male advice you get here. They are all full of shit. They have no business giving women advice in a situation like this and it is rather dismaying reading the bullshit "I'm gonna kick his ass" attitude.

First of all no matter what you have to protect yourself (gun, knife, taser, pepperspray, martial arts) it will only be as good as your ability to use it. If you can't aim a gun properly I'm sure your more of a danger to innocent bystanders as the mugger. If you don't shoot him in the right location with a large enough caliber it might not do much to deter him and more likely to lead to a deadly retaliation. Our guys in Iraq and Afganistan have been complaining about their smaller caliber M-16 not being able to put down insurgents with just one round. Only a head shot is guaranteed. Do you want to carry a large heavy caliber gun? Is a hollow point bullet legal in Briton? Most handguns that will fit in a purse are very small 22 calibers with is considered a pea shooter. You will wound someone but unlikely to kill them and you will give them plenty of chances to shoot you back. Criminals are less likely to carry little guns.

Even if you trained your whole life in Karate you will still have little chance in beating a full grown male. The first punch knockout is rare in MMA and boxing and even rarer on the street. You are counting on a very well placed/lucky shot to immobilize a man. The strength differential between a man and a women is tremendous. Women often fool themselves into thinking they can beat a man physically. Ever try wrestling your husband or boyfriend? He's just fooling around and using a small fraction of his potential strength. All you're going to accomplish is getting your attacker angry and you getting hurt.

Second, the weapon or physical training is only as good as the situation that you are faced with. Even if you had your hand on your weapon at all times (which you won't) if you are surprised from behind you won't have time to reach for it and the attacker will have a physical advantage over you. If the attacker had a knife and you tried to use one of your fancy martial arts move are you willing to risk a deep slash across your face or neck that will physically deform you or kill you? While a nice scar may earn you cool nicknames if you are a guy this doesn't work for women. What if you were grabbed from behind and you manage to free yourself to shoot him only to discover he was unarmed? A taser or pepper spray is only good if you have enough distance from your attacker that he can't reach you. It's no good if you are caught off guard from behind. A taser will be of no use unless you can hit skin or a thin shirt. Right now during the Winter most people will be wearing thick coats and a taser will not penetrate. If an attacker just knocks you on the head from behind you are not going to be in any condition to reach for any kind of weapon let alone aim it properly.

Let's be clear, I am not advocating not using some form of self-defense but it is all very situationally dependent to be effective. Give enough time/distance to deploy you weapon or preparation physically you may have a good chance to deter an attack. Your best defense however is always situational awareness. Be on the watch for people behind you. Stay away from dark areas or where people can hide. Have a co-worker or friend walk you to your car whenever you can. Don't park in vulnerable areas, pay for secure parking. Keeping these things in mind and some of the self defense weapons and training may be effective.

But just know that you cannot prepare for all situations and there are going to be times in which it is a better idea to hand over the purse. The value of the contents can be replaced easily. And in the scheme of things they are of very little value. Credit card and bank charges by criminals are totally refundable. The cash is not so don't carry too much. You have to ask yourself:"How much am I willing to pay not to have a 8 inch gash across my face?" I think you would pay several thousand times the value of your cash or more.

Most muggers are not trying to kill you. Don't give them a reason to. They just want your money with as little trouble as possible. If they decide to kill you and you are caught off guard there is very little you can do about it no matter what the other testosterone filled guys on this forum tell you.

Hope you are well.

Spoken like a true pussified coward. Let's hope you become a statistic. That way when you find out what criminals are really like, it changes your life, whatever is left of it.

My life was changed when I was younger. My point of view is considerably different than other people's. My point of view is also based in reality. I have been shot by a guy who had it in for me. I've been stabbed by someone who had it in for me. When it happens to you, I promise it changes your point of view.

It has nothing to do with being macho, it has to do with the fact that there are indeed bad people out there who will take your sorry life for what little you have, and then they'll take all you ever were, just because they want to. Happens every day in every city, and town in America.

Until you are the victim of violent crime, you have NOTHING to discuss with those who have, other than to say you're sorry to hear about it.

 

[Tommy Allison]

Well said. Of all the bullshit I've read in the forums, this thread has to take the biscuit. Absolutely shocking

Let's hope you too becomes a victim of violent crime. That way I can laugh at your misfortune.

 

[David Biedny]

Tommy, there are two sides to every situation.

I can totally understand why some people are afraid of weapons - they should be, weapons are dangerous things. Personally, I happen to be someone who is favor of having folks being armed - as long as they have some knowledge about their own situations, capabilities and tempers. How many people get road rage against an asshole driver, only to find out that the asshole is armed and willing to respond to getting flipped a bird, by pulling out a handgun and firing.

I've never been shot at, but I have indeed been stabbed. One time, guy stabbed me in the hand, and let's just say that he ended up in way worse condition than me. For most of my adult life, I always had a blade on my person, when flying, all the time. I always thought that if I were on a plane being hijacked, I would use the weapon to cut right above the hijacker's eyes, assuming they got close enough to me. Thank goodness, I never had the chance to test this out. I haven't carried a blade in about 10 years, and I miss it. I'm also very handy with knifes, always was, and I still have a decent collection of them.

The point is this: if someone is carrying a weapon, and does not know how to use it, that weapon can definitely be used against them. If a person has a gun, is mugged, and decides to deploy said gun, it's entirely possible that some innocent kid standing nearbye can take a bullet not meant for them. LOTS of stuff can go wrong with guns in the wrong hands.

We're all sorry about what happened to Siani, but when someone says that perhaps she would not have benefited by carrying a gun, that it might have been used against her, I can't see why you would you respond with such venom. Seriously. I don't often publicly take you to task, but hoping that someone gets hurt to learn that their opinion is not acceptable to you, is over the top.

dB

 

[Siani]

I'm grateful for all advice I've received. Some of it I may not agree with, but I know it's been offered with good intention. However, I'm starting to wish I hadn't said anything at all, because of some of the reactions provoked, and the fact that a rather vitriolic argument seems to have erupted. I mentioned what had happened, because I wanted to let off some steam, and to urge others to react as I did, should they ever be unfortunate enough to be in a similar situation. Giving up your possessions is a much better option than giving up your life.

As for unarmed combat, martial arts, etc, none of that is an option for me. I have a spinal condition which makes me clumsy, uncoordinated and suffering bouts of vertigo. Plus, at just five foot and a fart - I'm no match for a violent male. So, ideally, I would like to have, and know how to use, some kind of non-lethal weapon which would incapacitate an attacker, and pose no risk to innocent people.

I'm as mad as hell at what happened, and the fact that I couldn't defend myself, other than by remaining calm and giving that pig what he wanted. However, I certainly don't wish anyone who disagrees with me to become a crime statistic, too. I can see no reason for wishing that on anyone, over a mere difference of opinion.

It seems crazy for people here to be wishing ill on each other, as a result of me starting this thread. That's something I'm afraid I just don't get.

Chill, you guys, and be happy .

 

[David Biedny]

Siani, thanks for the clear statement and we truly hope everything works out.

And with that, I'm locking this thread.

dB