Post by Deleted on May 29, 2020 13:50:19 GMT
May 29, 2020 13:39:49 GMT @magnetman said:
May 29, 2020 13:36:32 GMT @tonyc said:
I must confess that after an attempted 3am break-in to try to steal my car in the mid-noughties, I rather foolishly purchased a large knife, with the ridiculous idea that it might be a last-ditch self defence option in case there was a future break-in and it went feral somehow, e.g. the intruders got carried away and wanted blood in addition to the car. ... the incident left me feeling that some sort of last-ditch weapon was required. Not that I had any intentions of charging downstairs at the slightest sound to indulge in any 'three musketeers' style heroic swordplay. My thinking was that if any scrotes broke in, the safest thing to do was always to let them take what they wanted, if they were armed.
But if I encountered that one in a million nutcase who just got his blood up a bit in the excitement and went for me anyway, I would have some visible means of deterrent.
I got rid of the thing ages ago, but I have occasionally wondered about that million-to-one scenario of an intruder who does not want to steal, but rather to harm.
I was told if you have a weapon deliberately kept for this purpose it gets dodgy but if you have an object which is always in that position and has a valid use then it is acceptable to use it for defence.
I think this is why there is a hatchet by the door of my toy trawler, with a kindling store under the step.
Although in the immediate aftermath of the attempted break-in in I pondered all manner of weaponry, and plotted the grisly end of many a theoretical intruder, I kept coming back to the thought that if I were to stand at the top of the stairs holding my knife/club/bat or whatever, it might only spur the hyped-up intruders into an actual charge, since they would also be armed.
And I also though that, even if I were successful in dispatching two armed assailants with my weapon-du-jour, it was overwhelmingly likely that I would go to jail as a consequence.
It basically seemed like a no-win situation, so I gave up on idea in the end.
I did briefly ponder purchasing a crossbow, to ensure at least one hit from a safe distance and maybe deter him/them, but again it struck me that if any serious harm came to them as a result, I would be sued to hell and back and almost certainly jailed.
What does annoy me is that we are not even allowed to carry non-lethal defensive measures like pepper spray- things that do no lasting damage but allow you to escape.