Ever hear the saying “If you don’t
do it who will?”. Well when it
comes to defending yourself, “If you don’t defend yourself then who
will?”.
Oh, the Police will do it, you say…..
Hay they are trained to do that. They
have all that equipment. They are
only a phone call away…….
Well calling the Police is a great idea,
but what if the Police had no obligation to protect you?
What if they could choose to respond or not? What if in reality they could just park a short distance
away, and watch as you get beat almost to death, and do nothing to help you.
Not even send an ambulance to get you?
Oh, that would never happen. The Police would never just sit and watch, and do nothing!
Want to bet?
Try Googling the name Reginald
Denny!
Try putting in his name in YouTube.
At the time Mr. Denny was being
obstinately beaten to death, helicopters circling over head, with the “news”
footage being seen live all over the city, if not the country, do you think
locale law enforcement was not aware that Mr. Denny needed help and needed it
now! As he was being beaten with the world watching was anyone not
thinking “Oh, my God, they are killing him!”
What did the Police do? The watched it
on TV like a lot of other folks. But
they did nothing to help Mr. Denny. Area
officers where ordered not to go into the incident, but to stay in position on
the perimeter. I have no doubt that many in Law Enforcement personally
disagreed with that order. I also
am not making this statement, as a negative statement against Law Enforcement.,
it is being made to show that sometimes “If you don’t defend yourself, then
who will?”.
So how was Mr. Denny saved?
A very good man, Mr. Green, saw this live on his TV and he got up, got in
his car, and rescued Mr. Denny. Something
the Police did not/ could not do!
Are you still ready to tell me that all
you need to do is to “Call The Police”!
Oh, you say, but it is so unusual for
the Police not to be there, or not to respond.
Well the truth is, it happens more then you would like to think.
Here is just a very small listing of the
multitudes of court cases were the Police did not Protect, and the courts have
held that the Police have no duty or obligation to protect you, and if they fail
to do so have no liability:
South v. Maryland, 59 U.S. (How.) 396,
15 L.Ed.433 (1856)
DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department
of Social Services, 489 U.S. 189, 109 S.Ct. 998, 1989 (1989)
Bowers v. Devito, 686 F.2d 616 (7th Cir.
1982)
Warren v. District of Columbia (444 A.2d
1, 1981)
Ne Casek v. City of Los Angeles, 233
Cal.App.2d 131, 43 Cal.Rptr. 294 (1965)
Antique Arts Corp. v. City of Torrence,
39 Cal.App.3d 588, 114 Cal.Rptr. 332 (1974)
Susman v. City of Los Angeles, et al.,
269 Cal.App.2d 803, 75 Cal.Rptr. 240 (1969)
And trust me there are lots more.
I can assure you I have the professional
background to give advice on personal protection and safety. I also great
familiarity with the City of Los Angeles. I am
also a great believer in calling the Cops and letting them deal with it.
After all that is what they get paid for, etc., but bottom line is, the
Police can’t always be there for you!
So to me the answer is simple. YES!, you should have the right to defend yourself! And the
ability!
I hope after thinking about this, none
of you believe you should not have the right to defend yourself.
So just how do you defend yourself?
And when do you defend yourself?
Well those are questions you need to
answer for yourself. How “we”
choose to defend ourselves is a very personal choice.
And “when” one defends oneself depends on the circumstances.
I do believe that in Mr. Denny’s case,
the point was reached where he had the right to defend himself.
So here is a list of ways one can defend oneself.
You tell me, from the list below, what would have been the most likely
way that would have protected Mr. Denny the best.
- Baseball
bat.
- Knowing
Kung Fu.
- Stun
gun.
- Good
old tire iron.
- Good
length of heavy chain.
- Can
of pepper spray.
- Taser.
- Attack
dog.
- Pocket
knife.
- High
capacity firearm.
- Reasoning
with his attackers.
Well I’ll just bet almost all of you
based on the circumstances of the attack on Mr. Denny, given the number of
assailants selected number 9, the high capacity firearm.
Just for the record for all intents and
purposes, in the City of Los Angeles, California, where this happened, basically
no one is allowed to carry a firearm (except on privet property with the owners
consent). Let alone a high capacity
one. Yes, under the Constitution of
the United States you have the right to keep and bear arms. But in some Cities and States, in the United States of
America, you just can’t have your firearm with you outside of your home.
Courts have repeatedly ruled that the
Police have no “Duty” to protect. Courts
have repeatedly ruled that you do have the right to “keep and bear arms” (
if you have not lost that right though a criminal act or other reason), so how
is it that I can’t travel and have my firearm ready to protect me if needed?
Well apparently this point is not lost
on the U.S. Senate. The Senate just
recently passed a bill that would make any State issued Firearm Carry Permit
good in all States. Much like your
Drivers License is good in all States. You
see under currant law I may be able to legally carry lets say in Arizona, but if
I cross the State line into California, I would be committing a Felony.
This bill helps to level the playing field across all State lines.
But it is still up to Congress and the President to move this Bill into
Law.
In closing no matter “How” you chose
to protect yourself, you have the duty to do it responsibly.
Just because you have a weapon on you or a way to defend yourself does
not mean you have the “right” to use it.
In any self-defense training you will always be told that your best
“Weapon” is you Brain. Use your
Brain! Avoid bad situations.
Exercise discretion. If you
see a “bad” situation, try to avoid it.
If you can get out of a fight by apologizing, then apologize.
Believe me, your ego will recover from it.
Just because someone is threatening you,
or even hitting you, does not necessarily mean you have the right to use a
weapon on them, or to even hit them. Lets
say you are 30 years old. In good
heath and work out in a gym once a week. An
85 year old lady comes up to you. She
is very slow moving and is using a walker. She is really and truly out of her
mind. Way off in La-La land.
She thinks you are the person that killed her husband 30 years ago.
Poor lady is out of her mind, but she wants to kill you.
No, she really wants you dead! So
she is hitting you, kicking at you, and trying to bite you. She do you Pepper
Spray her? Hit her with a handy
rock? Just shove her to the ground
and kick her, or???? Well I would
say unless you just simply walk away from her you are in trouble.
Why? Well when the cops ask
you “why” you did you do what you did to the old lady as they put her in an
Ambulance, what are you going to say? Especially
when the officer asks you “Why didn’t you just walk away from her?
I mean she in her 80’s and can barely move and she needs a walker!
How hard would it have been to just remove yourself from her reach?
Are you seeing the picture? Yes
you have a right to protect yourself, but you can’t necessarily use excusive
force. If you can get away from the
danger or stop it, without using force you may legally be required to do so.
Also just because you may find yourself in a situation where you have the
“legal” right to defend yourself, does not mean that doing so is the best
thing for you. Now I am not saying
to always back down, or to just give up and take it.
What I am saying is in the real world if you can avoid using force, and
instead get out of a satiation without physical harm by just giving the bad
person what they want, well sometimes that is the thing to do.
Other times, no, you are going to have to fight back.
For example of someone pulls a knife on me, and demands my money, and in
one pocket I have my money, and in the other pocket I have a loaded firearm….
Well most likely I will just give them the money.
But if after I give them the money, I believe they are going to hurt
me… Well then things become very different.
I hope you are getting the idea and understanding that how and when you
defend yourself is not a black and white issue.
Every situation is deferent. So
please take the time to understand your options and responsibilities no matter
how you choose to protect yourself.
BizNet well be doing reports on
different ways to protect yourself. We
will try to cut though the “hype” and give you some basic facts, along with
some pros and cons to assist you with making your “personal” decision on
just how to protect yourself.
The
“When” is something we hope you will never have to deal with.
