(I'm at Readercon all weekend with only brief moments at my laptop; any responses from me will be delayed. Arora, thank you for having that policy in place! )
Speaking specifically as the person who holds the RO in this specific case, I don't carry, because I have issues from way back about handguns; I'm not anti-them for others, but I feel massively uncomfortable with them, and pushing past that much discomfort would put me at a big disadvantage in a situation where I'd need to use it anyway. :/ I will be applying for a carry permit for pepper spray (after Readercon), and I know what places to stomp and kick in order to incapacitate an attacker so I can get away and get help. (Further data point: I am 4'11", 105 pounds, and have some disability issues that flare sometimes; I can't win a fair fight.)
But besides that, I just wanted to thank you for realizing how serious the situation is (and thus the recommendation to carry). I feel like a lot of the "never call the cops" stuff on various posts elides the fact that there is an active danger to the person holding the RO from the person it's against, so much so that the perpetrator's presence does mean impending severe violence in most cases.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-12 01:28 pm (UTC)Speaking specifically as the person who holds the RO in this specific case, I don't carry, because I have issues from way back about handguns; I'm not anti-them for others, but I feel massively uncomfortable with them, and pushing past that much discomfort would put me at a big disadvantage in a situation where I'd need to use it anyway. :/ I will be applying for a carry permit for pepper spray (after Readercon), and I know what places to stomp and kick in order to incapacitate an attacker so I can get away and get help. (Further data point: I am 4'11", 105 pounds, and have some disability issues that flare sometimes; I can't win a fair fight.)
But besides that, I just wanted to thank you for realizing how serious the situation is (and thus the recommendation to carry). I feel like a lot of the "never call the cops" stuff on various posts elides the fact that there is an active danger to the person holding the RO from the person it's against, so much so that the perpetrator's presence does mean impending severe violence in most cases.