What is the least useful self-defense advice you have ever heard?

[Philo_Beddoe]

Try to fight someone with a gun or knife unarmed.

 

[bwsmith2850]

In 2009!

"Articles common to your handbag that make useful defense weapons.
nail file, rat tail comb, teasing brush, pens and pencils keys, anything rigid," Illinois State Police
http://www.isp.state.il.us/crime/saconfronted.cfm
Originally posted by ridgerider

RidgeRider, please tell me you made up that page.

Unbelievable, Just unbelievable.

Will ISP be trading in their pistols & rifles for teasing combs?

 

[EricO]

Least useful self defense information?

Almost everything I've heard from the guy on the show "Locked and Loaded."

 

[ripsaw]

useless advice

SHOOT HIGH to scare them off........ Although a word or two on slide racking, I don't understand why any LEO would go into an unknown situation with a shotgun empty, or loaded and eject a live round on the ground to get someone's attention or scare them, rack the slide...that has got to be the most ignorant thing I have ever heard, you can bet my shotgun will be condition 1. When you do run into that really bad guy, that empty shotgun will be your undoing ,or taking time to rerack an already loaded one could possibly misfeed and cost you your life. Go condition 1 everywhere and say nothing, if you are LEO identify yourself as required, and have your weapon hot............rip.

 

[DickP]

eye contact

I heard a self-defense instructor say that women should never, under any circumstances, make eye contact with potential aggressors, lest they initiate an attack.

Apparently projecting weakness will prevent other people from victimizing you...?

On a related note, I read somewhere about how female officers working undercover as "bait" often have a difficult time getting themselves mugged. Apparently most have to "unlearn" their habit of looking people dead in the eye, as this unsettles and discourages most would-be attackers. Only by making a conscious effort to avoid eye contact can they get the sharks to bite. Dunno if there's any truth to this, but makes sense...

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I'll have to go with "if you shoot someone outside, drag him inside."

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Game, set, & match to Illinois State Police.

 

[RoostRider]

Game, set, & match to Illinois State Police.

Yeah, even the Karmic screaming thing might do better than the ISP advice..... at least it might attract the attention of someone who is prepared to defend themselves/you....

 

[chad6000]

I second that

"You don't need to carry if you don't live in the ghetto or Bosnia, or *insert war-torn locale here*."

That one grinds on me... :banghead:

 

[DeepSouth]

I'll have to go with "if you shoot someone outside, drag him inside."

Heard a county Sheriff give that advice and follow it with "then call me, not the department, call me at home."

That Sheriff later spent a little time on the other side the bars.

 

[MrPeter]

"I'd shoot them in the leg. I don't want to kill anyone"

I've heard this too. Made me want to shoot the guy in the leg and tell him, "bet you're still going to kick my ass with the other leg aren't you?" and then proceed to let him beat me up.

Too bad it's a good friend of mine :-/

 

[Double Naught Spy]

If a person is pointing a semiautomatic pistol at you at close range, lean into it so that your body pushes the slide out of battery so that it can't fire.

 

[kludge]

"Racking a shotgun will make a BG wet his pants"

"Birdshot for SD"

(apparently penetrating muscle tissue and bone is not required to stop a BG)

"I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6"

(apparently not aware that the prosecutors job is to make absolutely sure that you are NOT judged by your peers or like-thinking individuals)

 

[walker944]

Good ole Clayton Williams....Dude, what were your thinking??

I guess the stupidest thing ever stated regarding a self defense situation has to be from a gubernatorial candidate from my great state of Texas, Clayton Williams:

"If it looks like a woman is going to be raped, she should just lay back and enjoy it."

Needless to say, he was never elected governor. That comment is just plain wrong on all kinds of levels.

 

[Xader]

Just shoot the gun out of his hand.

Aargh! Recently on another forum, some kid (he was under 21, so he couldn't own a handgun) said he was planning on OCing a pellet gun so he'd have the chance of putting out an eye or shooting the gun out of a BGs hand! :banghead:

 

[WatongaJim]

When I was much younger and a family member suggested a .25 auto as a SD gun. Maybe they planned on throwing it like a rock.

 

[bwsmith2850]

suggested a .25 auto as a SD gun

All together now, "If you shoot someone with a .25 and they ever find out about it they'll kick your....."

 

[Darkninja]

I'll have to go with "if you shoot someone outside, drag him inside."

Like I said earlier my girlfriend told me she would do this. When I told her it was a bad idea she said, "A deputy told me that!"
About two days ago some posted something similar on their facebook, when I told them it was a terrible idea they said that in NC you can shoot them on your property if you had no trespassing signs and that it was ok because she knew people in the Sheriff's office. -sigh...-

haha @bwsmith

 

[KAK]

You don't have to aim a Taurus Judge or Shotgun. I work at a gun store and I hear blatant spewed **** like this from customers all the time. I cant correct them :banghead:

 

[Darkninja]

You don't have to aim a Taurus Judge or Shotgun. I work at a gun store and I hear blatant spewed **** like this from customers all the time. I cant correct them :banghead:

Why not? I always appreciate employees who work at gun stores and know what they're talking about. I hate when the employees have no idea what they're talking about...

 

[GojuBrian]

You have to aim a shotgun? What the..???

Seriously, a guy I worked with told me he loaded his own ammunition with needles in the end so they would penetrate better.

 

[esquare]

I have to say, there are a substantial number of deputies out there telling people to drag dead bodies around!

A lot of the martial arts stuff usually sends me over the top. (Like people who carry nun-chucks! If you know why nun-chucks were invented, you would quickly consider carrying something more effective...) When I still practiced, my instructor always told new kids, remember bullets are faster than feet - simply because so many kids came to class thinking that fighting actually worked like what they saw on TV.

Don't get me wrong - there are some people who can defend themselves with martial arts and/or esoteric weapons - it just takes a very high level of competency which is rarely ever taught.

 

[sfc_mark]

Don't get me wrong - there are some people who can defend themselves with martial arts and/or esoteric weapons - it just takes a very high level of competency which is rarely ever taught.

Amen. Martial Arts training does not Bruce Lee make. I suspect if I ever wind up in court over a SD shooting that having that Black Belt in TKD won't go in my favor.

 

[JamisJockey]

"If you get into a 'knife fight', you should expect/ be prepared to get cut."

Vanguard.45

Not sure how that is bad advice?
The whole point is that you should know if someone pulls a knife, you damn well might get cut.
Alot of people don't have the mentality to take physical damage in defending themselves.

 

[Dumptruck]

A roommate of mine had taken it upon herself to go to a self defense course that counted as college credit.

The instructor told the girls that the elastic key chains could be used to whirl the keys around in a circle making the attacker "unable" to enter the area in front of the victim haha.

My roommate believed it ( :banghead: ) so I demonstrated how ridiculous it was by letting her whip the keys around and hit me in the chest a few times. When I didn't implode from the sheer level of destruction that car keys on an elastic key chain doles out, she decided that the instructor was indeed a moron.