They Lie About Firearms AND the Weapons They Sell!
So many blog posts about self defense weapons are anti-gun. Granted, they’re trying to make money by recommending non-firearm defensive weapons because they can’t sell firearms. But still. Why dis firearms?
According to many of these sites, the weapons they sell are better than firearms because they are easy to purchase (true), non-lethal (not always) and easy to use (not necessarily).
The impression many of them give is that firearms are the only weapon that requires training to be able to use them effectively:
“What about… concealed guns? Chances are you’re not a... skilled shooter and becoming [one] requires time, money and a level of skill you might not possess at the moment.”
“But there’s a catch: for [firearms] to work, you have to have a lot of training…”
People should get training for any weapon they carry.
Otherwise, they could end up cutting themselves, spraying their own face with pepper spray, having a stun gun/taser that doesn’t work when needed, etc. And this is assuming that they have practiced pulling their weapon of choice from their purse, pocket or wherever.
Some suggest that these “non-lethal” weapons are legal everywhere. And then recommend weapons that are NOT legal everywhere… like stun guns/tasers, brass knuckle type key chains and weapons that contain hidden blades like combs, umbrellas and walking sticks.
Oh… and the best part? They come in “fun colors!” 🙄
Related Post: Hey! Is that Weapon Legal?
And of course many posts contain completely inaccurate statistics about how firearms rarely help in a self defense situation. Or they claim that your firearm will end up being taken away and used against you (only firearms, mind you… not any of the other defensive weapons).
This suggestion in one of the articles really made me shake my head:
“What Is the Best Legal Weapon for Self-Defense? Any time you make physical contact with someone else, either with a part of your body or with a weapon, you open yourself up to the liability that comes with hurting them. Sometimes this is your intention, but in today’s litigious society, it might not be worth it. Therefore, a noncontact, nonchemical weapon, such as a tactical flashlight is a good bet. [emphasis added]”
Apparently, it’s much better to be attacked and/or killed than have to worry about being sued.
Pardon my sarcasm.
These kinds of articles are potentially dangerous to their customers. They are written by gun-hating people looking to sell stuff. And a lot of their info is incorrect.
They put their potential customers in danger by suggesting that certain weapons are better than others. And they don’t focus on difficulty of use or training needed for many of those weapons.
There was one article I read that had some great comments at the end. A couple of comments were anti-gun, but most of them had great information and advice for the author.
In the article, the author says…
“Here’s the problem with buying a gun. Guns don’t work very well up close in hand-to-hand combat, and you’re just as likely to injure yourself or someone else in that situation. Guns are also easy to spot and easy to steal: statistics show you’re much more likely to have your gun taken away than use it to stop a violent crime. Even a stranger can get the drop on you and take your gun away. Worse yet, if you have a home with children, guns are just a little bit too easy to cause injury and death. Suicides also tend to go up with a gun in the home.”
The following comment was my favorite. (I added the paragraph breaks to make it a little easier to read.)
Very good article….once I got past the anti gun propaganda crap that you were spewing in the beginning. The reality is that any one or a combination of the products mentioned (including firearms) would be viable options depending on the individual’s circumstances.
There are only 2 reasons that someone would take the position that you have:
1. Complete and utter ignorance. Most anti gunners don’t take the time to educate themselves about responsible gun owners. They just assume that we’re all uneducated, untrained knuckleheads. That would result in all of your misguided anti gun comments.
2. Intentional deception. Putting personal gain before the wellbeing of your readers. Convincing people that one type of product is superior to another could increase sales that you might get a kickback from certain manufacturers and you do it even though you know it could cost someone their life. Evil.
I’m not sure which of these caused this author to take this position but neither is acceptable or ethical.
The reality is that all of these products will have value to some people and should be presented in an open and honest way. By making it clear that using any and all of these products will require different levels of training, will have different levels of effectiveness and come with different levels of consequences if not used responsibly.
Instead of mentioning that most of these products could be taken away from someone and used against them, you only mentioned that fact about a firearm and insinuated that it was likely to happen. Complete ignorance or pure evil?
I’m not going to judge your motivation but I will suggest getting some help. You should be ashamed of yourself either way. Thank you for your time.
To be fair, any self defense weapon is better than nothing. But trying to convince people that their products are better than guns, especially by using lies, omissions and false stats, is shameful.
~Shereen
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