02/15/2021
I saw a post today, in a group that has nothing to do with fi****ms or self defense, where a woman in her twenties was propositioned by her 50 year old neighbor after he'd come into her house. Some of the things he said made her very uncomfortable, plus there was some prior stalking from another neighbor, so she left her home to seek advice from her family. Mom had her call the police who suggested she "get protection" and they said they'd send someone over to the neighbor to tell him to leave her alone. She borrowed a .22 from her brother and was looking into getting cameras. There was no additional info on how comfortable she was with the firearm. This was my comment.
"I'm a concealed carry instructor, so I'm pretty pro gun... however, if you are not comfortable with your brother's firearm, please give it back. I can't tell you how many times I've had women in my classes say they're just going to scare someone with it. All that does is give the bad guy a weapon. If you are comfortable with it, great! Don't forget to practice pulling it out of where you're hiding it (unloaded for practice please).
There are other things you can do to protect yourself as well. Get an Alexa or Siri so you can have it call the police if you're stuck without a phone. Keep aerosol sprays around the house that you can use as a makeshift mace. Cameras are great for catching someone after the fact, but aren't always enough to deter them in the first place. Consider a rescue dog. If you're in the Cincinnati area, I'd be happy to go to the range with you to get (more) comfortable with the gun."
What would you add in this situation? What advice would you have wanted when you were first living alone? What advice would you give your daughter, niece, cousin?
