Mission statement:

Armed and Safe is a gun rights advocacy blog, with the mission of debunking the "logic" of the enemies of the Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental human right of the individual to keep and bear arms.

I can be reached at 45superman@gmail.com.You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/45superman.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Illinois State Police promote rapists' safety


Photo courtesy of Oleg Volk

My friends at Illinois Carry have found something on the Illinois State Police website that has to be seen to be believed. I had already known that this is a state in which defenselessness is the law, so perhaps I should have expected this insanity--but sticking a finger down your throat to cause yourself to vomit, in order to discourage a rapist? Can they be serious?

Fighting for your safety may be necessary. However, if you start out fighting you cancel any other options that might be open to you. Since many attacks on women are not sexually motivated, and are designed to degrade and humiliate, talking your way out of it may be easier.

* There is documentation of assailants that left a would-be-victim alone after she told him that she was pregnant and it would kill her baby. (Some case were women that were too old to even have a baby.)
* Telling an attacker that you have VD or AIDS can discourage him.
* It may sound disgusting, but putting your fingers into you throat and making yourself vomit usually gets results. (This method is not often used except as a last resort.)
* Use your imagination and you can think of others.

The above methods are particularly important if your assailant has a gun or knife, or there is more than one attacker. (Fighting would probably be futile.)

If you must fight

Use of a firearm to protect yourself or property is not recommended.

* Guns stolen from residences are a primary way of getting guns into the hands of criminals.
* Half of all the women that fire a gun trying to protect themselves shoot someone they do not want to, i.e. friend, neighbors, relatives, etc.
I'd love to see the source of that last statistic.

OK--so the ISP says firearms are out (and we're not permitted to carry them--you know, like free people--here in Illinois, anyway). So what weapons are recommended?
Articles common to your handbag that make useful defense weapons.

* nail file
* rat tail comb
* teasing brush
* pens and pencils
* keys
* anything rigid
For dealing with particularly nasty individuals, it would probably be best to carry an assault teasing brush.

It's the very last sentence that truly sums up the Illinois attitude when it comes to self-defense:
Remember that screaming may be just as important to your defense as any weapon.
Screaming as a weapon, eh? Well, the civilian disarmament advocates certainly have enough practice at that--I'll call it the Sugarmann defense.

UPDATE: The ISP has apparently noticed the uproar over their ridiculous "advice" (I'm realistic enough to know that they don't care what I say, but David Hardy has to be taken more seriously (which is as it should be). The ISP website hasn't been changed nearly enough, but it now omits the "Use of a firearm to protect yourself or your property is not recommended," and the "statistic" claiming that "Half of all the women that fire a gun trying to protect themselves shoot someone they do not want to, i.e. friend, neighbors, relatives, etc." In case anyone thinks I made those parts up, click on the following image of what the site did say.

11 comments:

Smershagent said...

"Guns stolen from residences are a primary way of getting guns into the hands of criminals."

And all this time I thought criminals got their weapons from rogue gun dealers and gun show loopholes.

I also don't see how the fact that criminals like to steal guns from homes should be a reason to discourage people from using one in an emergency self-defense situation.

Anonymous said...

if only 50 percent miss then some must hit. As the leftist saying goes"if it saves just one innoccent life it is worth it" Of course they mean to ban capital punishment . But hey if it saves just one woman from rape I am for nation wide ccw. Its for the women.

Len

me said...

does following their legal advice and being maimed, killed, or otherwise open them to legal action?

Sounds like they're saying "even thought it's our job to make society at large safer, we're not doing our job. Try these things. If you're still alive and we find you you won't be arrested as long as you don't use a gun."

Anonymous said...

I know i'm bringing up an old post, but wtf, why not...

I'm sorry the laws in this country are so messed up that I can state, and believe, That i'd rather be tried by twelve than carried by six.

Anonymous said...

My son was a police for 27 years in Baltimore city Md.and none of police he worked with were for gun control.

Kurt '45superman' Hofmann said...

Anon, I'm not trying to come across as hostile to all police, or as if I think that they all support the kind of madness that is the official position of the Illinois State Police.

For as long as that is their official position, though, the point has to be made.

parabarbarian said...

The patrol cops may not be in favor of gun control but I'm skeptical. Go read the cop boards. They call us "civilians." Why is that? What does that make them?

In any case, I'm sure the powers that be will let the police keep their guns. For a while. At least until they've after rounded up all those guns in "civilian" hands.

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of the publication of the Melbourne Beach Monthly newsletter a few years ago. The local police chief published an article which mentioned that for senior citizens to protect themselves to do a few things but not to use firearms as it may cause the weapons to be turned against them! I queried the police chief thru the mayor and recieved a call from the mayor. He asked if I were carrying! I said yes. He wanted to know if I was a former MP or CID agent. He also mentioned he and the chief pulled up my info and picture on the computer! Violations to the big time! What I found out is the chief copied a pamphlet from the Indiana State attorney and had it reprinted without attribution. The chief was shortly thereafter terminated for another fraud.

Vanessa said...

I know this is an old post but I was compelled to comment. I cannot believe they recommend forcing ones self to vomit. Let me injury myself before my attacker gets to me, does not seem logical. And as far as telling an attacker you have HIV/AIDS, it might work. But a lady told me her friend did just that, the mans reply to her friend was good so do I.

Phil801 said...

Just FYI - In light of the Brady Campaign Hoopla today, if anyone is claiming that this report is false or that the screen capture is fake: http://web.archive.org/web/20061117033317/http://www.isp.state.il.us/crime/saconfronted.cfm It's NOT.

Kurt '45superman' Hofmann said...

Nice work, Phil801--thanks.