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Sad but true (piefed.cdn.blahaj.zone)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/witchesvspatriarchy@lemmy.ca
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Sad but true
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[–] 7 points 1 year ago (9 children)

Unfortunately in Australia carrying any sort of weapon for self-defence is illegal, including pepper spray. I still, if I'm going into a higher-risk situation, carry something like a padlock or 3D printed cat-ear ring regardless. Rather be charged with assault than end up assaulted myself, or worse.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Same here in Canada.

    You can carry a knife, as long as it's a utility knife, or used for cooking, or if it's some kind of sporting equipment.

    If you use anything for defense, you're likely going to be getting a weapons charge.

    It's idiotic if you ask me. If only criminals can carry weapons, then only criminals will ever have weapons.

    IMO, nonlethal self defense equipment should be exempt from weapons laws until such time as it is used to perpetrate a crime, when it then becomes an offensive weapon and prohibited by law. (We have a similar law about knives/blades, they're not considered weapons until they're used in the commission of a crime).

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    If only criminals can carry weapons, then only criminals will ever have weapons.

    Yes, by definition. So what?

    But, look at the US for what happens when everyone might be carrying a weapon. If a victim might have a gun, every criminal will have a gun just to even the odds. Since criminals all carry guns, police also have to carry guns, and police get incredibly paranoid that everyone they're dealing with is armed, so often their policy is shoot if they feel slightly uncomfortable, and ask questions later. Maybe plant a gun on the criminal if they were wrong. And, of course, the US leads every developed country in shooting deaths by a huge margin.

    Meanwhile, in the UK most cops don't even carry guns, nor do most criminals, and of course the general public doesn't either. And, unsurprisingly, shooting deaths are pretty rare.

    If normal people are allowed to have weapons on them, I think it will occasionally deter a crime. But, I think it would also cause a lot more accidents with those weapons. I also think untrained people would have their weapons taken away and used on them. I also think those weapons would often be used in crimes more often. A road rage incident involving two unarmed people would instead be a road rage incident where someone grabs whatever weapon is at hand. I think for the average person, it's more likely they'll be in a situation where they're irrationally angry and grab whatever weapon is nearby, than be in a situation where they need something to prevent themselves from being the victim of a crime.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    I hear what you're saying, and I'm the last person to advocate for everyone to be allowed to carry lethal firearms with them at all times. No thanks.

    What I would like to see is that civilians have an option for personal self defense that is non-lethal. Like pepper spray. But that's prohibited here.

    The only option for legal self defense here is through training. The only weapon you're allowed to have is yourself. So until you, yourself, becomes a weapon, in every encounter with someone with ill intentions, you will be unarmed.

    I don't hate cops. I don't really love them either, especially right now in the wake of the BLM movement, but I won't get into that. But it's impractical at best to have enough LEOs to stop all crimes as they happen. You would need an officer on almost every corner 24/7. It would be a gigantic waste of time and money. Taxpayer money. Giving the general person an option for self defense that's proven to be non-lethal that doesn't require them to take hours of self defense or martial arts classes, would be nice.

    Right now, at least for me, here in Canada, such an option does not exist. Anything that can be considered a weapon, is a weapon unless it is part of a very narrow scope of exceptions; and if any of those exceptions are used as a weapon against another person for any reason, then the exception no longer applies.

    Not everyone has hours to dedicate to learning self defense. So unless there's a cop nearby, you're fucked.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I had to have my work knives in a locking knife roll when I worked in kitchens. There is definitely such a thing as too far.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    I'm not sure where you live, but this would be legal in Canada.

    Since the purpose is to use them for cooking, unless they are instead used in perpetrating a crime, they're legal here.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    I'm in Australia and while the laws are similar, the way they are enforced means that if you don't want to spend hours on the side of the road or a night in lockup while you prove your story then an abundance of caution is your best option. A very guilty until proven innocent system.

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