Introduction

These days, with the massive increase in violence, we all need to ask ourselves what we can do for our own protection. Is it a gun, a knife, or something else? If we use it, will we go to jail? These are essential questions, and I, Master Peter Brusso, will dive into these topics and more so that you can start to address your safety.

Here are four relatively current violent attacks that have happened that illustrate, although some are rather strange, the vast expanse of violence that we face today.

Examples

Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine Arrested for Domestic Violence: In March 2023, rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine was arrested in the Dominican Republic on domestic violence charges. The details of the incident are not fully public, but it highlights the ongoing issue of domestic violence, even among high-profile individuals.

Man Kills Girlfriend Her Mother Outside Kentucky Courthouse: In September 2023, a man fatally shot his girlfriend and her mother outside a Kentucky courthouse. This tragic incident underscores the dangers of domestic violence and the devastating consequences it can have on families and communities.

69-Year-Old Man Arrested for Allegedly Killing His 76-Year-Old Girlfriend: In Los Angeles, a 69-year-old man was arrested for allegedly killing his 76-year-old girlfriend. Investigators said the woman died after sustaining blunt force trauma to her upper torso. This case highlights the vulnerability of older adults to domestic violence.  

Family Feud Contestant Jailed for Life for Wife’s Brutal Murder: In 2022, a former Family Feud contestant was sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of his wife. This case garnered significant media attention due to the contrast between the perpetrator’s jovial television persona and the horrific crime he committed.

These are just a few examples of the many instances of personal violence that occur every day. It’s important to be aware of these issues and take steps to protect yourself and your loved ones.

The source of these articles and more is https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/tag/domestic-violence/

As you read through these articles, you can see the broad, sweeping problem of violence in our society. There are two sides to this violence equation. The first is the perpetrator or the attacker, and the other is the victim. We can’t do much about changing the attackers, but we can do something about being the victim.

The Growing Importance of Personal Safety

In today’s world, the concept of personal safety has taken on new levels of significance, both in terms of its need and the other side of the coin: punishment. Yes, I said that right. Today, there is a huge need for us to protect ourselves, but there is a growing active persecution of those who do defend themselves.

I don’t want to sound like an extremist here, but so many times, when an upstanding person does take action to defend themselves, they end up going to jail. Why? The current political environment doesn’t want you to be able to protect yourself. Skeptical?

Just look at the weapons laws in this country or, even worse, the UK, Canada, and Australia. In those places, everything is illegal to use to defend yourself, including a rock in the UK or Canada, and get this, a boomerang in Australia!

With the rising crime rates in the US, although many are not being reported for political purposes, those of us on the ground see them all the time. It goes along with “Are you going to believe the FBI or your lying eyes?” Look at the almost everyday illegal alien attacks on US citizens. Heck, forget those and look at the robberies, the gang attacks, and killings. Look at the economic pressure families are undergoing that help to foster domestic violence. It’s evident if you pull your head out of the sand. Don’t despair; there are things you can do, even right now, to help with your safety.

Increased awareness of crime

There is an increase in the awareness of the crime we are experiencing here in the USA. From some news outlets, not all, but some, we do hear of violent acts occurring. Another source can be from social media platforms, and in many community watch organizations, we hear of crimes taking place. The victims do come forward, and in some cases, the perpetrators are hunted down. Also, we see that if you protect yourself, you are often jailed and not the perpetrators.

One area of increased violence is social and political unrest. Heck, as of today, we have seen two assassination attempts on President Trump, and that is a historic statistic. Whether you like him or not, that isn’t OK in a democracy.

But it is being fueled by hate-filled rhetoric from politicians and untruths that inspire people to take extreme actions. This is a first for America, too, I think. If it isn’t, we should stop it as it isn’t healthy, and that is just my opinion. We need to stick to the issues and not demonize candidates. We need to make safety the top priority.

Other issues support learning to protect yourself, and those are natural disasters, where you might need to live for weeks at a time with what you have saved. Others, not so forward-thinking, might come to steal what you have, and they will. It has been shown many times over that this survival behavior outweighs our morals. It will happen.

In some cases, technological advancements introduce new risks like cyberstalking, online harassment, and identity theft, leading individuals to seek ways to protect themselves in the digital realm. In many cases, this digital realm bleeds over into real life.

Consequences of neglecting personal safety:

Clearly, the increase in physical harm as a consequence of neglecting personal safety leads to assault, robbery, and even homicide. Situational awareness is a key component to combating this condition. From these physical incidents, you then get as a result of violent attacks emotional trauma.

As a result of physical attacks, you can experience many forms of emotional trauma like fear, anxiety, depression, anger and irritability, and even PTSD. There is an entire list of medical conditions that stem from physical attacks. Here are some emotional conditions that can arise from being physically attacked: fear, phobias, guilt, shame, difficulty trusting others, and even sleep disturbances.

Emotional trauma: Even if physical harm is avoided, experiencing a threatening situation can lead to long-lasting emotional trauma, such as anxiety, fear, and PTSD.

Crimes involving financial loss, theft, or even fraud can add further stress and hardships to families and individuals. The loss of freedom and independence also contributes to the need for self-defense, as the feeling of being unsafe can trigger a sense of isolation and vulnerability. It truly is a tangled web that has repercussions on our society and our behaviors as a whole.

Taking Proactive Steps for Personal Safety

Situational Awareness

This is one of the first steps in regaining the power of your life from others and putting it squarely back in your control. It involves raising your consciousness and focusing a deliberate perception of your surroundings, people, objects, and potential threats within those spheres of influence. This skill set involves actively observing, assessing, and watching the environment around you, identifying the dynamics at play, and, from this, being able to evaluate or anticipate potential hazards or opportunities.

Developing a strong situational awareness involves using all of your human senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and even gut feelings. These we have developed from birth and, in some cases, passed on from mother to child through our human evolution. Engaging these ancient skills back again, making ourselves use them, becoming aware of what we are feeling, and getting in touch with ourselves helps us stay vigilant of our current situation and is at the center of situational awareness.

Situational awareness is critical for personal safety and many other fields of endeavor, such as the military, law enforcement, and many different careers that involve people. Practicing and honing your situational awareness skills can significantly enhance your personal safety and overall well-being.

Learning Self-Defense Skills

I mention this only in passing as it isn’t the central concept I want to explore in this blog post. That being said, I think it is essential for all of us to have some basic skill sets that can assist us in a physical altercation. You will find one of my books, “Be Real,” on Amazon, a perfect primer for some basics to help you gain valuable street self-defense skills. It’s quick and to the point, and we have a saying, “We don’t take prisoners, and we eat the wounded.”

You need to study this in the short run to help you survive on the street. Also, my self-defense tools can go a long way in giving you skills and tools that will help you stop aggression or the bad guy when he comes a calling. Again, we will look at one of those, but my website, PDWS.biz, is loaded with help in this area.

Overview of self-defense weapons and their role in home security

Understanding a Self-Defense Weapon

At the lowest level, it is defined as anything you can use to defend yourself. This can be anything from a handful of sand to a bazooka. What I’m going to look at are the following: the Stun Gun, Pepper Spray, the Tactical Pen, the Personal Alarm, and the revolutionary new weapon known as “the Ivan Key Chain.”

EDC

The everyday carry weapon, which also applies to home security weapons, is an important concept. To qualify for an EDC passing grade, it must be easy to carry, easy to learn, and easy to use under a stressful situation, quick to deploy, and have some stopping power to an attacker. Let’s look at each one with these concepts in mind.

The Stun Gun

The stun gun is a hand-held electronic weapon that uses an electrical discharge to shock your opponent. It works on a nine-volt battery but can deliver voltage shocks across two probes on the gun that can exceed 50,000 volts!

It has some visual shock power or deterrent as well. Holding it up to an attacker and pushing the button to activate the Stun Gun can be daunting to the attacker. That alone might change their minds from attacking you, but that could also be a double-edged sword.

Letting them come to attack you and then deploying the Stun Gun on them can lead to a very successful result: disabling the attacker, allowing you to run, or getting help. You hit them with surprise and then capitalize on that surprise with multiple, accurate Stun Gun attacks, thus finishing off the attack before it really got started.

The other side of that coin shows you have a Stun Gun by deploying the electric arcs across the contact probes on the weapon, which can scare the attackers away from attacking you altogether. However, it might give them more resolve to attack you, too, as they now know what they must overcome to get what they want from you. Thus, I said it’s a double-edged sword that can be cut either way, good or bad.

Stun guns use batteries, and as such, you need to check, recharge, or replace them regularly. I prefer the ones with replaceable batteries over the ones with rechargeable ones. Over time, rechargeable batteries lose their power to deliver multiple shots, so that is why I like fresh batteries to be placed into my Stun Gun on a monthly basis.

You will need to undergo some form of training and routine practice with your Stun Gun, so you must make time for all that entails.

In some places, you must get registered to carry the Stun Gun, and in many locations, you can’t bring it into those facilities. The shortlist includes any government building, TSA-regulated transportation, hospitals, police stations, nightclubs, schools, or bars. You need to check your state and local laws to see what you can and can’t do with your Stun Gun.

Tactical Pens

These are writing instruments that double as self-defense tools. The Kubotan is an offshoot of an old Japanese weapon known as the “Yawara Stick,” a small six—to seven-inch stick that fits entirely into your hand. It is used to attack pressure points on the body, and because it has a small surface area, it hurts like heck, thus injuring or controlling a person.

In the late sixties, it was brought to America, redesigned a bit for law enforcement, and was started to be taught to them in Los Angeles, California. Sōke Takayuki Kubota repackaged the Yawara Stick and thus invented the Kubotan stick in the late 1960s. This was the grandfather of a tactical pen.

Kubotans are now a felony weapon in many states; thus, the public can’t own one. Yes, a stick of six inches is now a felonious weapon if you can believe such insanity, but as I said earlier, there is a push to make sure you can’t defend yourself. You are guaranteed that in the UK, Canada, Australia, and even New Zealand, they are banded there too. Oh, a stick you pick up at the beach, well now, that is a natural Kubotan, and you get arrested for owning a felonious weapon, don’t you know that? Sick stuff these days, friends.

Having a multipurpose self-defense tool that can hide in plain sight is a good thing, so the tactical pen was born. Made out of aircraft-grade metals, crafted to work as a writing instrument but designed to attack pressure points like the Kubotan, they were a big hit in self-defense for many years.

Some of the pens have textured grips so you can attack and hold onto your pen with ease. Some also can take the DNA of your opponent, small flashlights to light up your way at night, and even some with personal screaming alarms integrated into the pen.

I like the pens as they are multifunctional, but they are now illegal to carry in many places. They are on a TSA forbidden list to take onto any transportation system they screen, that is, planes, trains, ships, or some buses. Bars and many other places, like governmental buildings, hospitals, schools, and the like, have them banned.

They do not require batteries to work and do require you to learn how to use them. They don’t need much maintenance, and when you show them to your attacker, they are not scared at all. So, there is no real visual psychic disincentive to attacking you. But there is an alternative to this concept.

I looked at a discount store whose name ends with “Mart”; you need to fill in the rest of the name and found a metal body pen that works almost as well as a tactical pen. It costs me $2.25 if my memory serves me, but it has about 80% of the function of a tactical pen but without the stigma of an actual pen. It’s a thought for you to see if you can get something from a regular store that might work almost as well as a tactical pen but isn’t restricted from carrying anywhere. Let me know what you find in the comments. It could be the quintessential Self Defense Weapon!

Pepper Spray

Pepper sprays are great to have and learn to use. Right up front, I’ll tell you I prefer the Pepper Gel for many reasons, which I will discuss in this section. But Pepper sprays have their place in our self-defense weapon preview.

These tools are inexpensive to purchase and relatively easy to use. They have a small canister that can be clipped onto your belt, purse, or other similar item. They also have a physical safety that you must click off before you use the spray.

The spray can be deployed out to about 10 to 20 feet, which gives you some stand-off capability, which is really a good thing. Bear spray can reach 20 to 30 feet out from the initial firing position; however, bear spray isn’t legal in all states, so you must check your local laws if you want to use such a powerful combination of distance and mixture.

It requires no batteries to use and has a reasonable shelf life, but it does have one. So it would be best if you kept in mind that you need to replace your Pepper Spray or Gel periodically. Also, you do need to train a bit with it, as deploying it in a stressful situation can be more than you thought it might be.

Rain and wind can seriously affect your Pepper Spray performance, but the Gel is less likely to be affected by either. The Gel tends to stick on the attacker, too, whereas the spray can run out of the cloud of Pepper mixture and get free of some of the effect.

Also, a drawback of the Spray is what is known as “Blowback.” This is where the wind brings the spray back into your face! Yep, you get the effects of the spray on you, too, and this could be very problematic. Also, in an enclosed environment, like a car, bus, or even a room, using a spray will most likely affect you, too. So, this isn’t an issue with Pepper Gel unless you spray yourself!

Pepper Gel or Spray, shown to the attacker, has little or no visual deterrence to scare the attacker off. So, we don’t gain much there. But with the stand-off distance, we can gain a lot in fighting off an attacker. This must be factored into your safety plan as it isn’t just one self-defense weapon that can do all things. Your safety is a layered approach, and this is according to the distance the opponent is away from you.

You can start with weapons that reach out to touch your attacker, and as they close the distance to you, other weapons take over based on their distance from you—for example, the Stun Gun or Tactical Pen, as they are close-quarters weapons.

Batons

A baton is an excellent weapon as it has a medium reach range for your attacker. Batons come in both fixed lengths and collapsable versions. This reach means you can attack your opponent farther away; it’s a medium-distance weapon as opposed to a close-quarter combat version. The distance can be a good thing as, again, it’s like peeling an onion. The outside peel is long-distance weapons like Pepper spray, guns, tasers, bows & arrows, spears, or even slingshots.

Batons are usually carried by law enforcement, whereas civilians have the option of a collapsible baton, which I really like. Made of aircraft metals, they collapse to about ten inches long, are easy to carry, and, when deployed, give you 26 inches of stand-off range. These are great weapons for counter-knife attacks or even some situations with gun attacks, too.

Using the baton like a stick in any stick-fighting style, you can do a ton of damage to an attacker in short order. As I said, the collapsible baton made from aircraft steel is crazy good at striking an opponent’s head, neck, arms, and hands. Also, striking into the legs or knees will slow them down considerably.

Some training is required to use a baton, so there is that to consider. I have a stick fighting video online for those who might be interested in going down this line of self-defense weapons or just adding it to your mix of weapon capabilities.

There isn’t too much in the way of scariness to a baton, so we don’t get much there, but it doesn’t require any batteries! You will have to use it in a stressful situation, but that is the nature of self-defense.

Personal Alarms

I’m not a big fan of this item or approach, but it might have its place in your safety, so to that degree, it is worth talking about. These are small, battery-operated devices that, when activated, emit a 120-decibel sound that can reach out to 1000 feet away from the device.

What they are capitalizing on is drawing attention to the physical attack that is taking place on you from a bad guy. The sound can be very disorienting to both of you, by the way, but it might draw the unwanted attention of others, thus stopping the attack on you. What this relies on is others to help you, and it does nothing for you, allowing you to be in control of some form of disincentive for your attacker to keep pursuing you.

They are inexpensive, so perhaps coupled with a self-defense weapon, a Defender, or the like, it might be one of the layers of the onion. However, if you are out hiking in the wilderness, who is going to hear this alarm? And even if they did, would they come to find or help you?

The unwanted attention might deter some attackers, but others might be excited by it. It is hard to calibrate where your attacker is with this type of tool, but again, it might be one layer of your self-defense. It is easy to use as you push a button or pull a pin, so even in stressful situations, you shouldn’t have any issues deploying this device.

The Ivan Key Chain

This is a revolution in personal self-defense and safety. It is known as the “Ivan Key Chain Defender.” I had been looking for something that you could carry with you without thinking about it, easy to deploy, and effortless to use. When being used on an attacker, it has stopping power, and the public doesn’t know it, so it has shock value to the attacker.

It has two sharp points, wide apart, and a place for fingers to grip the tool, which has an industrial keyring with your house keys attached. Oh, your car keys, hopefully, too, as you carry them in your hand to and from your car/house. Being part of your EDC and with minimal training, this tool can save your life. As we say, when the bad guy comes a calling… give him the bad day, and this tool does precisely that.

The Ivan has a place for your thumb and pointing finger to hold the tool, so it is easy to hold onto when you deploy it. The keys are also in the palm of your hand, giving you a good grip on your weapon, which others don’t have. The two teeth are pointed forward with a wide gap to help you dig into flesh or muscle when you attack your opponent, thus causing significant physical damage plus pain. It also allows you to put the teeth over the fingers that have grabbed you and snap them right off your body. Ouch, huh!

You can use the teeth of the Ivan to attack the neck, push the pointed teeth in, twist, and cause much damage plus pain to your attacker. The teeth can also be applied to the sides of the neck, nose, or even eyes, causing severe damage to your attacker. All this is effortless on your part, too. With this tool, you are able to do a large amount of damage to them before they know what hit them. Removing an eye pretty much stops the attack altogether.

This tool, because it is on your key ring or is your key ring, is entirely covert. Its appearance, or lack thereof, is unassuming and allows you to blend it into your EDC. You can carry a potent self-defense tool without raising suspicion or drawing unwanted attention.

The Ivan Defender offers multifunctional capabilities and adapts well to many different threat scenarios. You can strike pressure points, muscles, or soft tissue with ease. This tool allows you options for a violent attack or repelling one that few other tools can give. This is a revolution in personal self-defense.

It requires no batteries to operate, and you get free Online Training to learn how to use it and all the other Defender models as well. Should you decide to get other Defenders, you have our support for your training on all our self-defense weapons.

With this tool, you can attack pressure points, strike targets of opportunity, and even perform control moves if you are trained in that sort of thing. I admit that it is not necessary for most, but if you have that training, these tools will adapt to you, not the other way around.

It takes less than ten minutes to learn how to use this tool. Its ergonomic and revolutionary design guides your grip and is designed for intuitive use. The learning curve is short, but the paybacks are significant with this new and revolutionary tool.

The Ivan is very durable. It is constructed from acrylic, which is weatherproof, high-strength, and easy to withstand the rigors of daily use. No batteries are required, either.

Now, if you hold up your Ivan to an attacker, it will not create a powerful visual psychic disincentive for him to attack you, so we don’t worry about that lack of features. You can also use this tool when you are in close quarters with your attacker. This can be a good thing, even though it sounds more like a nightmare. Well, what is going to happen is you are going to give your attacker a nightmare, and that will continue while he is in the hospital in the recovery room.

As stated earlier, it will take you about ten minutes to learn to use it, and some practice is good counsel. As usual, always check out the local laws to see if where you are going to carry the Ivan is legal. Always research the federal regulations as well as the local ones if you plan to carry an Ivan Key Chain.

Self-Defense Weapons for Home Security

As we mentioned above, crime is on the massive upswing, and home invasion is, too. Now, this is a topic for a blog on its own, so that I will be brief on an overall train of thought.

Alarms and outside lights are clearly a must. There are great house alarms with panic buttons that you can get DIY or have installed by professionals. This also means upgrades to physical doors, locks, windows, etc. You must not forget to up your game in that area, too.

I also like to have many of my Self-Defense Weapons, the Defenders, pinned or strategically located at your doors, bedrooms, and other key places. Where are those key places? Your bathroom, your bedroom, and wherever you spend the majority of your time enjoying yourself. This could be your home office, the TV room, or the kitchen. You should have more self-defense capability in these areas.

I always suggest the strategic placement of “Wasp Spray” in rooms where you sit and spend a lot of time. If someone breaks down your door and rushes in to get you wherever you are sitting, a heavy dose of Wasp Spray in their face and eyes does wonders to stop that nonsense. It doesn’t cause permanent damage either, but I guarantee the aggression will most likely stop dead in its tracks. At a minimum, it will allow you to weapon up and get out of there.

Panic buttons should be worn at home, too. This way, the authorities are notified of something going down, and help is on the way. There are many options here, and recently, Alexa from Amazon.com will voice communicate with you in case of emergency and call all the necessary authorities for your help. As with personal safety, home security is a layered thing, too. Just like that onion.

In some cases, a safe room is appropriate, too. This is a bigger plan, but look into how to build a secure room for you and your family. These rooms have saved many people.

We covered many of the non-lethal options for self-defense, and this is true for the home, too. Pepper Gel, Stun Guns, Tactical Pens, Tactical Flashlights (not discussed, so look that up), and one very worthwhile thing to look into is the Byrna gun. Many times, they have a sale on them, so you can access this offer by keeping an eye on their website. This launches non-lethal pepper balls and other projectiles, so it is an excellent option for home self-defense. It is also easy carry, and is a great defense product for when we need to have access to defense weapons like the Byrna.

Lethal Options, a blog post of its own, has room to play in a counter-home invasion. I like shotguns because you don’t need to aim too much. I think they add a shock value and a force multiplier to the mix of a home invasion, just as most home invasions are carried out by several invaders and not just one. So, a 12-gage shotgun with the maximum number of rounds is a good thing. Backup weapons would be a .40 Cal Glock pistol with an extended magazine if legal, but most certainly three spare mags right with the weapon.

Responsible gun ownership is a must, and you need to think about safety in the home and balance that off with quick deployment when you need it.

Obviously, early warning detection of home invasion is a must. Know the laws you need to adhere to when in a home self-defense situation. Also, practice your planned home self-defense. You do need to make a plan, so practice it. In addition, plan if you need to flee the house, where are you going to go, first, second, and third. If you send the grandkids out of the house, where are they going to go, and what instructions do they need to follow? These are essential things to think about now rather than when you need them, and you haven’t a plan.

Home security is a vital aspect of personal safety. Choosing the right self-defense weapon, combined with other security measures and a responsible mindset, can empower you to protect your home and loved ones effectively.

The Matrix

Conclusion

 As you can see and feel, in today’s world, violence is on the rise. Personal safety isn’t something we can afford to overlook or ignore. Violence can strike anyone, anywhere, and at any time, so you must be prepared to defend yourself, at least at some level. Don’t be a sheep. I know it is impossible to eliminate every risk, but there are some things we can take positive steps toward and be proactive about.

Choosing the right self-defense level or capability is a personal decision. It’s a price to pay for or not to do. Whether it’s a lethal firearm or a non-lethal self-defense tool like a Defender, you need to be prepared, trained, and confident to save yourself or your loved ones, too. You must protect the ones you love. They are not sheep either.

It is important to remember that it’s not just about self-defense weapons, but it is about situational awareness combined with plans and the correct tools for the job. With this in mind, you can start to navigate the world with greater confidence. So, don’t wait for the mud to hit the fan; act today to educate yourself about self-defense options. Invest in the training, the tools, and the making of good plans for survival. Remember, safety is in your hands. It’s all your decisions that happen in a crisis: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Don’t wait for a crisis to strike. Take action today to educate yourself about self-defense options, invest in the necessary tools, and develop the skills and mindset to protect yourself and those you care about. Remember, your safety is in your hands.