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Issue 18
Safely Storing Self-Defense Devices
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One of the most difficult issues we address in our various Personal Safety workshops is how to correctly
store your self-defense devices. Regardless of the device, the ultimate
objective is to ensure that unauthorized individuals do not gain access to your devices. Whether the course is
on stun guns, pepper spray, Tasers or handguns, the objective is always the same.
Where the difficulty begins is
with the, "How to do it?" Again, the answer is the same regardless of the device, only now the answer is a
less direct, "It depends." Your lifestyle will drive your plans.
In The Home
If you are single and have no children around the home, the techniques you use will
be significantly different from someone who has 4 elementary school-aged kids in the house. You want to have rapid access
to whatever device you have stored, but not so easily accessible that anyone else can
gain access.
You will generally
need to make compromises somewhere - rapid access versus secured location.
One option many people employ
- regardless of the device they are storing - are small, firearms safes. These safes are light-weight and secure.
You can open them either with a rapid-access combination lock or a key. When placed high enough be be out of reach of
children, they can provide a viable option for most households.
It will really come down to knowing who is often
in your home. If you have a little 5 year old who is very curious, you need to be especially vigilant in your safety
precautions. If you have teenagers who always have their friends over to your home, you need to employ different strategies.
Outside The Home
When Californians are outside the home,
they generally will only have access to non-lethal devices such as pepper spray, Tasers and stun guns. When you leave
your home, you are still responsible for ensuring the devices don't fall into the wrong hands.
If you keep
your device in your purse, on a keyring, in a backpack or a jackets, you need to keep close watch on who has access to those
items.
For example, a very good friend of mine is a teacher. He keeps his pepper spray on a keyring which
he keeps in his backpack. He needed something from his car, and had one of his best students run out and grab what he
needed.
The student saw the pepper spray on the keyring and got curious. Outside, he sprayed it in the air
and "sniffed" it to see what it was like. Thankfully, the dose the student got was only enough to make his
nose and mouth burn a bit, but it could have been much worse.
In this case, the pepper spray could have been placed
on a detachable keyring, and removed before the keys were given to the student. Think
about ways to lessen the probability of an unfortunate - and preventable - situation.
Final thoughts: YOU are ultimately responsible for safely securing your self-defense device. If someone
is harmed by the unauthorized use of your device, AND you should have reasonably known someone - typically a child - could
gain access to the device, you may end up on the wrong side of the law.
You have every right, and also the responsibility, to protect yourself and your family. Just remember that
you also have the responsibility to safeguard against unauthorized use of your devices.
Don't use this
responsibility to safeguard as an excuse to not provide for your personal safety. Instead,
educate yourself on how you can meet the two objectives of personal safety AND safe
storage.
Next Issue: Privacy as part of your self-defense.
Bison Risk Management Associates is a Northern California-based company providing Personal Safety and Emergency Preparedness training, workshops and consulting
for individuals, businesses and organizations.
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