If anything were possible, I have always liked AE van Vogt’s fictional weaponry:
In “The Weapon Shops of Isher”, the defensive weapons sold by the shops are advanced ray guns with integrated force fields, making them highly effective against government and criminal threats. These weapons ensure citizens can defend themselves against tyranny and oppression while upholding a policy of non-aggression, aiming to foster a more just government over time.
The weapons can somehow be used to defend but not be used in an act of aggression. And the force field protects the bearer.
A fun read if you are into golden age science fiction.
Bag of little isopod shaped robots. They are fast moving with nuclear batteries and tungsten carbide shells and lots of sharp edges for chewing and burrowing through flesh. They can also dig into the ground a few inches and hibernate like cicadas to protect an area. Not wireless networked but instead have onboard processing for voice commands, use sense of smell for IFF and echolocation to coordinate their swarming.
Couldn’t stop a gun, but they are a deterrent against using it because if you shoot me we both die but you die in a more horrible way.
We always imagine personal defense weapons as a hand held point shoot thingy.
We do? What is wrong with a baseball bat? Or a sock filled with quarters?
Both require a lot more effort to stop a threat and can be captured and disarm you at their effective range.
If the fight starts when you’re already at a close range melee weapons have a very decent chance of coming out on top over firearms. Maybe not the sock but bats and knives definitely.
Knives have an advantage at close range at causing potentially fatal damage vs a gun, but a gun can still kill you if you don’t gain control of the muzzle. With a common pocket knife, your best bet is a fatal throat stab or slash to ending the threat because anywhere else you can’t reach or won’t act fast enough. Maybe you can disable an arm if you can separate a muscle or sever a tendon in the forearm, but we are getting into experienced knife combat there. Not that knives are relevant, we were talking bats and a sock with coins.
A gun would easy win against someone with a bat or coins in a sock, the gunman only has to get in contact range to reduce swing force or get out of contact range. The bat or sock with coins is a 3-4ft radius of danger, the gun basically has range dependant on skill.
A gun would easy win against someone with a bat or coins in a sock
After being hit with a bat, I’d wager about 2 in 5 people would still even be holding their gun. If the bat hits the gun, hand, arm or head, 0 in 5 are still holding that gun.
Now that’s assuming the bat gets a swing in, but in close quarters it’s entirely possible.
The loser of the knife fight dies at the scene the winner dies on the way to the hospital
Self defense shootings almost universally happen within arms reach. Nobody is using a sniper for self defense, because you can’t claim you were threatened when they’re too far away. A mugger isn’t going to start mugging you when they’re 50 feet away; They’re going to be in conversation range. A rapist isn’t going to make their intentions known until they already have hands on you.
Lots of 2A advocates make the mistake of training for a threat that is 50’ away, as if good accuracy at that range is going to help them when an attacker has them by the throat. Instead, they should be training four basic things:
- Fast and repeatable draw. By the time they mentally process that you have a weapon, you should already be firing it. Your draw needs to be drilled the same way you drill reloads or clearing jams.
- Aiming by feel instead of taking time to use sights. Sights are very important at distance, but not so important when the attacker is 5’ away from you. It’s still possible to miss at that distance, but less likely if you’re able to feel where your weapon is pointed. Center mass from 5’ away is a pretty fucking large target. Proprioception is a powerful tool, but learning to use it with a weapon takes a lot of practice.
- Keeping your weapon close, so you’re not sticking your arm all the way out towards the attacker where they can grab your weapon. This goes hand in hand with the second point. Because again, they’re likely already within arms reach of the attacker, and you don’t want to just hand them your weapon before you even start firing. If you need to stick your arms straight out in front of you and get an eye focused on your sights before you start firing, they’ll have grabbed your gun before your first shot.
- Keeping your stance solid so the first shot doesn’t immediately knock you off balance. A lot of people do not instinctively know how to maintain balance.
But gun owners bitch and moan if you ever bring these points up, because they aren’t actually interested in training for self-defense. That’s just the excuse they give, because “I want to protect myself” is hard to argue against.
Held in hand. Point. “Shoot”.
Spontaneous Human Explosion guaranteeing Mutually Assured Self-Defence/Destruction.
Like 2 Kings in a Chess game, you can’t be next to each other.
Opposite of the movie Wedlock
This is why I have cannons loaded with grapeshot in every room of my house. Never know when I’ll need to remove a thief from existence.
Safety is all about preparation.
Laser eyes.
Now you can just look at something you want to destroy without using your arms.
Telekinesis helmets.
Now you can just think about destroying something you can’t even see.
Body odour
Or that guy from Mystery Men who farts.
A small knife? A hand-held stabby thingy.
Foot held point shoot thing
Something small, hard, and throwable. An infinite stash of pinballs, maybe
The best defense is avoidance. To that end, a personal time-travel / prognostication device that could both predict danger and chronoport you back to before danger was imminent would be the ultimate defense, though suppose not strictly a “weapon”.
Put it in front of a group of DND players, or any other table top RPG really.
They’ll weaponize it before the session is over.
A wand. They want to take your wallet? HOW ABOUT SOME CRUCIO YOU MOTERFUCKER!
…that’s a handheld shooty thing
Self defense is a fantasy of control. If you want to eliminate threats to yourself rationally, eat more vegetables, take care of your mental health, and drive carefully.
Ah yes the infallible recipe to never be physically assaulted
the statistical recipe to lengthen your lifespan
Now that’s more accurate
I was more or less trying not to refer to weapons of mass destruction. Not implying self defense is virtuous.
High voltage contact shirt. You touch me, you fry
also good for making grilled cheese sandwiches
Balls that orbit around you (think magneto of x-men)
a finger on the monkeys paw curls
Im steering clear
