The Messy Reality of Self-Defense
By Rob Morse. March 30th, 2016
This is an adult discussion. It's neither fit for college students who major in the art of being perpetually offended, nor other sensitive children. I report on self-defense -- the good and the bad. I talk about the messy reality when we defend ourselves from criminal attack. I mean real physical harm, not the emotional "trauma" of seeing the name of a Presidential Candidate written in chalk. This is what I've noticed as I studied civilian self-defense. First, thousands of ordinary people defend themselves with a firearm every day. These people are our friends, neighbors, and relatives, who were simply going about their lives when they had to defend themselves. Second, successful self-defense isn't magic. The people who studied and practiced seemed to do a better job at it. Third, the reality of self-defense is very different from what we see from Hollywood. That means we are carrying around some bad ideas unless we've taken enough training to replace Hollywood fiction with fact. Here are some simple facts that leave this student of self-defense wanting to learn more.
If we study self-defense for very long, we'll see that robbers practice and plan ahead. The sooner we interrupt their plans the better. Right there is where training and practice can give us an advantage. It is too late to start your home study course in self-defense once you're being attacked. The people who trained for self-defense chose better options than those who had to learn through on-the-spot, in-the-moment, on-the-job training. Good training before the fact can help us avoid being attacked in the first place. I like that.. a lot!
We are most likely to be attacked when we are away from home. That means the arsenal in our gun safe is useless most of the time. Think about that for a minute. What we have on our body right now is what we will use to win or lose a self-defense encounter. It is unlikely that we will have time to go to our car or safe room and get our gun, cell phone, flashlight, and trauma kit. That is why criminals attack people who are, for example, on jogging trails.
Sorry, but there are no magic tokens to save you. This is reality as opposed to a role-player video game. ....... 
Points to remember well and take away from this article are -- if you do not have your means of self-defense on your body then it probably will be of little use. Also, the old adage that is so valid - "when seconds count" - usually a success or failure happens within moments and certainly long before any help from law enforcement or other third party.
"You don't have to be Jewish to fight by our side."
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