19 yr old daughter getting her first appartment.

[pax]

Spreadfire Arms ~

All true enough, as far as it goes.

But I suspect that asking a buddy at work would probably be a good place to start anyway. Even if her friends at work can't help her out "officially", under department auspices, there are probably one or more of them willing to show her the ropes and discuss other safety issues with her on their own time.

pax

 

[Boomerang]

You haven't gotten any real advice yet.

I carry a 4 oz. Fox Labs. A lot of police carry these, they're cheap, they're powerful, and they're easy to use.

I ordered off of this website.

http://www.selfdefenseproducts.com/pepper.htm

It's legal to carry in Texas. Not legal in NYC, MA, and Minot, North Dakota (I'm not kidding).

Part of that is incorrect.
It is legal to carry in MA.

 

[Gator]

Did you get her one of these?

 

[Tx_Jim]

Did you get her one of these?

Not yet...my wife and I are going to McBrides Guns this weekend to look at the product made by Kimber for carry and then go look at Cabelas (a bigger spray) for the nightstand.


BTW...I was a little dissapointed to find out that eventhough there is not any affiliation with a university that they do not allow firearms of anykind on the premises.

I wonder if this is legal as I did not see it in the lease agreement. Very similar to washington DC in that it seems to restrictive considering they fall under all the same rules as any other housing in the fact that it must adhere to the house authority rules...but I assume they can get away with it under private ownership. That being said, when we were ther visiting, I was armed and at the time i did not see a 30.06 sign anywhere.

 

[Kingcreek]

Oh my, does this thread bring back memories...
When my daughter announced that she was getting an appartment off-campus, she caused me some lost sleep. I contacted the new landlord (a sympathetic father of 2 girls and a decent guy) and obtained his permission to make a few modifications to the rental property. A Saturday spent adding some lighting, hardenening doors and windows, adding locks...
Situational awareness had been the drill for quite awhile, but she got the refresher course lectures while I worked and I left her with fresh cans of good quality OC.
Do everything you can and you'll still worry that you haven't done enough.

 

[Tx_Jim]

Oh my, does this thread bring back memories...
When my daughter announced that she was getting an appartment off-campus, she caused me some lost sleep. I contacted the new landlord (a sympathetic father of 2 girls and a decent guy) and obtained his permission to make a few modifications to the rental property. A Saturday spent adding some lighting, hardenening doors and windows, adding locks...
Situational awareness had been the drill for quite awhile, but she got the refresher course lectures while I worked and I left her with fresh cans of good quality OC.
Do everything you can and you'll still worry that you haven't done enough.

I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling this way. I thought I might be labled as a paranoid parent.

 

[Prince Yamato]

Any gun shop (such as Red's Indoor Range) will usually carry pepper spray. Get her a small size that she can carry in her pocket. The kind that doesn't ruin the line of dress pants or snug fitting jeans. As far as guns. You can OWN a handgun in Texas at age 18, but cannot purchase one at an FFL or get a CCW until you are 21. If your daughter is not comfortable around guns, then either 1) get her comfortable or 2) don't get her a gun.

Stun guns/Tasers are also LEGAL in Texas. That might be an alternative. The University of Texas is mum on the subject of their legality on campus, but I would expect legal troubles if "caught" with one or if one was misused on campus.

If you want to play it real safe: Small pepper spray for school and for home a large can and a real nice set of kitchen knives.

If she has an unscrupulous roommate who goes through her things and finds the pistol and does something stupid with it...what legal hassels do i need to be aware of. I assume a quick hand safe might protect me from legal issues but do not know.

If the roommate is known to be a prohibited person and you offer them easy access to one of your weapons, then you may be charged

 

[onewithgun]

As far as pepper spray I would go with Fox Labs. Seems to me that their units of "heat" are the hottest.

Another thing is about her not wanting to shoot. People fear what they don't understand. If she gave it an honest chance and started educating herself on guns she would see that they're nothing to fear at all.

For her I would get a snub-nosed .357 magnum, probably a 686 S&W stainless. Load it with standard .38 or .38 +p, +p+ would probably be too much recoil.

Also in regards to the pepper spray. If it's going to be staying in the apartment then pretty much anything is legal if it's no CS. I would get her the Grizzly bear formula for in the apartment. The HUGE can . Then for carrying I would get her the Fox Labs stuff.

Hope it helps.

 

[Spreadfire Arms]

one thing to remember about the use or carrying of pepper spray is that it can be taken from you and used against you.

OC is not permanent, and if trained, you can fight through it. however, im not aware of many college students who carry OC have any sort of experience being exposed to it and realizing that they are able to fight even though they have been exposed to it.

speaking from personal experience i can say that it is not easy but it is not impossible. just something you may want to keep in mind when and if you get her some OC spray, that it can be taken from her and used against her.

also she should know things such as effective distance, minimum recommended standoff distance, retention techniques, and the fact that it, like any other weapon, is not 100% effective.

she should also definitely get a canister with a flip-top like shown below:

there is one sure rule of thumb about OC spray, for those who have used it before definitely know this:

pepper spray is guaranteed to affect one person 100% of the time, and that is the user.

 

[BlisteringSilence]

Something to think about:

Mace brands now sells a pepper spray that comes in gel form. And it works. The guys at our jail are raving about it, and I got to use it on the guys that came through the last reserve deputy course.

Way better than foam, no blowback from wind like a fogger or stream, and that stuff sticks on you. You can't wipe it clear like you can with a stream spray.

Just my two cents.

 

[Spreadfire Arms]

Blistering Silence wrote:

You can't wipe it clear like you can with a stream spray.

the advantage of foam OC is that it is very target specific and tends not to contaminate the entire room if you're using it indoors, like a jail or a courtroom.

the disadvantages of foam OC are:

1. it is a heavier propellant thus doesn't spray as far (usually less than 10 feet) as a regular ballistic stream (15-20 feet)

2. the assailant can wipe off the foam off of his face and throw it back in your face

so yes, it can be wiped clear and thrown back at the user. in my opinion, as an OC instructor, foam has its limitations and specific uses.

 

[Lurp]

Tx_Jim Check your PM's

 

[hso]

One of the significant advantages to her working for the Sheriff's Department is that she can talk to the trainer who provides OC training for the Deputies and he may be willing to show her how to use OC with the nonhazardous training sprays. He almost certainly will be able to advise her on what they use as a Department and what he would prefer (if different from the issue spray).

You need to discuss indoors in her apartment vs. outdoors usage. Indoors she's not limited to the easily portable sprays and can pick something much larger. Outside she has to worry about wind direction and distance reducing the effectiveness of the spray. Streams tend to do much better than fog or cone sprays for distance and resisting wind, but can be a little harder to hit the target. Aim for the chest and push it up into the face regardless of what is chosen.

Take a look at the various reviews and discussions on sprays we've had in Non-Firearms. There's a lot of favor for Fox and growing positive reviews of the Kimber product.