Defending myself in MD

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XDMfan40

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Ok so I live in Maryland and as most of you know it is almost impossible for me to get a CCW. I have a Florida permit so I carry whenever I can. However I am looking for advice for what I should carry in case I ever needed to defend myself in MD where I can't carry. Can Anybody else who lives in MD give me any advice?
 
I have found short of a firearm, a good knife and a baseball bat work well. I am not big on pepper spray. Worked with it for to many years to trust it.

In lieu of the baseball bat I have often kept one of the older folding E-tools from my era in my car. (Entrenching tool. Makes a great trench weapon, like a mace when used with the blade folded.)

Many jurisdictions now restrict a good fighting knife like my K-Bar (Yes I know there are better knives than the K-Bar, but mine is blooded and worked when I needed it in real combat. I trust it). I have heard but am not personally aware of some jurisdictions that restrict baseball bats too. They don't in Arizona. But then in Arizona with my CCW license, that is not an issue. (Note, there is still an old E-tool in my trunk and a Cold Steel Recon Tonto too)

But I have never heard of any jurisdiction of restricting a folding shovel.

Do what you gotta do, life ain't fair, and death sucks. Or so I have been told, I figure i will find out for sure, soon enough.

Best advice is to move to a Free State. But don't come to Arizona, go to my original state, Florida. Arizona is getting to crowded.

Good Luck.

Fred

Stupid Should hurt
 
Best advice is to move to a Free State.
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The irony is that Maryland is known as "The Free State". :barf:Go figure. But I can tell you that the thugs have MANY more rights protected than the victims in Maryland. If you don't beleive that, just consider the extremely high crime rate in Baltimore and the incredibly low conviction rate coming out of their court rooms.
 
O I know what you mean. Its utterly rediculous. I'd move if I could afford to, but its not in the cards right now. I am trying to get into law enforcement untill then I am stuck.
 
Having lived in Maryland for most of my 68 years, I've almost never needed a firearm going about my daily business. The few times I had a difficulty, my blackthorn walking stick did very well.

I sometimes feel a little envious of people that live in a CCW state, but at this point of my life, I can't say I really miss carying a gun. I did once in a while in my younger day, but now I don't. In fact, reading a lot of these forums and posts, I'm a little glad I don't have to worry about it. It seems all too often the solution of the "What do you do if..." is people pulling thier gun. A firearm is no replacement for keeping your eyes open, and being aware, and using some common sense in your daily routine. Sometimes a gun is more trouble than it's worth.

I've carried a stout walking stick since I was given a medical discharge from the army after some active duty injuries, and I've become convinced a stick in hand beats something I have to go for. I don't really think of a knife as a weapon, too limited and knife fights are for macho idiots. The only way to tell who won a knife fight is he may need less stitches. A knife is a poor weapon. Blunt force truma is imediate, rather than several minutes till they bleed out. Meanwhile they've killed you. A stick also gives you priceless distance.

Go for a stick of some sort. Walking stick or cane. It goes anywhere, including airlines. There's too many places you can't take a gun, or a knife. With some training, you have a defense system that they can never take away from you. A stick can be improvised anywhere. A chair rung kicked loose, a towel rack pulled off a wall, a broken off broom or mop handle, shovel handle, length of garden stake. Or you can just take to carrying a rustic walking stick, and after a while it becomes part of your persona. Short stick techniques can be used with a sturdy pen, AA mini-mag, rolled up magazine, butt end of a pool que.

Since I don't hang out in certain bars, are out late at night in questionable nieghborhoods, and watch whats going on around me, I'm comfortable without a firearm on me. I have a revolver for home defense, as does the better half, but they are hidden away when we leave the house.

In short, we carry pepper spray, and my blackthorn stick, and the better half, who's 65, carries a light but strong hornbeam cane.

Most street muggings around here seem to be done with cheap kitchen knives. They seem to save the guns for convienence store holdups or more serius stuff. But like I said, we don't go to bad places or out late at night.

Awareness, and common sense.

As for moving; I know that's an answer some like to toss out there, but it's easier said than done when all your kids, grandkids, friends, and nieghbors of 30 years are here.

So far we've made it to senior citizen age. So far, so good.
 
What about a "Woodsman's Pal";a COld Steel machete( I like the bowie&kopis variants),or for that matter;an old pruninghook( for a vehicle tool-throw it in a duffle with some other yardwork/agricultural implements to reduce the funny stares from cops)?Would THAT be OK in Md.?
 
XDMfan40 said:
Ok so I live in Maryland and as most of you know it is almost impossible for me to get a CCW. I have a Florida permit so I carry whenever I can. However I am looking for advice for what I should carry in case I ever needed to defend myself in MD where I can't carry. Can Anybody else who lives in MD give me any advice?
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Get yourself a thuggie friend that doesn't give a rats a** about the law. He'll be carrying and can do your shooting for you. The ultimate "throw down". :evil:
 
ball peen hammer. keep in your truck (car) - when I learned about this little hells angel trick, I thought it good enough to employ. always have your knife on your person (or two)....or come back to FL... we need good LEO here as well.
 
For all the suggestions of non firearm weapons in the state of Maryland, I offer one big piece of advise for the real world;

Make sure if you use something, it has a reasonable use in the real world, and is innocent enough that nobody will question why you had it. Things like machete's and ball peen hammers won't make it. But a nice all metal pen in your pocket won't be looked at twice, nor will a AA mini-mag, or even a nice big 3 or 4 D cell maglinght under the drivers seat. Pepper spray is very accepted and does work to give you a break. Sure some people can still sort of funtion, but thier vission will be impared to the degree they will never see that punt to the cajones coming.

Maryland is not a firearm friendly state, and hand in hand with that is the fact they are not a weapon friendly state. You'd better have a legit exuse to have that item on your person. Maryland has a history of having assitiant D.A.'s who are trying to make a name for themselves so they can run for an office, and start a political career. You don't want to be sacraficed on that altar.

Now having said all that, in general, Maryland is not that bad a state crime wise. It runs from the minor to the serious like everywhere else, but out and about in public durring the day, you have as much chance of being killed by a nutso driver than being the victim of a crime. Since we are on the outskirts of Washinton D.C., we have a large amount of people from other parts of the world, and thier idea of motor vehicle operation is a little vague. If you are the victim of a crime, you will be facing three or more of the little savages, and if you were oblivious to their approach, odds are you will have a Glock or two pointing at you. If you were this obliious to whats around you, you may as well give it up. Or it could be a couple of juvinile punks pulling a strong arm robbery. In the recent past, the strong arm robberys have been very much on the rise, and it usually involves three or more of them jumping on you at one time. Again, awareness of who's around you. In general, you can see them coming a block away. They don't have the brains or couth to be low profile. Or to put it another way; people generaly look like what they are. Take that how you want. Just watch cops for a profile.

The other way they do it is for two of them to team up, one as a lookout, and the other with a cheap stolen kitchen knife. The one with the kitchen knife will tell you to "give it up or I'm gonna cutcha". I've found for this type of punk, the promise of him getting his skull bashed in makes them back off. They seem to be leary of a spiky looking blackthorn.

Just use your head and eyes, and there's no problem.
 
The Sons of Silence (bike gang like the Hells Angels) use a padlock attached to a handkerchief and at least a 3 cell flashlight. All completely legal.
 
can of bear spray. their big and have lots of spray. they will fold anyone that gets a faceful and shoot a good 15-20 ft.:D

if you happen to be lighting a cig at the same time you dont have to worry if they covered their eyes.:evil:
 
I've jokingly considered getting old friends who live out-of-state to send me death threats for a few weeks, and then trying to use those to justify a permit.

Maryland lets you have an unloaded rifle or shotgun in your car, and even to carry an unloaded rifle or shotgun (except you can't carry at 'gatherings').
 
When I lived in PG one mile from the district we carried mace, baseball bats (strangely we made these in shop class then carried them in the halls of junior high), air pistols (legal then I think), tennis raquet, pipe wrench (large), tire iron and got to know where all the cops lived just in case we had to run for it. We lived in PG for five years while my father was stationed in DC.

I was stabbed once, mugged by gangs three times, jumped from behind once (literally) and out of all these only took one nasty beating (but hey, there were 9 of those brave souls and only one of me). I can't count the fights at school (the math is fuzzy but I never started any of them and so never got into any trouble). My brother had five bicycles stolen (1 per year), was mugged twice by gangs (once with me). PG is one of the nastiest places in America, pure socialist paradise. I am white and the public school I was bused several miles to (before we went private school) was 91% black. Being white and not a criminal and not stupid makes you a target and fast a learner.

I will never go back and you can't make me. Move to Virginia you will be much happier I was.
 
Having lived in Maryland for most of my 68 years, I've almost never needed a firearm going about my daily business. The few times I had a difficulty, my blackthorn walking stick did very well.
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My 13 year old daughter spends 48 hours in Baltimore and gets mugged. She was in a high-end mall, with a field trip. I Got the call last night. She is fine, it could have been worse but still.... You just never know.
 
Sorry to hear that about your daughter. FYI - Baltimore has no high end malls.

The only mall resembling high-end that I've found in Maryland is the Columbia Mall (and the outlet mall when you're almost in PA).
 
Sorry to hear that about your daughter. FYI - Baltimore has no high end malls.

The only mall resembling high-end that I've found in Maryland is the Columbia Mall
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That's exactly what flashed through my mind. Was it Columbia Mall?

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Anyway, for whatever it's worth, I carry one of these:

http://www.pepperblaster.com/

Once I reached for it, but didn't draw, when a guy tried to set me up for a robbery upon leaving a suburban bank on a sunny afternoon. Alertness is what saved me.

Once I was very glad I had it when I spent about 5 minutes facing down a threatening German Shepherd. The dog finally backed down, obviously confused by my confidence.

And once I actually used it, in an absurd episode I posted about last year:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=388825

There are a lot of situations where something like this has more utility than a firearm. If I had a Maryland permit, I'd still carry both.
 
No, it was the pentagon city mall.... The school officials called it a high-end mall... keep in mind we live in Southern Maine, where we have only one mall.

"ROBBERY, 6/30/2009, 1100 block of S. Hayes Street On June 29 at 6:30 pm, a juvenile female was walking in the mall when an unknown male pushed her to the ground and stole her purse. She was injured. The suspect is described as an African American male between 18 and 22 years old, 5’10” and180 lbs. He was wearing a grey shirt with a design on the front, and tan shorts "

I prefer to call her my daughter, but Juvenile Female works....
 
A LOT depends on where you go.

Generally, if you avoid Prince George's County, Baltimore, and maybe Montgomery County, you are pretty safe.

And Annapolis Mall is quite upscale...except for the lousy parking.
 
It sounds like small town kid roaming around the big city in condition white, while being oblivious to who's around her. Tourists are prime game in most big cities.

Baltimore and the surounding counties are no more dangerous than any other part of the country with equal population. The prime ingreadiant in defending yourself is being aware of what and who is around you.

I'm sorry for what happened to your child, but how would a firearm have helped when hit from behind and purse snatched? Your daughter was hit by surprise, and nothing at that point was going to prevent her from being robbed. If the gun had been in her purse, you'd now have a former strong arm robber that is now an armed robber. If she'd had a gun on her person, and shot him in the back as he fled, she'd be in jail. But since she was a juvinille, she'd not have had a gun anyways.

This is just a typical case of a small town kid in a big city that was unaware and unprepared for local dangers. The sharks size up a victim carefully before hitting them. I suspect your daughter had made a purchase or something, had flashed money in a store when paying, and/or was carrying her purse in a relaxed mannor, making it easy to snatch.

Oh, the Pentigon City mall is in Arlington Virginia, not Baltimore. There's a lot of real estate between them, as well as a state border. The Pentagon city mall is a high end mall, just outside Washinton D.C., walking distance from the building of the same name, and Arlington National Cemetary.
 
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It sounds like small town kid roaming around the big city in condition white, while being oblivious to who's around her. Tourists are prime game in most big cities.
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Yeah, I will talk to her tonight... no more Disney, she needs to start watching tactical impact like all other normal 13 year old girls.

I'm sorry for what happened to your child, but how would a firearm have helped when hit from behind and purse snatched?
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I am having a hard time finding where I said she should carry a firearm. I was just stating that you never know what can happen where.

This is just a typical case of a small town kid in a big city that was unaware and unprepared for local dangers.
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I think that a city is a sesspool if a kid cannot just be a kid, and needs to walk around in condition orange.

Oh, the Pentigon City mall is in Arlington Virginia, not Baltimore. There's a lot of real estate between them, as well as a state border. The Pentagon city mall is a high end mall, just outside Washinton D.C., walking distance from the building of the same name, and Arlington National Cemetary.
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You can have it all, and keep the change.
 
Quote:
It sounds like small town kid roaming around the big city in condition white, while being oblivious to who's around her. Tourists are prime game in most big cities.

Yeah, I will talk to her tonight... no more Disney, she needs to start watching tactical impact like all other normal 13 year old girls.


Quote:
I'm sorry for what happened to your child, but how would a firearm have helped when hit from behind and purse snatched?

I am having a hard time finding where I said she should carry a firearm. I was just stating that you never know what can happen where.


Quote:
This is just a typical case of a small town kid in a big city that was unaware and unprepared for local dangers.

I think that a city is a sesspool if a kid cannot just be a kid, and needs to walk around in condition orange.


Quote:
Oh, the Pentigon City mall is in Arlington Virginia, not Baltimore. There's a lot of real estate between them, as well as a state border. The Pentagon city mall is a high end mall, just outside Washinton D.C., walking distance from the building of the same name, and Arlington National Cemetary.

You can have it all, and keep the change.


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I'm sorry your daughters experiance in our area was so bad, but I can only wonder if she was under any sort of adult supervision. If you live in a small Maybery type of town, and send a child to the big city unsurported, bad things can and do happen time. Was she with a school trip, or youth group?

I can understand your anger, even if it's a bit misplaced. Cities like Washington, New York, London, and Paris, offer great experiances and culture unavailable anywhere else in the world. The British Museum in London would take a week of your time, and you'd never see all of it. The Louve in Paris has some of the most beautiful works of art the hands of man has ever created, but like London, there's some parts of Paris that you don't want to blunder into if you don't live there. But do you never go just because there's a off chance some Parisian gutter rat with a knife may try to take your wallet? Do you just stay home and never go see the wonders? But because cities have more people, there are more problems if you're unaware of who's around you. At 13, your child is becoming old enough to be made aware of the bad in this life. If this means less Disney, so be it. It's up to you how you raise your daughter, but someday she's going to leave your little Mayberry, and she needs to be ready for the real world. This is your job.

When I served in the army, we had some guys from very small towns, and they were the most naive guys I'd ever seen. When we were stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood, and went to St. Louis for a weekend, they were sitting ducks for street guys. Those of us from places Like Washington, New York, New Jersey, had to keep watch over them, as they'd never had any experiance with life outside thier little country town. Thier parents did them no favors.

If your angry at what you call a cesspool, is it because down inside, you sent your daughter off without somebody who could watch over her while she was on strange turf? Who was your child supposed to be with? If you're in Maine, was she visiting family? In the end, you have a small town naive girl not under adult supervision. It sounds like you need to re-direct your anger.

Cesspools of cities, as you call them, are filled with great things. But it's like the girl in the red shoes told her dog, "We're not in Kansass anymore, Toto." You just have to recognize that you're someplace different, and act accordingly. Be careful.

It sounds like you have to question the person who was supposed to be watching your daughter.

And think about this; in 5 years, your little girl is going to be going off to college. It may be out of state. Then she's going to be going out in the real world. She needs to be ready for it, and it's your responcibility. Being 13 now is not like being 13 was 20 years ago. Again, I'm sorry for what happened to your child, but consider it a wake up call. Start her education now. When she goes off to school, she's going to be around people from all over. City kids are way ahead of country kids when it comes down to real life. Dont let your daughter be coming from way behind. The country kids I saw in the service got snockered, conned, and gyped at many turns before they got wise. Teach your daughter now. Enrole her in a good Martial arts program, and start teaching her observence. I did this with my own daughter, and she with my grandchildren. The young learn fast. Play observing games with them in public. Make it fun, with lunch at the resuraunt of thier choice as prize.

Cities can be a great learning experiance or a bad experiance. It's up to the individual how it's going to turn out. And it's up to you to teach your little girl to get by in the world. She needs to learn now.
 
I lived in Laurel, Maryland for 57 years. We moved to Georgia upon my retirement. The reason was the crowded roads, not crime. I wanted a city like the Laurel of the late 1940's, early 1950's. The county that we now live in has a total of 25,000 people.

Now, Laurel was in Prince George's County, the northern tip, by Montgomery, Howard, and Anne Arundel. While the area was developed in the 1960's-1990's, it was still a place where you could feel safe at night, for the most part. I agree with Mr. Levitan about cities. They hold great promise, but also danger. D.C. has some of the nicest museums, restaurants, shopping, entertainment, and monuments in the world. However, amongst them are places that shouldn't be visited as sight-seeing expeditions, even during the day.

Atlanta is about 80 miles from us. It, too, has some spectacular sights, and some areas to avoid. ANY big city, and many not-so-big cities, have areas where the naive will end up as prey. You can either educate your young, or accompany them. Blaming an entire city for what happened to an unaccompanied female teenager is unrealistic at best.
 
She was with a group of 4 other kids (over 100 in total....) and she also had an adult chaperone close by... not close enough.

She is plenty educated, a good shooter and this was her very first time in a city without her parents. Not her first time, we go to Boston and Portland many times a year, and NYC at least once or twice a year. Nice places to visit, wouldnt want to live there.

I am thankful for all of you that live in these cities and take care of whatever it is you take care of.

As far as how I raise my kids... well... thanks for you opinions and as they say, you get what you paid for...
 
One more thing Carl.... I agree with a lot that you say, and I also have talked to my daughter about this a lot. She wore a bright yellow hand purse, NOT a shoulder strap... she was on the phone. She had indeed noticed the thugs before hand, had her friends... just because they were "cute"....

The thugs were both 6' +/- men around 180-200#'s so.

Your advice has not missed the target, I am just a little fumed and to have you come off with your "country" folk attitude just pissed me off more. Sorry I took offense.

Leroy
 
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