If it was a Raven .25, I'd have thrown it out the window too. I "confiscated" one from a gang banger kid who threatened me with it. He peed his pants and ran when he ended up on the ground and I had his pop gun.
I called the Milwaukee PD and gave it to them with a description kid. The cop who came to take the gun only shook his head and chuckled at the "toys kids carry these days".
Eric,
I'm quite proficient with a few melee weapons. 20yrs of martial arts practice in Karate, Kenjutsu, Wu Shu and Hung Gar have taught me how to effectively wield a katana, staff, dao (chinese broad sword), nunchaku (worthless btw as weapons) and the fighting sticks (commonly known as escrima). I have a small 2 sword rack on my wall with my Shinto era katana and my shingen katana (the modern one I use for practice). They're both real, folded and dual tempered -- combat ready. I also have 2 spears leaning in a corner of my living room and two staves leaning in the opposite corner. The spears are 7 ft long while the staves are 6 ft long. I also have a naginata (stainless steel blade so its worthless as a weapon) sitting against the same corner that the spears are in. I have escrima laying about in nearly every corner of my home (I teach friends and family but that's another story). My apartment is 800 sq ft. Extremely small, even smaller yet with furniture. Regardless of all the readily available weaponry, I still keep a loaded pistol in my nightstand and a loaded shotgun next to my bed. All my other firearms go hungry in the safe till the next range trip.
Basically, I'd rather take a gun than a sword, staff or spear. If the perp has a gun, even in my small apartment, there can be distances of 15+ ft with furniture in the way. I'd rather not have to close on a BG in my home to be able to fight with a sword or escrima. I can also say that using a 6+ft weapon in confined spaces like that (especially with standard height ceilings) is awkward and cumbersome. Not ideal for defense in close quarters. Then there's the idea the BG might have a gun. Don't take a knife, sword, staff etc to a gun fight. If they're not within reach, you're dead.
Just my thoughts there... and yes, my choice.
Sam