mercop
Member.
I have been in been in law enforcement for well over a decade and have always been mandated to carry OC Spray. While still active duty Military Police I became and instructor and over the years have seen street applications of OC approx 20-25 times under various conditions. That said I have never seen it used by a civilian so I my points on civilian carry are only conjecture and educated opinion.
The biggest problem facing a civilian and the carry of OC is the fact that unless it is in your hand at the time of the attack and your thumb is on the button the chance of being able to deploy it is slim. This would require that whenever in any kind of a danger area you would have it in your hand. If I had to have something in my hand against an unknown threat it would be a Surefire or some kind of a pocket stick.
The second problem is that it does absolutely nothing to stop or control the mechanism of the attack. For most people it only causes massive discomfort and involuntary closing of the eyes. During the many times that I have been cross contaminated I never felt that it at all hindered my ability to inflict damage on any opponent that I could feel in my hands. If anything it motivated me to hold on and become even more violent. Thus if someone in within conversation distance where they would have to be to assault or rob you and you spray them and they bum rush forward and get there hands on you they really don’t need their eyes anymore. What would OC do to defend against multiple attackers?
On the subject of cross contamination, do you wear contacts? Do you or your family members have any respiratory issues? Have you ever really been sprayed to see what your physical reaction will be? What is the chance of you being in a place that has no breeze at all when you have to use the OC? Will it get blown back in your face? How will you feel when you can’t see your attacker anymore than he can see you? The OODA Loop is Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. Hard to have OODA without Observe. Do you plan on using it for anti-car jacking? The idea is to be able to leave the area. How well do you think you will be able to drive with even a little OC in your eyes?
OC is also a prohibited item in federal building and commercial flights. Do you want the primary tool in your EDC arsenal to be something that is unexplainable as anything other that what it is or would you rather carry Surefire, heavy pen or a pocket stick of whatever variety that could be carried even in the most secure environments?
OC for police is a stand off or crowd control tool at best When you don’t have or don’t wish to use a Taser and Billy Badass says that he is not going to jail you can sometimes make him comply buy taking the OC and shaking it. Same goes for using it to threaten people to back up. Sometimes they will just give up. But what if they don’t? If you do spray them you still have to go hands on at some point and then they have to go in your car. Again what if you do get cross contaminated? How well can you defend your gun?
I have NEVER seen OC used by police during a spontaneous or flash attack. And they more so than civilians have it right there on their belt in a pretty little pouch. Chances are that a civilian or plain clothes officer will have to dig in a pocket or glove box for theirs?
My advise for civilians and off duty LE would be to always have an impact weapon close at hand.
And as for uniform LE, get off your lazy ass and learn to use whatever stick you are issued or allowed to carry. It should be your go to tool after empty hand techniques.
If there was one thing that I could take off my duty belt it would be that little bull**** vial of Karate in a can. OC has never and will never make up for lack of training.
The biggest problem facing a civilian and the carry of OC is the fact that unless it is in your hand at the time of the attack and your thumb is on the button the chance of being able to deploy it is slim. This would require that whenever in any kind of a danger area you would have it in your hand. If I had to have something in my hand against an unknown threat it would be a Surefire or some kind of a pocket stick.
The second problem is that it does absolutely nothing to stop or control the mechanism of the attack. For most people it only causes massive discomfort and involuntary closing of the eyes. During the many times that I have been cross contaminated I never felt that it at all hindered my ability to inflict damage on any opponent that I could feel in my hands. If anything it motivated me to hold on and become even more violent. Thus if someone in within conversation distance where they would have to be to assault or rob you and you spray them and they bum rush forward and get there hands on you they really don’t need their eyes anymore. What would OC do to defend against multiple attackers?
On the subject of cross contamination, do you wear contacts? Do you or your family members have any respiratory issues? Have you ever really been sprayed to see what your physical reaction will be? What is the chance of you being in a place that has no breeze at all when you have to use the OC? Will it get blown back in your face? How will you feel when you can’t see your attacker anymore than he can see you? The OODA Loop is Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. Hard to have OODA without Observe. Do you plan on using it for anti-car jacking? The idea is to be able to leave the area. How well do you think you will be able to drive with even a little OC in your eyes?
OC is also a prohibited item in federal building and commercial flights. Do you want the primary tool in your EDC arsenal to be something that is unexplainable as anything other that what it is or would you rather carry Surefire, heavy pen or a pocket stick of whatever variety that could be carried even in the most secure environments?
OC for police is a stand off or crowd control tool at best When you don’t have or don’t wish to use a Taser and Billy Badass says that he is not going to jail you can sometimes make him comply buy taking the OC and shaking it. Same goes for using it to threaten people to back up. Sometimes they will just give up. But what if they don’t? If you do spray them you still have to go hands on at some point and then they have to go in your car. Again what if you do get cross contaminated? How well can you defend your gun?
I have NEVER seen OC used by police during a spontaneous or flash attack. And they more so than civilians have it right there on their belt in a pretty little pouch. Chances are that a civilian or plain clothes officer will have to dig in a pocket or glove box for theirs?
My advise for civilians and off duty LE would be to always have an impact weapon close at hand.
And as for uniform LE, get off your lazy ass and learn to use whatever stick you are issued or allowed to carry. It should be your go to tool after empty hand techniques.
If there was one thing that I could take off my duty belt it would be that little bull**** vial of Karate in a can. OC has never and will never make up for lack of training.