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From: jla@usl.UUCP (Joe Arceneaux)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: rape and other assorted stuff
Message-ID: <579@usl.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 30-Jun-85 17:37:41 EDT
Article-I.D.: usl.579
Posted: Sun Jun 30 17:37:41 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 1-Jul-85 08:14:17 EDT
References: <191@cuuxa.UUCP> <2919@sdcc3.UUCP> <2301@sun.uucp> <257@kontron.UUCP> <2568@randvax.UUCP> <285@kontron.UUCP>
Reply-To: jla@usl.UUCP (Joe Arceneaux)
Distribution: net
Organization: University of (SW) Louisiana
Lines: 38
Keywords: practice, trial runs
Summary: 

There     has    been  an    amount  of   discussion   concerning  the
usefulness/dangerousness of   carrying  a gun    for defense   against
potential rapists.  What  I am about to say  applies  also, of course,
to protection against other dangers.

The first question  to ask  one's self is "Do  I indeed have a  fairly
reliable  weapon for my defense?"  and if the answer is   no, then one
should avoid to the maximum extent potentially harmful  situations.  I
think  it  is stupid  to ignore such  a basic  question, as apparently
many people do.

A gun may be such a weapon of defense, and so  the issue of whether or
not to carry one is part of  this first question.   Some people may be
quite capable of using  such a weapon, while  certainly  many are not.
I suggest  that  persons considering carrying  a  gun should  do their
best to  determine which category they  fall  into.  Try the following
method.

Go out and buy  a nice water  pistol.  Place it  on your person  where
you  would carry  the real  thing.  Then get  a friend   to go through
various forms  of attacks upon  you,  and see  if   you can squirt the
friend.   Make  the  acted-out  scenarios as  realistic  and varied as
possible.  Decide on the basis of the results.

If the  answer   to the first  question is  "yes," then one  must next
determine in one's mind  a line.  A virtual line,  such that if anyone
crosses it one will take immediate, unhesitating action.  Such a  line
will depend on the situation, as perhaps will the action.  An  example
might be:  a man hassles  a woman through  the course of  the evening,
and the woman decides that IF the guy puts his hands  on her she  will
hit him.  The idea is to have a predetermined  course of action, and a
predetermined  point at  which it will  be applied, no  matter   what.
This can keep one from hesitating until it's too late.
-- 
				    Joe Arceneaux

				    Lafayette, LA
				    {akgua, ut-sally}!usl!jla