Thursday, July 09, 2009

Just One Problem

Got an email forwarded from a friend:
Wasp Spray

I have a friend who is a receptionist in a church in a high risk area who was concerned about someone coming into the office on Monday to rob them when they were counting the collection. She asked the local police department about using pepper spray and they recommended to her that she get a can of wasp spray instead. The wasp spray, they told her, can shoot up to twenty feet away and is a lot more accurate, while with the pepper spray they have to get too close to you and could overpower you. The wasp spray temporarily blinds an attacker until they get to the hospital for an antidote. She keeps a can on her desk in the office and it doesn’t attract attention from people like a can of pepper spray would. She also keeps one nearby at home for home protection. Thought this was interesting and might be of use...
One problem. Check the can:
It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling.
You could be arrested. And sued.

Me, if I feel inclined to squirt somebody in the face with wasp spray, I'm not going to be inclined to....well, I've probably said enough.

11 comments:

USCitizen said...

... or you could use spray-on oven cleaner.

Because that wouldn't be racist against WASPs.

GunRights4US said...

Officer...I felt that my life was in grave peril and I had no choice but to shoot. Please excuse me, I'm very upset now and I feel it's in my best interests to answer no further questions until my attorney arrives.

chris said...

carburetor cleaner is a bitch when it gets in the eyes... dont ask how i know this...

with any poison based spray, you run the risk of killing someone... if you are gonna chance that, you might as well toss lead in their direction...

Johnnyreb™ said...

I've heard that ordinary oven cleaner works great ...

bwm said...

This was on Snopes a while ago -- http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/waspspray.asp

My favorite part of their article was this:

The active ingredient in most wasp sprays are pyrethrins, compounds derived from a species of the chrysanthemum plant which penetrate the nervous systems of insects and kill them. Since wasp sprays are not formulated to be used directly on human beings, some critics maintain, they should not be employed as a form of non-lethal self-defense, as their safety and effectiveness for this purpose has not been sufficiently tested, and the toxic effects of pyrethrin could potentially be much more harmful than expected.

Because harming the attacker is what I'm worried about in a self defense situation, right?

nezumi said...

Yes, you should. Because an attacker who survives, but is permanently blind, now has grounds for a lawsuit against you. You wouldn't be the first.

Unfortunately the woman in this case consulted the wrong people. She needs to talk with a lawyer, who is personally bound if someone follows his professional advice. Police, surprisingly often, know little about the law, and have no liability if you follow their bad advice.

It is better to kill an intruder dead with a gun and keep your trap shut until your lawyer is on the scene, than to use anything inappropriate (most especially a chemical) in self defense, or utter a word about it without legal representation. The police are always your friends until they think they can bring you in for something. Don't give them the excuse.

MamaLiberty said...

Another thought here... If the attacker has glasses of any kind on, especially the snug sunglasses so often worn, there will be little chance of incapacitation with any such chemical - but a good chance of making the criminal angry enough to wring your neck! And that is regardless of any subsequent harm he/she may experience.

The defender may well be dead long before the attacker even feels the spray.

I'll stick to my trusty .45 if it's all the same to everyone. I KNOW that's going to stop the attack.

Defender said...

No sympathy for aggressors. In most cases here of them getting what they were begging for from an armed victim, they turned out to have a long record of violence of increasing severity. But you knew that.
I imagine the worst feeling in the world would be dimly seeing and hearing an attacker enraged by my puny household chemical "defense" go on to inflict terror, pain and death on innocent people around me, as I bleed out on the floor.
If I expect trouble, shotgun. If I don't, handgun.

Armed Texan said...

GunRights4US,

Too wordy. A simple, "I'll wait for my lawyer," is the safest way to go.

Rabbit said...

Lysol spray and a Bic lighter would be effective, too.

I wouldn't take any of these suggestions over a S&W 36, though.

Regards,
Rabbit

Rivrdog said...

Four words: "choice of evils defense".

It would work here.

BTW, that is a serious stream from the wasp spray, and it will get by glasses, and one microdroplet in an eye will close that eye, so the wringing of your neck is not likely to happen if you get a couple of seconds of the stream on the assailant's face.

BTW2, whatever you do, don't light a cigarette after the baddie goes down. That spray is VERY flammable. Your choice of evils defense might not hold up if you first blind him then torch him afterward.