<p>With two robberies of fellow college students near campus in the past two weeks D is asking about personal alarms or pepper or mace sprays. During the last robbery a gun was used to rob three students who were in a group - one female undergrad and two male grad students. In the previous robbery an individual approached a student asking if he wanted to buy drugs and when the student said no, asked him how much money he had. Student pulled out wallet and individual took wallet and ran! Both robberies were off campus, but very near to campus - in one case across the street.</p>
<p>Anyone have any recommendations for personal alarms or pepper sprays? </p>
<p>I have brought up the idea of a throw-away wallet with $10 or $20 dollars and and an old cell phone in case she is ever in a situation. I don't think the robber is going to look in the wallet or check to see of the cell phone works.</p>
<p>I am also leaning more towards a personal alarm instead of pepper spray.</p>
<p>Suggestions welcomed. I am not disclosing the name of the university or more details of the robberies. These events happen everywhere - just a few weeks ago there was a robber who pulled a gun on a student demanding his wallet at the major university in the city where I live!</p>
<p>Judging from I've seen on "Cops", pepper spray can often be ineffective and doesn't usually set the perp into a good mood. It's better than nothing though if physical violence will be used by the perp. There are also personal Taser guns that might be more useful. A handgun in well-trained hands can be even more effective. No matter what one gets I suppose they need to make sure it's allowable on-campus (which probably excludes the handgun).</p>
<p>Venturing about in a group of 3 or more individuals, loud noise, running, 'decoy' wallets/phones, and a major effort to improve security in the areas adjacent to that campus would probably be the best bet. Taking a few self-defense classes would be a good idea as well and they might be offered on-campus.</p>
<p>Note - I'm not actually recommending the handgun.</p>
<p>If she would feel better, she should look into taking a self defense class. She could even look into getting a student group to organize a free class for students if she can't find one on or near campus.</p>
<p>There are robberies and other attacks around my college sometimes, which is in an urban area. All students are given whistles, affectionately referred to as "rape whistles," when they start college. Many students keep their whistles attached to their ID wallets on a keychain. I'm not sure how effective it would be unless you're actively running from someone (would you be able to get into your pocket and then blow the whistle?). If something like that would make your daughter feel safer, it's really easy to do. I'd be careful with anything that could cause potential harm. Drunk college students fooling around and something like mace or a personal taser gun seems like a terrible combination to me.</p>
<p>Ever since I was about 17, I have carried a pocketknife with me most places I go. I used to be paranoid that some kind of confrontation was always going to happen, but none ever did during high school. As a student in Boston, I keep an eye out walking down the street. One night a guy starts threatning me for no reason (slightly drunk and very aggressive). I brandish my knife when he starts insinuating he wants to fight. He was smart enough to back off. I now carry a semi-switchblade with me most places I go. (The blade is never fully concealed so I don't believe it could be considered illegal, though the spring motion of the blade may deem it such. I never really put much thought into it.) Anyone who feels unsafe at night should take the precaution of carrying some sort of weapon to protect themselves. Pepper spray is very ineffective unless you get a perfectly clean straight shot. Most guys would cover their face while violently getting the can out of the hand of the girl. And the whistle only works if you truly believe that someone will come running to your aid, which unfortunately doesn't happen as often as people would like to assume. A self-defense class is never a bad idea. I guess the best defense is simply the smarts to ackowledge your surroundings and making the right choices to keep yourself out of harms way as best as possible.</p>
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Note - I'm not actually recommending the handgun.
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<p>Well, if you won't, I will - if you live in a free state (read: not CA, WI, IL) and are over 21, get yourself a lot of training and then a CCW and carry whenever you legally can. :D Situational awareness is never a bad thing, either.</p>
<p>The OP is referring to college students most of whom are under 21 and many of whom live on-campus and all of whom are walking on-campus. I assume many campuses prohibit handguns on campus and in the dorms.</p>
<p>Picture the state of many students on, for example, a Thursday night. I wouldn't want drunk students wandering around with handguns. Also, if the person isn't properly trained (you pointed out training but some wouldn't bother) they're likely to shoot themselves, a bystander, or no one (safety's on, no round chambered, etc.). If the person doesn't have the right mental state to be willing shoot the bad guy if absolutely necessary, and many wouldn't, it's likely the bad guy would just take the gun away from the student and might use it on them.</p>
<p>So, I wouldn't recommend a handgun for a college student.</p>
<p>Awareness of surroundings and sticking to appropriate ones, traveling in groups, not walking about drunk (and therefore even more vulnerable), getting trained in self-defense, and working with local authorities to impove safety would be the best approach.</p>
<p>^ I certainly wouldn't want drunk college students wandering the streets with loaded pistols either. However, I do believe that there are certain college students who have the mental maturity to understand and handle the responsibility well (I have met plenty of college students who I would be totally comfortable with CCW-ing). It is certainly a personal decision, but one that I think should be taken seriously. I can't help but think about what would have happened at Virginia Tech if students/professors had been allowed to CCW. Probably would have turned out like the Appalachian State shooting.</p>
<p>I think the main problem with pepper spray is that if it accidentally discharged it could give your daughter some BIG problems. They could have to evacuate her entire dorm, or an entire academic building, and she could be liable for any damages or injuries -- it's a bad scenario. </p>
<p>I confess that I carry it when I walk my dogs, but it is to protect us against aggressive dogs, not aggressive people. (I don't really have much of a plan for an aggressive person...)</p>
<p>I think a self defense class might be good. Having something sharp in her hand (a pen, a key, a hard cell phone antenna - NOT a knife which could be used against her and lethally) to surprise an attacker with a poked out eye is one plan I guess.</p>
<p>Being smart about where you are and who is around is the best defense.</p>
<p>Thank you weenie - I had forgotten about accidental discharges. I just looked at the Guardian Angel brand and it looks difficult to accidentally discharge. After I read your post I could see that the ones I had been looking at might accidentally discharge - that would be awful!!</p>
<p>I did speak to her university's police department today and they did not even know what a personal alarm was. After I explained to the officer what they were he thought it was a good idea. I did not discuss mace or pepper spray as I am not convinced these are the best option. He had never heard of a throwaway wallet or phone before either. I am beginning to wonder just what practical advice they actually give students besides telling them to travel in more than a group of two! </p>
<p>She has taken kickboxing classes and has felt comfortable on campus previously. The last robbery disturbed her as it was a group of students - two males and one female. As she said - the university police tells them to always be in a group and that did not help these three.</p>
<p>I just read today about an armed robber who entered a cafe near another campus - from the article it was unclear if the cafe was on or near campus. He went up to a table, showed a gun, opened a duffle bag and told the students to put their laptops in the duffle. He walked away with six laptops!</p>
<p>So being smart about where you are an who is around would not work in a situation like that. Neither would pepper spray!</p>
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I can't help but think about what would have happened at Virginia Tech if students/professors had been allowed to CCW. Probably would have turned out like the Appalachian State shooting.
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<p>I never get how this accounts for the fact the worst mass shooting happened in one of the places with pretty lax gun control as it is. Look how that's working out for us. This is a mental health issue, and allowing it to devolve purely into a security and gun control issue is really superficial and doing the commonwealth a disservice. It could have just as easily been worse with more guns. When police go into that situation with weapons, they have to plan before, they don't just run in all around because our experience tells us that then people end up shooting where they shouldn't be. He had the element of surprise in both incidents, hundreds of exploding rounds, and very powerful weapons. It wouldn't "probably" have turned out like anything. I'm tired of the wild speculation about "well what if they had just fought back". It could just as easily go one way as the other, and it could have been worse if more weapons were involved. Besides, it was one floor of one building on a campus of about 30,000. It's not like automatically the people in there were applying for a CCW. Actually I have no evidence that anyone of them ever fought for that or showed any interest. Certainly the people I know who were there did not.</p>
<p>An army ranger friend strongly suggested that I get pepper spray for D - when I told him where she went to school, he was ready to buy it for her himself! His wife is a jogger and doesn't leave home without it. D is trained in self-defense, but appreciates having the pepper spray readily available. Her roommates also keep pepper spray near the front door to the apartment. Some states require a permit to carry it.</p>
<p>I got a "personal alarm" at a sporting goods store. It looks like a "beeper" from the 90's with a pin that you easily pull out, similar to a hand grenade. It lets out a VERY loud shrill that will at least attract attention.</p>
<p>So, I wouldn't recommend a handgun for a college student.
I don't see anything that leads me to believe that one's age or attendance at college should factor into the decision to carry a concealed weapon or not to carry a concealed weapon. I don't get this part. Why wouldn't an objectively more physically fit group with better eyesight and reflexes be a better choice than let's say -a well armed nursing home? I'm not a fan of handguns and don't own one but I see no reason that college students be considered less capable. Most of our front line soldiers and some of our police are under age 22.</p>
<p>There are no accidental discharges of pepper sprays: they have safety latches and are safe as they get. Even the cheapest brands.</p>
<p>As for the best one: somebody mentioned earlier a GuardianAngel - this is by far the best brand. </p>
<p>Sites that sell Guardian Angel pepper spray will also sell you personal alarms.
The alarms are between $12-$20. </p>
<p>Don't want to spam web addresses in the forum but You can get it online: just type "guardian angel pepper spray" in your browesr and you'll get there. </p>
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I don't see anything that leads me to believe that one's age or attendance at college should factor into the decision to carry a concealed weapon or not to carry a concealed weapon.
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If a college student had the appropriate training, mental state, a reasonable place to safely keep the weapon, and roommates that had no issues with it then I agree but I doubt most college students fit this description - JMO. The soldiers carrying weapons all receive a lot of training and they can only carry their weapons under certain conditions. </p>
<p>I actually had some guns while I was in college (not living in a dorm) although no handgun and I never felt compelled to carry one - I just avoided unsafe areas.</p>