Have you been hit with pepper spray lately? If the answer is no, then you probably weren't trying to buy an Xbox on Black Friday, participating in the occupy movement, or taking class at a N.Y. city high school.
A number of people have been on the receiving end of this self-defense tool. The most recent being last Tuesday in N.Y. when a young girl sprayed her fellow students indiscriminately with pepper spray.
How does it work? OC (oleoresin capsicum) is an inflammatory agent. Contact with mucous membranes like eyes, nose, throat and lungs cause instant capillary dilation. This results in major tearing of the eyes, if not temporary blindness, and breathing restriction.
Pepper spray is getting a bad name due to the extent it has been used in non-violent confrontations.
If citizens continue the foolish use of this effective self-defense tool expect more states to limit its sale. Police and other law enforcement entities are not going to be affected, just average citizens who are only interested using it for self-defense.
Massachusetts - you must have a Firearms Identification Card (FID) to possess and/or use pepper spray
New York - pepper spray must be purchased from a New York state licensed firearm dealer or pharmacist
Wisconsin - state formulations do not allow UV dye in pepper spray
California: Weight restricted to 2.5 ounces (about 70 grams
The Good:
1) Pepper spray is an effective and easy to use self-defense tool. When used properly it can temporarily incapacitate an attacker and allow the victim to escape.
2) It is relatively harmless and the effects wear off in approximately 30 - 90 minutes.
3) Since it has no long-term side effects it is a great personal safety solution for those who don't have it in them to physically hurt anyone.
The Bad:
1) Shopper at Wal-Mart using pepper spray for the purpose of getting first dibs on an X-box! Really, you needed to score an X-box so badly that you would spray your fellow citizens to get it?
2) This video showing a New York City police commander spraying female protesters who were standing behind a police barricade.
3) The photo of a University of California at Davis police officer pepper-sprays students during a campus demonstration Nov. 18.
The Ugly:
1) The use of pepper spray on Dorli Rainey, 84, during an Occupy Seattle protest on Nov. 15 at Westlake Park in Seattle.
2) Megyn Kelly and Bill O'Reilly down playing the U of C use of pepper spray on protesters, “It’s a derivative of actual pepper, it’s a food product, essentially. A lot of experts are looking at saying is that the real deal. Has it been diluted?” O’Reilly, thinking that the product used on the students wasn’t too severe, said, “They should have had more of a reaction, than that!”
3) The intensity of Defense Technology's various pepper sprays is based on "Major Capaicinoid content." The lowest concentration, 0.2 percent, is authorized for tactical deployment. A concentration of 1.3 percent is powerful enough to stop a bear. The type used on the students has a rating of 0.7 percent. The manufacturer recommends the spray be used at a minimum distance of six feet, yet the officers in this case sprayed it on sitting students at near-point blank range.
If you choose to protest using civil disobedience techniques, as many of the occupy movement have done, keep in mind that you may pay a price.
Being pepper sprayed or arrested may be part of the cost. If you are allergic to pepper spray or have other physical conditions that would be affected by pepper spray then you may want to disperse when told to do so by authorities.
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