imported post
This is a really good piece. Why can't we have more people in the media like this, and a few good professors in our universities that "get it" too!
]http://www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2007/10/29/Opinion/Safety.Guy.Gun.Training-3062808.shtml]
Safety Guy gun training
Karl Spaulding
Issue date: 10/29/07
There are some folks who oppose weapons carry for college students. "Whether it's a handgun or mace, there's always the chance the criminal could use the weapon against that person," said University Police Assistant Chief Rick Amweg in Friday's Lantern. He's right. Cops get their weapons taken away from them, too. Why then is Amweg not taking his cops' guns away from them? Not only do they carry their guns unconcealed, they're wearing easy-to-spot uniforms. "Hey, I have a gun. Come take it." What's up with that?
What's up is instead of whining that cops shouldn't be armed because they could have their weapons taken away, they've developed solutions. Body armor, security holsters and weapons retention training are some of the solutions. Don't pass another useless law, but give personnel the best training and equipment possible.
It's the same with anyone else, including students who have Ohio carry licenses or who carry a defensive spray. We need to ensure that those who carry weapons understand the actual problems they face. The question is not really is there a chance they could be disarmed, but how much of a chance?
Give me 10 motivated OSU students to take my six-hour intro to self-defense course. This is where students learn to recognize and respond to criminal setups. Learning mental conditioning and simple hand-to-hand combat techniques gives students a chance to survive an unforeseen attack, with or without weapons.
Then I'll add two hours of pepper spray and weapons concepts training. Here is where hand-to-hand begins to be seamlessly melded with weaponry into a true operating system rather than just some gal who has pepper spray at the bottom of her purse.
Finally, we set up some training scenarios in which bad guy role players will try to take cans of mace away from properly trained defenders. This would take some work, to figure out what we are measuring and how to go about it fairly. One thing we would not measure is the effectiveness of pepper spray. No, it won't stop a determined attacker. It's not useless, either. There are some problems to overcome, but nothing is impossible.
Remember, this is a university. We do research, right? This is research. What exactly happens when an armed student resists a criminal attack? Stats don't show this, but we can recreate it as closely as we can. No, it's not perfect and it won't be the last word. But my services will be free - as will students' participation - and I already have most of the equipment.
I'm willing to put my money and my reputation where my mouth is. It will take some time and effort and maybe a few bruises on the part of maybe two dozen folks, including me.
Let's see if the opposition steps up to the plate, or makes silly excuses.
Karl Spaulding is The Lantern's Safety Guy. E-mail him at spaulding.10@osu.edu.
This is a really good piece. Why can't we have more people in the media like this, and a few good professors in our universities that "get it" too!
]http://www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2007/10/29/Opinion/Safety.Guy.Gun.Training-3062808.shtml]
Safety Guy gun training
Karl Spaulding
Issue date: 10/29/07
There are some folks who oppose weapons carry for college students. "Whether it's a handgun or mace, there's always the chance the criminal could use the weapon against that person," said University Police Assistant Chief Rick Amweg in Friday's Lantern. He's right. Cops get their weapons taken away from them, too. Why then is Amweg not taking his cops' guns away from them? Not only do they carry their guns unconcealed, they're wearing easy-to-spot uniforms. "Hey, I have a gun. Come take it." What's up with that?
What's up is instead of whining that cops shouldn't be armed because they could have their weapons taken away, they've developed solutions. Body armor, security holsters and weapons retention training are some of the solutions. Don't pass another useless law, but give personnel the best training and equipment possible.
It's the same with anyone else, including students who have Ohio carry licenses or who carry a defensive spray. We need to ensure that those who carry weapons understand the actual problems they face. The question is not really is there a chance they could be disarmed, but how much of a chance?
Give me 10 motivated OSU students to take my six-hour intro to self-defense course. This is where students learn to recognize and respond to criminal setups. Learning mental conditioning and simple hand-to-hand combat techniques gives students a chance to survive an unforeseen attack, with or without weapons.
Then I'll add two hours of pepper spray and weapons concepts training. Here is where hand-to-hand begins to be seamlessly melded with weaponry into a true operating system rather than just some gal who has pepper spray at the bottom of her purse.
Finally, we set up some training scenarios in which bad guy role players will try to take cans of mace away from properly trained defenders. This would take some work, to figure out what we are measuring and how to go about it fairly. One thing we would not measure is the effectiveness of pepper spray. No, it won't stop a determined attacker. It's not useless, either. There are some problems to overcome, but nothing is impossible.
Remember, this is a university. We do research, right? This is research. What exactly happens when an armed student resists a criminal attack? Stats don't show this, but we can recreate it as closely as we can. No, it's not perfect and it won't be the last word. But my services will be free - as will students' participation - and I already have most of the equipment.
I'm willing to put my money and my reputation where my mouth is. It will take some time and effort and maybe a few bruises on the part of maybe two dozen folks, including me.
Let's see if the opposition steps up to the plate, or makes silly excuses.
Karl Spaulding is The Lantern's Safety Guy. E-mail him at spaulding.10@osu.edu.