Faceoff: Should self-defense tools (pepper spray, tasers, etc) be legal everywhere?
The Messenger debates the merits and consequences of legalizing self-defense tools
Graphic by Manasa Premanand, Features Editor
Yes
Ria Dubey, Staff Writer
In recent years, many around the world have begun to speak up in regard to their experiences. Whether it’s harassment, racism, or bullying, there has been a drastic increase in people sharing their stories in an attempt to prevent someone else from experiencing them, but is this enough? According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, approximately 21.3% of women and 2.6% of men are victims of rape. While speaking up about it is a step in the right direction, what we really need to do is to allow people to protect themselves.
In a society that allows guns for self-protection, banning keychains and pepper sprays is ridiculous. The only consequence that can come from allowing self-defense weapons is that young girls will feel safer when walking home from places. It may even give them the courage to stand up to some of the catcalling they face on a daily basis.
Of course, not everyone agrees with this. Some argue that such measures are unnecessary in places like schools or even that allowing these tools will cause more harm than good since attackers will be able to use them too.
To answer the first point, it is important to remember that harassment is not limited to certain spaces or situations. In fact, the Education Department found that sexual violence in schools increased to approximately 15,000 reports in the 2018 to 2019 school year, and according to the National Center of Educational Statistics one in every five students are bullied. And these are just the reported cases. No parent should ever have to worry about the safety of their child while they’re at school, and certainly, no child should have to go to school afraid. If these children had even the slightest chance to defend themselves, many of these cases—many of these traumas—may never have occurred.
Secondly, most assailants already have a weapon or advantage when attacking the victim. Self-defense tools only give the people the chance to fight back. In fact, most self-defense tools don’t even leave lasting damages on a person and are only used to momentarily stall or destabilize the attacker while the victims leave or get help.
Of course, proper instruction and training must follow the legalization of these weapons. There is no use in holding a sword if one does not know how to use it. Schools can even provide classes on how and when to use self-defense weapons to allow people to better understand them. Regulations and repercussions on wrongful use of these weapons, like any other weapon, should evidently also be in place.
And while we absolutely should not have to make these tools legal, society is simply not at a place where everyone can be safe without them. Until the world is a place in which people are safe anywhere and everywhere, it is crucial that people protect themselves by any means necessary.
No
Juliette Salah, Staff Writer
Nowadays, Amazon, Etsy, and even smaller shops sell self-defense tools. These tools come as keychains, necklaces, and rings; some even come as multipurpose umbrellas. For many people, especially women, having these self-defense tools are great ways to feel protected and safe when going out. Some will likely present the idea that these self-defense tools should be legal everywhere. The thing is, such statements tend to assume that we live in a world where people would use these self-defense tools only as methods of protection. The reality, however, is anything but close to that. As a matter of fact, legalizing self-defense weapons everywhere would only risk an increase in violence.
To start, one needs to acknowledge that there are always differences between how one intends to carry out a particular law and how it is actually carried out. In reality, if one was to legalize self-defense tools everywhere, there would be a blurred line in regard to what one considers being a self-defense tool. One could easily take advantage of this blurred line, allowing an increase in the legalization of (perhaps dangerous) “self-defense tools” that are then sold to the general public. It would only take a few ill-intentioned people having access to such “self-defense tools” to cause more damage than currently exists within the status quo.
Even without this blurred line, people would find ways to abuse their right to self-defense tools. For example, take a look at gun rights. Some may think this is rather far-fetched; after all, self-defense weapons are not nearly as dangerous as guns. While that statement is true, incidents revolving around gun rights and owning such weapons show the dangers that can result when one gives irresponsible people tools that they can use to cause harm.
The rationale behind why the U.S. legalized gun ownership was to provide people with a way to protect themselves. Such justifications are close to the logic used to justify legalizing all self-defense tools. Despite the rather innocent thinking behind gun rights, decades of mass shootings, in the streets of cities and towns as well as in schools, show that this is not a world where people can trust one another with any kind of weapon.
In 2019, there were a total of 25 school shootings in K-12 schools in the U.S. While 2020 saw a decrease in that number because of school closures, there was still a total of 10. As long as that number continues to be above zero, it remains too high.
It is simply not worth the risk of escalating violence when these self-defense tools get in the hands of people who have harmful intentions. We just do not live in a world where we can hold each other accountable enough, which is unfortunate, but it goes to show why legalizing self-defense tools could backfire horribly. Even if there was a chance that these self-defense tools may help a few, the risk of worsening already high levels of violence outweighs the possibility that these tools might help a few individuals.
