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While I am a gun owner and carry concealed frequently, I realize not everyone feels as I do about handling a handgun. A friend of my wife's just sent her a note about what to use for personal protection... it is inexpensive, legal, easy to obtain, and more effective than pepper spray!

WASP SPRAY!

It will shoot 10 to 20 feet, can be found in any hardware store, is non lethal, and inexpensive. Several police departments recommend it over pepper spray.

Most cans say "Not legal for protection"

Brewster Minton wrote:Most cans say "Not legal for protection"

They say that for their own protection....

I checked three different manufacturer's cans, and none said anything about personal protection.. all said, one way or another, that the contents were only to be used according to the written instructions.

If my wife has to deal with a bad guy with a knife or even a gun.. I will support her use of anything she can reach that will neutralize him.

I also have read that wasp spray will kill snakes or mice.

Like any spray and under stress in a self defense situation, wind direction is everything as is pissing off the transom of a boat.

Not everybody understands "down wind".

I also have read that wasp spray will kill snakes or mice.

A lot of insecticides are harmful or fatal to snakes, fish, birds, and small mamals, but they aren't fast acting on other critters like they are on insects. A two second spray of Raid Wasp and Hornet Killer will cause mortality of a small to medium sized snake in 4 to 12 hours. The active ingredient is most often pyrethin.

The labeling actually states "It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling." (Federal law in this case is cited by the EPA, not the ATF or other alphabet agency or congressional legistation...) And the law isn't designed so much to regulate or pursue the end user, but is designed to force manufacturers to include this "scare tactic" on their label.

One distinct advantage of wasp/hornet sprays is availability and low cost, plus it'd be hard to prove that it is being carried as a weapon...

Me, I'll stick to my lead poisoning despensers. My newest being the nifty Taurus MODEL 4510 Public Defender. Shoots either .45 long Colt or .410 shot gun shells. Works much faster on snakes than wasp spray.

patrick...OK...that is a very interesting firearm. what's it like to shoot a 410 out of that little barrel?

Randall,

The recoil and muzzle flip is significant, but not hateful. Length of barrel dosen't really affect anything other than range accuracy. Effective accuracy is about 25' with the .45 long Colt, about 15' with .410 and a shot spread of about 3' at that distance.

Taurus seems to have come a long way since 'The Judge'. They make a whole host of revolvers that shoot those two loads...

http://www.taurususa.com/gun-selector-r ... &toggle=tr

410 slugs are available too.....

Mike,

I figure that since the chamber holds .45 LC, .410 slugs are of less value than the #6 shot for versitility...

In the Sixties when I was flying out in the boonies in Paraguay,I ran into some cowboys (gauchos) along the Brasilian/Argentine border area who carried some lethal looking pieces.One was a fairly modern (for the time) large bore shotgun pistola with double barrels.The other guy had a pistola with a big brass blunderbuss shaped barrell which also was loaded with a large sized shotgun shell.It looked like something one would use to quell riots or repell boarders.
Made my .44 mag Blackhawk look puny in comparison.I suspect that hardware was manufactured in Brasil.

Pat,

Pretty cool looking pistol. I think you were just telling me about that one when your lab decided to make a break for it.

Wished I would have had a little more time to stay when we were passing through, but we needed to head on back to the coast before it was too late. I did enjoy dropping by though, it was nice meeting your sister. Thanks for letting us stop in on such short notice.

I'll have to come back by when I can plan a little more in advance.

Daniel