What’s funny about writing for a magazine?
Correct on all accounts. I was just pretending for a sec how an engineer would approach designing a pair of them, for laughs. After all, if an engineer were to maim or brutalize someone, I figure they would aim to do so as efficiently as possible?
My mind is warped I’m sure
I am going to get slammed for this, but so be it.
I used to be not the Mall Ninja but the knife guy and the sword guy. It’s a little more dramatic when it’s something unusual like swords, but you see the same thing in anything that can catch a person’s interest. There is certainly a lot of women who have weapons and who like weapons and who have hobbies related to weapons, It’s great that gals who are interested in that kind of thing are freer to be open about it these days.
The knife guy or the gun guy is still generally a guy. Women, in my fairly extensive experience, are more likely to find something that suits them and stick with it until something a lot better comes along or their situations change or they find another interest. Men are more likely to geek out and obsess about it.
F’rinstance, my wife and I both have guns. She found a revolver and a pistol tha suited her and has stuck with them for many, many years. Unless something revolutionary comes along and she thinks there’s a good reason to switch she’ll treat it like a weedeater or a toilet brush, a useful thing that needs to work rather than a gadget to geek out over. And that’s more the pattern than not.
We could speculate forever about why that’s the case, signifiers of masculinity, social pressures for and against being interested, comparative disposable income, whatever. I’m not a sociologist and don’t have a large grant to study the question.
But yeah. Your attitude towards these things is very much in line with that of most women I’ve met who have an interest in self defense. And Mister44 is more typical of a certain sort of weapons geek. It’s a phase a lot of people go through. For some it becomes a life-long obsession like, say, clothes or shoes.
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Oh, mine too. If I were designing knucks there would also be carefully designed sharp and hooked bits, a different shape, padding on the inside, integral wrist supports, so on, so forth.
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Why would you think that?
Your theory about women being socialized to be more pragmatic about the weapons we choose and less ‘geeked out’ over them has some merit, IMO.
By societal standards, men are still allowed to “play” and have ‘toys’ even after they reach full physical maturity, whereas women are traditionally expected to be the ‘responsible caregivers’; those attitudes likely factor into how we use our chosen tools.
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Rather than going on about all the ways “you guys are wrong about me!”, maybe ask yourself why so many people have the same impression, regardless of whether or not it’s the way you see yourself.
Just because you think of yourself as a harmless hobbyist, doesn’t mean that is the image you’re actually presenting to the rest of the world. If it was just one person, it’d be just one person’s opinion, but a few are saying the same thing. That’s just people willing to speak up. Given human nature, there are probably lots more who feel the same but are too polite or afraid to say something.
I am not saying it’s who you are, but clearly you’re doing something if multiple people – many of whom have been here with you for years are all coming to the same conclusion. Something is sending that message. If it bothers you that people feel this way, maybe look at why.
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You’re right, I have obviously failed. I’m willing to accept feedback. From the get go I have known that I am fighting against a stereotype. The “ammosexual”. The “hold by beer rednecks”. The “mall ninja”. I’ve tried to offer alternative looks that reflect more the people I know out there in the world. But honestly from day one I feel I have been pigeonholed and I’ve tried repeatedly to try to at least get people to acknowledge - oh - you can be passionate about rights and not be a violent asshole with a MAGA hat and a shirt made to piss off liberals. This isn’t just about MY image - but the image of a lot of people.
If I come off as brandishing and macho - I really don’t know what to say. Where I have ever used aggressive language - especially about this topic? if I was saying things like, “You all watch yourself, cuz you’re cruzing for civil war.” Or “I don’t call 911.” “Such and such was lucky, I would have blah blah blah.” Then I could understand thhis. But I never have. Because 1) I am not an aggressive person who makes threats or use threatening language and 2) I don’t even joke about that stuff. And I’ve never posed with stuff here. I mean - I showed cosplay - is that what we are talking about? I think I showed a photo with a Stormtrooper helmet and a blaster replica. I’ve never posed with real firearms here. I think many years ago I showed a few in specific threads, is the showing actually indicative of violence - because that is so far from my understanding of reality I need someone to hold my hand and show me. I seems it is assumed I am “hording” weapons yet I don’t think anyone here even knows what I own.
I would literally bet my life if you asked 10 people I know to use 10 words to describe me “scary” or “violent” wouldn’t be one of them. And if one sees me as literally violent - than can someone please show me what I have ever said that gives that impression.
So yeah, I am willing to learn here. I am not going to stop defending rights I care about. But if I can find a better way to present it, I am open to it. And also - it’s a two way street? No one wants to learn more by asking questions? They want to just assume?
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Canadian here. Also living in Europe at the moment, take from that what you will.
About how you present yourself. While I agree that you’re a pretty genial sort, I would say there is something scary about a person willing to defend their prerogatives to shooting at such length given the incredible human cost in the US of widespread gun-ownership. In your place, I’d be completely OK with far more restrictive rules around gun ownership and use.
This isn’t just a case of unfamiliarity with guns. I have three immediate family members (and more in the extended family) who are hunters, handgun-shooters, or both.
Beyond that, it took me well over a year after your arrival on the scene to conclude that you are probably not a paid firearms advocate of some sort 
No offense whatsoever intended.
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I can imagine some uses for it in a culinary setting. Crushing garlic and so on.
Machined out of thick Perspex or other durable hard plastic would work with the strike points formed into a pyramid shape.
Or how about titanium.
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It almost certainly wouldn’t. If the weapons were illegal the defender would be highly motivated not to report the attack.
Even if the knucks were legal there is often much more to be lost by reporting to to police than there is to be gained. You immediately open yourself up to investigation by the cops and become a target for any politically-ambitious DA which describes about 100% of them. If you’re a Tax-Paying White Christian Man you might get away with shooting someone because Magsturbating Jesus loves guns. But if you aren’t White, aren’t a man, have some kinda funny-sounding foreign name, aren’t at least middle class, so on, so forth you will surely get the pointy end of the Criminal Justice system. And that goes doubel because you didn’t use a socially acceptable weapon like a gun.
Assuming the cops find your attacker you are almost sure to be sued by him.
Most people, for better or worse, follow something along the lines of “S.S.S.” Shot. Scoot. Shut up.
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tl;dr:
A: Brass knuckles should be legal because they are a good weapon for self-defense
B: Is there any evidence that brass knuckles have been used for self defense? Even once?
A: That’s not the point.
Apropos and hilarious. When Your EDC is a Call for Help. It features the Every Day Carry Gear of Sebastian Gorka, former Trump official and actual Nazi.
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It wasn’t long, and maybe you would learn something if you actually read it.
But if you just want to ram your fingers into your ears and screech “LALALALALAICAN’THEARYOU!!!” then you be you. Enjoy your self-imposed Trump-worthy ignorance.
I’m talking about the thread in general. You’re about the tenth person to respond with some variant of “just because there’s no evidence brass knuckles have ever been used for self defense doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.”
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clearly a fan of Pee Wee Herman
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Frankly it disgusts me that even after the inherent institutionalized racism that lead to these laws and the damage that has been done to minority communities using these laws (and is still being done) that so many “liberal” people are still supporting them.
Guess what? Chad isn’t going to jail for a keychain. Malcom is. Lotisha is. Fredrico is. Even if they have the same chunk of metal in their pockets.
But y’all don’t care. More weapon control is always good. After all, if I’m disarmed no one can hurt me, right?
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Sorry, but who’s “y’all?”
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They way I see it is this:
- If you want to argue brass knuckles should be legal because Tommy’s right to pretend he’s a badass is more important than the concern for brass knuckles’ potential use as a weapon, that’s a value judgement.
- If you want to argue brass knuckles should be legal because the current ban does little more than give cops an excuse to arrest people of color for something white people get away with, that’s a legitimate concern.
- But if you want to argue that brass knuckles should be legal because they have a legitimate utilitarian use as a defensive weapon, then it’s totally legit for the other side to ask for one example in all of recorded history in which brass knuckles were successfully used as a defensive weapon.
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