Self-Defense Options in New York City

SayUncle is headed into the belly of the beast, and asks about self-defense options. My first suggestion would generally be spray, which is legal just about everywhere, except for places that have been controlled by the left for years. Sadly, New York City is among those places, at least not without a permit of some kind. New York State is not much better, but the New York Penal code treats spray very strangely by my reading of it. It specifically mentions spray as an exception, but nowhere in the rest of the statute, that I can see, does it criminalize possession of it, except in the case where that possession is with criminal intent. It does criminalize “disposal,” which includes sale, transfer or other type of disposition, without being an authorized seller (firearms dealers and pharmacists). I can’t find anything about it being unlawful to bring pepper spray into the state for personal use for lawful self-defense.

Either way, I’ve never thought the Second Amendment should be limited to firearms. Defensive sprays are neither particularly dangerous or unusual. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t be covered. Not that it helps if you can’t get a judge to agree with you, though.

12 thoughts on “Self-Defense Options in New York City”

  1. Some years back I found a cane in the parking lot of a “Doc-in-a-box” clinic. It was apparently of aluminum tubing – but filled with something, it weighed more than ten pounds!

  2. Well, as my old man was fond of saying, better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6.

  3. You can do something NOW that will stand you in good stead for your trip to New York.

    Donate blood.

    That’s right. Most blood banks guarantee a unit of blood donated now will insure you against any cost of a needed blood transfusion for a year.

  4. I’ve heard oven-cleaning spray makes a good defensive weapon. It’s caustic, so it’s effective. And it’s nonlethal. You could carry giant ball bearings and throw them at an assailant (thanks to my tattoo-artist, chopper-riding friend for the suggestion). You can tote a roll of nickels for a field-expedient “brass knuckles.”

  5. Being a true curmudgeon, I’d go with mailing myself a package in-care of the hotel I’m staying at. Remember revolvers don’t leave casings on the ground, heh, heh, heh; and hammerless revolvers can be fired from the pocket…

  6. Whenever I visit states (NJ and MD) which do not recognize the Pennsylvania LTCF permit, I carry my Kimber Pepper Blaster II.

    http://www.pepperblaster.com/

    Thankfully, I have not had any reason to set foot in either NYC or NY state since I first got my Kimber Pepper Blaster II over a year ago, but I would not hesitate to bring it along with me when the time comes.

  7. 3 cell d maglite, if the user is reasonably fit and acquainted in its social use (Not hard to learn a few basic moves).
    Even NYC has not found a way to ban flashlights.

    Carry in a man bag, or laptop case.
    I did this in NYC last year.

    Hope this helps

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