RE: Road Rage
Dave,
So let me get this straight. You DON'T want to fight the guy, cause you don't want to go to jail. But you'd have had no problem shooting him or drawing on him? I live near Detroit, and have frequently heard about Detroiters/Michiganders getting ARRESTED and CHARGED after shooting someone who had broken into their OWN homes! What makes you think if you shot this SMALLER guy than you, that you wouldn't get charged? Or spend the day in jail? I hear even though thre letter of the law says you CAN shoot people, they scrutinze the situation very carefully, and frequently charges are laid anyways. The next problem I think about is, what if you HAD put your gun on your dash? And the hillbilly beside you ALSO had a CCP. And he sees your gun on the dash and determines you "pulled" your gun on him and starts blasting. I know you have heard similar stories about people having gun battles on the highways because of this. I always found it perplexing that people are so brave behind guns. Surely if you have the stones to shoot a guy, you must have the stones to throw down with him. I'm a former kickboxer/judo guy, and I've been beaten up before, and I've beaten people up too. But I always managed to go home in one piece. A black eye or busted face heals. A bullet in the head does not. What would even be worse, is if you did shoot the guy, and the courts ruled in his favor and you had to go to the bighouse beacsue of HIM. That would be worse than getting a Liverpool Kiss. (headbutt in the face).
Here's what I'd recommend to you:
1) You aren't a very small dude, so 1 month or 2 in Judo class or boxing, or Jiu-Jitsu, and that weenie would have been hip-tossed/knocked out/chocked into submission.
2)It's legal in MI to carry pepper spray. Can you have pepper spray in your car? I used to keep a bit with me even thought it is illegal for us to use it for self-defense. We can use it to repel dogs, however. (wink, wink)
3) I did this one before. It is VERY effective. I carried a slingshot in my car with marbles. Trust me. 250lbs guys hit in the forehead with a marble go down like a ton of bricks.
4) But this is my all-time favorite. Weighted gloves. They look like driving gloves, but have 8 ounces of powdered lead sewn into the knuckles area. They even make cut-off finger ones. Some are lined with Kevlar to fend off knives. Back when I was shrimpy,(148lbs fighting shape), although I could outstrike or outbox you, I didn't have the power to really knock someone silly. This all changed with these gloves. Although I've ever only hit 2 people with gloves of this sort, the results were astounding. Keep in mind I was under 150 pounds both times. One punch from the shrimpy me put 2 guys out who were over 200 pounds. One of them was with a body shot!! I actually felt his rib give way and snap. It was the only time in my life, fighting career or otherwise, that I have ever KO'd someone with a body shot. And he outweighed me by 50lbs at least. So after a solid punch with one of these, and you would not have to stomp or pulverize anyone. 1 punch knockout. These are effective, and cheap self defense. You have to try them. They are impressive. If you need help finding a pair, let me know. Hope this helps.