Extension Baton / Mace Gun

[zoomydave]

This question is a little off topic but I'm not always able to keep a weapon (firearm) in my vehicle but I wanted to consider keeping an extension baton and/or a mace gun within reach inside my vehicle. I've heard conflicting stories that extension batons are/are not allowed inside the vehicle and the same conflicting stories about have a mace gun inside your vehicle. It would be nice to have another option in those times I can't have my weapon but I want to follow the law of the land and do it right, instead of guessing.
Thanks,
Dave

 

[texasnurse]

Big Maglight totally legal and functional, I broke the ribs of a drunk guy who pulled a Bowie on me once.


Sent with my IPhone with electronics and fuzzy logic...

 

[Nightwatch]

I wouldn't and wouldn't let my rookies have Mace in the car. You inevitably get some splashed or rubbed on you and it blinds/disorients you just like the attacker. I read early on of a lady in FL who had 2 kids out shopping-a guy tried to carjack her-she hit him in the face with a shot of Mace and he shot her twice in center mass...DRT. It is legal, however, to have a small, personal protection size tear gas, Mace, or pepper spray in the car.

My personal feeling is if you are attacked, vigorously defend yourself...with superior force. The first step outside the car, you're armed with an illegal weapon in TX if you have a club(UCW), and you can't swing one inside the car very well. Sam Colt had the right idea for an equalizer. I don't believe that all the other weapons that the police have are for us citizens. They have to enforce the law...we just have to get the threat stopped NOW.

The only nonlethal weapon I keep close in the truck is a scratch awl in the headliner near my head. If someone reaches in the window and grabs me, I'll imbed that into their face/neck so that they turn loose and I can get to my defensive weapon in my holster.

 

[majormadmax]

Pepper spray is your best bet in a vehicle if you can't have a gun (and with the Motorist Protection Act allowing non-licensed individuals to carry within within their vehicles since 2007, that should be your first option).

But, given that I work on a military base that prohibits personally-owned firearms in our vehicles, I understand that can be the case.

And, as texasnurse said, a big MagLite is a second good option.

 

[45tex]

Gave the wife an electrical stun device. One of those cheap ones that doubles as a flashlight. It sat in the door of her car for months. She seemed to not want to recharge it. In a McDonalds parking lot one morning she was accosted by a homeless guy wanting money. She was getting in at the time and he tried to push her out of door area and was reaching in to rifle for change. She grabbed the stunner and said to him, "look at the light." He said "what" and looked at the light. They were so close she was able to apply the contact points to his shoulder about 3" from his neck. He was on the ground immediately and she followed him giving him the juice so to speak. Those things make an awful noise when tested. In actual application however they are silent. The 2 cops that watched from inside the store decided to come outside. She did not need to hold him down as he was unable to rise for about 5 minutes. Plenty of time for the policemen to cuff and stuff him. She told me the cops were a bit disappointed since they thought she had stabbed the guy. I recharged it for her, she put it back in the door where from it disappeared. Sure worked well once anyway.
No advice on brands. We gave them to friends for Christmas. They were no name Chinese off brands from Amazon. All of them broke, or were dropped, or just quit working after a couple of months. They cost around $15-$30. So plan on spending more than that.

 

[txinvestigator]

Gave the wife an electrical stun device. One of those cheap ones that doubles as a flashlight. It sat in the door of her car for months. She seemed to not want to recharge it. In a McDonalds parking lot one morning she was accosted by a homeless guy wanting money. She was getting in at the time and he tried to push her out of door area and was reaching in to rifle for change. She grabbed the stunner and said to him, "look at the light." He said "what" and looked at the light. They were so close she was able to apply the contact points to his shoulder about 3" from his neck. He was on the ground immediately and she followed him giving him the juice so to speak. Those things make an awful noise when tested. In actual application however they are silent. The 2 cops that watched from inside the store decided to come outside. She did not need to hold him down as he was unable to rise for about 5 minutes. Plenty of time for the policemen to cuff and stuff him. She told me the cops were a bit disappointed since they thought she had stabbed the guy. I recharged it for her, she put it back in the door where from it disappeared. Sure worked well once anyway.
No advice on brands. We gave them to friends for Christmas. They were no name Chinese off brands from Amazon. All of them broke, or were dropped, or just quit working after a couple of months. They cost around $15-$30. So plan on spending more than that.

Those "stun guns" do not work like you and your wife think they do. It was surprise that caused your homeless guy to fall. Those things do not work like TASERs. They only cause local pain, and it isn't that bad. I have tested many of them of myself and my goofy friends. It DOES make you want to knock the crap out of the person who is administering it, and all you have to do is pull away and the pain stops. These devices do not cause the muscle constriction that TASERs cause.

And the electric shock on the guy did not cause him to stay down. Even TASERs cannot pull that off. Your wife was lucky. She'd be better with pepper spray in the future.

 

[Hoji]

Those "stun guns" do not work like you and your wife think they do. It was surprise that caused your homeless guy to fall. Those things do not work like TASERs. They only cause local pain, and it isn't that bad. I have tested many of them of myself and my goofy friends. It DOES make you want to knock the crap out of the person who is administering it, and all you have to do is pull away and the pain stops. These devices do not cause the muscle constriction that TASERs cause.

And the electric shock on the guy did not cause him to stay down. Even TASERs cannot pull that off. Your wife was lucky. She'd be better with pepper spray in the future.

This.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Well, I'm just glad she had it, and it served its purpose...

 

[majormadmax]

Well, I'm just glad she had it, and it served its purpose...

But the concern is that it also could have gone bad, really bad...

 

[ZX9RCAM]

But the concern is that it also could have gone bad, really bad...

True, but what if she hadn't had it....

 

[txinvestigator]

True, but what if she hadn't had it....

I know, you can't argue with success. She would be better served in the future with pepper spray. It is highly unlikely that the results will be the same if used again.

 

[Darkpriest667]

Carry a 9mm it's more legal than a baton. Even security officers have to be licensed to have those batons (and I've never known one to secure the license.) Also the maglite thing... I keep 2 maglites in my car one by my door and one by the trunk. I also used to keep a spare bulb and batteries. Although the new LED ones don't have bulbs so I just have a 3rd LED completely disassembled to fix any impropriety in the one I have in the door. As long as it works when the police arrive I am lead to believe that it is not a club if it works as a flashlight. Perhaps a LEO or TXinvestigator could speak more to that.

 

[easy rider]

Get tattoos, vest and a Harley ... seems to work well as a deterrent.

 

[45tex]

txinvestigator, this is the second time you deny a fact in favor of your opinion. I think you are reading your own fan mail. Grow up. I know what happened. She is here to prove it. You play with them (stun guns) and that makes you an expert(not). Yes I to have "tried" them. For a second or two. And it made me want to get away from the pain, but I could not move. The only saving grace was I got to shock the other guy back. Her experience is real use through clothing. It worked as I stated. You can NOT state otherwise, you do not know. You are calling my wife a liar and I take issue with that. Not saying it will work for you but it worked for her. And it worked on me. I'd prefer a Taser as any distance is good distance. But we use what we have in the situation. You do not get to stand in judgement because you used to drive a pretend police car.

 

[45tex]

Carry a 9mm it's more legal than a baton. Even security officers have to be licensed to have those batons (and I've never known one to secure the license.) Also the maglite thing... I keep 2 maglites in my car one by my door and one by the trunk. I also used to keep a spare bulb and batteries. Although the new LED ones don't have bulbs so I just have a 3rd LED completely disassembled to fix any impropriety in the one I have in the door. As long as it works when the police arrive I am lead to believe that it is not a club if it works as a flashlight. Perhaps a LEO or TXinvestigator could speak more to that.

Just regurgitating what I was told by my Chief back in the '90s. You are welcome and encouraged to carry a strong and large flashlight, however if you hit somebody with said flashlight you best be able to prove you passed a "flashlight use as a club course." I still believe in my heart that almost no Cop wants to pile on a victim for protecting himself. However there be a subset of law enforcement that suffer from "John Wayne Complex." These officers believe the letter of the law is more important than the spirit, or intent. They will arrest everybody so the court can sort it out. Thus making criminals of victims. Texas gives law enforcement much leeway in deciding to crap on someone without just cause. A good source to counter this is a little book from the state called The Elements Manual. It told you what you had to prove to make your arrest stick. If your charge was BS a good Cop would not attempt to file it. John Wayne's would hit you with the book. There used to be a reason Texas Cops are called Peace Officers. But it required reason and compassion.
As for me, I passed the baton course which way back then sufficed for "flashlight as a club."

 

[Dawico]

txinvestigator, this is the second time you deny a fact in favor of your opinion. I think you are reading your own fan mail. Grow up. I know what happened. She is here to prove it. You play with them (stun guns) and that makes you an expert(not). Yes I to have "tried" them. For a second or two. And it made me want to get away from the pain, but I could not move. The only saving grace was I got to shock the other guy back. Her experience is real use through clothing. It worked as I stated. You can NOT state otherwise, you do not know. You are calling my wife a liar and I take issue with that. Not saying it will work for you but it worked for her. And it worked on me. I'd prefer a Taser as any distance is good distance. But we use what we have in the situation. You do not get to stand in judgement because you used to drive a pretend police car.

So it didn't knock you to the ground and incapacitate you for five minutes?

 

[Nightwatch]

No sense in jumping up and getting personal. What happened to your wife happened...others have and have documented access to different experiences. Nobody called your wife a liar-they just suggested that you need to better arm her for the next time we all hope never happens. Just because a person gets someone off of them with a .25 and they die right there does NOT mean that a .25 is a good choice for defense-just that it was better than nothing, but the same advice given you would follow-get a better choice for next time.I disagree with the pepper spray-but I'm not going to get all insulting about it-they might hunt me down and spray me...

 

[txinvestigator]

Carry a 9mm it's more legal than a baton. Even security officers have to be licensed to have those batons (and I've never known one to secure the license.) Also the maglite thing... I keep 2 maglites in my car one by my door and one by the trunk. I also used to keep a spare bulb and batteries. Although the new LED ones don't have bulbs so I just have a 3rd LED completely disassembled to fix any impropriety in the one I have in the door. As long as it works when the police arrive I am lead to believe that it is not a club if it works as a flashlight. Perhaps a LEO or TXinvestigator could speak more to that.

Any Security Officer who is level 3 commissioned to carry a handgun can carry a club with no additional training or licensing.

As far as clubs......A maglight is not a club unless it is modified to inflict serious bodily injury or death by striking a person with it. It does not have to work to not be a club.

 

[Nightwatch]

It's been 21 years since I took the baton course at Wackyhutstill have my PPCT manuals on the shelf here...and I got my blue card but quit them before getting assigned a gun post...is that level 3 or is that for personal protection officers only? Don't remember.
Only flashlight I'd be leery of is the AA model called the Bat. It's shaped like a miniature ball bat and made of heavy aluminum...that might make Deputy Dawg a bit nervous. I carried a 5 cell C on every post-better'n nothing!~

 

[Charlie]

"Something", stun gun, mace, gun, etc. is always better than nothing.