hoovegong

Noooo, that's not quite right. The possession of products designed to be able to cause harm to others which are marketed as self-defence products may result in prosecution. This is because the UK tends to have an evidence based approach to public policy. A society which permits the possession of offensive weapons sees more deaths from such weapons than one which does not. I think that the point that the AMA person is making is that violence is absolutely and always the last resort. Consequently I would not say that self defence is anathema: rather that self defence nearly always involves leaving the situation and that secondly, the UK and other European countries are more comfortable than the US in devolving responsibility for all sorts of things - but in this case for protection - to the apparatus of the state (however anaemic that may presently be, due to the Tories).

Limp wristed, is what you meant. Gimp implies disability, which presumably you did not intend to localise to the wrist. Limp wristed on the other hand implies homosexuality, and I suspect you were making the age-old connection between gayness and a lack of manliness. YOU'RE WELCOME SHOUTY INSULTS PERSON!

Not sure I follow. The point I was trying to make was that the answer to assault is not that we all arm ourselves, as it is proven that doing so increases violent death. I had understood that you had identified my use of the word "nearly" as the problem, i.e. that there remain some cases where one cannot get away and that these cases justify our arming ourselves. My point was that while such cases may exist, they are fewer in number than those which occur in an armed society (due to accidents, drunkenness, suicide, stupidity, etc) and therefore that the answer to the problem which you identify is not that we arm ourselves or follow this person's advice (the AMA person). Better that we invest our time and energy in policies which reduce violent crime in the short and long term. Of course, doing this prevents one from looking like a big shouty fighty tough guy but it has the added value of also preventing one from looking like a shouty fighty tough guy who is also a giant bellend.

I am disappointed by this deescalation.

What do you do if someone incredibly threatens your life?