[h=1]Smartphone saved gas station clerk from robber's bullet, cops say
[/h] [h=2]Phone blocks bullet in Hess station robbery. [/h]
Great luck. More generally, I always advise that anyone interested in carrying a weapon for self-defense make sure that a cellphone is one of those tools being carried. You can call the cops or at least threaten to do so, be traced if taken, etc.; even used as a fist load. It's solid strategy. Being an occasional shield is just a bonus. Beyond that, if one extends self-defense to general protection of one's well-being, being able to call for help if injured or suffering a heart attack or the like is more likely than fighting off an assailant for many people. (In fact, I truly believe that the best 'self-defense' is to get a good, well-paying job and reap all the myriad benefits of health and safety that accrue to the upper middle-class and higher.) Everyone who is thinking of getting a firearm, knife, pepper spray, or the like should surely have a cell phone too.
I was put in mind of this a few days ago when I read this story:
[h=1]5-year-old Texas boy accidentally kills himself with napping babysitter's gun[/h]
Leaving aside the tragedy, here is someone who has a handgun, presumably for self-defense, that she carries with her and keep loaded and ready; but she did not have a cell phone, nor did the house in which she lived have a landline. She could have been there alone and started choking and needed to call 911 before passing out. From another story on this accidental shooting: "Ringhardt told investigators that she was carrying a handgun on her person in the home that day because she was scared being at home alone." Whether her fear was based on actual threats or not, having a cell phone in addition to the firearm would surely have represented a significant increase in her overall safety. (Again, I leave aside the tragedy that brought this to public attention to focus on the importance of having a cell phone.) That the whole family had a home and yet did not obtain a cheap, pay-in-advance, no-contract, just-for-emergencies cell phone, by their own resources or public aid, says to me that they did not understand how to protect their health and safety beyond the ability to engage in a firefight. That's bad planning.
If you're spending $1000/year on martial arts lessons for the self-defense aspect and don't have a cell phone, get one and find a martial arts school that's cheaper if need be. You can die just as easily of hypothermia if your car breaks down...and if you think a self-defense encounter is imminent, you can call for police or at least call to let family know where you are first.
[/h] [h=2]Phone blocks bullet in Hess station robbery. [/h]
After two clerks couldn't get the safe open, the gunman fled, but fired a single round that hit a clerk in his abdomen, police said.
However, his smartphone blocked the bullet. The clerk suffered only minor injuries, police said.
Great luck. More generally, I always advise that anyone interested in carrying a weapon for self-defense make sure that a cellphone is one of those tools being carried. You can call the cops or at least threaten to do so, be traced if taken, etc.; even used as a fist load. It's solid strategy. Being an occasional shield is just a bonus. Beyond that, if one extends self-defense to general protection of one's well-being, being able to call for help if injured or suffering a heart attack or the like is more likely than fighting off an assailant for many people. (In fact, I truly believe that the best 'self-defense' is to get a good, well-paying job and reap all the myriad benefits of health and safety that accrue to the upper middle-class and higher.) Everyone who is thinking of getting a firearm, knife, pepper spray, or the like should surely have a cell phone too.
I was put in mind of this a few days ago when I read this story:
[h=1]5-year-old Texas boy accidentally kills himself with napping babysitter's gun[/h]
Ringhardt, who lives with the boy's family, left her semiautomatic .40-caliber handgun on a coffee table when she went into a bedroom to take a nap Monday afternoon. When she woke up, she couldn't immediately find the boy, identified as John Read, according to the sheriff's office. She eventually discovered him dead in the living room, it said.
Because the home has no telephone, Ringhardt carried John and a 6-month-old child, whom she was also watching and who wasn't identified, about a block to his grandparents' home to call 911
Leaving aside the tragedy, here is someone who has a handgun, presumably for self-defense, that she carries with her and keep loaded and ready; but she did not have a cell phone, nor did the house in which she lived have a landline. She could have been there alone and started choking and needed to call 911 before passing out. From another story on this accidental shooting: "Ringhardt told investigators that she was carrying a handgun on her person in the home that day because she was scared being at home alone." Whether her fear was based on actual threats or not, having a cell phone in addition to the firearm would surely have represented a significant increase in her overall safety. (Again, I leave aside the tragedy that brought this to public attention to focus on the importance of having a cell phone.) That the whole family had a home and yet did not obtain a cheap, pay-in-advance, no-contract, just-for-emergencies cell phone, by their own resources or public aid, says to me that they did not understand how to protect their health and safety beyond the ability to engage in a firefight. That's bad planning.
If you're spending $1000/year on martial arts lessons for the self-defense aspect and don't have a cell phone, get one and find a martial arts school that's cheaper if need be. You can die just as easily of hypothermia if your car breaks down...and if you think a self-defense encounter is imminent, you can call for police or at least call to let family know where you are first.