Philip makes some good points.

To deal with the day-to-day, it is prudent for everyone to have some knowledge of self-defense. Outside of this forum, I spend far less time and energy worrying about natural or man-made mass disasters than I do over whether I can walk anywhere after dark without being attacked by a mugger. And in the event I am attacked, what am I willing to hand over without a fuss (i.e. don't carry much cash or other valuables and don't carry them all in one place, such as a purse).

That's daily life in the big inner-city.

I have been attacked twice in the past decade. Walking home from work at 7:00p (winter darkness), paying careful attention to the landscape before me and the pedestrians walking toward me, but oblivious to the guy who was stalking me from his vantage point in the street and behind. When I turned the next corner onto a relatively quiet block, he commenced his charge. The rapidly approaching footsteps suspiciously did not sound like a jogger (of which there are many around here) so I turned around enough to see a 6-foot male wearing a ski mask running at me.

Training from an NRA "Refuse to be a Victim" course I'd taken several years before kicked in. What saved me was the instruction to yell "FIRE!" "FIRE!" "FIRE!" when seeking help in such an attack situation. Don't merely scream.

Another lesson from that course that aided me was having gotten in the habit of walking with my purse or bag next to a fence or wall. Makes it harder for purse-snatchers.

In this instance, the attacker was delayed in trying to get my purse and in that time several people came to my aid -- running out of houses and, in one case, a pedestrian who I had passed and who had been suspicious that I was being stalked had already started back toward me and came running when he saw the guy come down the block after me and after I started yelling. The perp ran off and was not caught and was presumed to be attempting a smash-and-grab. Fortunately for me, he did not threaten with a weapon.

These perps are predators. I've had several friends over the years who have been walking down the sidewalk, usually after dark, when a car stops and one or two guys hustles over to them and puts a gun in their face. You're out of luck in that situation -- especially in a city so extremely intolerant of self-defense with firearms.

As important as self-defense training is, getting training in how to avoid being in such a situation to begin with is at least as critical. Toward that end, I highly recommend taking the National Rifle Association's Refuse to be a Victim course. They instruct in auto security, personal security, home security, etc. By the way, the course has nothing whatsoever to do with guns. And it has nothing to do with armageddon scenarios. I arranged for multiple Refuse to be a Victim seminars to be conducted in and for my entire office building.

http://www.nrahq.org/RTBAV/

Improve your personal safety strategies with NRA's Refuse To Be A Victim® Program.

Experts agree that the single most important step toward ensuring your personal safety is making the decision to refuse to be a victim. That means that you must have an overall personal safety strategy in place before you need it.

Through a three to four hour seminar (shorter presentations are available) called Refuse To Be A Victim®, you can learn the personal safety tips and techniques you need to avoid dangerous situations and avoid becoming a victim. Hundreds of federal, state, and local law enforcement officials across the country have implemented Refuse To Be A Victim® into their crime prevention and community policing initiatives.

Here are just a few of the topics presented in the Refuse To Be A Victim® seminar:

Home Security
Personal Security
Automobile Security
Workplace Security
Technological Security


P.S. the second time I was attacked I was in the back of my Honda Element at 10:00p on a Sunday night getting the last of the camping gear out after a weekend trip. A side window exploded in my face. Across the street were a dozen gang-bangers, displaced by police blockades that weekend in their usual territory. I reacted imprudently, losing my temper and storming out of the car to stand in the middle of the street and unleash an extended R-rated tirade that I would not have thought I was capable of. If I'd had a gun, you'd have all been reading about my arrest and trial. I'd have outdone Bernard Goetz. As it was, the youths - a dozen males - stood speechless as I verbally unloaded on them. I think they were startled by the crazy witch in the middle of the street and wondered if I might just fire back.

Foolish, perhaps. But somewhat therapeutic.