I enjoyed reading this thread.
Thanks to all the posters.
I spent a lot of time in Mexico on the Texas border. Zeta (ex-military working for the cartels) country. I also spent a great deal of time in Colombia. At times, I have had to defend myself, and I have been tempted to carry a weapon. I never carried a weapon outside the US. Now that I am 65 and retired, I may appear to be a better target than I used to. So, I can tell you that I now carry pepper spray purchased locally while carrying more than USD50 on me for special expenditures during the daytime. I also carry a small device that is called a personal alarm. It screeches like a banshee and cannot be turned off without re-inserting the alarm pin. It's kinda embarassing when it accidently gets activated. I haven't had to use it so far.
I have seen some strong-arm robberies on the street in Bogota, snatch and run in Europe (France and Italy) including using a motorbike for escape. I have seen 3-5 person teams rob people on the street in broad daylight. Keeping your valuables out of sight, wearing a money belt between a t-shirt and outer shirt / outer wear makes more sense than carrying a weapon. These guys are good and would probably end up with your weapon, as well as your goodies.
I also have a vest-type thingy for outerwear that literally I have used instead of a suitcase because it has so many zippered and velcroed storage pockets.
At night, things are a bit more complicated. So far, I have been lucky to have never had a reason to carry a large sum of money with me on the street at night. I have seen 4-5 guys grab a guy on the street, and basically strip him down to the skin on the street. There is nothing short of having a culo safe that can protect your money under those circumstances. My MarDel police friends tell me that it is common for 4-6 guys to perform this function, one standing out of reach with a firearm, and the others putting their hands in your skivvies to make sure the odd 10 centavo coin is not overlooked. So, I carry a 100 peso bill to hand to such a group if approached this way, to avoid this indignity. But, I am big enough and ugly enough to get by with it. Your mileage may vary.
There is no substitute for good "situational awareness" and staying out of dangerous neighborhoods, staying in the street instead of on the sidewalk at night, being careful when approaching dark corners, etc. Staying off the streets at night as much as possible is a good idea. Call a cab to pick you up near the door unless you know the area or are with a GROUP.
I asked my police buds about the carry permit process and the laws regarding carrying weapons on the street. Be aware that police don't always know the law as well as they think they do, so take the following with a grain of salt.
- If you are caught carrying a knife, gun or club, or anything that appears to have been modified to serve the purpose of a weapon, it is a violation of the weapons laws. A stun gun is considered the same as a firearm. (Really? I know -right?
- If you have used a weapon on the street and cannot PROVE beyond a reasonable doubt that you took said weapon off your attackers, you will be considered to have engaged in premeditated violence. Premeditated inasmuch as you deliberately went out on the street ready to do battle.
- You can NOT make application for a carry permit unless you are a permanant resident or citizen. It doesn't much matter. Such a permit would doubless be disapproved unless a relative is politically well connected.
- You MAY make application for having a rifle or shotgun (not cut down in any way for easier concealment / handling. I asked) for sporting purposes. It is understood that the weapon would also be able to be stored in loaded condition in one's home for home protection purposes. Said firearm may be transported in ones vehicle only for sporting trips. Ammo may not be carried in the same compartment with the firearm while being transported. Forget the "what if" questions. If your vehicle is a van, a lockable glove compartment will suffice.
- You may make application as a permanant resident or citizen to keep a pistol of.38/9mm caliber or smaller handgun as home-protection. No permission is implied to carry the handgun in your vehicle for traveling protection.
I was told that my extensible metal baton and sword cane could be used for self protection ONLY against intruders inside my home. I could expect very close scrutiny for using them, and each incident will be judged on it's own merits.
Saludos
Personal safety is always a concern
[QUOTE=Capn Rick]. I now carry pepper spray purchased locally while carrying more than USD50 on me for special expenditures during the daytime.
There is no substitute for good "situational awareness".
. My extensible metal baton and sword cane could be used for self protection ONLY against intruders inside my home[/QUOTE]I have seen pepper spray take down a 1300lbs Alaskan brown bear and suspect it would work well on a mugger. When you deploy the spray, make the sign of the cross in the face of the attacker (to make sure the spray meets the eyes / nose / mouth (exposure to their other mucous membranes require you get their pants off first.
Amen on situation awareness. An old mercenary tactic, when on the streets late night, is to walk near (not too near) a woman walking alone seeing that she should make a more likely target than you.
Did he differentiate between the two weapons, (baton, sword etc) If you use the baton, I would suggest finding a nearby sewer or storm drain and toss it in...
An account of a mugging in BA
Early in May, 2008, I was mugged in the microcenter about 11:30 in the evening near the bus stop close to the Temple Bar on Marcelo T. De Alvear. I had stepped into the street to signal a taxi with my right arm up and as the cab pulled up a hand was in my right pocket and I grabbed his arm and thought "Oh, shit" his arm was like a piece of pipe, very strong. I started to yell and he was too close to hit me, but he pushed me over and pulled out my wallet and as I fell I lunged forward and caught his foot and pulled off his running shoe and he ran off hobbling down the sidewalk. There were tons of people all over. They just stared. I got up off the street and chased him and some young people told me he was at the next corner and he crossed into the "no man's land" between parts of Avenida 9 de Julio. It would have been folly to Chase him there; he was short but very powerful. I would have no chance against him unless I saw a cop and I did not. I still had taxi fare in a little money clip in the other pocket and other emergency funds in a concealed part of my body so that was not an issue. I caught a cab and went to the police station a block from my apartment in Recoleta bearing my trophy of war, his shoe. They were sympathetic, but uninterested and told me to go back to the precinct where it happened to report it. When I didn't seem to understand (I was a little dumbfounded.) The desk policeman called the tourist police and another kindly officer who spoke excellent English told me to go home and try to relax and come to the tourist police office in the morning. I tried to explain that the mugger was in a white track suit, had gold chains and was running around on one shoe, but he said nothing could be done that evening. I was not injured save some scrapes and very sore knees from trying to run after him. (I am 66 years old. ) I lost about 300 pesos and a credit card, which was canceled within 15 minutes after getting home, and a couple of personal items.
It had been a nice evening. An American friend and I had had an expensive dinner (thank goodness) at Tomo Uno in the Pan Americano Hotel which is south a few blocks of where it happened. I would guess that the robber followed us from the hotel as we walked up the street. My friend turned off
to go to his apartment and I continued a couple of blocks further north and decided not to walk all the way home as I have done a thousand times which was probably actually good. When my friend and I parted, I should have just crossed the street and hailed a cab in an area where there are always a lot of police, for example, at Cordoba, right by Excedra. I also realize that, I am old and fat and have very gray hair and was well dressed coming out of an expensive restaurant, like an aging water buffalo among the lions. It could have been much worse. Just the day before I had seen a young man try to leap up and take the phone out of hands of a woman on a bus with the
window open and that might have been a little wake up call, but if that wasn't, this was.
When I went to the Tourist Police the next day, down on Corrientes, I think, they were very willing to walk over to a precinct and help me file a report. Apparently they thought I would file some kind of insurance claim. They were uninterested in the details and said that we could get it over with quickly at a nearby precinct but I would have to say that the crime happened in that precinct, not where it actually did. I was anxious to get on with my life and did so. I, of course, will not file an insurance claim for $100. It was a surreal experience. Certainly they tried to be helpful.
In my neighborhood in Chicago I have seen onlookers make a vigorous intervention with robbers on the street, both physically and on cell phones. You may be assured that you are on your own here. I now try to be extra careful when hailing cabs and entering my apartment front door. I don't
have any credit or ATM cards in my wallet, but I always have 300 pesos because there might be a nice dinner or a woman in the course of the evening. I do not walk alone as much in the evening but made myself go back down into that whole neighborhood the next evening (though much
down-dressed) A friend from Tucuman told me that when that horse bucks you off, you need to get right back on or you might stay spooked. I had not written about this before because I didn't want to make anyone fearful about coming here. I have no intention of leaving. In the end, the robber probably did not profit as his running shoe was an expensive Nike that I understand
retails for more than 300 pesos. But this is not Kansas or Illinois and I remain a liberal democrat, though somewhat more in favor of torture.
