My good freind Ron Tomassi at Firearms Freedom For Females is posting this information for you ladies, while doing your holiday shopping. The following is suggested hints to help keep you safe, and diligent. Remember this, ladies; criminals are watching out there, particularly in shopping malls during this time of year.
When shopping, if at all possible, those of you who have concealed firearms licenses, PLEASE carry your firearm, and NOT IN YOUR PURSE! For those of you who do, and those women who do not, don’t shop ALONE. Take a friend or significant other; park your vehicle under a light, as close to the mall entrance as possible. When you walk to and from the mall, keep your head up, and look around you. DON’T have your cell phone in your ear, struggling with your purchases, and not paying attention to your surroundings. Doing so is like wearing a neon sign saying, “I am a willing victim”.
Once you arrive at your vehicle, put your packages in the trunk, AND LEAVE, LOCKING your doors! YES, drive away, and go home. If you go back inside do shop some more, you risk a HIGH chance someone will break into your vehicle and take the purchases you just made. But as you drive, check your mirror to see if you are being followed. Many criminals have followed their targeted victims right to the victim’s home, and robbed and/or worse, right there. While driving home, if you are being followed, DON’T GO HOME! Call 911 and tell the police where you are, what you are driving, and who is following you and vehicle description if possible. STAY on the phone until the police arrive. Keep driving until you see the police.
While shopping, it’s a good idea NOT to carry cash, or a small amount, say $20-$25 for coffee or parking fees. Use your credit cards, and have the phone number of your bank and credit card companies on speed dial to your phone. If you have you wallet stolen, or you are robbed, you can immediately cancel the cards. Most criminals will use your stolen cards WITHIN 15-30 minutes after stealing them. If you have notified the companies, you have just helped law enforcement increase the chances the suspect(s) will get caught.
If you are robbed, and either you don’t have a weapon to defend yourself, or you are not able to draw a weapon, then DON’T RESIST the assailant if he or she has a gun pointed at you. Your wallet, money and credit cards can be replaced…you can’t.
Lastly ladies, I have had some women tell me that in lieu of carrying a firearm, they prefer to carry “mace”, or cayenne pepper spray. Ok, but if you are up against an armed assailant, spray just ain’t going to do it. If you use spray, then do it right; hold it in your strong hand, and place it between your thumb and index finger of your weak hand. Tilt your weak hand so that you are looking at the back of your weak hand. This is known as, “blade the spray”. As you spray, MOVE, left or right, but move. Aim for the assailant’s forehead and face, NO MORE THAN 12 feet away. The blade and moving helps keep the back spray from getting into your eyes, AND, your assailant can no longer see you, but he remembers where he last saw you. By moving, if he comes at you, he won’t know where you have gone. THEN, run away.
“Fear No One”, because violence against women all ends now