# Is giving a small middle-aged woman an aluminum baseball bat for self defense a good idea? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 28, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-giving-a-small-middle-aged-woman-an-aluminum-baseball-bat-for-self-defense-a-good-idea/534085 "2010-03-28T04:41:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-giving-a-small-middle-aged-woman-an-aluminum-baseball-bat-for-self-defense-a-good-idea/534085/61 "2010-04-01T04:15:50Z")
You can think that all you want but when I had an intruder break into my house, my .38 Special made all the difference. Stupidly it was in a holster hanging in my closet at the opposite end of the room, but knowing I had it and that getting to it was going to be my only means of defense, I waited till the guy left the bedroom and went snooping in other parts of the house to creep over to the closet to get it. The miscreant heard the snap of the holster and bolted out the front door before I ever got back out of the closet. Had I had the gun in my nightstand or under my mattress where it should have been, I’d have been armed at the time he entered the bedroom. (I was awakened by the sound of breaking glass and was wide awake and alert by the time he came creeping into the bedroom. Quite a rush, that was.) Anyway, it was nothing but pure luck that I wasn’t shot or stabbed or clubbed while the guy was in my bedroom, as either could have easily happened. But again had I been armed the intruder would either have found himself facing the wall with hands up and legs spread while we waited for the police, or he’d have been shot. But without the gun I’d have been utterly helpless and my fate would have lain in the intruder’s hands. I’d have had to just lie there and wait to see what happened next. With the gun I had both the means and the confidence to take action to protect myself. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-giving-a-small-middle-aged-woman-an-aluminum-baseball-bat-for-self-defense-a-good-idea/534085/62 "2010-04-01T06:49:04Z")
> [@](#): > > That may be…but Mark David Chapman showed conclusively that “most effective” is limited to “miserably poor.” The most alert, well-trained agents on earth, equipped with handguns carefully selected for the job, at maximum alertness, allowed some poor shlub to _empty his revolver_ at the President of the United States. How different the world would be if [President Lennon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_David_Chapman) had finished his term of office. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-giving-a-small-middle-aged-woman-an-aluminum-baseball-bat-for-self-defense-a-good-idea/534085/63 "2010-04-01T06:57:56Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > That may be…but Mark David Chapman showed conclusively that “most effective” is limited to “miserably poor.” The most alert, well-trained agents on earth, equipped with handguns carefully selected for the job, at maximum alertness, allowed some poor shlub to _empty his revolver_ at the President of the United States. This is silly. It’s like saying that seatbelts are useless because they won’t save you from a truck running into your driver’s side door. Most people aren’t buying handguns to protect themselves from assassination attempts. Most people aren’t conspicuous enough to _need_ protection from assassination attempts. It’s the more common threat of Joe McThug, who hasn’t travelled halfway across the country just to kill you, that people are worried about. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-giving-a-small-middle-aged-woman-an-aluminum-baseball-bat-for-self-defense-a-good-idea/534085/64 "2010-04-01T18:30:09Z")
I recommend the pump-action shotgun. I can tell you from experience, rack that thing and the sound alone will send _ **anyone** _ running. Busted out the SPAS-12 4 times in my life and haven’t had to even put my finger on the trigger, let alone fire it. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-giving-a-small-middle-aged-woman-an-aluminum-baseball-bat-for-self-defense-a-good-idea/534085/65 "2010-04-01T19:08:24Z")
> [@HelenGawn](#): > > How different the world would be if [President Lennon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_David_Chapman) had finished his term of office. Yes, but then Chapman never would have gotten that date with Jodie Foster. ---
**Author:** ![carm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@carm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carm)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-giving-a-small-middle-aged-woman-an-aluminum-baseball-bat-for-self-defense-a-good-idea/534085/66 "2010-04-02T15:40:52Z")
Tell her to move to a less violent and apocalyptic society ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-giving-a-small-middle-aged-woman-an-aluminum-baseball-bat-for-self-defense-a-good-idea/534085/67 "2010-04-04T04:12:03Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I recommend the pump-action shotgun. I can tell you from experience, rack that thing and the sound alone will send _ **anyone** _ running. It also gives +1 to damage if you spend a whole action on your KA-CHINK. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-giving-a-small-middle-aged-woman-an-aluminum-baseball-bat-for-self-defense-a-good-idea/534085.md?page=3)