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Byrna Less Lethal System - Experience??

jds holler

Gold $$ Contributor
I'm thinking of one of these for my wife to take with her when she goes to Kali to visit the kids. It's the kind of town where worthless, dead-beat, white trash, drunken, dopers, are a pretty high percentage of the population. Sadly I'm not exaggerating.

So I'm wanting to know about real world experience y'all might have concerning reliability, practicality, safety, -- anything. jd
 
I'm thinking of one of these for my wife to take with her when she goes to Kali to visit the kids. It's the kind of town where worthless, dead-beat, white trash, drunken, dopers, are a pretty high percentage of the population. Sadly I'm not exaggerating.

So I'm wanting to know about real world experience y'all might have concerning reliability, practicality, safety, -- anything. jd
Here is a review:
He mentions the size and length of pull and his wife’s ability to handle it.

“Finally we have the trigger. Think of a double action revolver, but not a good one. The trigger press is long, heavy, and rough. Additionally, the trigger reach is fairly far as well, thanks to the large frame and DA trigger. My wife shot the Byrna, and struggled to get a proper press despite being a regular revolver shooter with average size hands.”
Also, keep in mind that it looks like a real gun and anyone seeing it will react as though it was one… Such as local law enforcement…
It is however, legal to carry in Californication.
 
If the attacker is unarmed and only trying to get a wallet or so Id say its enough to convince him otherwise especially with some direct hits with the pepper balls but if he/she/they/them are armed with more sinister plans I wont stake my life on one, I guess its better then having nothing. Worst case you can at least use it as a club

Isn't pepper spray allowed there ?
 
The problem is by definition that it's non-lethal.

When your life is threatened, you must neutralise the threat, not antagonise it further.

These non-lethal gimmicks give the holder a false sense of security and are more likely to result in the holder being seriously injured or killed than not having anything at all.

If you are concerned for your wife's safety, unless you are able to ride shotgun, it's best not to go there. Bring the kids to you.
 
Personally I think you should look into any laws surrounding bring it there, because if she breaks one they will not go easy. How would you get it there, is it legal to “carry” there. Some of the byrna balls may not be legal. I know they are 50 state legal I believe, carrying it in CA may not be. And what type of Almost anything deemed a weapon there is illegal to carry. God forbid somebody sees it, and thinks it real. I come from a blue state, less blue than California and there is fine details in the laws with something as simple as mace.
 
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What about some other method of pepper spray deployment?
For example:
 
please note that legal in all states may be true but local laws might not be friendly there is a town just a couple miles away that local law forbids anything launching a projectile. The way it is written, if followed strictly, would ban tennis, baseball , bad-mitten, and the like. Frankly it is written so ambiguously that throwing a baseball will get you fined.
 
I'm in CA and my retired LE neighbor is a Byrna dealer. He teaches a class at his house on weekends training people how to shoot it and get your certification to use the pepper balls. You don't need the cert for the gun or the non pepper balls, but you do in CA for the pepper balls. That said, I wouldn't want to get shot with either of them although a thick jacket would nullify any pain.
 
^^^^^ no it would not. A friend bought one for his wife we shot it a lot in the front yard. We hit a plywood target at 25 feet and it was a lot of energy. I will not volunteer to get shot with my Carhartt parka on, and you shouldn't either. Will it dissuade a crack head that is high? Not sure I would bet my life on it, but I think so.
 
Thank you all, especially Fire Dog for the excellent review. I'm left with a feeling of meahh.. with the Byrna. The performance of the pepper balls seems iffy, and the trigger pull, especially first shot would be a problem for my girl's arthritic challenged hands.
I'm leaning toward pepper spray.

And rr2030, as far as listing the particular town, I'd rather not. I'll just say that it's one of the many northern CA, "just off the interstate" towns, not a city. It's depressed, with big homeless issues, huge drug problems, and sadly very common to the area. jd
 
A small Personal Safety AIR HORN and a DEFENSIVE FLASHLIGHT.

And Yes, best not to go there in the first place :(
The "just don't go there" or the "move away from there" advice, seems appropriate for about half the country these days. But it just isn't an option for most folks.
Think about all the places in the nation that simply five years ago were pretty nice and safe places, and now--- almost third world.
Most of us simply don't have the mobility, financial ability, or years of life left to pick up and start over again in a safe red state with no zombies. And those safe places are becoming fewer and further between. jd
 

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