I don’t consider myself an expert on anything, except perhaps my ability to separate Legos. Seriously, ask my kids; I’m the best at it. I like to think of myself as a “subject matter enthusiast,” a term someone more clever than I invented. As such, I do a lot of research, take classes when I can, and suck at competition shooting. When smart people talk, I tend to listen. With that said, there is a lot of dumb self-defense advice out there, and today we are tackling the worst of it.
Here Are Some of the Dumbest
Birdshot for Home Defense
Anyone who seriously uses a shotgun will never advocate for birdshot for self-defense. This pick was inspired by a recent post by John Correia of Active Self Protection. He shared a video of a person shooting another at close range with birdshot, and it was remarkably ineffective. People in the comments were calling John an idiot, claiming birdshot can “cut a man in half” at close range. There was literal video evidence of the opposite in the post, yet they ignored it.
Birdshot is typically advocated to prevent over-penetration through drywall. Here is the thing: if it doesn’t penetrate drywall, it won’t penetrate a human threat. Can a dose of birdshot kill? Sure, even a blank can be lethal under specific circumstances, but we shouldn’t rely on it to stop a threat in a life-threatening situation.
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Birdshot enthusiasts will bring up tungsten shot, turkey loads, and similar nonsense. Sure, those are denser and go deeper, but even a load of tungsten shot typically only penetrates about 10 inches, which is two inches short of the depth categorized as effective. At the same time, it has more recoil and costs more than a round of reduced-recoil 00 buckshot. More recoil and more money for less effectiveness makes no sense to me.
Just watch videos of birdshot in action; it doesn’t reliably stop people. One of the most famous examples is the Seattle Pacific University shooting, where a young lady was shot with birdshot and essentially walked it off. Don’t be a Dick Cheney when it comes to home defense.
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Wasp Spray for Defensive Use
The idea of using wasp spray for self-defense became popular enough that a local news agency famously had a self-defense “expert” advocate for its use. Their reasoning was that it’s cheap, has a long range, and would burn an attacker’s eyes.
I remember seeing this and thinking: Has no one ever actually used wasp spray before? Every spring, I kill a ton of wasps, and somehow, one way or the other, I eventually get hit in the face with the blowback. It isn’t a direct stream, but that blowback undoubtedly hits my eyes.
The argument might be that I need a full blast to feel the effects, or maybe wasp spray simply doesn’t contain effective chemical irritants for humans.
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Sure, it smells terrible and tastes worse, but it doesn’t sting or hurt anywhere near as much as a dedicated tool like POM. Even a little backblast from POM is immensely unpleasant. Idiots huff wasp spray to get high; do you really think that makes it an effective deterrent? You’re better off throwing sand in someone’s face than using wasp spray.
Point Shooting
I once wrote a long article on why point shooting is a meme and why its advocates need actual training. Point shooting is downright silly. The idea that you won’t see your sights in a gunfight might have been true at one point in history, but sights have grown, and red dots now dominate the market.
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You will always fall back to your lowest level of training. If you consistently train to use your sights, then you will use them when the pressure is on. Using your sights doesn’t slow you down; it ensures you make hits that matter.
There are times when you don’t use a traditional sight picture, but you are still aiming. At super-close range, you can use the entire silhouette of the gun as a sight. We also have close-retention shooting, which is the only valid application of “point” shooting. Use your sights; it’s not hard, and it’s not slow. All the time spent practicing point shooting could be spent on aimed fire, making you much more effective at defending your family.
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Empty Chamber Carry
Carrying with an empty chamber is like planning to put a seatbelt on right before a car accident. Rarely do memes encapsulate good points so well, but the “empty chamber” meme succinctly explains the flaw. Advocates swear it’s safer because the gun simply can’t go off if the chamber is empty.
If your gun can “just go off,” then you need a new gun or a better holster. Empty chamber advocates talk about how fast they can draw and rack the slide, but that plan falls apart if you only have one hand available, have to shoot from retention, or are in a physical struggle.
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I understand the anxiety of carrying a loaded chamber. You are a bit crazy if you aren’t at least slightly concerned about carrying a loaded weapon. However, that anxiety is usually solved by spending more time with the firearm and understanding that modern guns have internal safety devices and modern holsters prevent trigger interference.
If that doesn’t ease your mind, consider a manual safety or a DA/SA trigger. Both offer a mechanical barrier or a longer pull, and both are infinitely better than carrying an empty chamber.
Final Thoughts
This is some of the dumbest advice I can find, but unfortunately, it’s the kind of advice that never seems to die.
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