Gainesville stores are sold out of pepper spray and rape whistles following a string of four attacks on and around UF’s campus since Aug. 30.
The Target on Archer Road is completely sold out of self-defense tools. The Walmart Supercenter on Northeast 12th Avenue is also sold out, as are the ones on Archer Road and Southwest 13th Street. Hibbett Sports on Archer Road is sold out as well.
There is still pepper spray in stock at the M&C Army Surplus store on Northwest 13th Street.
via Local stores run out of self-defense weapon stock – The Independent Florida Alligator: Campus.
Female students at the University of Florida in Gainesville are arming themselves with Less Lethal devices after the news that three of their fellow students have been attacked. Now this puts the administration in sort of bind because according to their own policies, stuff like pepper spray is not kosher on campus.
Firearms or Other Weapons Violations. Possession, use, sale, or distribution of any firearm, ammunition, weapon or similar device not explicitly permitted under University of Florida Regulation 2.001. Prohibited devices include, but are not limited to, stun guns, pellet guns, BB guns, paintball guns, slingshots, archery equipment, any dangerous chemical or biological agent, or any object or material, including but not limited to knives, capable of causing, and used by the offending person to cause, or to threaten physical harm.
Not for nothing, but to the students I say screw the policy and be as ready as you can be to fight. Gainesville seems to be a magnet for sick individuals going after females. Until this new predator is caught, I don’t expect to see the Administrators even considering expelling any female student that has been caught with a can of pepper spray or is carrying grandma’s knitting needles.
IF you have time to pull a rape whistle, you have time to pull a gun.
Its a shame that carrying a gun is such an arduous process, especially for young ADULTS.
Better to be raped, than to harm the poor disadvantaged rapist.
The people in charge should be ashamed.
Better to be a live felon than a dead victim.
I wonder if we could interest any of those ladies in a Double-Tap .45 ACP derringer. Much louder than a rape whistle, about the same size as pepper spray, and a much clearer message than either.
Not to be a devil’s advocate, and to be clear, I understand the administration’s interpretation of the phrase, but:
“any dangerous chemical or biological agent”
OC spray is not exactly “dangerous”, by most people’s definition of the term. Painful and inflammatory, yes, but dangerous/hazardous? Not so much.
Certainly, the HCl (hydrochloric acid), H2SO4 (sulfuric acid), NOH (sodium hydroxide, a.k.a. lye) and C6 (benzene) the chemistry majors play with – on a daily basis – are more hazardous to one’s long-term health and well-being.
In a logical world, you would be 1000% right. But this is academia where a T-shirt with the wrong message or a quote from Serenity can have the cops on your behind in a matter of minutes. In their little world of fantasy, Pepper Spray is a dangerous chemical agent that should be banned.
Tball bats are fun!