A defensive weapon is a personal weapon that is primarily intended for defending the user against an attacker. The most prudent way to avoid injury in an attack is to foresee it and avoid it. Since this is not always possible, defensive weapons must, to be effective, be small and light enough to be carried easily; if they are not, then they will not be carried, and will be absent when needed. They must also be ready for instant use, since attackers are generally not going to make their intentions known ahead of time. Often the mere presence of a defensive weapon will discourage a criminal attacker; they will avoid the armed victim and choose a safer, defenseless target. A personal weapon is a weapon that can be carried and employed by a single person, although their use may be restricted to specialist members of attack or defense teams. ... The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ... for other uses please see Crime (disambiguation) A crime is an act that violates a political or moral law. ...

Ancient defensive weapons

Throughout most of history, the dominant defensive weapon would have been a club of some sort. With the advent of the Bronze Age, the defensive weapon of choice became a dagger or sword. These were small and light enough to be carried in a sheath worn by the user, and could be quickly drawn in case of an attack. With the changes in metal technologies and personal armor, the sword evolved to fit the needs of the user. In Europe, this was the usually a rapier or similar item, while in Japan it would be the katana. The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... A dagger (from Vulgar Latin: daca - a Dacian knife) is a blade weapon (essentially a double-edged knife) used for stabbing, thrusting or as a secondary defense weapon in close combat. ... Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century Sword (Old English: sweord; akin to Old High German: swerd, wounding tool; Proto-Indo-European: *swer-, to wound, to hurt) is a term for a long-edged, bladed weapon, consisting in its most fundamental design of a blade, usually with two edges for striking... The word sheath has a number of related meanings in English. ... Hot metal work from a blacksmith In chemistry, a metal (Greek: Metallon) is an element that readily forms ions (cations) and has metallic bonds, and metals are sometimes described as a lattice of positive ions (cations) in a cloud of electrons. ... Alternative meanings: vehicle armour, Armor (novel) A hoplite wearing a helmet, a breastplate and greaves (and nothing else). ... World map showing Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... silver damascened rapier guard, between 1580 and 1600. ... Katana of the 16th or 17th Century, with its saya. ...

Modern defensive weapons

"God made all Men, Samuel Colt made them equal."

--popular saying from the late 1800s

With the advent of the reliable handgun, the sword began to fade in importance as a defensive weapon of choice, although there was a considerable overlap when it was not uncommon to see sword and pistol worn at the same time. The advent of the revolver, which allowed multiple, rapid shots before reloading, signified the final demise of the sword. With reliable handguns, the range of the defensive weapon moved from roughly twice the arm's length to dozens of yards (meters). A modern expert could easily hit a man-sized target from 50 yards (46 meters) with a handgun. Still, the handgun is primarily a defensive weapon. Compare the handgun to a sniper's rifle, which is used as an offensive weapon, and can be used to engage targets at ranges of over a mile (1.6 km). Apart from its range, another redeeming factor for using a handgun as a defensive weapon is that its power is largely independent of the strength of the user--it depends on the power of its cartridge, rather than the ability of the user to swing a heavy club or blade. Samuel Colt (July 19, 1814 – January 10, 1862), born in Hartford, Connecticut, was the inventor of the Colt revolver, and founder of the Colt Firearms company. ... Events and Trends Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815). ... A handgun is a firearm small enough to be carried and used in one hand. ... A Browning 9 millimetre semiautomatic pistol Ordnance pistol of the French Navy, 19th century A pistol or handgun is a usually small firearm that can be used with one hand. ... The Colt Single Action Army, one of the most popular revolvers of all time A revolver is a multishot firearm, usually a handgun, in which the rounds are held in a revolving cylinder that rotates to fire them through a single barrel. ... The traditional definition of a sniper is an infantry soldier especially skilled in field craft and marksmanship, who kills selected enemies from concealment with a rifle at long distances. ... Rimmed, centerfire . ...

When portability is not an issue, such as defense of a vehicle or dwelling, a common choice for a defensive weapon would be a riot shotgun. Being larger, a riot shotgun is aimed far more easily than a handgun, and the ability of the shotgun to fire multiple projectiles per shot makes the probability of obtaining a debilitating hit on an assailant much higher. Shotguns also give the option of using special ammunition, such as rubber buckshot or rubber bullets, that turns a shotgun into a less-than-lethal weapon. Mossberg 590 pump-action riot shotgun, with 20 inch barrel Remington model 870 pump-action riot shotgun held by a Florida Highway Patrol cadet A riot shotgun is a shotgun designed or modified for use as a primarily defensive weapon. ... A shotgun shell is a self-contained cartridge loaded with shot or a slug designed to be fired from a shotgun. ... Rubber bullets are rubber-coated projectiles fired from guns. ... Non-lethal force is force which is not inherently likely to kill or cause great bodily injury to a living target. ...