lethal weapon

I can't tell you how many times I've found myself in a position where I’ve had to warn a potential foe that "these hands are registered with the local police department as lethal weapons."

Apparently, the debate on whether or not to register hands as weapons is a hot debate topic on the message boards over at KarateForums.com...

For instance, Luckykboxer writes:
"Basically, if jo blo was to injure/kill someone in a brawl, under the self defence law, they would have more leniency than if a martial artist inflicted the same injury/death in the same situation.

well yes and no.

a trained martial artist will avoid more situations and will be able to keep himself out of trouble more then jo blo will… also will be able to handle small situations better then Jo Blo will… when it gets serious will have a better chance of coming out better then jo blo…. self defense is self defense no matter how you cut it.

the problem is when a trained martial artist has a situation under control then takes advantage of it to inflict harm when he could have safely walked away… i dont consider that self defense, i consider that assault. Now myself I feel that some people deserve it, but that still is against the law. if soemone chooses to break the law, they have to be ready to face the consequences."


Interesting point.

GCav states:
"OK, heres my two cents worth. I have been in law enforcement for a very long time, longer than some of the KF members have been alive. I do not claim to know every thing, but I have noticed several threads in different areas of the KF dealing with this subject and other LE stuff. So, based on many years of LE experience, and going to court 1000s of times, here we go:

NO, you do not have to register your hands as deadly weapons.
NO, you do not have to announce that you know MAs (for several reasons it is better that you don't).
NO, you will not be given a harder sentence for knowing MAs.
NO, police officers can not shoot an unarmed man 21 feet away for just standing in a "MAs stance". (from a different thread)
NO, there are no laws restricting what techniques an instructor can teach his/her students.
YES, as some have said, you must use the least amount of force necessary to defend yourself. Anything over that, by a MA or non-MA, moves your actions into the criminal area.

Now, the laws in each state are different on self defence and for what is a concealed weapon, deadly weapon, illegal weapon, and how you can carry your MAs weapons to and from your class, so I can not comment on that.

This post is not meant in a mean spirited or "I'm right your wrong" way, so please do not take it the wrong way. I'm only passing on my little bit of knowledge. :)"


Red J provides a hearty laugh for karateforums.com readers when he dropped:

"I must warn you that my hands are registered as lethal weapons with the FBI." -Ralph Malph - Happy Days


And 47MartialMan followed that up with and even bigger laugh when he typed:

F.B.I.?
I nthis case, the Federal Bereau of Idiots?

--

so, the debate still reigns...

KarateForum.com readers on are definitely on the fence about revealing their powers to local law enforcement, but seem to be in agreement that self "defense" is spelled "d-e-f-e-n-c-e."

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