Always be on your guard...

[Dale Seago]

I know you put the twisted tag on there, but this still sends a red flag up with me. In truth, you are better off with an *** whoopin on the right side of the law than to stick some morons and keep the area grey.

This is coming from a man who solidly believes in self defense, and carrying a real sgian dubh. But you must be responsible. You mentioned kids around... what would be a better scene for them to see, some idiots exposing your buttocks and getting arrested, or some idiots pushing their intestines back into their torso because the man in the kilt stabbed them?

Sorry for the thread drift, just want to make a technical point. (I also believe solidly in self defense, am a martial arts teacher and I teach effective use of knives, swords, impact weapons, flexible weapons, polearms, firearms, as well as empty-hand stuff. . ."on the side", apart from my full-time day job as Director of Security for a synagogue.)

A knife is considered "deadly force" under the law exactly as a firearm is. If someone verbally or physically expresses the intention to, let's say, punch you in the nose, if you were to draw your sgian "just to warn him off" you have just escalated things to "use of deadly force" even if you never give him even the tiniest little poke or scratch. Use of deadly force is only going to be legal if you can successfully argue to a jury that you were in fear for your life. That doesn't mean "bare fear", as in "the big bad man scared me so I drew my knife". It means a "reasonable person's" assessment that it was the most prudent and effective way at that time to avoid death or potentially life-threatening serious injury.

(EDIT: I'm not "Monday morning quarterbacking" the OP, as he did specifically say ". . .in case of an real emergency I was also armed with my sgian dubh as well. . .". Just pointing out for "general edification" that the employment of this utilitarian tool as a weapon is, indeed, something that should be reserved for "a real emergency".)