Youth violence
Jolly. youth violence Self defense tactics. [i] As usual when it comes to the statements of anti-self-defense advocates, Rep. Jolly has it backwards. Consider these statistics on stalking: An estimated 1,006,970 women and 370,990 men are stalked annually in the United States and only about 12% of stalking cases result in criminal prosecution. youth violence True crime. [ii] About half of all female stalking victims reported their victimization to police and about 25 percent obtained a restraining order. Eighty percent of all restraining orders were violated by the assailant. About 24 percent of female victims who reported stalking to the police, as compared to 19 percent of male victims, said their cases were prosecuted. youth violence Domestic violence offenders. [iii]Eighty percent of women who are stalked by former husbands are physically assaulted by that partner and 30 percent are sexually assaulted by that partner. [iv]Right now in the state of Missouri, women (and men) who are being stalked have a great deal to be worried about. At present, the only legal measure available to Missourians to counter the actions of a stalker is to seek a restraining order against the individual. However, according to government statistics, those orders are violated eighty percent of the time. As a result, stalking victims in Missouri must deal with an aspect of stalking that individuals in many other states do not have to contend with: how to protect themselves from the stalker who will more than likely ignore any court orders obtained against him. Missourians are living in fear that the predator who is stalking them has an intent and/or a weapon against which they have no adequate defense. The stalker has the advantage in that he (or she) knows his victim lacks a sufficient capability to thwart his aggressive behavior or mount an effective defense to prevent him from inflicting physical harm. There is little to deter the stalker's obsessive, controlling or possible violent conduct. In states that permit concealed carry, the stalker loses that advantage. While he may have no qualms about violating a restraining order or continuing his actions in spite of reports to authorities, knowledge that his victim may be armed and capable of defending against physically threatening or violent assaults can serve as a very potent deterrent - a deterrent that court orders cannot provide. Further, concealed carry laws give a victim who may otherwise feel helpless and controlled by the stalker the ability to function more normally in everyday life, whether the victim chooses to take advantage of those laws or not. The mere fact that she (or he) may have chosen to carry a firearm is a factor that a stalker must consider when contemplating an act of violence against the victim. Concealed carry laws give the victims of stalking an effective means of self-defense and a much greater chance of survival. In spite of Rep. Jolly's assertion, the fact is that a concealed gun does make a woman safer because the stalker doesn't know if she is carrying a concealed weapon.
Youth violence
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