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Serving the self-defense needs of wheelchair-bound customers - Lethal Force

Shooting Industry, April, 2002 by Massad Ayoob

Most often your customers are "able-bodied." But what about those who are wheelchair-bound? Don't they need -- and deserve -- to protect themselves, also? Customers buy self-defense guns from you because they perceive they are at risk of an attack. How do people confined to wheelchairs perceive themselves?

"I'm bait," one told me.

Predators seek prey. They are more likely to attack those less able to protect themselves. Wheelchair-bound persons are not being paranoid when they believe they are a ripe target for a predator. They're stating a fact.

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Certain defensive firearms and accessories work well for people in wheelchairs. There are also some that are not as suitable and some that don't work at all. Let's look at some of the factors that can help you tailor your skills, knowledge and service to the community of the physically challenged. In the end, you'll create satisfied customers who will tell their friends that yours is the place to go for their security needs.

Manageable Guns

Long, heavy weapons place a lot of weight at the barrel end. A standing man can compensate for this by widening his stance. The "stance" of the wheelchair customer is fixed and inflexible, limited by the wheel-base of the chair. This means that a 30-inch barreled shotgun in the closet will be very unwieldy for this individual's needs.

Ask the wheelchair customer about his range of movement and level of disability, explaining that this will help tailor suggestions to fit his needs. In my experience, wheelchair customers are used to this, aren't offended, and are forthcoming with the details.

If the customer has a chest-level-down paralysis, he may need to use one hand just to stabilize himself in certain wheelchairs. This means a rifle or shotgun may not be a good choice for self-defense. The quintessential, one-handed weapon, the handgun, may be the best option.

If a customer with limited balance in a chair is insistent on buying something bigger than a handgun, consider a bullpup design like the Steyr AUG .223. With the weight of the receiver and magazine behind the hand and firing mechanism, these guns work exquisitely one-handed.

Obviously, that's also a selling point for the customer who only has the use of one arm. While the current rarity of transferable AUGs has skyrocketed their prices out of the reach of most people, an affordable and readily available .223 bullpup rifle exists. It is the 17S by Bushmaster. Overall length is only 30 inches and base price is down around $700 suggested retail for the plain vanilla version.

The physical challenges of many in a wheelchair include a need to keep their weight back in the chair. This means they can't lean into a hard-kicking gun to control the recoil. A 9mm might serve this customer better than something with more recoil. For the same reason, a gun with an integral recoil compensator might have enhanced value for this customer. The Glock C-series and Springfield's V-10 are ideal candidates.

When you advise on shooting methods, be reminded that the classic Weaver stance (both arms bent, gun hand pushes, support hand pulls back) survives a shoulders-back posture better than any technique that locks one or both arms straightforward.

Confidence Factor

As with all your customers, you need to refer your wheelchair customers for training. Make sure the trainer you recommend is compatible with this specialneeds client. This includes, but also goes beyond, handicapped-accessible facilities.

One of our clients had a war wound that left him with a leg that wouldn't bend. He went to a shooting school where he was unable to perform the kneeling position as demonstrated by the chief instructor. Instead of helping the student develop an alternative low-cover technique, the chief instructor snarled to his subordinates, "Get the cripple off the line! He's slowing down the others."

The student told me later, "That man taught me to hate." I can only wonder how he felt about the person who referred him to the school.

With your knowledge, the customer's help, and perhaps even talking with his medical caregivers, you can provide the wheelchair-bound customer the confidence and the competence necessary for a life-saving defensive capability.

Last year, one of my students -- paralyzed from the chest down by a spinal cord injury -- outshot every "able-bodied" student in the class with a perfect score so tightly grouped that he won the tiebreaker. He did it one-hand only with a 1911 .45 -- he needed his other hand to stabilize himself in the chair.

In the "Armed Citizen" column of the February American Rifleman, the NRA reported the case of Jaquie Creazzo. She was present when the deranged former boyfriend of one of her children attacked her family with two guns. She saved her family and herself when she drew her own gun and shot him -- from her wheelchair.

In your next newspaper ad, include a line, something like, "Physically challenged customers welcomed. Let's work together to address your firearms needs." It likely will bring you new customers, and more importantly, help protect one of the most challenged elements of the society we serve.

Serving the self-defense needs of wheelchair-bound customers - Lethal Force

Shooting Industry, April, 2002 by Massad Ayoob

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