A tear gas pen may have saved my life in 1981. I was still living in Manhattan then. On the Friday afternoon before Memorial Day weekend, I was home in my apartment when a burglar (junky) pried open the gate across the fire escape and came in my apartment.
A few months before I had bought a tear gas pen in Connecticut. As the punk was crawling under the grate I sprayed him in the face really good several times from a distance of about three feet. It slowed him down enough that I was then able to run out my apartment door and downstairs. He followed me down to the sidewalk as fast as he could. He stood on the sidewalk cursing me and threatening me with the crowbar he had used to get in. I was able to spray him a couple of more times directly in the eyes from a distance of about 10 feet. Then he took off running.
When the cops finally came they acted like they didn’t hear me when I told them about the tear gas pen. The passage of this bill will probably save many lives.
I hope such cops that were still in the force during Rudy's Administration weren't fired for allowing serfs the right to self-defense, no matter how modest.