The threat posed by these everyday thugs is growing. Rape and assault by thugs with or without a weapon is getting more common.

Because of budget constraints and the ever growing amount of crime police departments for the most part are stretched way to thin and cannot possibly handle the volume of legitimate calls they get.

This puts some or most of the burden for protecting yourself and your family squarely on your shoulders. In order to help protect yourself and your family there are two things I think every adult must do.

TAKE A SELF DEFENSE CLASS Learn the basics of self defense. Local communities either thru the local police department or thru a university or community college offer classes for free in the basics. There are several self defense DVD's on the market that will teach you things no police department ever would. They are down and dirty taught by mean and nasty guys who know their stuff and THEY WORK

BECOME PROFICIENT IN A SELF DEFENSE WEAPON Pick one that you feel comfortable with be it a stun gun, pepper spray, Taser, telescopic baton, whatever and learn how to use it and become proficient with it. Several stun guns and pepper sprays come disguised as everyday items taking advantage of the element of surprise.

One such example is a new cell phone stun gun that packs a 800,000 volt surprise for getting your wrong number.

Do these two things and not only will you feel more confident in the face of danger but thru practice will have a reflex reaction when confronted by the bad guys. A split second can change the course of an assault. BE PREPARED!

Why not level the playing field a little and have an element of surprise all your own. Who knows it may end up saving your life. To find out more click on the links below.

Jack Krohn is the #1 author of Home Security Articles in the country according to EzineArticles. He owns SECURITY SOLUTIONS a one stop resource that provides solutions and answers for all your self defense and home security problems.