Kitty ‘Knuckles’ Key Ring Causes Self-Defense Stir in Texas

With crime readily in the news, women throughout the U.S. prepare for the potential that around a corner or in a parking lot, a possible predator is lurking. Self-defense classes teach them straight-forward techniques for combatting an attacker from behind or face-to-face. However, on the occasion when doing everything you can to keep from being assaulted or robbed means using other tactics, some options have been deemed illegal, yet are still on the market. One such item is a kitty key ring, which, by all outward appearances is cute, but is actually a self-defense mechanism classified as “knuckles,” which are illegal in Texas.

Photo: Instagram/the.natasha.journey

A common self-defense move is the placing of one’s keys between the knuckles, to use in a jabbing fashion should someone attack. Companies that manufacture products to address our interest in self-defense have created the cute feline-fashioned key rings from hard plastic. If the product is attached to your knuckles, it could render a serious blow resulting from its pointy ears. However, the use of this self-defense key ring could result in county jail time of up to a year and a $4,000 fine.

Photo: Facebook/Fight Until the Finish – Personal Safety for Women

The Texas Penal Code defines knuckles as “any instrument that consists of finger rings or guards made of a hard substance and that is designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting serious bodily injury or death by striking a person with a fist enclosed in the knuckles.” Although it may sound a bit backward, there are other options you can consider for self-defense which is as close as your key ring, and that’s a small canister of pepper-spray. You can even go with an object which is designed from a hard composite and features a point, but due to the “knuckle” definition, it can’t have finger holes.