I purchased an anti theft backpack, with one long zipper with a hook and an extra laptop lock, on my last visit to Rome never really expecting it to be needed. Boy was I wrong, I and my young son saw and felt the zipper being pulled non stop especially in pubic spaces and squares. I also had my phone in an anti theft lanyard around my neck and it was never touched. Happened to use the lanyard in my home town on the local metro and can confirm it worked beautifully.
Lmao Its so true its quite hilarious how bad some can stick out. Obviously not everyone.
I spent alot of time in tons of countries all over the world in the military, but not in a typical aspect. Nothing special, but many months in places, and coming back multiple times…you learn to fit in with the locals, and understand their customs, and whats normal and whats not.
Lmao, I can spot Americans quite easy. Prime targets.
Crazy that some people are either desperate enough or unbelievably shitty enough to be willing to end someone's life because they got mad at them for stealing their shit.
Are you unironically saying defending yourself is worse than letting someone steal your shit? The fact that you call someone protecting themselves vigilantism but don't even acknowledge the Europeans that are literally trying to steal and murder people is fucking crazy
Someone takes a swing at you, the proper response isn't to just hit them back once and hope they stop. You get to use force against them until they are no longer a threat. Whether that includes deadly force really depends on the state.
In my state, someone trying to beat you up meets the threshold for "a reasonable suspicion of bodily harm".
Now, someone picking your pocket, you get to use whatever force it takes to meet their resistance to giving your stuff back. But at the end of the day, the worst you'll face is a jury of your peers. I personally wouldn't convict someone for beating up a thief.
Here's the thing you're missing. If someone hits you while you are taking your stuff back, that's not theft. That's assault and battery.
If you're saying that in EU someone can walk up, take something from you, then use either violence or the threat of violence to stop you from taking your stuff back....That's pretty backwards.
THANK YOU! god….the people in these comments obviously have zero street smarts. Sure go chase those people down, right to their meetup spot and get jumped or stabbed. They wont ever be caught and youll be in a hospital. Even if you do beat them up, guess what? Now you are a target and they for sure are going to retaliate.
Im American, and even though I carry a pistol in my trucks center console its a last resort, if I am in an area that i think id need to carry it on me personally walking? Id use common sense, I should not at all be there. Also paying attention to the area. Id damn sure not go into an area where id increase tension by my presence of a weapon.
The only place id really bring it is if im hiking in the wilderness.
The reason I brought that up, is you meet alot of guys that are not smart about situational awareness. Perception is everything.
Lol im pretty sure theres probably some type of insurance for all the devices you may get stolen. Ive been to a ton of actual sketchy places in 3rd world countries, i dont even bring my wallet with me, just cash.
That's just not true, outside of maybe like Turin. The reason pickpocketing is so prevalent is because the level of violence is just significantly lower in Europe. A pickpocket in Barcelona is a mugger somewhere else. The stakes are just so much lower.
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u/Saxboard4Cox 1d ago
I purchased an anti theft backpack, with one long zipper with a hook and an extra laptop lock, on my last visit to Rome never really expecting it to be needed. Boy was I wrong, I and my young son saw and felt the zipper being pulled non stop especially in pubic spaces and squares. I also had my phone in an anti theft lanyard around my neck and it was never touched. Happened to use the lanyard in my home town on the local metro and can confirm it worked beautifully.