Pepper Spray Is a Hot Item That’s Not Yet Available

Ventura County residents fearful of personal attacks made an early run on weapons dealers Tuesday--trying to get their hands on pepper spray that is now legal but not yet available in stores.

Retailers across the county say they have been inundated with calls from customers eager to buy the blinding spray as a safe alternative to deadly firearms.

But product demand and slow state inspections have delayed its arrival.

“If I had it, I could have sold a truckload,” said George Rice, who owns Shooter’s Paradise in Oxnard. “We’ve been getting probably 50 calls a day, but they told me it’s going to be two or three weeks until we receive it.”

A cayenne pepper-based formula also known as OC spray, pepper spray has been popular among many Ventura County law enforcement officers for more than a year.

After numerous requests, the state attorney general’s office decided to allow its sale and use commercially to give the public some protection against criminals. The canisters are now legal in all but two states.

The spray temporarily blinds assailants, attackers and unruly suspects without permanent side effects.

“It will be a big seller,” said Roy Craik, owner of the C Crest Arms gun shop in Simi Valley, who said he was filing his application Tuesday to market the spray. “People want it. Just today, I’ve had 15 calls on it.”

In most cases, certification to carry and use the spray takes about two hours of training at a community college, law enforcement agency or weapons range. Applicants then have to visit a retail outlet to purchase the canisters and take a short test or watch a 30-minute videotape.

Each of the three Ventura County community colleges is licensed to offer the training classes required by the state. According to one instructor, people can hardly wait.

“It’s everywhere,” said John Robertson, a college district police officer who also is licensed to teach classes on pepper spray. “I’ve never seen this much interest in a defense product before.

“We’re talking hundreds of people, and we have not even advertised the class,” said Robertson, who cautions potential users that pepper spray will not always save them.

“It’s a tool a person can use, but it’s not a cure-all,” he said. “The spray is effective if it gets in the person’s eyes. But if it misses, it has all the effects of spilled taco sauce.”

So far, just one company has won approval to market the pepper spray in California, although others are lining up.

Officials at Defense Technology in Wyoming this week are seeing nothing but dollar signs.

“You’ve got 33 million people in California, and I would imagine that over the next 10 months, we’ll sell to approximately 5% of the population,” company Vice President Rick Kennerknecht said.

“People are scared,” he said. “People want some form of protection, and pepper spray will allow you to have that protection without having to deal with the consequences of resorting to lethal defenses.”

But police and sheriff’s deputies are not looking forward to pepper spray’s wide release. Several said Tuesday that allowing people to purchase the spray over-the-counter could entice criminals to use it as a weapon.

“It has the potential to be used wrongly,” said Sgt. Harold Humphries of the East Valley Sheriff’s Station. “What if someone walks into a bank with it? If anyone on the street has access to it, I have concerns about it.”

But officials at the state attorney general’s office say they have already made provisions for those who use pepper spray illegally.

“There are enhanced penalties if that’s the case,” said Denise Davis, a spokeswoman for Atty. Gen. Daniel E. Lungren. “Certainly criminals can get their hands on a number of weapons now.

“You have to weigh the risks versus the benefits,” she said. “In this case, we feel the public should have access to it to protect themselves.”

Nationwide, more than 20 people have died after being doused with the caustic spray. But medical officials are reluctant to conclude that each victim was killed as a direct result of the exposure.

“We think it’s probably coincidental,” said David Boyd, a director of the National Institute of Justice, which is preparing an extensive study on the spray and its effects.

Times staff writer Miles Corwin contributed to this story.