The Right to Bear Lip Balm

We're into pacifism here at Chaptastic, but we recognize that there are times in life when it's necessary to defend oneself from attack or to surreptitiously elbow someone in the ribs on the subway for breathing too much of your air.

Wouldn't it be great if you could use as your weapon an object you already carry with you everywhere?

Well, a good samaritan has brought us the Lip Balm Gun. This instructable shows you how to construct your very own "less-than-lethal, easily concealed, personal defense weapon." Although it admittedly has "the killing power of a marshmallow dropped from the height of two feet", it does pack a punch. Its inventor warns: "You should never hand somebody a loaded gun. For this reason, if anybody ever hands you a chap stick with the cap still on, punch them in the face."

Hear, hear.