Denise Leflar, 24, has never squeezed the flat, red trigger. She strongly hopes she never will.
But just let some hotshot try something illegal, said the office manager. She'll gladly drop him with one hot shot between the eyes.
"It's unbelievable. It makes you feel safe," said the Conshohocken resident about her Peppergard, a cayenne-powered defensive aerosol spray that she carries on her key ring. "You feel like you have some kind of protection other than your physical power."
Such a fan of the spray is Leflar that she has sent six canisters as gifts to family and friends. Her grandmother keeps her Christmas present at home by the front door.
Recent news stories about carjackings, kidnappings and other crimes - along with aggressive marketing - have prompted a surge in sales of defensive sprays, which temporarily blind attackers and leave them gasping for air.
In 1992, manufacturers marketed 40 new sprays and posted about $60 million in sales, said industry sources, who projected a fivefold increase by 1995.
Mace, the best-known name in the defensive-spray market, has been around since 1965. It is a tear gas; many of the newer sprays are, like the one Leflar carries, made from hot peppers.
The popularity of the sprays has some police officials worried about misuse, by criminals or by panicky people who might use them indiscriminately, hitting bystanders as well as their targets.
The sprays can be sold legally over the counter in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. New York and Wisconsin, at the urging of police, have made it illegal to carry them. Other states, including Massachusetts, allow sales to the general public, but only to people who have a permit like the one required to purchase ammunition.
In the Philadelphia area, the small cans of personal protection are available everywhere - at the home center, the supermarket, even the tony Gladwyne Pharmacy, which sells 24 canisters a month from a display that sits amid traditional health and hygiene products.
"It blows out of here," said Paul Glynn, manager of the pharmacy in the affluent Montgomery County neighborhood. The store carries two brands of pepper spray, at $7 and $14 apiece. "It's mostly parents buying it for kids going off to college, and women who travel on the trains buying it for themselves."
Michael Dallett, president of the National Association of Defense Spray Manufacturers, said that 75 percent of all customers were women, and that sales spurted "wildly" after a highly publicized crime.
