When people ask folks what they have guns for, the most common answer is “self-defense.” The truth of the matter is that contrary to what anti-gunners might claim, all manner of firearms are useful for self-defense, though just how useful is often a matter of debate.

However, they’re also not an option for a number of people for a number of reasons. Plus, well, some people just don’t like guns.

I know. I don’t get it either.

Still, those people still have a right to self-defense. Now, a group of students at the University of Texas at Austin has come up with an interesting tool for just that purpose.

For all five women, it was the need to feel safe. “We just kind of thought about how we don’t feel safe walking home at night, just wherever you are, we carry our keys between our fingers or we have our own pepper sprays on our key chains but obviously we wanted a little more,” UT Senior Meagan Doyle said.

Safety became a priority and it empowered the group to create a device with four different items. Pocket punch has pepper spray, plastic knuckles, a flashlight, and a safety alarm.

To help bring the product to life, the students approached an engineering student with access to a 3-D printer. “I thought the product was awesome,” said UT Senior Sydney Marvin. “My initial reaction was first of all what a great name Pocket Punch and the idea of having knuckles in the project was something I had never thought about.” she said while holding the 17th version of the product in her hand.

On September 1 of this year, the state of Texas legalized brass knuckles and similar devices, thus opening the door for the Pocket Punch.

Now, understand, I still think a firearm is a better idea for most people. Bringing a plastic set of brass knuckles to a gunfight is a disaster in the making and we all know it. Same with pepper spray.

However, some people simply can’t carry a firearm. While Texas has legalized campus carry, that doesn’t do a lot of good for students under the age of 21. Until they hit that magic age, usually around their junior year of college, they’re left defenseless. As these students were motivated by actual events that happened on their campus, that wasn’t really a viable strategy.

The great thing about this device isn’t just that it’s a weapon, but that it’s multi-functional. The flashlight may deter an attack from taking place as you can negate the advantage of darkness for the bad guy (plus, if there are enough lumens coming out of it, it can almost serve as a non-lethal weapon in its own right). The alarm can help scare off a criminal. The pepper spray and knuckles are for when that doesn’t work.

It’s kind of a one-stop-shop.

Again, this won’t take the place of a firearm for those who can carry. Those who can, should, but for those who can’t, this looks like a promising option.

Now, if only the rest of the states would legalize brass knuckles for everyday carry without a permit and we’d be set.