Posted on 03/27/2010 9:58:15 AM PDT by Travis McGee
If you don’t presently own any firearms, you may have been considering taking that step in order to protect yourself and your family. Or perhaps you already have what you consider to be an adequate home armory, but is it really enough? In the event that our economy tanks, one certain outcome will be much higher levels of criminal violence. Read Fernando Aguirre’s excellent “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse,” based on his experiences in Argentina after 2001, to see what happens to civil society when a national currency collapses and the banks are closed. Today’s career criminals will be that much more desperate and willing to use violence against their victims. The feral youths who need little encouragement to bust heads for sport in times of relative plenty may be starving, and no moral consideration will keep them from sticking a gun in your face or a knife in your back.
At the same time, the federal government may define this surge of criminal violence as civil disorder and enact emergency decrees, especially if armed citizens begin to fight back on a wide scale. One need look no further than the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to see how officials react toward ordinary people with firearms during a period of civil disorder. A freeze on gun sales and/or ammunition is a predictable outcome during government-defined “emergencies.”
Most of the readers of this column probably don’t need to be convinced of the wisdom of owning and practicing with firearms. You may even believe that you already possess all of the guns you need, whether a .38 caliber revolver in your bedside table or a small battery of handguns, shotguns and rifles in your closet or gun safe. You may even own one or more of those liberally despised so-called assault rifles. In any of these cases you may think you don’t need to consider any more gun purchases.
There is, however, one reason to purchase at least a few more weapons: to arm thy neighbors. I can hear you saying, “What is Bracken talking about? If that foolish grasshopper of a neighbor didn’t bother about his security when guns were readily available, why should I worry about him now? Besides, he may even be an anti-gun liberal, so the hell with him!”
This reasoning is short-sighted on several levels. First, we have all heard the old saying that “a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged.” When violence explodes during an economic collapse, millions of new conservatives will be created from former left-wingers. And besides philosophically anti-gun liberals, many folks simply grow up in families where guns are not present and reach adulthood having never touched a firearm. But no matter why they don’t own firearms, when the ultra-violence breaks out your neighbors down the street will deserve a way to defend themselves from criminal predation. Simple charity, Christian or otherwise, suggests that we should not leave the elderly couple, the widow or the single mom with young children defenseless against evildoers bent on rape, robbery or murder.
When the incidence of home invasions, carjackings and “express kidnappings” skyrockets, some of your neighbors will discover a sudden interest in acquiring firearms, just when firearms may not be available through normal channels. These unarmed neighbors may then ask if you have any extra firearms to lend to them. Which one of your carefully considered collection of guns will you hand over to arm your defenseless neighbor? Your high-end “concealed carry” pistol, which fits your hand like a glove? Your wife’s? Your pump-action shotgun? Your AR-15 Sport Utility Rifle? The fact is, you will be loath to give away any of them, not even to a neighbor in need. You have acquired each of them for a carefully thought-out reason! But your neighbor is still defenseless.
That is why I encourage you to buy a few extra firearms in anticipation of this future need. I would suggest that a revolver is the simplest entry-level firearm to provide to a non-shooting neighbor. There are no magazines, safety catches or slides to learn to manipulate. You simply open the cylinder, insert the bullets, close the cylinder and the revolver is ready to go. A revolver has the shortest “learning curve” of any firearm. Anyone can learn basic gun safety and effective close-range self-defense with a revolver in one afternoon. In dire extremes you could hand a revolver to a non-shooter after a five-minute period of instruction and dry-firing. Revolvers are intuitive; you can even see if they are loaded or unloaded simply by looking at the cylinder.
Of course, a much greater level of firearms training is highly desirable if there is time for it. If possible, take your non-shooting neighbor to a gun range now, in advance of a period of “civil unrest.” Training a non-shooter in the safe operation of firearms also shows your own overall knowledge of security issues. This demonstrated firearms proficiency will stand you in good stead when your leadership skills and tactical knowledge may benefit your overall neighborhood security posture.
Beyond the simple morality of providing a means of self-defense against criminal violence, there is another reason to be prepared to arm thy neighbors: the force multiplying synergy of multiple fields of fire. Recall the old cowboy movies when the gang of black hats rode into a town where the citizens were forewarned and prepared. As an historical example, consider what happened to the vaunted James Gang on the Northfield Minnesota Raid when they lost the element of surprise. Only Frank and Jesse escaped unhurt. The rest of the armed gang were killed by the townsfolk or captured shortly after, badly wounded.
An armed and alert neighborhood is a very dangerous environment for criminals. In a time of rampant violence, with the ever-present threat of home invasions, more armed neighbors mean more angles of fire for the criminals to confront. Instead of focusing their evil intent on a single home, selecting one sheep in a helpless flock, they will be threatened by fire from many directions and their retreat may be cut off. This compounds their risk compared to attacking a neighborhood where most folks are unarmed and cringing in corners, praying to remain unmolested.
Of course, it is best if your neighbors have all received a high level of firearms training. Otherwise, the risk of a “friendly fire” accident while repelling an armed gang with shots from multiple directions is increased. And of course, you should not provide a firearm to a drunk, a druggie, or a mentally unstable neighbor for obvious reasons. But the danger of living in an unarmed neighborhood is even greater, because such an area is a magnet for repeated violent criminal attacks.
The best outcome would be to leverage your training of individuals in safe firearms usage into general neighborhood self-defense drills. Then if the “James Gang” rides in…they won’t necessarily ride out! Word will get around, and your neighborhood will achieve an aura of armed strength that deters future criminal incursions. Consider why tiny Switzerland has never been invaded by its much more powerful and often bellicose neighbors. It’s not because of the Alps. It’s because the Swiss have a strong tradition of armed self-defense at every level. Both invading armies and criminal gangs go around “hard targets” that are known to shoot back!
If nothing else, from a strictly selfish standpoint, the humble .38 revolver you lent to that widow might provide you with a critical early warning of imminent danger when she fires it in self-defense. Forewarned is forearmed, even if the warning is a rapid series of pistol shots heard from up the street at oh-dark-thirty. But in any case, I would rather hear the widow’s defiant shots than her helpless screams.
So, consider buying a few extra firearms and ammunition while you can easily and inexpensively do so. A used revolver in good working condition can be purchased for as little as $250, a used pump-action shotgun for not much more. And if you don’t know what an SKS rifle is or what they cost, find out. Then you will have the option of arming your neighbors in a time of extreme peril, without diminishing your own family armory.
I hate to say it but we need to all get a feel for how are neighbors are. When the economy collapses, will they be a help or a burden? I’d love to help all who come to me but I can’t feed and arm everyone. If they can’t do it for themselves, you and I cannot save them.
But, given the above, we must try. However, we must encourage our friends and neighbors now, rather when it’s too late. I know which of my neighbors I can stand shoulder to shoulder with. I know which cannot be trusted with information or arms.
Thinking about it, there would be some people who do not presently own firearms either by choice or due to current legal restrictions, who night otherwise be a good person to be armed.
Someone who fought in war and has changed their life around so that guns no longer fit into the picture / their lifestyle and/or who consider themselves done with guns and killing since they did enough of it fighting in war in the past, for instance.
I also seem to recall that with the passage of the Lautenberg amendment Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban some people who had plead guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence suddenly lost their right to legally own firearms forever.
Also I seem to think that there were (or was a plan to) have returning soldiers who got a PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) diagnosis tagged as being too mentally unstable to legally own guns.
So assuming that some people don't have firearms because they currently think that having guns and ammo around is more trouble than they are worth, their spouse is against having guns in the house, they don't want guns in the house because they have children, or they lost everything including their guns in a divorce or bankruptcy, or they lost the legal right to own firearms due to some rule which really should no longer apply to them... Some of these people might be a good bet to be armed and on your side if things really go South in a big way.
Friend, once I finish replacing the non-heat treated bolt parts and remove a 1/64” off the trigger guard end of the rod(s) for the slide spring(s), to allow the bolt to be closed snug, and apply the occasional weld to the slide crack, the Universal is a very bang worthy gun.
I’m no smith. If you can get it up to par then that’s different. My carbine is a Saiga .223, less than $350 NIB.
I think it would fun, if I could write. ;)
It puts you right in the middle of the action.
Go for it!
BTW, have you tried the Kel Tec PMR30 yet?
Haven’t fired the keltec. I passed last year on a HK USC, the civilan version of their UMP. It’s a carbine in .45 ACP, light strong and accurate. They wanted $995.00. Now I can’t find one for less than $1,600.00.
Anyone who will flame you for wanting an AK variant is an idiot. Even the cheapest WASR converted to 30 round mag AK is going to be pretty much rock solid reliable and be able to hit MOM, Minute of Man, at any reasonable range. That is, if you can hit, it can.
True. I guess it’s my suspicious and paranoid nature of survival. It forces me to ponder, do we deal with the freeloaders who have no forethought to being prepared and hope they learn to pull their load for the numbers game or do we choose fewer numbers of people we know will stand with us?
Good points, I’m mainly talking about people who believe guns are bad then suddenly see the light after it’s too late and expect us to hand them a gun and all will be fine.
Thanks. Since I own a Cougar, I’m also thinking of the Cx4. 9mm HP has plenty of take-down power (though I’d never use 9mm FMJ for self-defense), and for some reason I am partial to Beretta.
Hi-Point is still saying they are coming out with their .45 ACP carbine this year. We’ll see ...
The only time a guy can have ‘too many’ firearms is when you are trying to swim with them...
Or carry them all in a fishing bat. Several freepers have lost all their weapons in boating incidents ... I sold all mine and now only have ‘registered guns’.
Dang! Guess we ALL were on the river that day with you,HUH? LOL...
Ammo is still fairly cheap compared to .223 or .308, and within a couple hundred yards they are adequate.
For a real value, seek ones with chrome lined barrels and chambers, they are less susceptible to pitting from corrosive ammo.
It takes about ten minutes of instruction to have someone be able to use one, speed at reloading and skill come with practice.
If you want pinpoint accuracy, you are not likely to get it with the AK or SKS, but sub-MOA accuracy is a sniper's tool for ranges beyond the AK and SKS anyway. (A neighbor just starting won't be able to take advantage of a better rifle).
If you want that standoff capability, it takes a better knowledge of ballistics to use effectively and some fieldcraft--things you are not going to be able to impart to a neighbor in 10-15 minutes--and it will cost more for ammo and the arm and the optics.
Most rifles that accurate and set up for long distance applications suck as a CQB weapon, anyway.
While the AR 15 (or other Stoner variant) is a good tradeoff between the two, that is for when you are only packing one, and unless you have the piston upper, the AR will be more maintennance intensive.
(Keep 'em all clean, but some need more TLC than others.)
For the neighbors and volume of fire in a pinch, consider having a couple cheaper east-bloc arms (and plenty of ammo) around.
There are a very few whom I would trust whom, because of long past actions, society does not. In a survival situation where arming someone I would not otherwise consider giving a firearm to increases the chances of our mutual survival, it would be really nice to have that option.
Precisely. You don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than the slowest guy...
That said, get in touch with the guys up the road, mutual defense can get the marrauders in a crossfire and eliminate the threat rather than feed them the neighbor's leftover ammo...
There are lots of reasons NOT to arm some neighbors. My only point is that in order to have the OPTION later on to arm some level-headed but unarmed neighbors, you should buy the inexpensive “extra” guns now.
When TSHTF it will be too late, and your “option” will expire.
Yeah, there is that alter ego thing.
At my age and situation, my new motto is, “All my thrills are vicarious.”
Or they sink your boat, crash your plane, or crack your slab.
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