Posted on 04/25/2012 5:21:47 AM PDT by marktwain
Anti-gun rhetoric has been a fact of my life as long as I can remember. As a new mom, I even tried keeping toy guns out of the house, because I had bought into some of the myths surrounding gun ownership, such as:
1) Accidental gun deaths are bound to happen with a gun in the house.
2) A gun-free home will keep kids safe from guns.
3) If kids play with toy guns, they will grow up to be violent.
All of those are nonsense, of course, but as a mom, all I wanted was for my children to be safe. My husband wasn’t exactly on board, and I knew that. As a lifetime member of the NRA, he has always been vocal in his support of the Second Amendment and our right to own firearms, if we choose.
I suppose I could continue to tiptoe around the issue of firearms, but I am convinced that every survival minded family must own at least one gun, train their children in gun safety as well as in shooting skills, and that a firearm should be part of their preparedness plan.
It’s shocking to read comments from non-preppers and a few preppers, alike, that part of their survival plan is to take by force the food and supplies they need from people who have prepared. If you are putting time, effort, and money into supplies that will help your family survive future crises, then you absolutely must include firearms as a layer in personal and home safety.
Which should you choose? My #1 choice for overall home protection is the shotgun. Either a 12-gauge or the slightly smaller 20-gauge are excellent choices. Although practice with this firearm is vital, shot placement isn’t as critical as with handguns. I’ll be posting an article on my blog this week listing the reasons I believe the shotgun is the “Queen of Home Defense”.
What about handguns? They’re an excellent choice as well. Their main advantage is that they can be concealed, not providing any hint that you are lethally armed unless or until it becomes absolutely necessary. In a shootout, law enforcement officers miss their target some 70% of the time, and they’ve had plenty of training and practice. Firing and missing when it’s your family under attack isn’t a pleasant thought, so ongoing training and practice is absolutely necessary.
One more myth I would like to debunk is that of, “The Bad Guy.” It’s a fact that bad guys have buddies. One critical reason to own a firearm is that a single person has very little chance of survival when faced with multiple “bad guys”, intent on harm, and very possibly armed themselves.
There’s no reason to put your life and those of your loved ones in harms way because you want to be politically correct. Being smart beats politically correct every time.
Lisa runs a great blog for preppers and you can find it right here! ~Mike P. Guns & Gear Editor
No. I can think of several groups of people that should not be allowed to own guns (or live in this country, but that is a topic for another thread). For instance, communists and muslims.
Contemplating upgrades in a post SHTF world isn’t necessarily planning to steal. Every player of a first person shooter knows the drill: loot the bodies, take all the ammo, keep the best guns. Once you’ve killed a bad guy the supplies are just sitting there, no stealing necessary.
Thanks, the Remington 700 SPS looks like it’s in the right price range.
The Ruger 77 is a bit pricier.
The reviews for both are pretty favorable, so I’m still stuck in my conundrum.
But I’m leaning towards the Ruger now...
There was a nuance I was responding to. It’s one thing to take reasonable advantage of the outcome of a bad situation; it’s another to plan “I’m not going to get what I need by peaceful means now because I’ll just take it, by any means necessary, from someone else later.”
And it’s understanding reality to say “for a long term issue it’s not possible for me to have all the necessary supplies, but it is possible for me to have the supplies necessary to KEEP supplied.” He never said anything about stealing, that was you, he said that some of what anybody would REALLY need most folks actually CAN’T legally get currently but you can get the stuff to be able to upgrade to the off limits stuff later. That COULD include stealing, but it doesn’t have to.
Nothing wrong with being “biased”, I call them “preferences” ;^)
It’s on my “nice to have” list, I’ve been looking at the M1A1 as well...that’s one of the EBR’s (evil black rifles).
Looking for a hunting rifle that can “reach out and touch” both 4 legged critters and 2 legged varmints.
I also secretly like the AR-10...it's a lot cheaper than the M1A and chucks .308 just fine...but don't tell anyone. I'd lose friends. ;-)
Oh, I am willing to consider the .308, less punch. Just looking at .30-06 based on ammo availability in a SHTF scenario, but would move off that if the right rifle for the right price is found.
M1A, sweet looking rifle...but there are so many conflicting reviews and the price...there’s just not that much room in the budget.
AR-10 - Stuck in Kommiefornia, not an option. ;(
Currently own a Mini-30 as my “tactical” option. I like it alot.
Glad you like the Mini-30. Those are legal in Crazyfornia?
Glad to hear that, gives me more confidence in taking a harder look in the future...if I get a chance.
"You might want to re-visit the ballistic data on 30-06 vs 308. There's very little difference in the performance of mil-spec loads."
Sorry, meant recoil, ~ 2ft lbs. difference(depending upon various factors), not as hard on the shoulder. Didn't mean knock down power. Agreed, I've read they're very similar ballistically.
"Glad you like the Mini-30. Those are legal in Crazyfornia?"
No pistol grip (ala AR, AK), 10 rd. magazine.
The laws here are pretty damn confusing (purposefully). Some lowers are legal, others are not, some uppers, etc., etc. I just don't bother. Once I leave here though...;^)
BE, can you explain your point a bit more?
What type of seeds do you recommend?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.