Some folks want to give me a rough time about not just coming out and saying what types of guns I think you need to have. Well there is a reason for this. I want folks to increase their knowledge on the subject by researching things, trying things out and taking responsibility for their choices. Remember a big part of all these conversations if you taking responsibility for you! Ok, here we go......
Well here we are, what do you need for planning when talking about guns! Guess what? You need training! Yeah not what you thought I would write. Here is a link to NRA certified instructors. I happen to be one and think the program gives you a very good BASIC foundation of knowledge. Especially for someone with no or very limited experience with firearms. Of course like anything else, the quality of instruction varies by instructor.
Follow the link and you can find something in your area. They offer classes from basic pistol, to home defense and even reloading ammo. Again quality may very depending on the instructor.
Let's cut to point of all this. When we are discussing planning for emergencies and the subject of guns comes up we are only thinking of one reason off the tops of our heads. Protecting the family. Now maybe some of us live in areas where this is not the first concern. Your nearest neighbor is down the road there, about three miles or so, as the crow flies. Groovy, for the rest of us we got people living a stones throw or closer who are the reason we lock our doors at night. Hence protection is the first reason we can think of for owning a firearm. Heck I got a dude across the street I thought I was going to have to shoot a few years back during a normal day. He is on the short list if everything goes to hell!!
Let's be realistic here, the world is full of bad people, idiots and during some situations people will do things they might not have done during a regular day. We need to take this reality in to consideration when planning for emergencies. To not take this into consideration....... well if you choose not to that is your decision.......
So, what do you need? You need the right tool for the right task. We have already talked about that in other post. Just like in our post about fire starting or other subjects let's try to give ourselves the greatest amount of options with each choice we make when it comes to firearms.
Before we go any further, I am not going to suggest anything I do not do myself. Unlike some folks I will not sit at the keyboard and suggest things, firearms or otherwise, I do not rely on myself for my own family.
Revolvers
He is a good place to start. We all need something in the home we can get to if something is happening right now. Revolvers fit this need. They can be left loaded almost indefinitely, their a few moving parts on them and they are simple to use.
You can easily conceal a revolver and they are easy to transport if you have to leave. In a really bad situation even the worst marksman just has to put the barrel against the bad guy and jerk the hell out of the trigger. A good thing about revolvers is they are not meant to have a bunch of fancy gadgets strapped to them and have no duehickys to confuse anyone in the house on how the operate. Every home should at least have one. Kept in a pistol box, somewhere the kids can't reach.
This would be my baseline for home defense, emergency situations, bugging in (staying home) and bugging out (leaving home). Yes we have one in our house. No I am not telling you where it is. Yes it is in a pistol box. Yes it is where the kids can't get to it.
Side note on kids and guns. I have two grown children who were around guns all the time but had no idea. It wasn't until recently I told my 20 something son where I kept the guns when he was little. He admitted they knew I had guns but he and his sister had no idea where they were at. Sooooo do not give me an BS about guns are too dangerous to have in the home. The danger comes from having parents who do not know how to handle firearms....................
Pistols
Next on the list of options are pistols, these are the most common to see. Most people do not own revolvers now days. Modern pistols allow you to carry much more ammunition then a revolver. Why would you want a pistol compared to a revolver? For the reason I just wrote. More is better if you are involved in a self defense situation with firearms! What? Having more rounds increases your chances of stopping the attacker and gaining control of the situation. Also, unlike hollywood shows people do not allows stop when they are shot once and believe this or not, you might miss!!! I know shocking!!
As we talked about before I personal feel the M-9 or 92f is one of the best pistols for people with little experience or training. WHAT? WHY? Easy one to answer. You have to take the weapon off safe and the first round is double action. What this means is even in the fractions of a second these two things take you have time to decide not to fire a round. They also make it difficult for the firearm to fire when you do not want it to.
I realize this can get expensive once you start investing in these tools. Every adult in your home should have a pistol. These are tools you keep in the safe for a really bad day. If you carry them otherwise make sure you have the appropriate licenses for your area.
I wish I could hear they yells when people read this next part!!! My next choice would be a Glock. (oh how the moans and screams feed my soul) Something in 9mm. They are simple, lightweight and have been proven to work. My downside to them is they do not have a safety most people would understand and the whole having to pull the trigger to disassemble the pistol bugs the hell out me each time!! You can adjust the grips and other parts to fit the needs of the user and you can even put all kinds of extra stuff on them if you want.
Try not to get caught up in all the hype of strapping on flashlights, laser beams and super cool sights to your pistols. Sure those things help if you train with them enough. Most of us will not train enough, because we have to work, go to soccer, etc etc, for all these cool add ons to really be of any use to us.
Whatever you buy try to keep it simple and train with what you buy. It would take me a minute or two to figure out this pistol if I picked it up. Some pistols come with all kinds of levers and buttons I have a hard time figuring out what they are all for! If you have experience with a certain type of pistol stick with those. Remember during a bad day you only rise to the lowest level of your training. Do not set yourself up for failure!
Moving out a bit, increasing the range some, increasing the ability of the tool and giving the user more options we have to move to the shotgun.
If you have no idea about firearms, have a small budget and want a simple yet proven tool to add to your toolbox the Winchester 870 shotgun can not be beat. (if you are yelling about a different type, shhh) These shotguns have been around a long time. They have been used by the military, police, hunters, farmers and grandmothers everywhere. You can defend the family and put meat on the table with this tool. If you can not afford anything else, afford one of these.
Every home should have at least one shotgun. Shotguns do not need to have a lot of fancy gadgets on them, they can be fired by anyone in the home, after some very basic training and the types of rounds they can fire are impressive.
Unlike other firearms shotguns have the ability to fire more than one projectile at a time. This means you get a bigger pattern coming out of the barrel and increase your odds of hitting something at the range the rounds are designed for. On the left of the above photo is bird shot, used exactly for what it is called. You can drop birds to put on the table. The rounds on the right can be used for hunting, I have never done it, and for defense. What is called double odd buck "00", will put a hurting on anyone hit within range. A slug round, far right, is only a single round coming out of the barrel but packs a devastating punch. Slugs can go through the door of your house, walls, cars and can really screw up a vehicle engine if they are fired into an engine. (don't ask how I know the last one) Loading a shotgun with buckshot and slugs is a standard loading for self defense.
You can even fire Less Then Lethal rounds just like law enforcement uses. Giving you an option you do not have with other firearms. With a shotgun you can also fire other 'exotic' rounds.
Flechette rounds are mostly used for anti personal uses.
"Dragon Breath" rounds fire well, fire out of the barrels. Before you get all excited about the exotic rounds you can fire CHECK THE LOCAL LAWS! In California almost all of the exotic rounds are illegal!
I can tell you first hand the exotic "salt rock" round works really good! Especially when deployed against dumbass kids trespassing. My leg and ass burned soooooo bad I stood crying in the yard while my buddies mom used a hose to get the rocks out. I think she could of got them out faster picking them out but I think she was teaching use a lesson or two.
Even if all you can afford is a single shot 12 gauge you would do good to purchase one. The shotgun is really a kind of all purpose emergency planning tool. Yes they kick. With a little training you can still get everyone in the family to use one. And just to be fair, my shoulder hurts also after a dozen or so rounds.
Long guns, rifles or carbines. Anything you can use to reach out over a hundred yards and hit a target. They can be the humble bolt action rifle or a lever action as in the picture above. These are just another tool which gives the user a different set of abilities.
With one of these you can put food on the table and defend yourself if need be. The sight of a rifle now days has kind of taken over the place of shotgun for the intimidation factor. Not long ago a shotgun racking was enough to make people run, now days the sight of rifle will make people panic! This could be an asset or cause you more problems than you need.
These fellas were able to defend themselves and their property during a riot. Side Note: having seen these guys first hand I can tell you it was intimidating. They also caught flak during and after the riot because they had the rifles........ welcome to California. Take note those rifles are not the scary black ones but just as effective.
Most of us are never going to be in a situation where we have to kit up like this just to make a run to Starbucks. They need for most of us to purchase these rifles has more to do with training than need. I know lots of folks who were trained on the M-16 or AR-15 platform and are comfortable with the system. Remember stay with what you know if you can.
Of course some people like the "this is cool" effect of having a tool like the military or police have and there is nothing wrong with this. If the tool works for those groups of people why would you not want to use what they have proven to work?
Just do not get caught up thinking because you can carry the gear and dress like the military or police, you have the skill level they have with the tools. Ladies do not get mad, here is a "tacti-cool" fella for you.
It would suck to have to feed this fella during an emergency............... just saying.
Remember, Keep It Simple Stupid, KISS. You do not need to run out and buy the latest gear or the newest gun. You need the kit and tools for the problem you are dealing with or could have to deal with in reality.
The humble M-16A2 and it's grandchildren are all the rage in the news. Every gun fearing person sees them as an enemy of peace, love and happiness. They are just a tool and just like every other tool they have a purpose. Long guns are just that, guns which allow you to send rounds further. You can feed the family and defend yourself with one. They are not as easy to use in confine spaces, buildings, homes or cars. This is why you see shorter versions. You might not want this to be your first line of home defense for this reason. They are hard to use effectively inside of the house. These tools are for use at longer ranges and primarily for hunting. Deer and such do not like to let people walk right up to them and shoot them with a pistol or stab them with a knife.
Every home should have at least one rifle. Be it a AR-15 type rifle or a bolt action hunting rifle each person old enough should have a rifle.
Do not think you are doing the "gun thing" wrong if you do not look like this guy. Honestly, he has too much crap on that rifle. You can plan, prepare and utilize firearms as tools without having to break the bank or scaring the family. As with everything we discuss here, tailor your planning to your needs not what someone else is doing. Each of us is unique and we have our own situations. To rap this up, it became longer then I thought it would, here is what you should consider having for emergency planning.
Revolver - home defense, easy to conceal, simple to use. At least one.
Pistol - home defense, primary side arm. At least one, preferable one per adult in home.
Shotgun - home defense, hunting. At least one.
Rifle - home defense, hunting. At least one, preferable one per adult in the home.
Something to think about...........
As Always,
Stay Safe!
