Planning #7.2 Gun Knowledge

Down, down, down the rabbit hole we go....................

How much time do we spend in here? As much time as it takes. How much time is that? Until we are done........................

In the first installment concerning guns we talked a little bit about why you need to take firearms into account when planning. Second installment we talked about firearms being another tool you need to become familiar with. 

Hopefully by now people who might not want to discuss firearms have realized these posts are not about which gun is the 'bestest'. But let us cover that question for a moment......... 

Which firearm is best to own? 

What do you need it for?

To protect my family!

The tool in your hand at that moment is the 'bestest'.

 BUT only if you know how to use the tool.

Firearms are just an improved method for throwing rocks at someone. You have to learn to throw a rock before you can hit anything.

Than someone made a more complicated way to throw things at someone else. At the end of the day this is still just a rock thrower...... See the rock at the end of the spear? 

These are just more complicated ways to throw rocks. 

All rocks come in different sizes, bullets or rounds are no different. All the complicated sounds which come out of a gun nut's mouth come down to two things. How big is the rock and how fast is the rock going? 

Bigger the rock and the faster you throw the harder it is to control where the rock goes. A .38 caliber pistol is easier to control than a .45. A .45 round has move power behind it than a .38 round. Theoretically you should be able to stop a threat sooner with a .45 than a .38 based just on the physics. 

Unless of course you are one of these guys....... Or maybe you were taught by one of these guys? Because these guys have proven even if everyone had ray guns but no training the tool is wasted. 

What is the difference between a pistol, rifle and shotgun? Size of the rock and how far you can throw it. The barrel of the tool decides how far you can accurately throw the round. The "thrower" has to be the proper type to throw the proper rock. If you want to throw a little .22 caliber size rock you need a barrel which the rock fits in. 

If you take the same .22 caliber bullet and put it in a .22 caliber pistol you can not throw the rock as far.

Why? The length of a barrel determines how far you can throw the rock. The barrel is the part sticking out the bullet passes through. Longer barrel = throw farther. Yes there is a more complicated answer but let's stick with this one. 

Shotguns are diffrent because they do not fire just one rock, they throw several rocks at one time. Yet the same basic idea works, the longer the barrel the further you can accurately throw the rocks. 

As in the above photo shotguns throw a bunch of rocks. You can buy different numbers of rocks to throw with the lowest numbers being in the '00' range. 

See how the number of rocks has been decreased? 

If you aim at the center of the target odds are the rocks will come out and make a pattern similar to this one, shotguns are not precision tools. The further away the target the greater the spread of the pattern. 

Alright one last bit of foundational knowledge..... nomenclature. All firearms have the same basic parts. Some might add or take away parts but all of them have to have these basic parts. 

Barrel, every firearm has one! It is where the rocks come out of and is the dangerous end of the tool.

Doesn't matter if the firearm is a pistol, double barrel shotgun or a cannon they all have a barrel and the open end where the rocks come out is the place you do not want to be at. Trigger is the next thing they all have in common

Be it a modern pistol or rifle

Or maybe an antique pistol

Knowing these two parts of any firearm is really important. Because if we know these two parts of the gun we can follow the next and most important part about understanding firearms. SAFETY!!! 

If you remember nothing else remember these four things when dealing with firearms. Because if you do not you can look like these guys................

But you might as well be this guy....................

Remember treat every firearm as if it is loaded

DO YOU KNOW IF THEIR GUNS ARE LOADED? NEVER ASSUME!

Never point a firearm at anything or anyone you are not willing to destroy

NOTICE PISTOL AIMED AT OTHER GUYS UPPER CHEST AND HEAD?

REALLY? JUST &^%$%^& REALLY?

Keep your finger of the trigger and out of the trigger guard until ready to fire.

Know your target and what is behind it.

Following these rules are the most important thing you can learn about firearms! Yes these rules are more important than anything else you can learn!!! You might be able to reach out a thousand yards and hit a target........... but if you forget to clear the weapon, assume it is unloaded and put a round through the wall when you are cleaning your rifle......... a round which goes through the wall and hits the neighbor's kid........ you hopefully get the point. Alright this is getting long so let's cut it here for now.

As Always,

Stay Safe!