doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com OT....The lean times, the mean times

Looking into a gun muzzle in a criminal's hand will get one's attention. So will getting mugged by superior numbers. So will the cold chills and shakes after having backed off a developing bad situation involving multiple possible assailants. Their internal predator had sensed that something was wrong with their victim selection process. And it was; I was armed and absolutely certain I going to use that gun, in my hand in my coat pocket.

The culture that is fermenting up from the bottom is not stopping stop at the walls of a gated community. It's festering in every socio-economic strata. It's true there are reasons it is driven from the betrayed masses, who are far worse off morally and educationally than before the GREAT SOCIETY sold them out to be political tools.

However, it is also true that the criminal anti-hero thug mojo kewl kulture is readily adopted thru out the bell curve, because outlaw life is glamourized in word, song and screen. And has been for a century and a half, as an off shoot of the 19th Century Romantic Period. In the late 19th and early 20th it picked up steam, and aided by electronics, is galloping into control of young minds as effectively as the Mongols thundered into the West.

We have met the barbarians, and they is us, bro. Created by us, fostered by us, and funded by us. And the byproduct pollutes every level of society. The political rejection of the need for immediate accessible self defense, is nothing more than fear and denial of the consequences of failed social engineering: a integral flaw in reasoning. The very intellects that have made it so, now must needs find blames to shift from their tender and rarefied hides. And so follow the sheep; rich or poor.

Buddy, safety don't exist by geographic or social insulation. One part of society cannot be a festering plague, while the other part parties whilst being 'concerned.' There is spill-over. Mo' bettuh this country stands up to the situation and states it's "I Will Not BE A Victim" dictum. Very unpalatable, no? ;~`)

And sure political suicide to mos' publically declare that the version of the welfare state chosen was flawed from the start. It's not only a an urban failure: it's a rural failure as well. There ain't no halcyon refuge, and in fact, there never was.

I was raised in a town of 700 people surrounded by relatives on their farms in NW Ohio. Yet, I didn't know of single family that didn't own guns, and were familiar with them -- in town or out. There simply has been a terrible change in our CIVITAS that is not remediable at the polls.

It is time for responsible individuals to realize that their personal and family and community safety is up to them in the first person. And that said safety requires tools and training and a mindset.

Don't let me stand in anyone's way, but I'm no too worried about being trampled in the rush, neither. ;~`) I mostly refrain from posting on this subject, because it is a waste of life minutes, and convinces no one. The 'Net is great place to pedal opinions, and it's free, and one may gauge the value of the exercise from that.

Anyone who actually should want go so far as informing ones self might look up Masaad Ayoob's websites, order books or tapes, and pay for an education in how to defend that which is of value to ones self.

In the end, I can do little better than to endorse Jack Maloney's prescription. A J-frame Smith, in hammerless or otherwise, with a Barami hip grip is the quintessential "have it with you" emergency response tool.

Well, adios.

If you really want to play the odds on what is "more likely," you should look at the facts:

U.S. CAR ACCIDENTS: 2.9 million injuries, 42,636 fatalities (2005)

U.S. CRIME VICTIMS: 2.6 million robberies or burglaries, 1,417,745 violent crimes (2006)

Most Americans recognize the car accident risk, wear seat belts and demand vehicles with airbags and good safety performance. No one is arguing that they are paranoid, or that "it can't happen to me." Why, then, insist on dismissing prudent home defense as unnecessary, unimportant or even "paranoia"?

Belittling home defense or comparing home invasion to radon poisoning might make you feel more secure, Chuck, or somehow more courageous. But I think most of us here think home defense is a significant concern, and prefer reasonable and prudent measures over simply ignoring the risk of home invasion.

I used to keep an 870 pump with #5 shot handloads, a Colt .357 with 148 gr. hollow base wadcutters loaded backwards (which expand like a bomb, think giant hollow point) and an Albanian SKS with Wolf hollow points in a 30 rd. mag. I switched away from the handloads because I have heard that it is very possible that the survivors of the scumbag you shoot in your house can sue you for manufacturing so called extra-lethal ammo. Even though it may not be more lethal as in the case of the black powder loads mentioned here, you may bear the legal cost of proving that, assuming you win. You don't have to clean blood and guts off your walls and floors... that's what homeowners insurance is for. Keep shooting till the gun won't go bang anymore and take your time calling 911. You don't want any wounded criminal sitting in prison for a few years thinking about revenge when he gets out. Personally I would feel worse about killing a groundhog in my garden.

"Why, then, insist on dismissing prudent home defense as unnecessary, unimportant or even "paranoia"?"

Jack, I never stated any of those things nor am I dismissing anyone's position on home defense anymore than you are dismissing car accidents or radon. If you feel I've belittled you or you feel I've belittled home defense in comparing it to anything else, you are mistaken. I think you have missinterpreted me.

I have five birdogs, the normal arrangement is two in the house and three in the backyard, depending on Ms. Ruth's whim. I think they add tremendously to our security as they are excellent alarm dogs. I live across the street from a park and when someone is rustling around there in the middle of the night they make a racket. Fifteen or twenty years ago a young single pretty neighbor lady was being stalked and we had a Schnauzer. He set up a howl at three in the morning and I went outside(with a gun) and scared the stalker away.

I think barking dogs are a tremendous home security asset.

Best,

Mike

Chuck, what is your position then? Tim

Sitting at a computer.

Chuck, so what is your favorite position?

Best,

Mike

Jack's points about relative risk are good. I don't believe one can tell another how to value his/her life. If someone concludes they are more afraid of themself than an armed intruder that's their business. Such a one ought not insist I feel likewise.

I'm with Mike on the value of dogs; they mitigate against surprise. It does little good to have a tricked out, night-visioned, suppressed short rifle in the bedroom if you're watching a movie in the den when an intruder gets between you and the gun. If surprised you've got at least one strike on you. This brings us to handguns that, if not definitive, are more likely to be with you.

My Seecamp is with me just about all the time - I feel naked without it. It lacks horsepower, and I realize that it's greatest value may be in helping me to get to something definitive. A S&W 640 has also worked well for me. I tried carrying a 1911 around all time, but it's just too bulky to be concealed on my frame through all seasons without a fair amount of consideration and compromise.

Sam

If that statement about home defense isn't dismissive, Chuck, how should one 'interpret' it? A sincerely held belief that brains are fried by cellphones as frequently as home invasions? That radon and gamma rays in granite countertops kill as many Americans as robbers, armed burglars and rapists? If you can explain that away, I'll cheerfully give you the benefit of the doubt.