Should you purchase a firearm for personal protection? Probably not.
Do not get me wrong; I am an avid Second Amendment supporter. To be honest, which most politicians are not, the true purpose of the Second Amendment is for you, as a collective populace, to never allow your Government to become more powerful than your whole. In the simplest terms, the Government should always somewhat fear the Middle, Working, and Impoverished Classes to insure they are working in your best interest, not theirs. Additionally, based on civilian ammunition and gun sales figures, there are 100 armed citizens to every active military operator. This insures no other Country would dare step on our soil in a traditional war; a very powerful political deterrent indeed. Two very convenient, and important side effects of the Right to Bear Arms are “sporting” purposes, and protection from harm. The later reason is why I have enjoyed studying guns for the last 35 years: they are the ultimate equalizer. They are a tool which truly makes life fair, unbiased and liberal. With the correct training, a small framed woman has just as many options at her disposal as any criminal she may encounter while she is armed. Simple tools, such as automobiles and cell phones allow us freedom. Just like automobiles, with a pistol or rifle, you have more freedom, but must have extensive training to be able to utilize the tool to get the job done. The most important weapon is the gray-matter between your ears
There are many rights of passage to adulthood: a drivers license, voters registration card, and the ability to drink alcohol to name a few. I believe however, as a society we should add a few more: CPR training, and military training. I have always admired Countries such as Israel for their mandatory military service policy. Prior to college, all able bodied Israelis must serve their County. Each are assigned a Government issue weapon and must maintain it for their entire life. I would argue this is one of the reasons they have much lower violent crime rates (if you omit ancient religious territorial disputes). Additionally, these Citizen soldiers (100% of the populace) are able to help out in any National Crisis, natural or human, due to their basic training in not only military matters, but also in other areas such as rendering first aid, and casualty triage for example. Again, the important aspect, is the training.
In the title I alluded to the fact that “most” Americans should not be armed. This is due to one simple problem: the lack of emphasis on firearms education. I should add the line UNLESS YOU ARE TRAINED! Most families do not consider a firearm in their home, until after they have a perceived need. Their may be an serial murderer on the loose in their city which they hear about every night on the six o’clock news; or they may have had a few neighbors who’s homes were broken into. In my humble opinion, once you get into reactive mode, rather than proactive mode, you are way behind the eight-ball. There are far too many problems with simply buying a gun and a few bullets, then shoving them in your sock drawer waiting for the next emergency. This is where most good intended people go astray. If you are considering the purchase of a gun, you must first ask yourself a few basic questions. First, and most importantly, are you the type of person who is psychologically stable? IE-would you EVER, under ANY circumstance, harm anyone for any reason other than defending yourself or your loved ones? If there is even a 1% chance, then you should buy a well trained guard dog for your home protection, and never look back. The next question is almost as important, and at the other extreme: would you be able to actually harm someone if they were intent on doing physical harm to you or your children? It is very easy to say “of course!”, however you really need to dig deep to determine if that is true. If there is any doubt, please see not only the dog reference above, but also call around to a few alarm companies. You will be well served by those options. The last thing you want to do in a home invasion, is give your attacker an extra weapon which he didn’t not bring to the fray himself.
OK, so if your still reading, you probably passed the first two questions, now what? Plunk down $300-$1000 on a decent shotgun, buy a few boxes of shells, and your all set for Armageddon. Right? NOT EVEN CLOSE! When you look at the “gun” option, you also need to consider at least a couple hundred dollars worth of training to start your journey to independence from fear. The most important aspect in firearms training is safety! Knowing how to safely shoot is one thing, but by far the more important issue is learning when NOT to shoot! There would be nothing more tragic than firing on someone who was innocent, or worse a loved one! Believe me, its very easy to get scared, and pop a primer. Firing is your LAST option, long after all other options have failed, and you have determined without a doubt that the threat, is really a threat. I have a personal example. One night, at about 3am, there was a pounding on my front door. I peeped out of the window to see a VERY large man beating on my door. I made a tactical decision and ran around to the back door to sneak up on the “threat” from behind. When I was in a position where I had the upper hand, I gave a very gruff verbal command: “HEY! What F#$& do you want?!”. It turned out it was my 6’8″ brother, who was also my neighbor. There was an attempted break in of his home, and he came over to warn me/check on my family. Good thing I didn’t get itchy with one of my assault weapons!
Another cost you may have not thought of is a good safe. At a minimum, you would need to pick up a padlock or go down to the local super-mart and pick up a steel safe which can be bolted to your studs for a couple hundred bucks. It would be best to go all out and get the Fort Knox of safes, just to be sure. Sure of what? Two things. Primarily no unauthorized personnel within your home (kids) get harmed. There is nothing more tragic than a child being hurt when a $2 lock would have saved them. Secondly, you do not want any would be attacker who entered your home prior to you getting there, to ambush you with your own revolver. Buy the safe! Now many folks will argue “you can’t protect yourself with a locked gun”. I would agree. The key to my bedroom safe is on my automobile key chain, and I unlock the safe when I crash. Plus I have the added benefit of not loosing my keys. If you would like to be armed during non-sleeping hours buy a good quality holster, and carry it on your person. Either way, it is mandatory to make sure only YOU have access to the weapon.
If have you carefully considered buying a firearm, great! However please make sure you and your loved ones are safer because of that decision, and you are not putting your self in more danger. Please budget for and seek out the best training possible. A good school will not only teach you how to take the shot, but most importantly when NOT to shoot. Ammo, holsters and safes are necessary purchases (costs) in addition to your gun.
Please feel free to post a comment, the more the Merrier! If you have any firearms related questions, please feel free to fire them my way, and I will do my best to accommodate.
Have a wonderful day
Logan
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