Q & A - Single Woman - Gun for Protection & Hunting

Hi, Ray:
I am a single woman.  I appreciate all the info on your web site.  My question is:  if I buy a gun for personal safety and hunting I'll have to register it and, when the government outlaws guns, I'll have to relinquish it.  Wouldn't it be better to buy a small bow and arrow for hunting food and a stun gun for protection?  Perhaps you can point me to a discussion of this issue on your web site. God bless you, M

Hello M,

Very good question.

There are several things that you need to consider.

First, find out if where you live are you able to get a Carry & Conceal handgun license? If you can, that is the route I would go first.

I am one that for personal and home protection you need to get a handgun.  But on top of that, go and get your C& C as well so that you can carry it always. Now the nice thing about being a woman and having your C&C, you can carry a pretty nice weapon in your purse and you don't have a "gun signature" under your clothes. For us guys, it is a different matter, that is unless you are one of those guys who carries one those "european hand bags." 

I can hear it now..."Cute purse there buddy!"

So get a handgun first,but more on that later in this article.

I want to address your confiscation / relinquish issue.

My mind set is that if they want my guns, they are going to have to pry them from my cold dead fingers.

Second, the FBI estimates that there are over 200 million privately-owned firearms in the US.

If you add those owned by the military, law enforcement agencies and museums, there is probably about 1 gun per person in the country.

Now, if you want to get a rough idea of how many guns there are out there just look at how many people you see out there then multiply by a factor of estimated ownership.

The last best guess was about 350,000,000 to more likely 500,000,000 - that is 500 million guns out there. That would easily be 1 weapon for every man woman and child living in the US alone.

Don't forget the average gun enthusiast owns several firearms which includes pistols, shotguns, and rifles of all makes and models. It is often estimated that about 1 in 4 people that own any firearms, the average number of firearms in the home are approximately 4 guns each.

SO.. that is a lot of guns to try to take from the American public. 

What I have to ask is who in their right mind would try to disarm the entire American public? 

No one could and no one in their right mind would attempt it. 

SO are we going to lose our guns? As much as the conspiracy folks want you to believe that, it isn't going to happen. Yes there are cases such as New Orleans and such, but on a nation wide scale, the do not have the resources to take all the weapons from every American out there.

NOW.. with that said, start buying ammo now. Because what they will do is put a serious curb on the purchasing of ammo.

Here is a headline from Venezuela sept -2009

Venezuela Attempts Gun Control by Limiting Bullets
By Jeremy Morgan
Latin American Herald Tribune staff

CARACAS – Legislators at the National Assembly are set to take what appears to be a rather unorthodox approach to law and order in a society notoriously renowned for gunslinging and one of the highest per capita murder rates on the planet.

The defense committee at the legislature has been looking at a proposed reform of the 70-year-old Arms and Explosive Law, which apparently has yet to be brought into line with the Bolivarian Constitution adopted by referendum at President Hugo Chávez’s behest in late 1999.

So we can see that if they are to control the guns, they will do it via the ammo. So buy lots of ammo now. Even if you do not own a weapon and are possibly thinking about it, get ammo now. Consider it a "wise investment" for down the road.

Back to What Weapon To Purchase.

I am one who believes that you first weapon should be a handgun. This is a home protection weapon and self protection.

Now, based on your question I believe you might have been thinking of some sort of rifle, shotgun or carbine.

If you are thinking long gun, the second choice would be a shotgun. It is funny, I am writing a follow-up article to the 22 article titled "why I like the shotgun."

For home and hunting, the shotgun is a great way to go. I am one who likes a "pump" shotgun.

There is just something about hearing that CLICK - CLACK of pumping a round in the chamber.

Believe me, the bad guys know that sound too and get out of Dodge quickly because they know that buck shot with there name on it is coming next.

You can also use the shotgun to hunt as well. There are a whole mix of different ammo that you can purchase for the shotgun and you can very your loads.

Assuming you can carry at least 5 in the tube. You can make your first round bird shot for close range. They will not blast through walls and if it does, they loose there velocity.

Secondly you can put a couple of "00" buck shot followed by a couple of slugs.

Here is my reasoning.

First bad guy is going to be close range, the bird shot will take him out.

The second bad guy is going to be a bit further so, buck shot will take that person out.

IF there is a third, you have another round of "00" Buck.

Then if you have the bad guy driving the car who is going to fire upon you out your front/back door, you have some slugs that will go some distance and do a lot of damage. These will go through walls and if that person is hiding behind a car door, you can possibly still get him with the slug.

Gun Recommendations

Handgun - If money is a real issue, I like the hi-point Compact 9 0 AKA - C9. This shoots a 9mm, which is a round that I love. This weapon runs around $165.00 and all the reviews I have checked into, it is a great gun. Now the gun snobs out there don't like it but it is American made and has a life time warrantee no questions asked. Something goes wrong, you send it back to the company and they fix it or give you a new weapon. Hi point also makes a .380 and 45 acp version. But I like the 9mm for being compact and good for C&C. You can use it for C&C and home protection. The grip is small and fits nicely into a woman's hand.

I am also a big fan of the Walther P22. 10 rounds of 22 hollow point in anyone and they know that they are having a bad day. This is a great weapon for C&C, small, sturdy and has a weaver rail on the front so you can mount a laser sight or flashlight. I consider this more of a personal C&C weapon verses a home protection weapon.

Now for shotguns, I like the Mossberg 835 Ultra-Mag.

This is a great all around shotgun. Here you can see is the Turkey version which comes with a nice vented barrel to prevent "barrel rise" with adjustable choke and tapped out so you can put on a scope. This is great for general hunting Then when in home protection mode, you can put on a barrel that is made for slugs.

Great thing about the 835 is that there is a lot of third party accessories that you can purchase so it can be modified with a butt cuff shell holder, folding stock, bandoleer strap that holds 20 rounds of 12 gauge, front end flash lights, etc. All kinds of cool stuff.

These run about $250 - $350

Finally something to think about regarding a shotgun is the "legislative protection."

So if you are really worried about weapons being confiscated, the shotgun is looked at as a sporting arm by legislators and usually the last type of weapon to be banned or legislated against.  This is not always the case, but even in cities like Chicago it is legal to own a shotgun where handguns and large capacity magazines are completely banned.  This may be extremely helpful for the urban survivalist.

So I hope that I have answered your question here. Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions that I might be able to help with.

Ray - STCS

Saturday, May 1, 2010

How Would You Handle The "Brass Horde"

During the age of the Mongol Empire, the Mongol armies spread across Eastern Europe and Russia raping, pillaging and basically leaving whatever was left as a waste land. These invaders were come to be known as "The Golden Horde."

Fast forward today and we remember the LA Riots, New Orleans looting, I even experienced it myself during the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. During all the confusion and the aftermath instantly after the quake, masses started stealing from the shops who's windows were broken and all within an arm's reach.  It got so bad that in some areas a "shoot to kill" order was issued. The earthquake struck at approximately 5:00PM, that night turned into hell on earth in some parts of the San Francisco bay area.

The horde was released.

In the prepper community we see " the Golden Horde" as a loosely organized mass of urban refugees streaming out of the cities in search of food and shelter after a natural disaster or social / financial collapse. Like locus, this mindless mass could possibly overwhelm local defenses,  "raping and pillaging" the country suburban area and stripping it of many of its resources while destroying everything in its path.

Now this sounds bad and is a situation that would most likely take place in the movies, but in real life a situation like this does not happen… in most cases.

But to be honest I am not worried about a mindless mass of people. These people are hungry  and pretty much are acting on instinct. They are not going to be very well organized, and lack really any true leadership. Some may be armed, but not willing to really "take a bullet" when it comes down to the rubber meeting the road. 

It is the group's "mass" that gives the "horde" its power. 

Aggressively confront then divide the mass and it will quickly give up and move on to another "easier" target.

But who I am worried about are the bugged out  Rambo wanna-be's traveling in their RVs who's idea of preparedness is cases of ammo, Spam & Budweiser. 

Let me introduce to you...The Brass Horde. 

The Brass Hordes are small groups of people, probably all deer hunting buddies who go out and play paint ball on the weekends and call it survival training. Now, nothing against deer hunting and paintball, I am a hunter as well; can't say I have played paintball though. Now airsoft wars are fun, but I am digressing here.

What these folks have neglected for maintaining good health and welfare, they have made up by being obnoxiously well armed. Thing is when the Spam and Budweiser runs out,  they will turn to what they love most their guns and ammo.

These are the groups I worry about.

Here is a very interesting story, one that is real world. The author who goes by the handle "BigBear" painted a very realistic picture. 

After reading this, I want to ask you, how would you REALLY handle this situation?  

I would like for you to hear your "end to the story" comments, so please post them below. 

The Brass Horde 

The Brass Horde at least tried to prepare.  They had a plan to leave the city, some supplies and a large stockpile of weapons. Their intent was to relocate to a remote site as a group and hunt for food. The small group is made up of family and close friends occupying the trailers used to escape the city. Unfortunately their resources are limited and unwisely thought out.

At first they have good luck taking a deer and several rabbits for a stew, all looks good. But after a week or so their water rations are getting low and their expensive filter systems are useless on the frozen lake. They are able to melt some water over the fire pit and on propane stoves but this consumes critical resources. Most of their daily man hours are spent collecting and transporting ice blocks to melt for water. The meat is running low, they are exhausted.

The Horde elders decide that a couple of the women should visit a nearby cabin and ask to fill their water jugs. The established local, not wanting to seem rude, invites the ladies into the warm cabin...the aroma of fresh baked bread fills the air. Warm cinnamon rolls and hot coffee are served over light conversation next to the wood stove. The ladies fill their water jugs from the solar powered well, thanked the local and reluctantly venture back out into the cold, it was the first time they had truly been warm since leaving the city.

That evening the women huddled around the fire telling the others of their days experience. A strong north wind brought frigid temperatures and a heavy snow started around sundown...the Horde retired to their campers to weather the night.

Then the propane runs out!

The temperatures quickly plunge after the heater went out in the far north trailer of the circled compound. The father whose survival skills were honed by many hours watching the discovery channel, decided to start a small wood fire in the oven to keep him and his wife warm. The ensuing inferno consumed two of their trailers and damaged the other six as over 10,000 rounds of ammo cooked off in the conflagration.

In the blinding snow the elders huddled for warmth around the smoldering ruins of their grand scheme...they knew what had to be done. After arming themselves and securing the women folk in the remaining heated camper, the horde took off for the neighbors cabin. The howling winds of the blizzard masked their plunder as they made off with six twenty pound bottles of propane, a chainsaw and five gallons of gas. The blowing snow filled their tracks as they retreated back to the compound confident in their escape.

Unbeknown to the Brass Horde the local had witnessed the entire thing from the warmth of the bedroom after being alerted by his growling dogs. Shouldering his gun he realized that confrontation was dangerous against eight heavily armed men and there was a good change he would die if shooting started. The local also realized that this was the first of many visits by the armed bandits who, made confident by their guns, would steal what they failed to store through proper preparation.

So he….. started baking cookies.

"Good morning, I have fresh cookies and hot coffee" shouted the local from his truck as he pulled into the Horde's compound. "You all look like you could use a treat on this cold morning" he continued. The men leerily looked at each other assuming that the local man had not yet discovered the robbery and was just being a good neighbor. The local waved and yelled "God Bless You" as he drove away. Over their snacks and wicked strong coffee the Horde laughed at how easy a target this cookie baking fairy would be...

Looking through the rifle scope from his vantage point in on the hill he saw no movement...the last one fell several hours ago.

Later that evening the local man returned to the compound, collected the bodies and placed them neatly in the largest trailer. Gathering the stolen items plus the Hordes guns and abundant ammunition for barter he proceeded to pour gas in each of the remaining campers then burned everything to the ground. Cyanide in the coffee and cookies.

A heavy snow that night covered over the remains and the evident "mass suicide" was not discovered until later that springs. It was chalked up to collapse related hysteria...no further investigation.

My Own Thoughts

How would you have handled the group and the situation?

Remember there are no police that are going to come to the rescue.

What would you have done differently?

Now this one struck me hard. Why? Because I am a God fearing Christian who has submitted his life to the Lord.

Several verses in the Bible that come to my mind is...

1 Timothy 5:8(KJV)  But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

Exodus 22:2 (KJV)  If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.

What Do I Believe?

In the simplest terms, a believer is absolutely justified in the use of deadly force if faced with a grave threat to him or his own family or members of his own church (his extended family). Not to do so is a violation of both Jewish and Christian's reverence for life.

Deadly force does not mean that the results necessarily ends in death. It may be simply the presentation of the weapon that provides the necessary deterrent against violence on the part of the offender.

Christianity is not pacifism. There are pacifists who are Christians, but a clear reading of Scripture doesn't imply pacifism at all. We seek peace and pursue it; we earnestly prefer to avoid violence, but we don't stick our heads in the sand. We live in a world where violence is commonplace; it's been that way since the fall.

Violent people have absolutely no restraint on their behavior; a believer needs to be at least as aggressive in defending himself and others. Whatever it takes. If you have to shoot someone and drop them to the ground, that's most unfortunate, but you didn't ask to be attacked. 

Please go to the "COMMENTS" section and tell me what you thought and how you would handle it.

Finally, do you have a pit in your stomach like I did after I read that?