I know this isn't for everyone, but for the "gun aware" people (including lurkers) what weapons do you have (or will acquire) and why?

-- R. D..Herring (drherr@erols.com), October 15, 1998

Answers

SKS 7.62 tough, simple design meant to be hauled around in the muck by peasants. Its cheap with readily available upgrades/parts. Serious, but archaic assault rifle.

Ruger 10/22 .22LR Almost always mentioned by survivalists/military types for small game. Light, dependable, inexpensive

Mossberg 500 12g shotgun (Persuader/Cruiser model) 20" barrel Built to military specs. The best weapon for anything inside of 10 yards.

Kel-Tec P-11 Small, light 9mm pistol (10 rounds, Barrel 3.1",14 oz) A great concealed carry weapon.

Considering Ruger Mini-14 chambered in 5.56 and Glock 21 in 45ACP

-- R. D..Herring (drherr@erols.com), October 15, 1998.

This talk of guns scares me!

I'm not getting one. Don't care if I get robbed. I'll be far away from the city, and country people have much better social manners. If they steal my food, I'll invite them in for dessert.

One of my survival strategy is to get as far away as possible from people purchasing guns for the first time. You seem to be one of those too close to me, looking at your ISP ;)

-- Chris (catsy@pond.com), October 15, 1998.

Catsy, Who said anything about stealing food? Weapons are tools of last resort for personal defense OR for hunting (remember hunting as in providing food for your family?) I grew up in the country (very, very rural country). And there are good people and there are bad people just like the city. In either place, you could find yourself being the hunted (especially as a woman.) Deal with your fear or it will do you in.

-- R. D..Herring (drherr@erols.com), October 15, 1998.

Already got all the guns I want. Gonna do a little hunting this winter. Probably a lot more next.

-- Larry Kollar (lekollar@nyx.net), October 15, 1998.

Not to be picky, but too much gun talk and arguing resulted in GN folding his Securing your home forum. Perhaps we should tread carefully here. Yes, I own and shoot em, and I am not adverse to a few remarks in that department. If you are a first time gun buyer, or even a lookie-loo who wishes to know more about what type, caliber, etc. of TOOL to get, (that is all they are, someone can kill you with a hammer to the head, these are just long distance hammers) go to:

http://www.shooters.com

You will find any and all info that resides under the sun there.

PS, try your hand at the whats Deedah packin unscramble game:3574412223

-- Uncle Deedah (oncebitten@twiceshy.com), October 15, 1998.

R.D. Herring is right on with his choice of weapons, especially the Mossberg 12 gauge. Think of guns as a defense mechanism and as an investment. If you have guns and don't plan to load them then get rid of them and purchase hammers instead. Chances are you won't be alive to throw them.

-- Bardou (bardou@baloney.com), October 15, 1998.

Unless you plan on some serious practice in the next 15 months then stick to a 12 gauge shotgun. Guns are not toys, they are deadly tools and not for wanna be Rambo's. You will probably hurt yourself before you hurt anybody else unless you take owning a weapon very seriously!! Unless you are willing to point a weapon at another person and know that you can, will, and most likely have to kill them, then don't kid yourself about this macho weapons stuff. Most people can't hit the broad side of a barn with a handgun. They just pull the trigger and hope they hit something. That won't keep you or your loved ones from harm. A shotgun is the best compromise for the average suburban deweller. Point and shoot. I speak from 25+ years of experience and from being a participant in the S.E Asia war games. Fear and indecision will get you killed faster than anything you can imagine. 4 people with combat experience can take a neighborhood of non-experienced people in a minimum amount of time. So don't kid yourself or fantasize about your abilities unless you have practiced and are truly prepared to go all the way.

just my .02 worth...

Freelancer (Have Cobol skills, will program for food! :)

-- Freelancer (mercenary2000@yahoo.com), October 16, 1998.

R.D. 3 out of 4 ain't bad. I have the SKS, Ruger 10/22, Kel Tec 9mm but I opted for a used 8 shot, short barrel, Model 1200 Defender 12 ga. "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid" Han Solo

-- Bill (bill@microsoft.com), October 16, 1998.

I second the honorable gentleman Freelancer, these things are not toys folks, and it doesn't play-out like it does in the movies.

Also, since we seem to be giving out advice in this area, DO NOT sleep with a gun on the bedstand thinking "I'll hear them and wake up in time to shoot them". If you do this your weapon will be used against you, and you will die, but first they will make you watch, while they rape your wife. (Do I have your attention? Good) This nastiness will happen unless you have a good dog (I have four), goose, giant chicken, etc. to wake you up well before things turn ugly. This is why the military has "guard duty".

THINK ABOUT THIS, YOU ARE BRINGING A DEADLY WEAPON INTO YOUR HOME.!!!

This is not, by itself, a bad thing. But you should not do it lightly and without forethought.

-- Uncle Deedah (oncebitten@twiceshy.com), October 16, 1998.

I am glad to see someone talking about the consuquences of weapons in the home. I have been raised around weapons and was actually shooting BB guns at age 3 (under HEAVY adult supervision). Guns are NOT something you just pick up and know how to use. It takes practice, practice and more practice.

Did you (no one in paticular) know that if you fire a regular bullet, as opposed to a hollow point, in a wooded area you face a high danger of ricochet? Hollow point bullets flaten out and very rarely ricochet.

Rick's tip of the day

Rick

-- Rick Tansun (ricktansun@hotmail.com), October 16, 1998.

Well, let's see. there is an echo here as I recommended the same mind set and training pre purchase a few weeks ago on another thread but it can't be repeated too many times. IF YOU AREN'T READY, TODAY, WHEN YOU ARE BUYING, TO KILL SOMEONE ( if no more sunrises, smiles, etc. causes you to pause EVEN HALF a SEC) DO NOT BUY!!!! You HAVE to make the decision before buying and TRAIN YOURSELF to PULL THE DAMN TRIGGER . . . NOW!@! and not when you are sure you see another gun! This, of course, means that you HAVE to have done your IFF (Identify Friend/Foe) VERY QUICKLY and you might get your spouse or something if you are not EXTREMELY careful. These tools do NOT know where they are being sent, they just go where you send them, VERY FAST!!

Anyway Unc. from memory um..... .357 revolver, 12 guage Shotgun, 44 Mag ( or Ruger 10/44) and um ah probably either the Swift or the CAR version of the 16.

close??

Chuck

-- Chuck a Night Driver (rienzoo@en.com), October 16, 1998.

I began learning to shoot when I was five years old. I did a great deal of hunting when I was a teenager, from small game to deer. Destroyed a number of stray dogs when I lived in the country. I know from experience that I dont enjoy taking life.

One of the last things in the world I would do is to kill a human being. The very last thing I would do is to allow my loved ones to be injured by an attacker. If an intruder enters my home he has forfeited his life. Two shots to the chest, two more to the head.

-- Max Dixon (Ogden, Utah USA) (Max.Dixon@gte.net), October 16, 1998.

Well, my mom has guns but i know that,she wont use them unless its nessassary,we will use the guns for hunting because her and i love deer jerky and deer salami. I know for a fact that if someone or something is harrasing or hurting our livestock then we can kill them and give the dead carrcass to the owner because we cant afford to lose any cattle or horeses or any of our chickens. Morgan

-- Morgan (Y2KFever@aol.com), October 16, 1998.

My husband and I are some of the people buying a gun/guns now. Hubby spent 11 years in the Army and is teaching me survival skills every day. We have a whole drill for how we will deal with general lawlessness (should it break out), including what to do with our daughter (hiding place), "code" words, pulling gaurd duty shifts, reverse cycle gaurd duty, etc. He is also teaching me about how not to attract attention to the house (only a BIG dummy would cook outdoors if food is scarce) --keep in mind we are in a suburb of Dallas--he is even considering night vision goggles to watch for "mauraders" at night. My point is, I am most afraid by those people who figure "Oh I'll buy a gun and I'll be OK". IF general lawlessness breaks out, you're gonna need a lot more than just the actual gun. And yes, I am VERY prepared to kill whoever threatens my family. We even thought a great sign to put in your front yard might be:

OCCUPIED & HEAVILY ARMED WE SHOOT TO KILL

Sounds terrible, doesn't it....but, hey my daughter will only be 5, I'll be d@mned if I'm going to let anything happen to her.

K.

-- K. Heckert (bill_n_kellie91@hotmail.com), October 22, 1998.

Just a commnent on guns in the home. Don't sleep with one next to you or within arms reach. Use the two-step rule - that is make it 2 steps away from where you're sleeping. Going autopilot for most people will get them on their feet but a step or two will get them awake and brain engaged. Use some form of 'first alert' to let you know somethings amiss and it increases your time to react. I understand that geese are better than dogs but any animal could act as an alert device.

(of course the 2-step rule only applies as long as there are rules...)

Preferred weapon 4MW Co2/xray laser cannon...best of all you don't have to lead the target.

-- j (yoda@yoyodyne.org), October 22, 1998.

Points to ponder.

-- Do I or don't I, (protection@home.is.critical.IMHO), June 07, 1999.

Does anyone have any recent stories to relate as regards gun shops and such?

We were shopping over theweekend and noticed quite a bit of activity at the gun shop down the mall. Since we were going to several nearby stores and were there for a couple hours, we took turns 'scoping' the crowd going in and out.

The folk shopping in that store were, for lack of a better description, scary looking! We are considering getting something for protection, but not at THAT store. We'll probably go to one farther away from home. Probably sounds paranoid, but we don't want to be followed home....

Of course, this is SOP in this town, to my way of thinking!

-- J (jart5@bellsouth.net), June 14, 1999.

Here's my scary description of the week for firearms stores.

I stopped in at the local sporting goods store this weekend to pick up a case of clay pigeons. I was chipping in by getting these for a local trap shoot to raise money for the local search and rescue team.

At the firearms counter there were about 8 people, couples mostly. They were all looking at shotguns, and some were handling handguns. It was VERY OBVIOUS that NONE of them had ever handled firearms to any significant degree. The two guys behind the counter were bobbing and weaving with all the hardware being waved around. Now I just can't keep my nose out of some things and weapons and tactics and safe handling is one of those areas. So I slide up next to a couple that looked about my age and struck up a conversation, "Nice shotgun, well built, easy to maintain, good average drop to the stock", etc.

Both people started asking questions about easy of use, what kind of ammo to buy, etc. So I asked what they were looking to do with this "tool"? Got a kind of sheepish set of grins and the dreaded Y2K answer!! :) Oh boy!! So to make a long story short I wound up giving an impromptou lecture to 8 people about shotguns vs handguns, training, safety, etc. If the guys behind the counter could have hugged me I'm sure they would have!

The end result was that 6 couples bought shotguns, ammo, and got directions to my local gun club, phone number to sign up for training, and everyone of them walked out carrying their weapon in a safe manner. Most interesting part was that the women, bless 'em, made damn sure that the numbers, directions, etc. were written down!! Several of them said they had always wanted to learn how to shoot but didn't want to ask where to get training.

Now these were "normal" middle class folks, not cammo wearing skinheads. So people are paying attention, they are concerned, they are stepping out of their comfort zones. So yes it was a little scary to witness this at first but the end result was a group of folks who had more answers in the end. Is this type of activity going to help or hurt if problems do occur? I really can't answer that but if nothing else there are 6 people who have a lessend fear of firearms and a greater respect for them as well.

Freelancer

-- Freelancer (Mercenary2000@yahoo.com), June 14, 1999.

Consider learning to reload if you purchase a shotgun. This gives you the capacity to extend your munitions. A MEC jr or Sizemaster are recommended good basic reloaders.

You can by factory loaded shells and reload them several times (4+ with better shells). Takes a little practice, attention to detail and clean environment. I'm just now learning but I figure Freelancer could give you better advice.

-- Yep (yougotth@right.com), June 14, 1999.

hmm, lessee - gun store stories - we picked up one of those new little Remington .22 semiautos last weekend to replace my aging (estimate about half a zillion rounds put through it) Nylon 66...would have got the 10/22 but for the money thing - got a better deal in the Rem, though now have to get someone to clean up the trigger a bit for us.

Got it from a place that specializes in AR's...got to hold an AR- 10A4, but *that* is so far out of my price range I almost got nosebleed just being near it.

ah well, guess I have to stick with 7.62x39 for the present.

Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), June 15, 1999.

Just saw in Gun List June 25 issue that Bushmaster if offering a special Y2K Limited Edition AR-15 type rifle! Yes, with unique limited edition engraving on the magazine well. Limited production too! LOL...this is great....too bad I don't really need one. The firearms industry looks to be getting on board the Y2K phenomenon. What do you think the impact of all these Y2K messages will be on those that read Gun List, Shotgun News, etc.?

-- FMJ (223works@forme.com), June 17, 1999.