Surrounded by 20 Thugs and No Gun…

You’re security conscious and have a CCW. You can’t carry at work and come home unarmed. Arriving home you find yourself surrounded by 20 to 30 “youths” from the local community center playing dice in your back alley.  The precious little flowers.

You ask them to leave and they begin assaulting you, throwing rocks at you and poking you with sticks. What do you do? How will the cliffhanger end? Read the story here:

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/03/09/st-paul-assault-gun/

Seriously though. In my home state of Minnesota, this NEVER EVER happened like 30 years ago.

Being Disrespected, Tranquility, Peace & Homicide

The mystery of why Aaron Hernandez went ballistic is solved. He felt he was being “disrespected” after a guy spilled a drink on him. Decided to shoot the guy full of bullet holes. Now he’ll spend life in prison.

“Disrespected.” This is the exact street lingo I use in the book to explain the origin of most violent assaults and homicides. Contrary to popular opinion most violence doesn’t involve attacks for money. It starts with an argument. A disagreement. One person feels slighted, put upon, or in today’s terms “disrespected.” The argument turns into a physical confrontation. The confrontation escalates to aggravated assault or homicide.

As preppers we should know a thing or two about being disrespected. Act like a gentleman. Don’t be disrespecting others. For those with combat training or carrying a concealed weapon, it’s especially important to avoid needless conflict.

Go out of your way to accommodate the other guy. Can you easily “win” the confrontation? Yes. Can you wind up in prison if you “win”? Yes.

Don’t be hyper vigilant about protecting your “rights.” If a moron tries to cut you off in traffic, let him in. Be happy. Don’t give the idiot the finger.

Now we won’t relinquish all our legitimate rights to somebody intent on violating them. If somebody breaks in my house and threatens my family then shooting them in the face is a great option. But don’t get all bent out of shape over somebody infringing some tiny thing. It’s not worth the possible consequences.

I know. You hate bullies. You want to stand up for what’s right and tell some moron loud mouth off. It’s just not worth it. Too many unbalanced people in the world. Can’t beat them all up, tell them all off, or shoot them all. Don’t create your own problems.

Why do so many street toughs take being “disrespected” so aggressively? It’s their ego. In their eyes, their street reputation is the thing they value. They don’t usually have much else going positive for them in their life. The words of a stranger affects them.

On the other side of the coin, you’re much less likely to get drawn into a conflict like this if you have a sense of tranquility and peace in your life. The words of some idiot won’t affect you as deeply. Strive to build this inner peace.

Commentary on Byron Smith Conviction

Homeowner Byron Smith was convicted of murder for shooting two teens who broke into his house. Ambush and Execution of burglars isn’t self defense.

Preppers are mixed in their reaction to this.

Many agree with the verdict but have little sympathy for burglars. The jury looked at these factors:

1) Smith recorded the incident. He recorded a lengthy conversation with himself after the shooting. He talked freely with police after the incident. These conversations raised serious doubt that he used reasonable force.

2) He moved his vehicle so it would appear his home was unoccupied.

Smith said this:
“I refuse to live in fear. I am not a bleeding heart liberal. I have a civic duty. I have to do it. Burglars are not human, they are vermin. I try to be a good person, to do what I should, be a good citizen.”

I don’t like criminals but I’d stop short of calling a person vermin. I’m not sure how I’d decide if I were on the jury. I didn’t listen to the tape. He does have a point. Not for a burglar but what if a serial rapist breaks into your home? If you apprehend him and in three years he’s out and he attacks and murders somebody, do you have a degree of responsibility?

One of the most balanced, sane, and respectable experts in self defense, Massad Ayoob, in his book “The Truth About Self Defense,” talks about meeting a deranged killer in prison. If memory serves, Ayoob said if this fellow ever showed up in his home, he’d shoot him dead for sure. Knowing the guy’s behavior, he’d know this guy would harm innocent people as long as he could. Most “normal” people lack experience with this kind of psycho.

One person I know thinks Smith could have PTSD from Vietnam and his role as an embassy guard. It makes sense. If he worried 3 or 4 violent gang bangers would break into his home some night and he’d wake to a knife being plunged into him, a first response of somebody with that background could well be to set up the confrontation so he’d be prepared. He’d want to engage on his terms. It’s cliched, but the best defense is a good offense.

The lesson for preppers: Use all due restraint when defending yourself. If forced to use lethal force, get an attorney immediately before you say anything.  Call police immediately.

One anti-gun post attacking Smith said that any homeowner who owns a gun and doesn’t have good locks is guilty of this “ambush and execution.”  That’s crap. If you only have so much money, a gun is a great defense tool.

I do recommend having great locks. But even with them Smith lived alone and was elderly. Would he hear an intruder before it was too late?

My Philosophy Of Prepping (Part 3: Right To Self Defense)

In Part 1, I shared my belief you should have a basic understanding of the systems you rely on in your life. In Part II, I suggest you “prep to live” and don’t only “live to prep.”

Part 3 is key to my view of prepping. You should insulate yourself from harm that could be caused to you and your family by external circumstances beyond your control. This is what prepping is all about. Control what you can. Realize what you can’t.

You should insulate yourself from harm to you and your family that can be caused by irresponsible others or criminal people. In my book, I write a lot about guns, self-defense, and home hardening. Why?

I don’t want you or your family to be in a position where you can be injured by the negligence or maliciousness of others. I’m a strong believer in the right to self defense. You have the right to protect yourself and your family.

The sad fact is that some people are immoral. They won’t hesitate to harm you or your family for their own personal gain or even for their own amusement. There is no great moral virtue in letting people like that harm you or your family. I believe there is virtue in fighting people like that, and if it comes to it, even shooting them dead.

One thing I’ve heard is that this view isn’t particularly Christian. Aren’t we supposed to turn the other cheek? In a traditional view of Christianity, what happens to us in our time on earth doesn’t matter so much. The way we act and behave matters. Think of this world as a proving ground for the hereafter. It’s important we conduct ourselves morally. We can’t control the choices made by others. We can control our own actions. I understand the phrase “turn the other cheek.”

I still see harm in letting criminals run amuck harming innocent people. It’s not that I pass judgement on anyone. I don’t. But if it comes to self defense, I’ll stop an attacker. My view is that if another creature seeks to harm me or my family, I don’t really care too much about what happens to them. If everybody in society were basically moral and shared the same view, we’d have far less crime. As a society we tolerate far too much criminal behavior.

I can’t count the number of stories I’ve seen where some innocent person is murdered, raped, or violently assaulted by habitual criminals, who served time, were released, re-convicted, served more time, only to be released and commit more crimes.

In any situation where the police aren’t able to protect innocent people, criminals take advantage of the situation. They don’t care about the laws or the harm to others. In a situation like that, you must be prepared to defend yourself and your family.

If there were a total breakdown of society and laws, wouldn’t criminal gangs rule? I’m not so sure. In places like Somalia, they certainly do. In America, there is a tremendous body of basically honest people who, like me, might be classified as “gun nuts.” We like shooting. We shoot well, or at least I did when younger. Many of these guys are ex-military. Most would be classified as conservative Christian and have families. I don’t see them going out and pillaging.

At 100 yards, many of these guys can cut a dime at 100 yards with a rifle. I’d be surprised if the average criminal gangbanger could do that. I can’t help but think that in a complete breakdown of society, it’s the criminals in America who would have the most to worry about. Just as much as fear of injury, fear of prosecution prevents many people from getting involved in trying to stop a criminal.

In my view, knowing self defense is a key part of being a prepper.

4 Self Defense Guns You Need

In my opinion, a well-equipped prepper should have four firearms for self-defense. Gun cranks can own more, obviously, but with four weapons you’re basically all set. You can defend yourself in pretty much any situation. You won’t be undergunned.

1) The first weapon is your defensive sidearm. Yes, soldiers would make their first weapon a battle rifle, but most of us are more likely to need a handgun. It’s portable and for most defensive situations, it’s really all you need. It can be carried semi-concealed and draws little attention. That’s a huge plus. It isn’t awkward to maneuver in tight locations, like inside your home.

There are many great pistols to choose from: The Glocks, the Beretta 92, 1911s, and many others. It could be a 9mm (9×19) Parabellum. It could be a 45 Automatic (45ACP). It could be in another caliber of your choice.

This is your main “Go To” self defense weapon. Whatever you choose, it should be completely reliable and you should learn to shoot it well.

2) A backup pistol. This gun serves as a smaller concealed carry handgun. Sometimes you just don’t want to carry a full-sized gun. In a more violent world, this gun would serve if you became separated from your main defensive pistol or if it failed.

There are many choices for this weapon. It could be stub nose 38 Special. It could be 380 ACP. It could be one of the smaller Kahr 9mm pistols.

This gun is very likely the weapon you’ll have with you in most self-defense situations. Is it the best choice for the Zombie Apocalypse? No. But, it’s great for daily life.

3) A shotgun. Probably in 12 gauge. It could be an autoloader or a pump. This weapon has several nice features. It has better stopping power than the two first weapons. It has more intimidation value. That could be important if you’re trying to discourage somebody from attacking you.

The shotgun does have some downsides: It lacks range, which could be an issue in some situations. On a battlefield against rifles, a shotgun isn’t really a great weapon. Buckshot is easily stopped by most body armor. Beyond maybe 50 yards buckshot really starts to loose effectiveness.

For most of us, we’ll never need to engage an attacker beyond 20 yards and most attackers won’t have body armor. This makes a shotgun a great choice.

If you have the three above weapons, especially, if your defensive handgun is a 357 revolver and your backup a 38 Special, you’re about as well equipped as a law enforcement officer from the 1970s would be. With the revolvers, many today would consider you a bit undergunned. 9mm Glocks have more firepower.

4) A defensive rifle or a battle rifle would be my fourth choice. This is a weapon you’d never need except in the most dire circumstances. If there is a complete breakdown of law and order, this weapon would give you the most firepower to defend your retreat and your family.

Your rifle should be a semiautomatic version of one of the battle proven assault rifles. It could be an AR-15 (OK, some say those aren’t battle proven!), it could be an M1A, it could be an FAL. It could be an AK-47.

To make this weapon most effective, you should have several magazines for it.

Those are my four general “go to” self defense choices. What four self-defense weapons would you choose if you could only have four firearms?

Charlie Palmer -author The Prepper Next Door: A Practical Guide For Disaster And Emergency Planning
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0967162491

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