So I was listening to the latest episode of Empty Mags (BTW its a super-fun show for those who like guns and need a little more podcast in their life) and in this episode JP talked about an interesting phenomenon that is one of my big reasons for owning heavy weapons.
What happens if all the officers in your general area are busy? What happens if a disaster happens where 911 service or phone service in general is disrupted?
While I’m vocal and very pro-freedom, and not terribly happy with how the .gov runs the show, I’m hardly a threeper. Overall the guns that get the most mileage in Weer’d World are my carry guns and my nightstand gun. Still if there are no police available, and I’m in position to be calling for backup, a handgun just won’t do. A long gun is something you really might want, and preferably of the so-called “High Capacity” kind.
JP gives a far more scary story (in commonality not in disruption) than what I had been thinking about. He mentioned a bank robbery in Tuscon that had all the Police force occupied. (I wonder if that was also the case with the umbrella scare)
My big scare is the Big Dig collapsing, and possibly taking a big hunk of Boston with it. This seems even more real with this new discovery. The tunnel is a dangerous piece of shit that very well may fill itself in just from the simple elements we get every year in Boston, but add in an Earthquake (which are rare, but VERY possible in New England), or a terrorist or industrial accident, and the deck is really stacked to the side of Entropy.
For the people a little further south we have the hurricanes. For California they have Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Mudslides, Wild Fires, and like ANY place that has copious amounts of “Progressives”, riots.
The antis always say “Why do you need a gun? Just call the cops and have them use their guns!”, and we all know that’s foolish. But have you thought about what might happen if there are no cops to help you out of an ugly situation, such as an angry mob, looters, or riots?
Guns to have: Carry guns (and carry setups that allow you to comfortably carry EVERY DAY) a home defense gun (I prefer a handgun for mobility, ability to use a phone in my off hand, and the ability to conceal it for the event that somebody that isn’t a threat knocks on the door unexpectedly. But a long gun is plenty acceptable. Use what you’re comfortable with) and a SHTF gun, which should be a long gun with a large capacity and the capability to quickly reload it. Personally I prefer a rifle (I has an FAL) but a shotgun with an extended magazine, and a means to quickly get reloads into that gun when the tube empties out like a side-saddle, a shell-holding sling or bandoleer…or do the smarter thing and get a gun like a Saiga shotgun that eats from a removable magazine.
Be safe, and be prepared!
Blacksburg, VA, April 16, 2007. Blacksburg PD, Virginia Tech PD, Christiansburg PD, Montgomery Co. Sheriff’s Office, and the local division of the Virginia State Police all responded. Eventually, extra police from surrounding areas came in to help, and off-duty personnel were called in, but I would bet that during that first 30 minutes or so you could have robbed every bank in both towns without encountering a single cop or deputy who cared.*
I’m not criticizing local law enforcement with this, either. At the time, to the best of anyone’s knowledge, there was an active shooter, maybe more than one, murdering children (young adults, really, but that’s how it was perceived) wholesale and unencumbered. Active shooters trump property crimes, even sometimes armed robbery (is shooting people for no reason, compared to threatening to shoot people if he doesn’t get what he wants), and the police must prioritize, because they simply can’t be everywhere at once.
It was certainly an enlightening experience (among other things) for me. I had understood the principle intellectually, but that was one of the things that was hammered home for me that day – right along with “It can happen here.”
That day solidified my desire to get my CHP, even though it did take me another year to actually get it done.
* Also, I heard from a very reliable source that day that a Chevy Excursion can, in fact, break 100mph on the 4-lane section of South Main Street. I will not, of course, reveal my source.
Oddly enugh on that day I had just received a case of 7.62×39 and I was putting them on stripper clips for my SKS while watching the news.
I’m not that old, but even I can remember two instances of society breaking down completely — the Rodney King riots in ’94 and Hurricane Katrina. They really think it can’t happen again? They really think it WON’T happen again?
We are responsible for the safety of ourselves and our loved ones. No one else.