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One important thing that everyone seems to be missing is a firearm. What good is prepping if all of your goods can easily be seized? This is in addition to a fi

One important thing that everyone seems to be missing is a firearm. What good is prepping if all of your goods can easily be seized? This is in addition to a firearm's utility as a hunting instrument, which could prove useful if your supplies began to dwindle. Regardless, owning a firearm is prudent whether or not your prepping efforts come to fruition.

jrockway 10y ago
What makes you think that video-game-style shooting is going to deter the professionals that are attempting to seize your goods?
- up_so_floating 10y ago
  Professional, what? What makes you think that you'll be up against these "professionals"?
- alva 10y ago
  If I was raiding homes, I would prioritise those that aren't shooting back at me.
  - gruez 10y ago
    Exactly. You don't need to run faster than a lion to escape it, you only need to run faster than the slowest of the group.
- protomyth 10y ago
  A "professional" would pick the best risk to reward. Someone shooting at you increases the risk fairly heavily.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
peterwwillis 10y ago
I guess this prompts two questions: 1. Just what are you prepping for? 2. Are you willing to kill someone to protect your few months' supply of baked beans?
- Karunamon 10y ago
  If all you have is a few month's supply of baked beans, and someone is trying to take it by force...
  - peterwwillis 10y ago
    Seriously? I would use barricades, tazers, pepper spray, traps, smoke, fire, light, sound, and other means to dissuade the thief. Someone with their ears pounding from 125dB alarms, lungs choked with smoke, eyes streaked with pepper spray, skin on fire and body pulsing with 40,000 volts probably is not too concerned with my beans - if they could get past the steel-reinforced door. People with guns don't seem to consider any other factor, besides that if the opponent has a gun, or can get yours away, you're not in a good defense position anyway. Guns are mainly useful for offense. Maybe that's why some preppers want them.
    - up_so_floating 10y ago
      Your solution is to add multiple layers of complexity, which you then must rely upon?
      - peterwwillis 10y ago
        The care and use of a gun (especially in combat, in close quarters and urban environments) adds multiple layers of complexity. I would rely on multiple layers of complexity for defense, since that's how modern security design works. A gun is a single point of failure. A shelter or person full of extremely undesirable defenses is more reliable, less dangerous, and probably much easier to stock.
        10y ago
legulere 10y ago
Usually people help each other in cases of emergency (of course media is more interested in situations are not). And even if it would be useful, the danger of owning a gun is higher than the likelihood of an emergency that you prepped for.
- up_so_floating 10y ago
  A scenario where prepping efforts come to fruition is far from "usual"; one's preconceptions about how others act should be reevaluated in the face of it. Again, this comes down to what you are prepping for.
protomyth 10y ago
Ok, but if you don't have training don't buy a gun. Home intruders have used blackouts as a cover and police services are often stretched. Still, owning a firearm does require some practice and training. If you are going to buy one, then get either a shotgun or something with a lot of support[1]. Then you need to practice and understand the safety built into the gun and how to secure the weapon in your home. 1) this is why the AR-15 is so popular. a normal person can add accessories.
- adiabatty 10y ago
  Or you can buy a gun and then get training before you start using it on your own.
  - protomyth 10y ago
    Well yeah, but it would be helpful to get the training and work with someone to find which gun to buy. Getting training lets you fire a variety under supervision which will improve your chances of liking what you buy.
    - adiabatty 10y ago
      Point. I went pistol shopping with my uncle, but got a few days of training locally.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
- LyndsySimon 10y ago
  > Ok, but if you don't have training don't buy a gun. The great thing about firearms is that they enable a relatively untrained person to adequately defend themselves against a trained attacker. By all means get training - but don't let that stop you.
  - protomyth 10y ago
    It shouldn't stop you, but having a gun you don't know how to shoot is pretty useless. Its not like basic training takes very long[1]. The local gun range generally has a pretty quick training program in place. The other big thing is that allows you to select a gun that will be easy to fire for you. Buying a gun that is a pain to fire will mean little practice and problems. 1) much shorter than most learning to drive programs [edit] an example http://www.freestategunrange.com/firearm-training/ http://www.freestategunrange.com/firearm-training/ their pistol is 2 hours (pepper spray is 3 hours ?!?)
Mz 10y ago
This is terrible advice. I grew up with guns on the wall. My dad grew up on a farm, spent 26.5 years in the military, was awarded a purple heart. I grew up with gun culture and eating food dad killed himself. If you are not actually going to become a hunter and seriously learn to shoot and become part of gun culture, don't go buy a gun "in case you need it, some day." That's utter insanity. It will just result in you helping to arm other people (that you don't want to arm, that will not be your protectors) and upping the stakes in the process. I was a fine shot in my youth. I would be perfectly comfortable being around guns for the right reason, under the right circumstances. This is not it. Instead of preparing yourself for some Mad Max bullshit scenario where you imagine you will play hero, having never done it before in your life, just work on continuing to improve supply chain, emergency response and so forth -- in other words, keep building a more reliable and more civilized civilization. That is your best bet right there. If you actually are a part of gun culture and know what the fuck you are doing, I am not talking about you. So don't give me shit for telling ninnies to not do this. Thanks.
- swozey 10y ago
  This is absolutely hilarious. If you're not a professional hunter don't buy a gun, but instead fix the wrongs of society. Well, I hope the person who follows your advice doesn't have an emergency situation in the next, oh, thousand years, because our current trajectory to a Star Trek utopia is lagging.
- up_so_floating 10y ago
  Can you clarify as to why owning a gun, as both a casual hobby and means of defense for unlikely scenarios, is "utter insanity"? And why do you believe gun owners view themselves as "prepping [...] for some Mad Max bullshit scenario"? Otherwise, using such language strongly discredits your already weak argument.
  - ux-app 10y ago
    > Can you clarify as to why owning a gun, as both a casual hobby and means of defense for unlikely scenarios, is "utter insanity"? not the op, but the way I read it is that unless you are heavily invested in gun culture, meaning that you have appropriate training and you shoot regularly to maintain skill, then owning a gun makes you and your loved ones less safe. My understanding is that research shows that gun owners and their families are far, far more likely to be injured or killed by said firearm (accidentally, or intentionally) than they are to ever actually have the opportunity to use the gun for defence. In that context the original statement makes sense.

jrockway 10y ago

What makes you think that video-game-style shooting is going to deter the professionals that are attempting to seize your goods?

up_so_floating 10y ago
Professional, what? What makes you think that you'll be up against these "professionals"?
alva 10y ago
If I was raiding homes, I would prioritise those that aren't shooting back at me.
- gruez 10y ago
  Exactly. You don't need to run faster than a lion to escape it, you only need to run faster than the slowest of the group.
protomyth 10y ago
A "professional" would pick the best risk to reward. Someone shooting at you increases the risk fairly heavily.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

peterwwillis 10y ago

I guess this prompts two questions: 1. Just what are you prepping for? 2. Are you willing to kill someone to protect your few months' supply of baked beans?

Karunamon 10y ago
If all you have is a few month's supply of baked beans, and someone is trying to take it by force...
- peterwwillis 10y ago
  Seriously? I would use barricades, tazers, pepper spray, traps, smoke, fire, light, sound, and other means to dissuade the thief. Someone with their ears pounding from 125dB alarms, lungs choked with smoke, eyes streaked with pepper spray, skin on fire and body pulsing with 40,000 volts probably is not too concerned with my beans - if they could get past the steel-reinforced door. People with guns don't seem to consider any other factor, besides that if the opponent has a gun, or can get yours away, you're not in a good defense position anyway. Guns are mainly useful for offense. Maybe that's why some preppers want them.
  - up_so_floating 10y ago
    Your solution is to add multiple layers of complexity, which you then must rely upon?
    - peterwwillis 10y ago
      The care and use of a gun (especially in combat, in close quarters and urban environments) adds multiple layers of complexity. I would rely on multiple layers of complexity for defense, since that's how modern security design works. A gun is a single point of failure. A shelter or person full of extremely undesirable defenses is more reliable, less dangerous, and probably much easier to stock.
      - 10y ago

legulere 10y ago

Usually people help each other in cases of emergency (of course media is more interested in situations are not). And even if it would be useful, the danger of owning a gun is higher than the likelihood of an emergency that you prepped for.

up_so_floating 10y ago
A scenario where prepping efforts come to fruition is far from "usual"; one's preconceptions about how others act should be reevaluated in the face of it. Again, this comes down to what you are prepping for.

protomyth 10y ago

Ok, but if you don't have training don't buy a gun. Home intruders have used blackouts as a cover and police services are often stretched. Still, owning a firearm does require some practice and training. If you are going to buy one, then get either a shotgun or something with a lot of support[1]. Then you need to practice and understand the safety built into the gun and how to secure the weapon in your home. 1) this is why the AR-15 is so popular. a normal person can add accessories.

adiabatty 10y ago
Or you can buy a gun and then get training before you start using it on your own.
- protomyth 10y ago
  Well yeah, but it would be helpful to get the training and work with someone to find which gun to buy. Getting training lets you fire a variety under supervision which will improve your chances of liking what you buy.
  - adiabatty 10y ago
    Point. I went pistol shopping with my uncle, but got a few days of training locally.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
LyndsySimon 10y ago
> Ok, but if you don't have training don't buy a gun. The great thing about firearms is that they enable a relatively untrained person to adequately defend themselves against a trained attacker. By all means get training - but don't let that stop you.
- protomyth 10y ago
  It shouldn't stop you, but having a gun you don't know how to shoot is pretty useless. Its not like basic training takes very long[1]. The local gun range generally has a pretty quick training program in place. The other big thing is that allows you to select a gun that will be easy to fire for you. Buying a gun that is a pain to fire will mean little practice and problems. 1) much shorter than most learning to drive programs [edit] an example http://www.freestategunrange.com/firearm-training/ http://www.freestategunrange.com/firearm-training/ their pistol is 2 hours (pepper spray is 3 hours ?!?)

Mz 10y ago

This is terrible advice. I grew up with guns on the wall. My dad grew up on a farm, spent 26.5 years in the military, was awarded a purple heart. I grew up with gun culture and eating food dad killed himself. If you are not actually going to become a hunter and seriously learn to shoot and become part of gun culture, don't go buy a gun "in case you need it, some day." That's utter insanity. It will just result in you helping to arm other people (that you don't want to arm, that will not be your protectors) and upping the stakes in the process. I was a fine shot in my youth. I would be perfectly comfortable being around guns for the right reason, under the right circumstances. This is not it. Instead of preparing yourself for some Mad Max bullshit scenario where you imagine you will play hero, having never done it before in your life, just work on continuing to improve supply chain, emergency response and so forth -- in other words, keep building a more reliable and more civilized civilization. That is your best bet right there. If you actually are a part of gun culture and know what the fuck you are doing, I am not talking about you. So don't give me shit for telling ninnies to not do this. Thanks.

swozey 10y ago
This is absolutely hilarious. If you're not a professional hunter don't buy a gun, but instead fix the wrongs of society. Well, I hope the person who follows your advice doesn't have an emergency situation in the next, oh, thousand years, because our current trajectory to a Star Trek utopia is lagging.
up_so_floating 10y ago
Can you clarify as to why owning a gun, as both a casual hobby and means of defense for unlikely scenarios, is "utter insanity"? And why do you believe gun owners view themselves as "prepping [...] for some Mad Max bullshit scenario"? Otherwise, using such language strongly discredits your already weak argument.
- ux-app 10y ago
  > Can you clarify as to why owning a gun, as both a casual hobby and means of defense for unlikely scenarios, is "utter insanity"? not the op, but the way I read it is that unless you are heavily invested in gun culture, meaning that you have appropriate training and you shoot regularly to maintain skill, then owning a gun makes you and your loved ones less safe. My understanding is that research shows that gun owners and their families are far, far more likely to be injured or killed by said firearm (accidentally, or intentionally) than they are to ever actually have the opportunity to use the gun for defence. In that context the original statement makes sense.