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I never owned a gun before. Yet I still bought myself a Mossberg 500 shotgun with an 18 inch barrel. And I've been training and studying it for at least 2 hours a day to get up to speed.
I asked myself what would Picard do, then I realized he would already be armed and ready to use it.
Picard would have rammed his entire dick up the chain of command by now to make it everyone's immediate problem to solve in a way that makes the ancients at the desks see the error of their ways. We need as many Picard's as we can get right now.
If you, a loved one, or someone you know is seriously thinking about arming up because of recent events, I would HIGHLY recommend this hour long conversation from some of the crew who make Behind the Bastards.
Gun ownership is a serious decision - morally, legally, and an endless commitment that a lot of people don’t take seriously. Foremost you/they need to consider if it’ll be an asset or liability in your life and the community?
Training is going to be the hard thing for a lot of people, especially given how the right has captured the culture around guns - there are good apolitical sources of information, but there’s nothing that beats live and dry practice.
My morality behind gun ownership is "if my grandparents who can't send a text are able minded enough to own 4 guns (one of which unregistered), so am I"
In a perfect world I wouldn't own a gun or have any desire to, but when >50% of people vote for the person trying to make me illegal (trans, in Florida) protecting myself is more important.
I gave this same commentary when all the scared suburban whites ran out and bought guns after seeing the scawy BLM protests - suicides are by far the largest component of deaths via guns annually, I want people to genuinely make a decisions around ownership instead of a fear based reaction today, forget about it next month, and then their kid/relative finds it in the closet a year from now…
Arm up friend if you think it’s right for you ✊
I used to be a gun salesman and have put more rounds downrange than 99% of gun owners.
Training is absolutely essential, and very, very expensive. Not the classes themselves - you can do just a few classes and learn what you need to get by.
It's the ammo. One of the reasons I hate cheapo $100-$200 guns is because they encourage people to buy guns who can't afford to train with them. Buying cheap, bulk training 9mm ammo you're looking at about $200/case, or 20 cents a round. While 1,000 bulle5s sounds like a lot, it goes way faster than you think.
My Canik has 20 round mags, so that's $4 every time I reload the gun.
And you really should train with defensive rounds as well to make sure they cycle and that you can handle the different recoil.
The difference with defensive ammo (usually hollow-points) is that it expands upon impact and dumps its energy into the target, which makes it way, way more effective. But more importantly, it's less likely to kill the neighbor because it doesn't penetrate the target and 4 walls.
The thing is, defensive ammo costs more than a dollar every time you pull the trigger.
Between a gun, holster (essential piece of safety gear that should be mandatory), range membership, safe storage, lessons, ammunition, maintenance supplies, etc, a new shooter shouldn't be thinking about the cost of the $500 handguns, but the $5,000 cost of responsible ownership and training that comes with it.
And then there's the rest of it.
Are you in a good head space to be a gun owner? Buying one because you're stressed and afraid isn't a great sign.
Are there children in the house or do they visit regularly? I grew up with guns in the house, but since a gun in the house is more dangerous for children than a potential burglar, my Dad didn't keep ammunition in the house. If I have children visiting, all my guns are in the safe (most are usually, but my carry gun usually isn't unless I leave it at the house) and I move all the ammo to my van.
Do you have the right disposition to own a gun for self-defense? If you're too willing to use a gun that's a bad sign, but at the same time if you're too reluctant to use one it's more likely to be used against you.
For most people, I don't think a defensive firearm makes sense - especially handguns. Rifles are easier to learn, but they're unweildy indoors. Unless you're hunting, target shooting, or going into combat they don't make much sense. An AR for home defense is just a silly idea. They're big, loud, hard to deploy in tight quarters, and have way too much penetration. I love mine, but they're for shooting at the range and for shooting wild hogs.
The sunk cost of guns is what people focus on, but you’re dead on with ammo being the overwhelming cost. When I was really into USPSA pistol competition club matches, my ammo usage was roughly 300 rounds per month @ around 21-27 cents each shot, or $100 per month all in.
Not to say you can’t maintain skills and spend far less, but it’s not a cheap pastime. Expect to spend at least $500 for the bare essentials like a used handgun that only leaves the house for range practice, the cost snowballs quickly.
I would hesitate to give universal advice like “just buy a shotgun” or “Glock 19 with a light” because each use case is different - where do you live, what are you seriously expecting to face as threats, do you just want it for the house, do you have reduced mobility/dexterity, etc
If you are a leftist who needs support, don’t forget there is a socialist rifle association in this country.
Yeah, I'm under no illusions that I have it in me to be a responsible gun owner myself. If things get bad enough that near-sighted cripples are going to need more than an aluminum baseball bat for home self-defense, I'm gonna have to rely on my local leftist militia to store ~~my~~ our firearms.
But any chuds who catch a bullet playing "I hope I get to terrorize minorities today" from other people defending their loved ones? No tears shed from me.
Ultimately, I feel like people take a singlular moment view of guns for self-defense as well, without considering how the apparatus of the state will react. It doesn't matter if I can defend myself in the moment if the state is going to try to lock me up for it.
I just wish I didn't get that nice little intrusive thought telling me to look down the barrel every time I go to the range. Nah, I'll let my friends own.
Was there a specific episode you wanted to link? It just brings me to the newest episode.
I'm guessing you meant to link to this episode. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-it-could-happen-here-30717896/episode/safe-gun-ownership-240906760/
Only if you give me headpats and say sorry for criminalizing the tools of the proletariat.
Jk, always and forever, fuck fascism.
This might be cold comfort for non-revolutionaries.
If they kill you for your LGBT+ comrades, it will make bystanders into LGBT+ sympathists, and sympathists into activists and activists into revolutionaries.
We saw this in Portland in the 2020 George Floyd unrest in which the DHS overplayed its hand, and the moms came out to hold the line and then the dads came out.
We've seen it before during the civil rights movement, and was fundamental to Martin Luther King Jr.'s tactics to advance using non-violent methods.
One legend is Naked Athena, a woman who held off a DHS squad in Portland during the George Floyd unrest, just with bare skin, chutzpah and nothing else. The troopers backed off than face her.
Yes, it sucks to be the one that dies, and Mahsa Amini wasn't around to enjoy the movement her death in Iran sparked. But the MAGAs think you're expendable anyway, and they'll look to kill you even if you're not toeing the front line. I'm not the best person to say that going out a hero is the best way to go, but you know, the goblin army is at the gates of Minas Tirith; we do what we gotta do.
To all my LGBTQ+ people and folks of color here, remember: the bigots, racists, nazis and haters can buy guns, but so can you.
It's always great when I get comments replying to me on social media about how anyone left of Ajent Ornj is a coward and should be "dealt with" I just look over at my cabinet and chuckle to myself.
Fuck around, find out.
Please reach out there if you feel like you want to pursue gun purchases and would like instruction.
They are a non-profit that specifically helps LGBTQ+ people with finding an accepting and safe instructor for free. I volunteer as a coach through that organization.
The mighty Kira Nerys.
Her and my daughter share a middle name for a reason.
We all die eventually. And as the old saying goes we either hang together or we hang separately. Queer people are rarely the last victims of despots
Fuck yeah, I love Kira. What a badass.
Agreed, Kira is awesome.