Stockpiling Weapons: The Achilles Heel of Newbie Preppers
I personally know several ‘die-hard’ preppers. Sacks of rice in the pantry, a loaded assault rifle on the dining room table, and drawers full of ammo. They feel they are ready for anything. Do they need all that firepower or are they making a grave mistake?
So do you really need all that firepower? In reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Unfortunately, far too many beginners to the prepper lifestyle are under the impression of stockpiling weapons; that out of these three categories, the bullets, or a stockpile of guns and ammo, will be their saving grace when all hell breaks loose.
A lot of people subscribe to the three Bs of prepping: beans, bullets, and Band-Aids. In other words, they focus their prepping efforts primarily on the categories of food, firearms and ammunition, and first-aid supplies
Firearms Prepping
By all means, every prepper is entitled to bear arms (depending on the laws where you live) and should have at the very least one primary firearm to be used for self-defense and hunting purposes.
This is under the assumption that both short- and long-term disaster situations will result in the limitation or absence of emergency responders and make the criminal activity a larger threat to your livelihood and the safety of your family. If that’s the case, bullets should be a part of your preps just as much as the integral beans and Band-Aids.
If the worse does happen and an intruder comes barging through your gate, the chances of him seeking refuge and collaboration are slim to none. More likely his motivation will be to take what you have and cause harm to you or your family and eliminate you as a threat. For that reason, you must be prepared for the worst.
Guns For Prepping
Shooting a person should always be a last-resort option saved for when your life is on the line, but the barrel of a gun pointed at the chest of an intruder will make a clear statement and could diffuse the situation without bloodshed.
Still, too many beginner preppers take it too far when it comes to arming themselves for disaster survival. They focus too much of their budget on the coolest tactical guns and gear, plus thousands of rounds of ammo to go with, and spend far too little of their time learning how to use them.
There’s really no reason to go beyond the three weapons that serve different purposes depending on the situation. These three serve as part of your layered defense, which also includes any self-defense weapons, property-specific defenses, and combat training you have.
A handgun is great to have on your person at all times and makes for a good deterrent against unsuspecting attackers and a solid home-defense weapon
.Shotguns are favorites among many preppers because they can be loaded with a variety of cartridge types and have an extremely high effect on targets across a wide area
.Rifles may be the best all-purpose survival weapons, and the .22-caliber long rifle variety is a favorite in the survivalist community.
These guns can take down a variety of game when hunting and can incapacitate a human target when shot at medium to long-range, making them great home-defense weapons. You may think you’re better off surrounding yourself with every weapon you can get your hands on and as much ammo as you can stockpile, but there are way too many factors to indicate this is an ill-advised move.
First off, purchasing a gun is only half the battle in the bullets aspect of prepping. It’s not all just Guns n Roses. A gun is nothing more than a tool. A tool in the hands of someone who doesn’t know how to effectively use it is a deadly accident waiting to happen! However a gun is also a very useful weapon, and a weapon in the hands of a person who doesn’t understand proper gun safety and handling procedures is a danger to his family and himself.
Before even purchasing a gun, or at least immediately after you purchase one, you need to be trained on how to use it.
This is very important: You must take a gun safety and information course and practice at the firing range frequently to learn how to properly use your gun, regardless of type.
That said, if you plan on keeping a gun in your home for protection, you should consider involving every family member in the gun safety and handling training process. This can help avoid any accidents and enable the whole family to play a role in your home defense system should disaster strike.
Keep in mind that target shooting and plinking don’t necessarily warrant as survival defense training. You should seek out classes that teach you how to effectively fight with your weapon, shoot moving targets, cover and reload, and do everything else that goes into surviving a real firefight situation.
Stockpiling guns and ammo is also not practical from a bug-out perspective. You may be intent on hunkering down during a disaster, but you never know when the effects of a natural disaster like hurricane winds and flooding will force you to evacuate.
If you are forced from your home, how many guns and how much ammo can you possibly carry, especially when you’ll have a bug-out bag packed with other essential survival supplies?
Just remember this important fact….you WILL run out of ammo….most likely before the other guys will!
Guns are heavy, as are loaded magazines, and not everyone is trained to bear heavy loads of both guns and gear. You must know your limitations when it comes to what you can carry and plan the bullets aspect of your preps accordingly.
Even if you do have 10,000 rounds of ammunition stored, that’s enough to fill hundreds of magazines (depending on the magazine capacity and the gun).
Chances are you have closer to three or four extra mags – if that. And again, you will most likely run out in the most extreme situations!
Whether you’re forced to bug out, or you’re facing a mob of looters knocking at your door, 10,000 individual bullets aren’t going to get you very far if they aren’t primed and ready to shoot.
That’s not to discourage you from stockpiling thousands of rounds, or however much you see fit.
Ammo will be necessary for hunting game in addition to providing home and personal security. But still, ammo (and a collection of guns) takes up room and weight and limits what other essentials you can stockpile or carry with you.
You must make compromises and prioritize how much you need to carry in conjunction with your other survival gear. Ultimately, you don’t need tens of thousands of rounds and a dozen different guns to protect your family and home during a disaster.
However, there’s no such thing as too much ammo. If you prep as part of a group or network, having extra rounds on hand could go into the group’s collective supplies and services to benefit your neighbors and group members.
Ammo will also serve as an essential bartering commodity in the absence of a working economy post-disaster. You may be able to exchange your extra ammo for other necessities you are lacking.
The bottom line, though, is you only need a few cases of quality ammo for each gun. And remember, the fewer guns you have, the fewer types of ammo you have to purchase in order to protect you, your family, and your home during any potential survival situation. Whether or not you are a gun sort of guy (or gal), you will need to know how to defend yourself without one.
