The truth is that I hope The 14th Reinstated remains fiction. But I fear it will not. Just look at what’s happening around the world right now, with riots in multiple countries, including in the USA. I don’t believe that these are all spontaneous uprisings. I think some of them are being orchestrated and I fear they may be the prelude to bad times ahead.
When I personalize a copy of the book I usually add the inscription, “Keep your eyes open and your guns close.” I think that’s the key to surviving what is coming. The smart people have prepared; they have guns, ammo, food, shelter and a plan. But the “eyes open” part is a bit tougher. We don’t know when or where bad things are going to happen.
It’s no life if it is controlled by fear. Being locked down in a fortress waiting for something to happen is no better than being in jail. We have to live and enjoy life, while staying vigilant and safe. So that means we are “out and about” for much of the time. If bad things start to happen, it’s important we are able to get home to our families.
The first step, of course, is a carry gun. Like the protagonist in the book I carry a 1911 much of the time. The 1911, however, is not a gun for the masses. It’s a gun guy’s gun, designed for experts who train and understand guns, shooting and defensive situations. That was reinforced recently when I took a course for a Minnesota carry permit taught by Brian Payne, a competitive shooter and a very experienced law enforcement officer. During the course he told about a police force that switched to 1911 handguns from revolvers years ago. Not all police officers are gun guys and many only shoot as much as is required to stay employed. One of those cops walked in on a robbery that was all caught on a security camera. He pulled his 1911 and had the bad guy cold, but he forgot the safety. He panicked and kept trying to pull the trigger over and over again until the bad guy shot and killed him. If you are not going to train hard, there are better guns to carry.
But one more thing has had me thinking about 1911 handguns lately and that is what is happening in our world. With a fully loaded 1911 and two spare 8-round magazines, I am carrying 25 rounds of ammo. Normally that is more than enough to settle any trouble you are likely to find in America. But these are not normal times.
Now we have terrorism, the rising tide of gangs and the threat of riots. Riots have of course been around for a while, there were lots of them in the sixties. In the nineties they made a comeback with the Rodney King fiasco. Now with deteriorating race relations in America they are coming back and it’s reasonable to expect to see more and more of them. Just look at the manufactured riots after the George Zimmerman verdict.
Any of these scenarios may result in a much different survival situation than a simple robbery at the ATM. In that light, a high capacity handgun makes more sense. While I do not like the 9mm, the .40 S&W provides a lot more smack with just a bit less magazine capacity. A loaded S&W M&P in .40 S&W (or a GLOCK, etc.) with two spare magazines provides 46 rounds of ammo. Those extra 21 rounds over the 1911 might make a difference when you are faced with a terrorist attack or a mob bent on killing you.
I have a friend with an interesting job; he guards nuclear bombs when they are being moved. Needless to say, he is a badass kind of guy and a hell of a shooter. He points out that the primary use for a handgun is to fight your way to your rifle.
With that in mind, it’s a very good idea to keep a tactical rifle in your vehicle along with a good supply of loaded magazines. I’ll leave it to you to sort out the legalities of that where you live.
If I am fighting to protect my family or my own life, I want an AR rifle with a lot of magazines. There are some advantages to a shotgun, but the major disadvantage is magazine capacity and time needed to reload. With practice, a good shooter can take a rifle from slide lock to bang in a couple of seconds. Now he has 30 more rounds to fight with. Not so much with a shotgun. Most shooters in a tactical situation will spend two or three seconds per shell when reloading. Even a good shooter in a match using the best shell dispensing ammo carry gear available, gear that’s not practical for self-defense situations, will take a second per shell. It takes time to reload a shotgun, time that may make the difference in survival.
This BLACKHAWK! Diversion Carry Racquet Bag has an M4 carbine and several 30 round mags inside. Yet it looks like something my social worker neighbor might take to her tennis lessons.
Consider a diversion bag to carry your rifle. They are designed to look like a case for a tennis racket or a musical instrument rather than a gun case, so they don’t attract attention. Check out some of them in my article on diversion bags in Personal & Home Defense magazine, on sale 10/15/13.
You cannot protect your home or family, if you can’t get back there. Plan for the worst and you will never be surprised.
