DIY Topic 1

I’ve been posting much more frequently recently and almost exclusively on the risks posed by government because risk is developing quickly on that front now. So if you’ve been a reader, it’s most likely that you have your attention and awareness on this yourself. Though it’s important to continue to keep eyes on the unfolding developments, at some point it becomes necessary to think about strategies and tactics for coping with these difficulties in case they do ever run their full course. So for this reason, I’m going to steer my next few posts more in this direction. It is a weird and not-so-comfortable thing that I never thought I’d be discussing when I started this blog a couple years ago, but the times have already become much different (and weirder) since then. It’s important for people (not just me) to think and talk about these strategies now, because: (1) If you wait until is trouble is at your door, its too late to do much thinking, and: (2) If and when government overreaches to the point where such strategies become necessary for safety and for continuing to live well, it may then legal forbid people from talking about them.

In this post I’ll start with a relatively straightforward topic: personal and home protection against rioters or other violent assailants, but only after first making it clear that I am not a trained expert in this area. These are only my personal thoughts for consideration, and they may be fallible in ways that I am unaware of, so check it out for yourself. Just from the number of gun sales, it is clear that many Americans are concerned with self-defense, and its easy to understand why. They watched as local municipal governments allowed rioters to rampage through many American cities smashing and burning private buildings, looting and pillaging the property in them, and beating and killing decent innocent people. These governors told Trump that they would resist efforts by him to send-in the national guard to secure their cities. Now many citizens are witnessing the gutting of the police force in their local urban areas, and many of them will continue to live in those places due their commitments (businesses and family members) or for other reasons.

So they are arming themselves. They buy a gun, load it with FMJ (or hollow point) ammunition, and that’s it. This ensures that if they ever use it in a fight they will very likely kill someone and possibly face a term in prison. Also, there are some people who just don’t fare very well psychologically after having killed another human. But nonlethal riot control combat tactics have been used effectively for decades. Nobody can use a water cannon for home protection, but you can use tear gas to clear a mob-filled area in front of it (after putting your breathing masks on), as well as rubber bullets for stopping individuals who attack it. For greater single-shot stopping power a close range, a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with sandbag rounds is very effective. All these devices are available and legal for civilians to use in self-defense against attackers. And as long as you hit your targets in the torso and never in the head, you may break a rib or bruise some internal organs, but the likelihood that you will kill your target is quite low.

But lethal ammo should still be kept on-hand also. If-ever you start firing on a group, there is a good chance they will return fire, and it will almost certainly be standard lethal ammo coming back at you. At that point you are unquestionably in a stand to defend your life, so then swapping out your first magazine full of rubber bullets with another one loaded with metal rounds is probably a necessity. But even if the standoff degrades to that point, it is much less likely that any jury will sentence you for murder as long as the evidence shows that you purposefully planned for, and first used, nonlethal deterrence before having to revert to lethal means. Of course, before doing any of this, you should call 911. But if the cops don’t show up on time or stand-by and let properties be attacked like they were ordered to do in the riots a year ago, then you should loudly warn the mob off, if possible. Tell them you are will defend your home if they come at it. Then if you still have to, you can take these actions.

I don’t understand why the use of nonlethal ammo for self-defense is not more widely discussed and promoted – especially by the NRA and other gun-right proponents in this current anti-gun climate. Even prior to this time of general social tension and discord, keeping a gun in the house with rubber bullets seems like a measure that would be effective against home intruders while eliminating the risk of accidentally shooting a family member. And again, not having to go to court to answer for taking another person’s life is a significant plus. But if I am just grossly naive in some way on this, I’d appreciate anyone letting me know how.

Of course, the other essential measure to take if a home defense situation arises is to record what happens so you have evidence to take to court later. Setup your smartphone with a selfie stand or something else to video record you in your holdout position, and another one (with either another stationary setup or with a family member in a safe location) to record what the mob does outside. Be the first to report the skirmish to law enforcement, and immediately provide files of the video clips to them. Later, if you end up detained and that evidence does not get presented on your behalf, have a friend post copies of it on uncensored social media sites or send it to Fox News. As long as you act justly, transparency is your ally.

Probably the more difficult readiness step to take for many parents is to prep their kids with the responses they should take. A store of water and food, a battery-powered radio, and a bug-out plan for getting out of town in a hurry is one thing for any ‘prepper’ couple to put in their kids’ heads. But to assign them home battle stations and procedures is a truly sad and troubling discussion to have with them. Everyone has to decide for themselves if they want to do this and if-so, how to best explain it. But if you face an event like this it can be life-changing and if you respond sub-optimally it can have longterm adverse consequences.

Disarming us is obviously another thing the government wants to do. In the 20th century in countries where revolutionary government takeovers was followed by gun confiscation, they were usually followed in-turn by roundup arrests of ‘dissidents’ (people who peacefully disagreed with the government) who were then imprisoned or executed. This happened to tens of millions of people. Check it out.