I just bought my first firearm. Now what?

Podcast episode 091620

I just bought my first firearm. Now what?

Greetings, welcome to this weeks show. I hope the podcast finds you healthy and safe during these wacky times. But, don’t worry I’ve thought long and hard about it, and we’re almost three months until the election, when the cure for COVID will magically be found, and the racial unrest will settle down depending on who gets elected, the exact same day. The unfortunate side of that fantasy is that, should the Democrats get enough illegals across the border to vote in their favor, and win the White House, this will all be followed with a full push for the agenda of defunding the police, and disarming American citizens. But don’t worry, unless your first weapon was an AR-15 style assault rifle, you should be safe for now.  At least until those dumb asses in DC can figure out what an AR-15 is, so we got some time. Enough about politics! Let’s talk about my second favorite subject, firearms. As a formerly active duty Marine, an international security professional, and NRA weapons instructor, I know a few things about weapons.

So, while the show is really about you have already purchased a firearm, but let’s have a honest conversation before heading down to the local Walmart (nope, too late for them), they surrender their firearm retail status after pressure from their stakeholders. Or Bass ProShop to purchase that weapon of your dreams, that fits in your budget, or that your significant other agreed to, or doesn’t know about. Have you really thought about the weapon you’d like to secure for your very own? Have you fully considered the full scope of owning a deadly weapon? Don’t worry, I’m a Republican, so I’m not here to talk you out of your second amendment right. Quite the contrary. However, I also want to make sure that you’re not getting sucked into mob mentality of the stupid people, groups that don’t want you to have firearms, but yet carry them during their protests attempting to ban yours. The diatribe of buying a firearm and never putting bullets in it, or never spending any time at the range learning how to use your bundle of joy. This is the “stupid” I’m talking about. Just buying a deadly weapon to impress friends, is the stupidest reason their is. If you need a firearm to get respect, or feel macho, you might want to consider air soft. [my mamma always said Stupid is as stupid does sound byte]

However, if you are far removed from that crowd, and have a strong belief that there are good reasons, please don’t let me convince you to do anything but buying that firearm, especially if it’s on sale. {sale sound byte} As I mentioned before, there are many questions you should ask yourself before deciding on what type of firearm you need. I have concluded that if I ever have to fire my weapon, chances are very good that I will have been jolted awake by my wife in the middle of the night, half tangled in our blankets, at a pitch black target in a pitch black room. If this were the case, I’ve got about two heartbeats to point, and shoot at the moving target less than fifteen feet away.  My other scenario is on a shopping trip when my family and I are confronted by an active shooter suspect.

These are the real-world scenarios I constructed to determine my Every Day Carry (EDC) firearm. My wife, who has substantial damage to her hands, and wrists, agreed with me to acquire another type of weapon for her to have access to while I was at work. We live in our own home, with a small piece of dirt around us, so over penetration was not a concern. These are the types of consideration that you should consider before introducing the new baby to your home.

When discussing needs, what function are you looking to the firearm to provide for you? Have you noticed that negotiations with the morons of BLM and AntiFa have proved fruitless in many cases over the last several months? Or, are you like me, and just too damn old to take an ass whipping? So, the first step is to determine what type of firearm will provide the function you need. Rifles, or long guns are typically harder to maneuver in close quarters, and may only contain several rounds. However, they are larger calibers, and have a longer range than pistols. Assault rifles are just barely smaller calibers, but can put more rounds down range. Pistols, either revolver (wheel gun), or semi-automatic pistols can be larger caliber, but that means more recoil (or kick). Shotguns (or shotty) are for short range guesswork. Many rounds for shotguns include multiple, smaller lead balls that spread out in a large pattern in a quick hurry, so we need to think about the angle of fire. Another major consideration of the shotty is the kick or recoil when the weapon is discharged, either on purpose, or accident, it kicks like an drunk, angry mule. The main benefit with either the semi-auto pistol, and especially the shotgun, is the distinctive sounds they make when chambering a round. Nine times out of ten, this sound alone will have intruders tripping over each other to get out. It’s not the total, but it’s certainly something to be cognizant of. However, a very clear point here, is that if one has brought out the shotgun, especially if they’ve chambered a cartridge, one must be prepared to send a round down range. It’s not for intimidation, it’s for protection.

[tumbling sound byte]

Stepping down off the soap box, we’ve got our act together about why, and how we’re going utilize this new tool in the toolbox. So, hopefully I’ve given you some idea of what type of firearm you have in mind. Now, let’s cover some of your caliber choices. I’ve taught my sons since they were little, when shopping for your first firearm, think about using it should society implode, or we do have the Democrat err, Zombie invasion. How are you going to reload after expending all your mags? How easy is it going to be to get ammo when out on the field of combat? So, to this end, your might want to consider a caliber that is out there in volume. We all know most of the bodies of the zombies will be carrying a nine millimeter pistol, and think about raiding abandoned marked police cars. What caliber do you local police officers carry? Whether you select 9mm, or 40 caliber for the semi-auto pistol, or 5.56mm/223 caliber or 7.62mm for assault rifles, and 12 gauge for the shotty. Your first firearm should become your go-to that you are the most comfortable with. So choose wisely.

[last crusade sound byte]

So, you’ve secured your new firearm from the retail outlet, and you’re ready to bring it home. Couple of things I want you to think about. Firstly, what mechanical safeties does the weapon have? How comfortable are you with the mechanical installed safeties? If the firearm doesn’t have mechanical safeties, there should be mag locks in the box whether it has safeties or not. Think about how you are going to secure the weapon when you get home? Thinking about it in advance will possibly save a life in the future. Securing the firearm doesn’t just protect you from family members in the house, but should an intruder get a hold of it, you have a new set of problems to deal with. {Refer to the “Guns Used in Crime”}

The weapon is now home and it’s safe, now what? How comfortable are you with it? Honestly. You need to know how to use it, and just as important, how you are going to use it in a jam. Train like your life is in danger. This is how you’ll act when it counts. Seek out and get training, as well as those in your home, so that everyone’s knows how to remain safe. Get educated. Tons of classes out there available for persons of all experience levels. Go get the training.

Now, we’ve covered the reasons behind your purchase of your new weapon, I can honestly tell you that you are not nearly alone. There has been a substantial rise in gun ownership throughout nation during the pandemic. To the tune of {data needed}. This brings up one of the other points of ammunition availability.

When it comes to governmental firearm restrains, the federal government has typically remained in the background when it came to states giving, or taking away, gun rights. As much noise as everyone makes at that level (some dumb assed Senator (O’Rourke) making the threat to “take our guns”) during his attempt at running for President during the 2020 race, presidential candidate Joe Biden wants to take away our AR-14s (of which I’m still looking for, maybe he got them all already, dammit). Too Slow… [soundbyte] The list to take away military style weapons from law abiding citizens is increasingly long, and is a constant battle cry of weak minded Democrats throughout our nation. However, they can cry those liberal tears all day long, because when they try to amend the constitution to ban the 2nd, they will witness the leftover power of the US military when vets from every corner square off against the (then) weak-assed government. Oops, I digress. Now that’s not to say you won’t have tons of paperwork for both: the feds, and your state to fill out and turn in before you can get that firearm. Remember back a couple of podcasts when I spoke of a physical injustice? Well, this is the US governments way of seeing what the injustice is between you and them. If you were to purchase 300 ARs, you might get a visit from the alphabet soup in D.C. asking what you’re up to. If you tell them to “fuck off” you might want to do some reading about “Ruby Ridge”, or Waco, Texas. A polite answer of stockpiling would go a lot further in preventing one of those incidents.

If you have been awake at all over the last several years here in the United States, you are probably very familiar with where society-as-a-whole stands when it comes to firearm ownership. Compounded with that is this idea of concealed carrying a firearm, and in some cases even open carrying a loaded firearm. However, we have all become very familiar with the dozens of times that citizens carrying firearms thwarted mass shootings {Washington Post article}, or other large-scale criminal activity using either the threat of violence, or the actual violence itself. So, many communities have initiated their own set of laws and ordnance’s for and against carrying a firearm in public. There are plenty of laws that go with carrying a firearm in public, so you will want to make sure you memorize the important ones. Laws like not carrying firearms into banks, or liquor stores. Many states require a special permit to carry concealed, so be cognizant of what law you are following. Now, I’m not going to tell you it’s all going to go down like the Wild West of the 1800s United States, as there are flaming liberals behind every tree (in some states) and they will sometimes resort to trickery to get the state to confiscate your firearms. Most of the United States falls under the “red flag” rule, so do your research and be aware of a possible shit storm you might walk into within your community.

One of my personal beliefs for people purchasing firearms is to consider the value of need versus the budgetary limitations. I teach this all the time. First firearm is home defense and EDC. Second is lots of rounds on target. Third is the shotgun, and finally the long-gun. Now, this rule is obviously flexible as depending on the environment a young person grows up in, they may already have a long-gun for hunting purposes. Now, moms and dads before we allow our apprehension climb, let’s briefly discuss how my older sons became engaged in firearms. I have always carried a semi-auto pistol, for as far back as I can remember, even certified for my concealed carry. To each their own, but as a general rule of thumb, I spent many a weekend at the range providing instruction to my boys, and allowed them to fire my weapons in a controlled environment hundreds of time before they were old enough to legally own one. By the time, they were of age, I helped them secure their own firearms in the order I just described. One of my sons has become a honorably discharged formerly active duty Marine police officer, and the other an armed security professional. My younger sons, who have just reached double digits, have access to semi-automatic, very small caliber, assault rifles which they are instructed with their care and maintenance. The younger boys have been to the range on several occasions with their rifles, and have learned the principles of firing their weapons accurately.

SHOUT OUT Awesome people, great experience with my young sons on the Kenai river catching several great silver salmons