Home defense
The Truth About Guns

By Rob Morse

The news right now is enough to frighten anyone. I’m hearing Pro-Palestinian protesters say they wanted to kill Jews. I expected that from extremists overseas but I didn’t expect to hear it here in the US.

I take those threats seriously. I hope you do too. I’m hearing a lot of people talk about gun ownership and armed self-defense who’d never given either one much thought before. Unless you’ve studied armed self-defense for a while, there’s a lot for you to learn in order to defend yourself and your family. I want to label some of the steppingstones ahead of you because like most noobs, you don’t know what you don’t know.

I can tell you now that just buying a gun won’t make you safe anymore than buying a violin will make you a musician. It takes study, training, and practice.

People who study and train for armed self-defense have better options and tend to make better choices. Learning how to protect yourself and your family will greatly increase your odds of surviving a violent attack. The good news is that the harder you work, the luckier you’ll get.

You don’t have to be a Navy SEAL to protect yourself and your family. Armed amateurs are amazing for their speed and accuracy. I document their success every week and they’re worth reading as inspiration and to help you think through scenarios you might find yourself facing.

You may be anxious right now, but please give yourself time. A self-defense program is a lot like a fitness class. You can’t read three books on armed defense over a weekend and make much of a difference. In contrast, you can study and practice a little every evening and you’ll change the odds in a significant way after only a month.

We asked some of the best self-defense instructors for their advice a few years ago during the riots of 2020. Here is a free video series we made from their answers.

Here’s some basic Q and A that we hope with help . . .

  • How do I protect my family at home?
    • Let’s start with the easy solutions and go from there. Own a firearm. Learn to use it. Develop and practice a home defense plan.
  • How do I bring a gun into my home?
    • Begin this conversation early. Talk to other gun owners. Do online research.
  • How do I find the gun that fits me?
    • You try them on for size. Go to a local range that sells and rents guns. Talk to the people there. They’re usually very helpful. That’s a good place to start.
  • How do I learn to handle lethal tools safely?
    • The same way you’d learn to handle any other dangerous equipment. Do your homework. Learn from someone who knows how and can teach you to be safe and effective.
  • How do I learn to shoot accurately?
    • Take lessons from a good trainer and then practice on your own. A lot.
  • How do I store a firearm at home so it is both safe and effective?
    • You need a gun safe. You don’t have to spend a lot. It just needs to be secure and keep your gun(s) away from people who shouldn’t have access to it.
  • How do I find a good instructor?
    • You select a firearms instructor the same way you find any other professional service provider. DO some online research. Ask for recommendations from people you know.
  • How do I carry a firearm in my home?
    • Having a lethal tool on your hip takes training and practice. Get some training on safe and effective everyday carry. Then start slowly.
  • How do I carry a firearm in public?
    • Take a concealed carry class so you can safely and legally carry a firearm on the street. Most local ranges give concealed carry classes or can recommend people who do.
  • How do I learn the legal use of lethal force?
    • There are classes for that too. A lot of concealed carry training includes the basics on the legal aspects of carrying and using a gun for self-defense.
  • What is a home safety plan and where would I learn to make one?
  • Now that I can carry a firearm safely, how do I learn to fight with a gun?
    • Go beyond concealed carry training and learn how to be effective with the gun you’re carrying.
  • What does the rest of my family need to know about personal safety?
    • You need to practice your defense plans because everyone is involved.
  • How do I learn about trauma care?

Those are a series of simple questions, but the answers come in layers of complexity and proficiency. You might want to seek out a first answer to all of them before you pursue better answers to any of them. Welcome to Armed America.

 

This article originally appeared at Slow Facts Blog and is reprinted here with permission. 

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37 COMMENTS

  2. I believe being willing to shoot an assailant is #1. So there’s that. And realizing it may change your life. Anyway I stopped by my Palestinian mechanic today who I hadn’t needed for a few months. Asked him about his family in Israel. He exclaimed no big deal they’re safe in Jerusalem 100 km(61 miles)from Gaza. A lot of Palestinians appreciate making a good living from Jewish employers. The best treated workers in the Arab world🙄FWIW

  5. Watch the perps on the Donut Operator YT channel and make a note; don’t do what these fine upstanding citizens do.

  6. The idea that you don’t know what you don’t know is something I frequently comment on here. This is the reason why it’s so incredibly dumb to print shotgun shell boxes to include ‘drams’ and to sell ‘zombie’ bullets. It’s also why it’s equally harmful to allow AR15’s to be referred to as assault rifles. This kind of thinking makes people thing that America is a democracy when it isn’t. Words mean things and for those that are just getting into this, it can mean everything. Just like making the very first gun someone fires a 357 magnum revolver, giving people misleading terms can lead people into a confusing path with dangerous risks.

    There have always been cheaply made guns and ones that fetch a high price. Here we enter into the realm of the stupid label of ‘Saturday night special’ which was just as crazy as the pointy thing that goes up.

    I don’t expect people to know how to rebuild engines but the ONLY reason Biden is successful at claims of 9mm rounds separating people from their lungs is for the extreme level of ignorance that exists. Two blasts through the front door is a very good way to get yourself arrested and a .223 from an AR15 is most certainly NOT traveling faster than all other bullets in existence.

    If I question what the definition of a turkey gun is, it’s only partly for my own knowledge. As many other things I question on TTAG. I am very much aware that there are readers that don’t comment but come here to learn. It’s NOT all white men from 60 to 90 that have hunted all their lives. Many are in their 20’s and have never hunted and have no other place to go to for honest answers.

  7. Hey Quicksdraw, why you buy violin?
    “This ain’t no violin Bobalooie, this heres a fiddle.”
    *El Kabow*

  8. As for “words mean things”, I’m really tired of every firearm being referred to as a weapon. It’s not a weapon until it is one. I’ve owned firearms for over 40 years and have never used one as a weapon. The constant use of ‘weapon’ builds this misnomer, especially to the uninformed public, that killing or the aggressive or offensive/defensive use of the tool is all it’s good for. A #2 pencil could be a weapon if used for that purpose. A tool is a tool. People just need to calm the ‘ef’ down.

  9. I hope you do too. I’m hearing a lot of people talk about gun ownership and armed self-defense who’d never given either one much thought before. Unless you’ve studied armed self-defense for a while, there’s a lot for you to learn in order to defend yourself and your family. I want to label some of the steppingstones ahead of you because like most noobs, you don’t know what you don’t know.
    https://slope-unblocked.org/

  10. How do I protect my family at home?
    Let’s start with the easy solutions and go from there. Own a firearm. Learn to use it. Develop and practice a home defense plan.

    Get a DOG.

  11. I agree totally with dog ownership. Mine are great watch dogs and although they have never bitten anyone, their barking is a good alarm system. Burglars and other criminals don’t want to tangle with even a medium size dog. First rule of gun defense, have a gun!

  12. I can tell you now that just buying a gun won’t make you safe anymore than buying a violin will make you a musician. It takes study, training, and practice.

    Countless untrained people defend themselves with guns every year. Training is great. I recommend it, but many people do just fine without it.

    • For instance, that store clerk who was blindly shooting in random directions after dropping the magazine. All’s well that ends well, I guess.

      • And highly-trained professionals sometimes shoot themselves in the leg. You don’t have a point.

    • Agreed. There’s been too much of a swing towards gatekeeping self-defense towards tactical timmys who can afford to go to monthly training from some bald guy with a beard and ballcap.

      Time and time again we’ve seen the untrained, including literal children, defend their homes with firearms from violent attackers.

      Everyone who owns a gun should know how to use it. That means the manual of arms and the rules of gun safety. Everyone who CAN, should get training beyond that… but those who can’t are not defenseless.

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