It seems to me that many people automatically paint all gun owners and gun rights advocates as extremists. The thread on best firearm for home defense got me thinking that maybe I should join the “extremist” ranks myself.
I personally see the need for and the value of personal gun rights and I’d hate to think we ever reach a day where taking precautions to defend life and liberty by simply owning a firearm is criminalized.
I am currently not a gun owner but I do have some level of concern regarding the amount of civil unrest that could be brewing. Any serious effort to curb gun rights is the sort of thing that by itself would encourage me to go get one. (Personally I see this attitude as more libertarian than anything so maybe someone can explain where I’m wrong).
I know that maybe I should stop reading online forums as they are undoubtedly infested with right wingers trying to pull me in to the fold. But the collective wisdom of this blog and others leads me to seriously consider some of the more dire future scenarios out there.
The speed and level of decline in the housing market predicted here and elsewhere (but not by any level of governemnt or mass media) has made me trust anonymous bloggers for insight and wisdom far more than government or media. If the most overblown credit bubble in our history wasn’t seen before the fallout of the collapse by our great leaders and media, who should I trust for straight talk on the real issues facing us? Who can I trust for advice and help with discerning the times we live in?
So I’m drawn to these sort of blogs thinking I’m getting some measure of truth that is being intentionally withheld from the public at large. That is, I believe if an emergency is brewing, government is the last source I’d expect to hear a warning from.
I’m thinking of purchasing a firearm today even though I don’t need it immediately, knowing that if I wait until significant social unrest occurs it may be too late to obtain one. But I think there is something of a dilemma:
1) If I obtain a gun now legally and violence and unrest occurs, I expect the government to seize my firearm. I might also face an undesired level of scrutiny for having even registered a firearm in the past.
2) If I obtain an illegal gun now so the government won’t know who to confiscate it from, I am making myself a criminal now which I don’t want. (Maybe it is a leap to assume government will automatically confiscate weapons, but if martial law is declared in cities I would expect it.)
So my motivation to go to the trouble and expense to have a gun today is tempered by my belief I wouldn’t own it for long when I really wanted it around.
All of the doomish talk I’m hearing has made me seriously think about my own personal preparedness and I’m considering stocking up on some basics. But I know that if it becomes known that I have necessities that are scarce, I’m making myself a target. That is the big reason I’m thinking of home defense.
Are any other non gun owners thinking similar thoughts?