Conservatives Defending Liberty

I read an article in a very popular gun magazine yesterday and while a completely agreed with the concept of what the author was saying, I found myself saying what he was advising was illegal. Now understand what he was talking about was arming your friends and neighbors in an emergency situation, more or less a survival  situation. While I agree with his concept you may run into a few serious problems like committing a felony or two along the way.

To be fair we need to understand a few things right up front. First is that while in most states, not all, but in at least 41 or 42 of the 50, you can buy a long gun from a private person. Meaning you can go you a gun show and buy a AR-15 from a guy walking around selling his rifle for extra cash right before Christmas. That’s legal. As long as the weapon you are buying is a long gun, rifle, shotgun or carbine, your Ok. To my knowledge no state in the country allows you to sell or give away a handgun without completing the correct paperwork and a back ground check which means going through a licensed gun dealer, not just handling them the gun and some bullets. Yes most states allow your spouse to use or carry your guns, but you are not married to your neighborhood. The author in the article was saying that if you end up in an emergency situation you could end up needing to arm other people, his idea was you will need help from people you trust which is very true. He suggested using old or unused hand guns you may have around. Target pistols, hunting pistols even old west style single actions or 22′s could be pressed into service if needed. He was absolutely right. The problem is that he was suggesting you give them to those you trust, like again a neighbor. While I am all for giving them a firearm to either protect themselves or to help protect you and your family, you need to realize that by giving someone other than a family member a handgun you and they could be committing a felony. If for some reason they used the firearm, things would get real ugly real fast when society comes back to a semi-normal state.

What I am suggesting is that if you wish to do something like that, give them a 12 gauge pump shotgun, or a rifle of some kind. Arming someone you trust who could be a big help to you is fine but don’t get lost in the moment. If we are faced with a post apocalypse scenario like a nuclear war, who cares about gun laws, I wouldn’t. If we are faced with riots, acts of terrorism and things of that nature, food shortages and so on, you need to understand that while society has collapsed to some degree, your not at the zombie stage yet. If they are in your home, that is fine as well, and yes handguns are much more portable than say a shotgun. Were I’m going here is that while his advice sounds like a smart idea and it is, it is also very illegal to give away or let someone use your handguns. If they live down the street, hand them a rifle and your Ok, if you hand them a pistol you may have found a way to get yourself arrested. Understand too that in an emergency the government could suspend gun sales as many believe this current administration would do. Having your old or extra firearms get pressed into service is a great concept and a good idea. Once again, put everything in context, what type of situation are you facing? If you and your family are or could be under attack, then I am all for giving whatever weapons I may have to my friends and allies. If you are loaning out a weapon to a friend because they don’t have one or are fearing being unarmed in a dangerous situation, try to avoid committing any criminal acts yourself. Remember that unless it is truly TEOTWAWKI, meaning society will be out of commission for a long period of time and their is no law enforcement capacity at all, you need to protect yourself in more than just what is obvious.

While things are still “normal”, find out what laws you may be dealing with where you live. Adapt your choices around those laws and try to find good alternatives to get the job done. Most people have an extra long gun before they have an extra handgun any way. Think about hunters, how many own just one rifle or shotgun? Guns are like Pringles, you can’t have just one. What I ‘m trying to do here is to explain that while the idea of arming a small battalion of people sounds great, make sure you can do it legally for the most part up to the point if and when it no longer matters. Think about this, after the LA riots, when everything got calmed down which granted took a couple weeks, the police and law enforcement moved in. They started to investigate the crimes that had been committed and started prosecuting people. You don’t want to be on the wrong end of that kind of thing. At the same time you need to find a way to protect yourself and your loved ones. I’m simply suggesting to try to avoid at all costs breaking any laws involving firearms as they are almost always felonies and carry jail time. If you are looking at a neighborhood “watch” type set up great, use shotguns or rifles. Loan them out until your hearts content, give them out as gifts. If your talking about giving handguns to family members in your own home, once again go for it. If its your property they are on, your should be covered. And lastly, of you are shooting at zombies, have at it, just try to e-mail me as I would like to come over and help, hey, I will bring my own guns and ammo.