WELCOME INSTAPUNDIT READERS!Thanks so much, Professor Reynolds! 
Dear Readers: Beers with Demo put me onto this fabulous post by KT of the Scratching Post –
The looters are all offense and the police are all defense. Because the police have no missile weapons and are too weighed down with armor to pursue their enemy, the looters can engage and disengage at will with absolutely no risk to themselves.
This got me thinking about English history and one of the past’s most significant military upsets. In the spirit of offering allied assistance to the capitalists, conservatives, and wealth producers in Great Britain, I would like to remind English men and women of their heritage. England, if your government doesn’t let you have guns, relearn the wonders of the longbow.
Remember the Battle of Agincourt – 1415!!!!
The two enemies faced one another, exchanging taunts designed to provoke an attack. Henry marched his force close enough to allow his archers to unleash a hail of arrows upon the French. The French knights charged forward only to be caught in a slippery quagmire of mud. To make matters worse, the French attackers were unable to effectively swing their broadswords because of the tight quarters of the battlefield and the continuing forward rush of their comrades behind them. Henry’s archers fired lethal storms of arrows into this dense mass of humanity until the French began to retreat. The archers then dropped their bows, picked up what weapons they could find and joined the English knights in slaying their foe. The setting sun left a battlefield heaped with the bodies of thousands of French knights and the cream of France’s ruling class. The English had dealt their enemy a disastrous blow.
The reason for my post today is that I have been contemplating being a bit more proactive on personal defense recently. It started last week, when I met a dynamic 50-something woman who does medieval weapons training and battles. Her sword skills are fantastic. However, that style doesn’t really match my strengths — whereas I do have some small skills with archery.
Add to it the class-warfare/entitlement mentality that has lead to the troubles in London. I fear that with the open class-warfare being instituted in this country, with additional fear-mongering and hate-tactics being promulgated by the “progressives” in this country, we may be headed that way. For example, Wisconsin pundit and citizen reporter was attacked yesterday. This potential threat to San Diego tea party peeps was on a comments section in one of the SLOB posts: ” I’d say your lives are in danger at this point, especially when the shit hits the fan. Those in the spotlight as such should be careful.“
There is utterly no tolerance among the extreme leftists in this country. As their world view is shown to be built on lies, this misrule, law-breaking, and incivility will continue and increase.
Then, there are the race-based, social-media-organized attacks occurring throughout the country. These are being entirely unreported by our elite media. My family lived through the 1968 race riots in Detroit. My dad won his Pulitzer Prize covering this event. I still vividly recall panic teens coming across the street from the nearby high school to our house, begging for safety and a chance to call the police.
My mom was stunned to learn of the attacks through to country. She is deeply worried and is now carrying pepper spray. I am planning to get some, too.
I am planning to resume archery lessons and training at Performance Archery by Miramar. I will be buying arrows and the best bow for my body type and abilities.
I am not comfortable with guns. I don’t think I could hit the side of an aircraft carrier even with targeting accessories. I don’t like the idea of guns in the same home with my son. I don’t like having to bow down to the bureaucrats in the state to assert my 2nd amendment rights.
However, if these shadows do not change, I may have to upgrade my personal defense line to include this enhanced technology. I admire those 2nd Amendment supporters even more now, who have allowed me to make this choice that our English friends to not have. It is a good think Operation Fast and Furious has been upended, otherwise we wealth producers and conservatives could be much easier targets.
Englishmen, remember why so many of your people are named “Archer” and “Fletcher”. Recall your heroes. You cannot trust your government to defend your property and person with as much vigor as you can. Johnny, grab your bow!
New Version of Ancient Hero, Robin Hood
Lodon, how far your leftists have lead you away from these immortal words of your brave King!
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
Do you really want the new English motto to be: Robbing from the earners to let the takers keep?
In honor of KT, I conclude with this graphic:
Goddess, you ever need a lesson on using firearms, just let me know. Chances are you just haven’t been using a big enough gun. A nice 45 revolver is like butter! And a keypad gunsafe is peace of mind. But I LOVE that you are refreshing your archery skills…let them try to storm casa de Eastman!
LU: We will totally talk about this at the next Beer Summit.
Thanks for the offer. 
Dear Mut:
As my experience in public schools taught me, everything is a potential weapon. (Glass Coke bottles make nasty improvised weapons once they’re broken, for example.) I am always armed; if not with formal ‘weapons,’ be assured that I have other items – my cane, a pen concealing a small blade, a heavy leather belt, etc. – that can serve in a pinch.
If I may offer some recommendations:
Get a big car or suv. gas mileage is less important than the ability to escape a situation like that in Wisconsin. A big Buick or Mercury Grand Marquis is much harder to stop, turn over or mess with in general than a Honda or VW.
Carry something in your car, too. I prefer an old-fashioned tire iron and a 5-cell Mag Light. Both make excellent clubs, yet if one is pulled over, one can claim that they are there for their original, intended use.
Having something with a camera is handy. Letting the goons know that you’re posting their mugs, like, to the Web, will deter some of them. It’s what I learned in National Guard riot control training.
Make sure that you know your surroundings. If the way home is blocked by rioters, do you know how to get away?
Finally, remember that civil disorder is a perfect excuse for imposing a police state. Those now in power would love to scare us, cow us, and strip us of our rights. Typical ‘law-and-order’ candidates often offer nothing but more government control – ‘getting tough’ – as a solution to crime.
FWIW, anything that’s not obviously unlawful is A-Ok in defending self and family (and any other innocents one can save). The first law is self-preservation, and all others bow before it. This ought to inform every juror’s conscience, should they hear a trial where one of us acted in self-defense.
In “Jolly Olde England” otherwise law abiding citizens have been arrested, tried and convicted of carrying weapons when they carry things as innocuous as knitting needles for self defense. That’s right, knitting needles are a weapon if you go around carrying them at night in the UK and at least one poor woman has done jail time for it. So sshconway’s suggestions aren’t very useful to those poor folk in the UK. Unfortunately. The law is so thoroughly perverted in the UK that his last paragraph simply doesn’t apply there.
Much of what he writes is applicable in the U.S. Possibly Canada, but check your local laws.
Better yet, if you’re in the U.S. and your state allows, and nearly all do now, get a gun, get trained, get a little target shooting on a regular basis, get a concealed carry permit, and carry it.
P.S. A shotgun is perfect for home defense. Birdshot will not usually penetrate walls, keeping loved ones safe. One does not precise aim, especially indoors. Finally, the sound of a 12-gauge racking is the universal language; no matter whether they speak English or not, they’ll understand that they’re not welcome…
Please stop giving stupid information.
1. Birdshot is for birds, hence the name. Buckshot is for deer, (bucks) which are an animal much closer in size to a human.
2. Even from an unchoked barrel, the pattern from a shotgun doesn’t open up mort than a few inches at even the longest insde the house distance. It most certainly does need to be aimed accurately.
3. A gun is not a device for making noises. It is a device for making holes in things. One should not be stupid enough to hold out any hope that the intruder will hear the slide rack and take sensible action. If he was minded to take only sensible actions, he wouldn’t be breaking into a house, now would he?
The pump shotgun, especially the hard kicking 12gauge, is an expert’s self defense weapon. It takes a lot of training to operate correctly, has few rounds in the magazine, and is a stone bitch to keep reloading in a fight. It is a fight stopper if loaded with proper ammo (not birdshot!) and you aim it carefully, but operating the slide is tough for smaller framed women with short arms.
Get an AR pattern rifle with a 16 inch barrel. Teach the child to stay away from it, and get one of those new quick opening cabinet/lockboxes for it. Keep it loaded with a 30 round mag, and if you worry about mob violence, get a 100 round betamag as a spare. It’s easy to change mags on an AR. The recoil is almost nil, a red dot or an EoTech sight makes it a point and click interface, and a couple rounds center mass on the mob leader will make your point clear.
And be careful who you take advice from on the interwebs. Get proper training. You can even engrave “Longbow” on the side of the rifle if it makes you feel more comfortable with it.
Also, if you know a 50 year old female swordswoman, ask her about the SCA. They have target archery and combat archery. Good training and lots of fun
http://Www.scademo.com
The Betamag? Please. If you have an heavy barrel AR-15 that is full auto, the Betamag makes sense since you have a light machine gun with it. Plus we are talking California, 10 round magazines are all the people of the Socialist republic are allowed. If the color of the black rifle AR-15 is putting you off, I have seen pink Hello Kitty AR-15s at gun shows. It just amuses me to think of those, bad guy laughing at you and you drop him with a pink gun.
For pistols, Beretta has the PX-4 line. Comes in four calibers – Makarov, 9mm, .40cal, and .45cal. Nice thing is the pistol grip size can be customized to better fit one’s hands. .380cal is now popular but still a hard caliber to find, so stick with 9mm, .40cal, or .45cal. Ruger makes a good .357 revolver, gun stores cant keep in stock.
For escape car. First dont get a Lexus SUV. Something a bit more pedestrian like an older Explorer, In times of riot don’t announce you have money. Plus if the SUV is a beater you will have fewer qualms about using it as a battering ram. Or getting it muddy. Always have a bug-out kit stashed in the vehicle also. And since tire places love their impact wrenches, get a 3ft cheater bar to break the lugnuts loose if you get a flat. Plus that cheater bar is a nice club.
Anway, now that the SCA has been mentioned might go get more instruction on how to use a rapier today.
You can’t own an AR15 in the Worker’s Paradise of California. For that matter, you can’t have any center-fire long gun with a grip that extends below the trigger.
I’ve patterned my three riot guns at various ranges and you’re right, with cylinder bores on average they open up about 1″ per yard of range. At 3 yards — an average across the room range — you’ve got a 3″ pattern so, yes, you’d better aim. And yes, I keep them loaded with double ought.
On the other hand, a load of #6 shot opens up about the same 3″ and #6′s will penetrate about 8-10 inches on flesh and blood targets. An ounce of #6 shot is about 225 pellets. Hit someone with a load of #6 shot at 3 yards and surgery will be pretty much out of the question. So don’t sell birdshot short for close range self defense, ‘kay? Lots of people thought that birdshot wouldn’t kill anybody until they accidentally shot somebody.
There’s nothing stupid about it. Birdshot will be a most unpleasant experience for anyone on the receiving end, point-blank. The ‘rack it and they’ll know you’re angry’ advice came from a retired cop, so he may know more than you. The 3″ pattern is pretty small, but is larger than that of a .38. Finally, be constructive and save the insults for the schoolyard. Long-distance flaming is rather cowardly.
It is nice to see people learning some military history!
The commentor who mentioned that we Tea Party types are in increasing danger did not completely express the situation. The key is CODE LANGUAGE. The left will continue with their code language attacks upon Tea Party members as their primary weapon are balkinization and incitement of violence.
“First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The fascists were “national socialists” so their first target was communists (class socialists), next socialists who were not socialist ENOUGH, then unions because they no longer needed them. They then came for the jews once they had power and needed a general straw man to hate upon.
Today, it shall be the TEA PARTY first but we are ready.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/charlesfettinger/6039501817/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Some things to keep in mind:
1.) Your dress. Can you run in the shoes you’re wearing?
2.) Your gear. Are you flashing an iPhone or other high-status device? Keep that stuff out of sight. Do you carry a large purse, briefcase or other bulky item? Laptop bags say ‘steal me!’ to thugs.
3.) Speaking of tech, is your stuff password-protected, data encrypted, etc?
4.) Overall, it’s best to dress and act in a way that does not attract attention. Displays of wealth and status will excite the envy of the thugs.
5.) Displays of weakness will attract them, too. Walking with one’s head down, for example, is bad for situational awareness, but good for attracting everything from aggressive panhandlers to potential rapists. You should strive to know what’s happening two blocks before and behind you when on the street, whether on foot or in a car.
Think like a soldier. They have declared war on us.
The problem with the longbow, like edged weapons, is that it will take a generation to make really first-rate archers: the English yeomanry learned the bow as children and practiced throughout their lives. The whole reason the cross-bow came into favor (given its slow rate of fire) was that it did not require that much skill or strength to use effectively. As for swords, swordsmen also trained from childhood, and swords require great strength to use effectively. There are smaller and lighter swords a well-trained and strong woman can use, but they may not be effective against a male swordsman
I second the commentators who recommend pistols – they are ideal weapons for women because the do not require great physical strength or especially long training. They are easily concealed in a purse or under a jacket, and are remarkably effective when well-handled for self-defense.
There is a reason why longbows were supplanted by firearms even though they were equal to or superior to firearms of the time in terms of range, striking power and rate of fire. Simply put, it took decades to train a longbowman and days to train a musketeer.
If you can master a longbow, it would be simple to master a firearm. And as other posters have noted, there are options for securing weapons.
The pistol is perfect it has a range that keeps the people with swords far enough away so that their weapon is ineffective. Buy one, learn how to use it (very important) Be safe!
A voice from England…
I’m reminded of longbow-men every morning when I walk the dog through the local churchyard – there are slots in the wall of the church where arrows were sharpened during shooting practice. They’re quite common in old churches.
Also, there was a study done a century or more ago which determined that the Battle of Waterloo wouldn’t have lasted nearly as long as it did if the Brit infantry had been armed with longbows instead of muskets:
Longbow: accurate up to 250 yards; rate of fire 12 per minute
Brown Bess Musket: accurate up to 50 yards; rate of fire 1 every three minutes
One small snag – the best yew for bows comes (and always has come) from France.
And I’m proud to bear one of the traditional surnames.
Arrowsmith
Make that rate of fire for the Brown Bess as 3 rounds per minute, or 4 rounds per minute for well-drilled units. The long bow requires many, many times the level of training and practice to reach that level of strength and proficiency cited here when compared to muskets.
I’d skip the longbow. To use properly, it does take a lot of training. Unless you’re facing a crowd on the other side of farm field, your field of fire isn’t going to be that long in urban or suburban areas. If you don’t want ‘firearms’, I’d recommend a crossbow instead. A quick google comes up with -
http://outdoorhobbies.co.uk/
if you can’t get a concealed carry permit, then I suggest you do what I’ve done. I carry a stout “cane”. It’s a 36″ long, 1 1/4″ thick Jataba wood stick, with a solid brass ball handle. You can carry it ANYWHERE, and if something happens it makes quite a convenient cudgel. Just don’t swing it like a baseball bat. Jab with it or use it like a very short staff. If you’re interested, hit my website and I can make you something, and ship it to you for a reasonable price
Rich Vail
Pikesville, Maryland
The Vail Spot dot Blogspot dot Com
Just because I’m a stickler for facts, the riot in Detroit was in July, 1967, not 1968. I know, I was working in a factory downtown for the summer and remember it vividly – the burned out buildings, the scenes of looting, the gunfire.
Anyway…I’ve got to side with those who recommend a firearm over a longbow. There’s nothing wrong with archery as a form of self-defence, but a longbow requires a level of mastery and physical strength which is daunting to say the least. Plus, while you can take enemies and threats out stealthily and without revealing your position with a muzzle flash, finding enough clear space to sight and draw your longbow might well expose you to significant risk before you even get a shot off. If you’re going to go the archery route, at least do yourself the favour of using a compound bow – it’s not quite as physically taxing, is smaller, is easier to manoeuver and packs the same punch.
Mutnojmet,
Until recently, I too, was anti-gun, and worried about having one in the house with our 12-year-old son. I am quite conservative politically, but I’d never shot, and had unthinkingly absorbed from the liberal media the notion that guns are evil, or at least somehow disreputable. But after Obama’s election, my wife insisted that we get one “while we still can”, and on her own initiative she bought a 20-gauge Mossburg pump-action shotgun.
Well, I decided that as long as we were going to have one in the house, I wanted to learn how to handle it safely. So my wife arranged for the two of us and our son to take a course from an NRA-certified teacher, at a gun range in southern Wisconsin.
The training included technical portions of how a guns works, and, of course, the rules on how to handle it safely, starting with the assumption that the gun is always loaded and always ready to fire. Then we went outside to try out the gun on some clay pigeons. The first time up, I hefted it to my shoulder, called “Pull!”, aimed, and fired: and I nailed it! I must say, the thrill was amazing. The liberals may sniff and call it atavistic, but the kick of the gun, the sharp sound, the smell of gunpowder, and the feeling of success when I drew a bead on the target and hit it, added up to unalloyed pleasure. From that moment on, I was an enthusiastic shooter.
There was an unanticipated side-effect. Our 12-year-old son learned how to handle the gun as well, and eventually earned the Boy Scout merit badge in shotgun shooting. It was good for him to be entrusted with a dangerous tool like a gun, and to assume the responsibility for handling it safely, albeit under supervision. As the old saying has it, it builds character.
So, we now have two shotguns, the Mossburg and a 12-gauge Remington. They reside in a dead-bolted steel cabinet in our bedroom, safe from prying eyes and busy fingers. We take them out every so often to go shooting; and it’s comforting to know they’re there, just in case.
So, I suggest that you at least take the trouble to learn how to handle a long gun. I think you’ll be surprised, both at how pleasurable shooting is, and what a good influence a gun can have on your son.
That’s where I learned to shoot. I earned rifelry, archery, and shotgun badges, and it turns out I was and am a pretty good natural shot.
It taught me respect for firearms.
What my son “Sean” said
I’d have to chime in against a bow for home defense, if you have a choice: add that you have to leave it unstrung(actual longbow as opposed to a modern compound), so you’d have to grab and string it in time of trouble. Add in the size(hard to work down a hallway if you have to, and impossible to use from a vehicle). I love a good bow, I do recognize its limitations.
For home, a shotgun is a marvelous defense weapon, though for most I’d suggest a 20 gauge instead of a 12; much lower recoil and, with suitable buckshot, just as effective at the ranges inside/immediately around a home.
I sympathize with your discomfort with firearms, have a number of friends who feel the same way; simple fact you have to deal with is that a firearm is the single most effective means of self-defense that most people can use. And if you can drive, you can learn to shoot with at least decent accuracy, believe it or not. And a handgun is much handier to carry along.
I’ll throw in, have an acquaintance who’s disparaging(to say the least) toward guns and keeps a wood practice sword by her bed; has it all worked out how, in case of uninvited company, she’ll use it. It’s her choice, but I cringe when I think about it because furniture and walls in a house have a definite effect on use of such and- the big one- it requires you to let them get close, and if you can reach them…
Have to add: unless there’s a BIG change in social and government attitudes over there, the bow would be as hated-on as firearms; can you imagine the screaming from the cops and Crown Prosecutors if someone stuck arrows in some people charging up the stairs with knives?
You will never, unless you become a full-time gym rat, be able to use an English Longbow. I’m a relatively competent archer and I can’t pull one, let alone use it accurately. If you want to take up archery-as-skill-at-arms with there ever being the slightest possibility of having to use he skills for real then get yourself a modern compound bow – these offer devastating range and accuracy with a draw weight as low as 40 lbs. Modern “longbows” have a draw weight of around 60 lbs (though it’ll be a while before you can use one that heavy). The traditional English Longbow had a draw weight of around 120 lbs, which is why archers had asymmetric skeletons.
Oh, and speaking as an archer, I’d echo the encouragement to learn to use and love firearms.
Certainly Americans are better off armed with guns but that option is not available to our compatriots in England and to many of our fellow citizens in the bluest cities in the bluest states.
A group defending a neighborhood without guns would be benefited enormously by some members armed with bows and arrows. The goal in defending your neighborhood is to prevent your neighbors from being robbed and molested, your homes from being burned and your local businesses from being looted. Your goal is not to pile up heaps of rioters’ bodies, emotionally satisfying as that might be. If rioters encounter a determined group of defenders, especially if arrows come flying in their direction, they are likely to go away and burn down somebody else’s homes.
The important thing is to have a group out there defending the neighborhood. The best step you can probably take to defend your neighborhood is to know your neighbors. Try to organize a block party. If you can’t get people to get together to cook burgers and hot dogs, chances are not too good that you can get them together to risk their lives to protect each other’s homes.
Bo and Luke approve of this message!
I do not recall Bo or Luke being armed.
Whoever was down on birdshot for home defense is wrong. Birdshot is devastating at close range. It turns meat into hamburger. The pellets are small, but there are many and at close range they hit all at once in a small area.
Remember- a good handgun has a caliber that begins with the number ’4′
whatever it hits goes down or comes off
Interesting. Of course I’d rather have a gun than a bow for self defense, but I enjoy shooting my longbow regularly and the focus and discipline required can only make you more effective with other weapons. Good luck and enjoy the bow.
My sister was looking for a self defense weapon, we covered all the bases and she was surprised by how heavy and difficult to manipulate the shotgun was. The AR platform was not much better, she did like the handguns since they were easier to hold up and easier to work, the Glock is essentially a “plug and play” sidearm since there are no manual safeties to worry about, put your finger on the trigger (once sure of your intention to fire!) and pull it. If you lack the upper body strength to manipulate a slide, go revolver.
If you are serious about defense, contact an NRA approved instructor and get the training. While not as intensive as the longbow, modern firearms do require some practice to meet minimum levels of safety and proficiency.
Good luck with whatever path you do choose’ but don’t depend on anyone else to defend you and yours.
That movie clip always annoys me. You’d better believe it was AIMED fire that brought down the French. Those men trained all their lives as required by law, and placed their shots where they would be effective. They didn’t just rain down clouds of arrows on their enemy. It really was mass slaughter, with very little hand-to-hand combat, but I guess that wouldn’t look heroic enough on the screen.
For self- and home-defense the best weapon is between one’s ears, however there might come a time when a predator can’t be swayed by witty and erudite repartee.
Second best is whatever one has at hand. I hold a CCW license so “whatever” just happens to be a Kimber Ultra Carry chambered in .45ACP … my wife carries a Smith & Wesson in .357Magnum … but that’s neither here nor there.
A firearm, or a personal weapon of any choice, is NOT a deterrent. It is a tool meant to be used. A determined adversary will typically not be stopped by the mere brandishing of a weapon … most will consider the odds, and continue to attack. Nor is there any efficacy in the concept of “shooting to wound” … that myth is seen only in the movies and requires a superbly trained marksman who is capable of operating at peak proficiency in a highly stressful situation. So again, it comes back to the weapon between one’s ears. If it becomes necessary to present a personal defense weapon, it is then inherently necessary to USE that weapon, be it sword, longbow or firearm. The primary objective is to STOP one’s attacker. To achieve that objective, one must adopt the mindset that one will do harm to (read: KILL) their adversary. If one is unable to consistently and unashamedly pursue that line of thought, a victim one will be … and would be better served to search out those who have successfully developed that mindset, and do whatever necessary to stay in their company and under their protection … and it’s NOT the police.
I hold the belief that an armed society is indeed a polite society. The “best” firearm for an individual is one the individual is most comfortable, capable and confident with, be it a .22-caliber pocket pistol or a .50-caliber Desert Eagle. The most important is the WILL of the wielder … is one mentally and emotionally capable of drawing a firearm and SHOOTING an attacker, with no hesitation … and to KEEP shooting until there is no longer a threat? Yes, it’s cold, heartless and absolutely necessary.
Opposing Mr. Sorrentino’s previous post, a 12-gauge shotgun is one of the most versatile personal defense weapons available, when fitted and configured correctly. For those of small frame, be it man, woman or child, a proper fit to the stock will ensure minimal recoil. Additionally there are simple kinetic devices that can be dropped into the stock to further dampen felt recoil. He is correct that the “best” shot is an aimed one, in ANY circumstance, however a shotgun with an Improved Cylinder (IC) choke, shooting a light target load of #6 or #7-1/2 sized (bird)shot patterns at approximately 12-inches. The smaller shot is recommended precisely because of the dangers of overpenetration within a home or structure. If one is not concerned about that, then heavier shot might be a better choice. Size 00 buckshot will provide the equivalent of 9 .38-caliber pellets over the same spread … better but still requiring an aimed shot … and it will penetrate walls possible causing collateral damage to other family members.
For a fun way to learn how to shoot in a quasi-defensive manner, search out a local Cowboy Action Shooting club nearby (www.sassnet.com) and arrange to meet them at their range on a match day. They’re extremely friendly and will more than likely provide one with both guns and ammo on that first day. A season of playing cowboy is capable of raising one to a firearms proficiency surpassing the vast majority of the population. And it also provides one with an enjoyable medium of consistent practice.
Mut, here is a post from Brigid on firearms. This may serve more abley than all the pontificating – http://mausersandmuffins.blogspot.com/2011/08/range-report-finding-what-fits.html
Hope this helps.
‘The Terrible Game’ (the book, _not_ the movie) has a father>son dialogue
in which the father defends his change from longbow to compound bow
enthusiast by saying ‘The longbow is a carefully crafted stick.’; He has right.
The best response to the threat of a lethal confrontation, home invasion
or other, is to _go _somewhere_else_; one’s family’s lives are too valuable
to risk; If unable to avoid the occasion, my personal preference would be
a dagger in the fore hand for defense, and a high-capacity semi-auto
pistol in the back hand for offense.
If one cannot avoid conflict, coordinated group action using non-lethal
weapons is the next best option; Individuals don’t last long, and lethal
force, even in self defense, will result in legal persecution of the winners.
The British military researched non-lethal crowd control devices
some years ago, and favored one based on the Bucha effect,
with the additional twist of using a particular shade of light, called
‘The Devil’s Red’ in the strobe light; ninety percent incapacitation,
the other ten percent suffer a Grand Mal epileptic seizure.
The best response to the threat of a lethal confrontation, home invasion
or other, is to _go _somewhere_else_
A: being driven from your home adds a whole new set of complications to self-defense,
B: There’s a reason so many states now have Castle Doctrine in force; if you cannot defend yourself IN YOUR OWN HOME, where can you?
I have to say, the whole idea of the firearm is to keep the bastards away from you so it doesn’t come to knife range. If you’re good enough to pull that off, more power to you, but I’d say 90+% are not.
THANK YOU ALL!!! I am thrilled to get so many insightful comments and suggestions today. I will read them all carefully, and decide what weapon is the best match.
For those of you who were wondering about the origin of “Temple of Mut”. I am an amateur Egyptologist, who sometimes writes about Egypt. Since 2009, I have been forced to take-up Obama’s suggestion that I ditch the high-paying corporate job (my firm was closed during the initial stages of the banking fiasco). and become a community organizer. I don’t think my brand of community organization is quite what he had in mind, however.
Your kind and learned comments are deeply appreciated. My prayers go out to the great people of England in this troubled time. God bless and keep you all.
And here I thought you were a fan of Mooch and Earl!
Please excuse my noticing, but this reference is incorrect:
First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
That quote is actually by Martin Niemoller. It was, in part, a reaction to Bonhoeffer’s bravery in speaking out against the Nazis, while Niemoller at first hesitated, IIRC.
Thank you for the clarification.
birdshot does indeed turn meat to hamburger, but only the meat closest to the gun. It doesn’t penetrate far. Number 1 shot will penetrate far enough, and you get more pellets to boot. for a 12 gauge, with 3 inch shells that is 25 each .30 caliber diameter pellets. If you are shooting, the guy you are shooting needs to be stopped, and you don’t stop someone by giving him a rash. Rather you must destroy nerves and large blood vessels which are in the back.You have to penetrate all the way to the back.
We select our birdshot for its ability to *fully penetrate* the birds we shoot — because we don’t want a lot of shot left in the birds to break our teeth. We’re really not interested in giving the birds a nasty rash. For doves #8′s will do the trick. For pheasants and ducks #4′s or #6′s work well. and for geese, #2′s do the job. (I’m talking about lead shot here, steel shot is an abomination meant mostly to wound as many birds as possible.) Trust me, a load of birdshot at close range — even the finest shot — will penetrate several inches and is absolutely deadly. The surgeon is going to have a real challenge picking #8 shot (410 to the ounce) out of your carcass, even if they only penetrate 4 inches!
I keep hammering on this because far too many people seem to think that “it’s only a shotgun, it’s not really that dangerous”. And far too many people treat shotguns as if they were non-lethal toys (ask Dick Cheney). Make no mistake about it, a shotgun, even loaded with the lightest shot, is an extremely deadly weapon.
I disagree with you weapon selection, but the idea that you need to defend yourself and are mentally prepared to do so is a good first start.
Get a handgun. Learn to use it. Everything else is LARP and wishful thinking. And there is a modern Longbow. It called a rifle, and in the tradition of armed free citizen militias, look no further than Switzerland. Or Israel. Also, if your worried about your safety on the ‘streets’, take some Krav Maga classes and start working on your situational awareness. Get more paranoid. How do I get out of here if something goes wrong? What are the alternate routes? Who are those people? Do they look friendly? Should I shoot them with my handgun before they hurt me or my son? Stuff like that. And learn to listen to your gut. If your gut says this is a bad scene, then don’t let your brain talk you out of it. Maybe you are being racist, or sexist or ageist or species-ist at that moment. But that’s still preferable to being robbed or raped or killed. You can work out the social justice angles when your safely back home, watching the riots on TV. In closing, the time you need these tools or skills is by definition the time when you are confused and caught of guard. The best way to win and survive that scenario is too not end up there in the first place. But failing that, you need to have already acquired the requisite skills and mindset (ugh.) to extricate yourself. Sorry to sound pontifical, but this is a serious subject, and people get a lot of bad advice in these discussions.
Oops. Already a John right above me. What ‘re the odds?!
Instalanche!!! Thanks for the link, Leslie!
Weapons are *weapons*.
From the first bronze sword to the latest whizz-bang pistol, they are tools designed to enforce human will. That will that can be bad (“give it up, b*tch”), or it can be defensive ( “leave me and my family alone!”) – but all depend on the threat of force.
To be more blunt – *any* weapon is a definitionally a tool *to kill people*
Killing is killing. A person is not less dead with an arrow through their throat than a bullet through their skull.
If you’re not comfortable with that – or at least haven’t made peace with it as the least bad of a set of horrible options – then a bow – or even pepper spray – won’t help.
If you *have* made peace with the honestly horrific, hard choice to harm another human being – then it makes no sense to intentionally sabotage your own chances out of sentiment.
In the late Great Britain, I don’t know what to say.
Here in America – I’d say call the NRA and ask what instructors they have in the area. They have very good classes to demystify/de-scarify modern weapons, how to *safely* handle and store them – and if necessary, how to use them defensively. (And the last class I went to was like a third women – it’s hardly a good ol’ boy’s club)
Anyhow – take a couple of their classes. Talk to the people you meet in class, and see what brought *them* there. Sleep on what in the instructors say.
*Then* decide on what – if anything – to keep in the house.
(Also, WTH is Robin Hood using a steppe composite bow? Even if there *wasn’t* a reason they never really caught on in soggy ol’ England – that’s abuse of a icon! It’s like making Marshall Dillon carry some Rooskie gun! Heresy!)
Please ignore the poster who suggested the 16″ AR15. In order to use any magazine over 10 rounds, California requires that you have owned before they were banned in 2000, you can only use legally owned 30 round magazines in what is called a featureless build – no pistol grips, telescoping stock, etc. in order to have those features, you must employ what is called a “bullet button” which locks the magazine into place & requires a tool or device – bullet tip for example – to release the magazine. No magazines over 10 rounds can be used or it is automatically an “assault weapon”
The poster completely disregards that most ammunition used by AR15 – commonly .223 /5.556, is high velocity & not the smartest weapon to be using warm climate, tight compacted homes that are frequent in San Diego.
I would suggest trying a variety of arms, different types & calibers & finding something that suits you.
If you are curious or have nay questions, please fell free to contact me. I always welcome new shooters. But be warned, it can be highly addictive.
As SMG Higa always said “YOU are the weapon. Everything else is is just a tool.”
One story is that the Wesley brothers, and their evangelical work helped stop the French Revolution at the English Channel. Another is the longbow: yeomen were required to spend every Sunday afternoon training. Yes, it takes quite a bit of training. The English aristocracy knew there were many trained yeomen out there with longbows, who knew how to use them. French peasants had pitchforks: no wonder their overlords didn’t respect them.
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is credited with this quote: “You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass.”
And of course we have Ricky’s observation from Casablanca: “Well there are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn’t advise you to try to invade.” He didn’t give that advice because of the longbows in New York. Other weapons had strike at a distance.
Wow, congrats on the Instalanche! I’m really glad you liked my post. It didn’t have anything like the analysis yours did. Well done, sir!
I’ll go blogroll you now as a way of saying thanks.
KT! I appreciate the kind words, and am thrilled to be joining your blogroll.
I admire your blog tremendously, and am glad to see so many of my visitors are also stopping by your site.
PS. One small thing — It is ma’am instead of sir.
I weep for forgiveness, ma’am! These darn bloggy things are terrible for determining who is what. Or is that what is who? Or maybe just who is whatever for why.
I’m confused now. I need to go lie down for a while.
No problem! I know my blogging handle is not obvious.
Expect to see me stop by the Scratching Post more often.
Years ago a friend gave me a book called “The Gift of Fear” by Gavin deBecker a well known security expert. As a woman I found this instrumental in keeping myself safe and secure at home and out in the world. If you have teenage daughters get this book for them.
In my life I never learned to shoot a gun because I felt it was an unnecessary skill for me, but recently I learned to shoot. I loved it and am oddly a natural at it. I find it comforting considering the times we live in to be able to protect myself under any circumstances.
But mainly I equip myself with the power of knowledge. If never need to use these skills great but if I do I am prepared.
“Weapons are weapons” is certainly true, and arrows are certainly lethal weapons. However, that means that the biggest step, the widest gulf, is between the person who denies that bad things happen to good people (or in their city, or their neighborhood, or whatever) and supports their denial by refusing to learn to fight.
Mut is way ahead of those people already; the gap between Mut with her bow and me with my pistol, rifle and shotgun is much, much smaller, and if you practice and get good with a bow, Mut, the principles WILL transfer if you later decide to get a rifle. The basic concept is still to align the weapon correctly with the target, then provide a steady platform for the weapon, then fire it without disturbing that platform more than necessary until the missile leaves the weapon. You do that differently with a can of pepper spray than you do with a slingshot than you do with a bow than you do with a shotgun, but the principle doesn’t change, only the skills. Besides, bows are fun and there’s no rule against having fun while you practice.
As for the debate over shotguns above, I personally use a shotgun for home defense with buckshot, but I know what Sean was getting at. It has become conventional internet wisdom that “all you have to do is rack a pump shotgun to scare away an intruder.” It has become so conventional that many people repeat it without thinking about it critically at all. Does that happen? Maybe sometimes, and the anecdotes are good stories, but if you pump the gun and someone keeps coming, you’d better be prepared to use it for its intended purpose–and that’s lethal force.
There’s a common line of thought out there that “I don’t want to kill anybody, so I’ll get a gun I can just pump loudly” or “I don’t want to hurt anybody, so I’ll keep an unloaded gun. They won’t know the difference” or “I don’t want to kill anybody, so I’ll shoot ‘em in the legs if I ever have to use it.” These are dangerous ways of thinking about firearms, which are unavoidably lethal weapons. Now, if you’ve noticed that the person Sean was arguing with didn’t actually say any of those things–only that the sound of a pump action sends a clear message of danger–you get a gold star. But even mentioning the idea triggers people who are used to hearing it lead directly to “I’ll just shoot the gun out of his hand if I ever have to use it; I don’t believe in violence.”
The advice not to aim a shotgun is even worse; wingshooters talk about “pointing” a shotgun, but even they’re really aiming. The rest of us have no excuse; if we’re not aiming in some fashion, even a fashion that doesn’t use conventional sights in conventional ways, then we’re sending out deadly missiles and just hoping they hit a target or, failing that, miss everybody else. It’s well-intentioned advice, but it’s a bad idea.
Look, it’s really pretty simple:
1. You like the idea of pepper spray and getting back into archery, so start there. Don’t worry about whether other people think you should be buying rifles or going to Gunsite.
2. If you do decide to move into firearms, go get the training you want first. Once you’ve had a couple of basic classes, you’ll have a much better idea what will work for you and what won’t. The guns don’t matter nearly as much as the skills. My home defense shotgun is a pump-action 12-gauge loaded with buckshot because of the guns I own, that’s the best choice for now, for me. That has changed and will change again.
3. Protip: Shotguns are great for home defense. AR15s are great for home defense (their small, light bullets actually tend to stop in interior home walls, which many other slugs don’t) and pistols work, too. But each has strengths and weaknesses that you fix (or don’t) with training and practice.
I would not recommend a bow, but I see no reason it couldn’t work if you can keep it close and ready. Pepper spray will definitely be better than a loud scream, but you do have to be willing to fill a few rooms of your own home with pepper spray. Personally, if I had to use pepper spray in my own house, I can imagine staying in a hotel for a couple of days while Serv-Pro or someone came in and cleaned up as they would after a fire. I hate that stuff.
Your comment is filled with very practical tips. After seeing what has happened in England, and also what is going on in some of our major cities, the Mama Grizzly has come out in me. If I did nothing to prepare to defend my home and hearth after knowing all that I do, I could never forgive myself. And if I aim a weapon in such defense, my aim will be to kill. God grant me the mercy of never having me make that decision, though.
Thanks!
Guns are strange things. The big ones are hard to carry, the little ones are hard to shoot. I wore a .357 Mag to work for twenty+ years, when I got off work I switched to one or another five shot .38. My score on the range dropped by almost half with the little gun, they’re hard to shoot with itty-bitty grips and almost no sights. Still I carried the little gun because I could hide it and if I ever needed to use it I would be close to the bad guy. Fortunately the only time I ever needed it (so far) was to kill a cow that had been hit by a car.
Go find yourself a six shot, four inch barrel .38 Special.Learn to shoot it. You don’t have to be an expert, you just need to be willing. The person that wins a gunfight is the person who is willing to pull the trigger. Gunfights happen up close, the width of a car, the length of a car, the width of a room, the length of a room.
Don’t worry about a lot of shots, if you have time to pull the trigger more than three times you are either shooting at someone who isn’t dangerous or you are dead. Bad guys don’t stand there like steel targets.
Teach everyone in your family to go to a a specific room, usually the master bedroom and fort up. Call the cops and set your sights on the door. Anyone coming through that door except family or police is a target. Holler loud “I have called the police! I have a gun!” and then be willing.
If you can’t handle a handgun (some folks can’t), get one of those Marlin Model 1894C carbines in .38/.357 Mag. The recoil is slight, the cartridge in a carbine length barrel is even more powerful than from a revolver and the 9 round tube magazine is enough for any gunfight you are likely to survive. If you need more than nine shots you’re up against an army and you’re just taking an escort to the afterlife.
Don’t worry about the semiautos, you can, with minimal practice, fire aimed shots from a lever action just as fast as with a semi. And unaimed shots don’t count.
The shotgun is an expert’s weapon. They kick, they’re unwieldy and if you must pull the trigger inside you’re deaf and blind for a long time after.
Whatever you do, don’t hunt bad guys in the house, that’s a job for the actual police. We’re trained, we’re not working alone and, above all, we have body armor.
Lastly, a good, bright flashlight. We don’t shoot at dark shapes, it’s the sure way to scrag your drunk teenaged neighbor or your daughter’s boyfriend.
Good luck, it’s a different country than what I grew up in.
Modern archery equipment doesnt take much to learn to use well and accurately. The toughest part for longbowmen is to guestimate the range to set a proper pitch. There are bowsights these days that allow for that, anybody with decent eyesight can bullseye accurately with a sighted compound bow at 50 yards or more with little practice.
I live by somewhat progressive terms but I do agree 100% that progressive pundits have been instrumental in creating more disorder because there are things being said that are made to set people off. I just did a post about the UK yesterday – it has a lot to do with identity issues and people who cannot ever hope to follow the language and skill set required for the work force now. Citizens armed with non-lethal weapons would be very useful, but it is even better if people can be somewhat shamed into compassion to not attack small businesses and other people.
Some last thoughts…
Everyone will have situational and personal preferences for choosing their means of defense.
The shotgun that my wife and I chose works for us, birdshot and all. We’ll accept less penetrating power for more safety for those we don’t intend to be hit.
A weapon should be aimed, but what I did when target-shooting with my son recently, in daylight, is far different from what i may have to do at 3:00AM, maybe w/o my glasses, and for that a 3″ cone may prove to be more effective than a .38, for example.
I’d never point a weapon at anyone w/o intending to use it, immediately. That said, if the racking is enough to make them turn tail and run, I may be saved having their death on my conscience.
What’s legal differs from place to place, and that may influence your choices. (I am fortunate to live in a state where the ‘Castle Doctrine’ is now in force, and thus my chances of being prosecuted for self-defense are somewhat less than elsewhere.)
Martial arts haven’t been mentioned yet, from what I can see, but one of them could be a valuable skill, and with expertise in them, one is never disarmed.
Any reasonable form of preparation is better than nothing.
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