It seems there is a never ending debate about who should be able to own firearms, some people feel like the fewer firearms there are available, the less shooting deaths there will be. Some people (like me) believe that “Gun free zones” and firearm restrictions only make it easier for the bad guys to do what they want. So as to the question “Why own a gun? At the very least it should be for personal protection and self defense, but there are many reasons other than those.
Criminals are opportunists and cowards, if a criminal knows that they can go into a store without the fear of any retaliation they are more likely to rob that store without a second thought. If that same criminal were to walk into the same store and saw a couple of people wearing side arms, they might think twice about it and move on to the next store…Actually I’m positive they would.
Not only is a gun the best deterrent against an individual, rioters or a gang, but it’s also necessary to keep a government honest, Hitler’s holocaust, together with a world war, began by disarming the German people. So to own a gun for the purpose of defense is one of the most universal and basic human rights.
For anyone to say that a constitution that was written over 200 years ago does not apply today does not understand the thought and foresight our founding fathers put into it, and this includes some of our politicians.
Gun ownership is just about the most powerful source of self-defense there is. An armed people cannot be enslaved, and regardless what the mainstream media tells you, as gun 
ownership increases, crime decreases. It’s a win-win situation when more people are armed.
Defending yourself with a gun does not mean you need to fire the gun, its mere presence is usually enough. Although if you do pull your gun, you need to be mentally prepared to use it.
Just the thought of having to kill another person gives me a sinking feeling in my gut, it is not something that any of us “want” to do. But the thought of someone hurting my family is a much worse feeling, and something I would have to live with for the rest of my life.
I could live with myself knowing I had to shoot or kill a person if it were in self-defense, but I could not live with myself if I lost a family member and the thought was lingering in my head for the rest of my life that there was something more I could have done.
What the numbers don’t tell you
I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time throwing out numbers and statistics but I will link to a few interesting articles at the end of this post that I found while researching this one. Gun control advocates are constantly cooking the books and using numbers that fit their agenda.
Numbers can be skewed and made to fit anyone’s argument, here is a good example. If you read some of the responses about why guns should be illegal you can see how uninformed most people are.
If you use a little common sense and ask yourself “where did they get those numbers?” you begin to see that most of these statistics are from inner cities, illegal weapons and suicides, very few are licensed gun owners that take the time to learn and understand guns and what they do.
But this article is not about that, this article is about why I think everyone should own a gun, or at least think about owning a hand gun for protection and self-defense.
Biblical and personal views on guns
Religious views, family makeup and personal beliefs (founded or unfounded) are all little pieces of why we align ourselves with one side or the other.
Because of my religious beliefs I used to grapple with this because on the surface guns have one purpose… to kill, and this goes against everything the bible teaches right? Not really, if you use a gun for vengeance then sure, it’s wrong. But we are allowed by God to defend ourselves and our family.
Exodus 22:2-3: “2 If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed. 3 If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.”
I have heard a few different interpretations of this verse and the one that makes sense to me is that if a person enters your home you have the right to defend yourself, you do not however have the right to hunt that person down (if the sun has risen on him) meaning the intruder has left and you found them later.This article explains a little bit more about the verse from Exodus.
Coincidentally there are Christians who believe that prepping is unnecessary because God will take care of them. When I hear this I can’t help but think about Joseph and Noah, some of the oldest preppers on record.
This article “What does the bible say about gun control” by Gun Owners of America addresses both prepping (a little bit) and gun ownership.
Self-defense post collapse
The fact that we prepare is basically acknowledging that we think things are going to go downhill, when and how fast are up for debate. The fact that we know people will be coming for our food and supplies makes self-defense one of the most important parts of prepping.
Considering that crime rates are higher in areas with low income it only seems reasonable to think that with hyperinflation, martial law or any kind of grid down event the crime rate will rise.
So what are we going to do to protect what we have when this happens? Because we WILL, without question, need to.
There are alternatives to fire arms like pepper spray, stun guns and a few other non-lethal weapons, but it’s important to remember that people might be coming for your stuff, and they will use any means necessary to get what they want, and you should be ready to defend yourself and your family by any means necessary.
Like I said earlier, none of us want to hurt another individual, but consider this scenario and ask yourself “what would I do?”
A mother with a child in her hand and another on her hip aggressively bangs on your door demanding food and water. As you open the door you see a gun tucked in here belt and she says “please don’t make me use this, just give me your food.” Her eyes are sporadically glancing to the side of your house and you feel like she is not alone.
Our first thought might be “How can I peacefully defuse the situation?” But this might not be an option. Imagine there was no peaceful solution and you have one of two options, 1. You have a hand gun, or 2 you don’t… How would you handle the situation?
Are you still on the fence?
My bet is that most people reading this already own a gun or are in the process. And there are some of you that know it is a necessary step but don’t feel comfortable yet or don’t want a fire arm in your home.
My advice to you is simple, learn about firearms and try to become comfortable. The reason most people are against firearms is because they don’t truly understand them. Take a class or go to a shooting range before you make a purchase, then see how you feel.
Give yourself some credit, a responsible gun owner is far different than these people you see on the news that the mass media loves to hate. If you take the time to learn about firearms safety and take gun ownership serious you then become part of the solution regardless how many people say guns are the problem.
“Jesus said, ‘But now whoever has a purse or a bag, must take it and whoever does not have a sword must sell his cloak and buy one.’”
SOURCE : survivalistprepper.net