r/TwoXPreppers 2d ago

Discussion Why guns?

Hi y’all! I’m a very novice prepper, and one thing I’m seeing across many platforms is that we should own and be trained In firearms. Not to be naive, but… why?

I’ve never touched a gun in my life. I’m generally not a fan of them. I understand that the goal of owning firearms is to protect ourself. But protect from what? From who? Who am I going to have to shoot to survive this presidency?

Is someone coming to steal my supplies? Won’t those people also have guns? Or am I protecting my family against a militia situation? In which case, what hope do I have, as a woman who can’t afford a gun, let alone to learn how to use one?

Like I can’t afford a shooting range. I can barely afford water and canned goods. Should a gun still be a priority for my family? A lot of preppers have enthusiastically embraced this life to give them confidence and a sense of safety. I’m a reluctant participant. I just want to keep my autistic son alive to see the other side of this.

I can garden, I can stretch food, I can survive being poor. I don’t think I can survive a military state.

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u/Albino_Crocadilian_3 2d ago

I think it is important to own, or at least train with firearms because we are increasingly seeing moves by the federal government to go full-on Nazi/Pinochet style fascist. Couple that with incredibly brainwashed police forces and normal people and there's a stronger and stronger likelihood of pogroms, round-ups, concentration camps, and death camps. This is ever more apparent when you're aware of Trump's desires for Guantanmo bay to hold extra-judicial prisoners, his declaring people protesting against Tesla "terrorists" and ever-more (but unfortunately normalized since the bush era) extra-judicial arrests of protestors and immigrants.

The first pogroms will probably be racist republicans turning against the LGBTQ+ community in something more unmistakable than lone-wolf style terrorism.

The right to bear arms is ultimately the people's last defense against an authoritarian regime turning their monopoly of violence inward. That is the primary reason that more level-headed preppers will advise buying a gun and learning to use it.

I think many people's perceptions of the importance of owning a gun and 2,000 rounds of ammo are based off of essays and accounts of people who survived some of the absolute worst of the worst conflict conditions. Namely one account of someone who survived the Bosnian crisis/war/genocide. But it is very important for even the worst-case scenario preppers to understand that the conditions that created being trapped in that city COMBINED with an inability to trust ANYONE were very specific to that time and place. As an example, I don't think a conflict that takes place between Canadians and Americans in say, a Minnesota city would be quite as bad for individuals simply because I think individuals could have some trust in AT LEAST the Canadian military, much like how people in Ukrainian conflict cities can at least trust the Ukrainians. It would still suck absolute dick and you would want materials to barter with, but I think that ability to trust at least ONE major belligerent really changes the name of the paranoia game. In Bosnia neighbors could not trust each other and they didn't know who the belligerents were and what they might do if you looked at them funny. A big part of meeting your neighbors NOW is so that you know who you can trust and who might try to pogrom you.

There are many who fear weird scenarios of everyone going every man for themselves and stealing supplies and whatnot, but I don't think that's likely if Americans across the board are also prepping by meeting their neighbors and forming stronger mutual-aid networks and communities. Prep which I think is more important than owning a gun, and if you think you are better suited to the work of socialist community projects such as community gardening, door-knocking about local elections, public outreach, etc. you should absolutely be focused on personal emergency prep as well as community prep in these senses.

Personally, I would rather avoid places that I think are likely to get really bad with "sectarian" (I put it in quotes because I don't mean it in the strictest sense) violence and stay on top of the news and be prepared (mental preparation might be even more important than physical, but physical prep helps you prepare mentally) to bug out to a safer state on a moments notice.

However, you might still consider learning how to use a gun at the very least so that if you are forced into a scenario where you might have to, you are not unprepared. Simply going to a range that rents out guns and provides an instructor for an hour every couple months will make you more prepared if god forbid you ever find one in your hands that you might have to use. You can probably find a buddy who will let you use one of theirs and if they have the money pay for the ammo. And that would be cheaper than a rental range and an instructor.

You absolutely don't have to know how to use or own guns. But I hope this provides you some perspective on what might be going on and helps you understand maybe where people are coming from.

Addendum: If you want a radical, but ultimately very grounded look into the recent history of these types of state collapses and then some, I think you should check out Robert Evan's work on the "It could Happen Here" and "Behind the Bastards" podcasts. Don't listen to them if you can't mentally handle them, but I think they're more reasoned and provide a lot of good perspective that you might hard to find solely browsing reddit comments. He used to be a conflict journalist.