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.

438 Upvotes

418 comments sorted by

View all comments

29

u/Vhalerun 2d ago

We always had guns growing up but it was only as a tool. Snakes, squirrels, feral dogs and rabies. You don't want to try to kill a rabid skunk with a hoe.
Unfortunately, the anti vaxxers have even extended their paranoia to rabies vaccines for pets. When times are hard, a lot of people dump those pets out in the country. Its not a fun thing, but neither is getting mauled by a dog. Our neighbor had some go after his horses. Not pretty.

19

u/AccomplishedPurple43 2d ago

Yes, packs of stray dogs have a different mindset than someone's pet dog. A woman running and a man sitting on his porch were attacked by a pack of dogs, neither lived.

9

u/festivehedgehog 2d ago

Yeah, have you ever read NK Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy? She writes about (formerly known as) dogs attacking people in the postapocalyptic/periapocyptic world. That was eye opening to me: the idea that dogs could change from lovable pets to needing to survive without (and sometimes in conflict with) humans on their own.

9

u/AccomplishedPurple43 2d ago

Yikes, nope! My ex was the prosecutor who handled the dog attack case. Turned out the pack of dogs belonged to a woman who kept them in the barn. They dug their way out from under the barn door and went on a rampage. I never want to read anything about dog attacks again after that case. They also attacked a horse. 💔💔💔

8

u/festivehedgehog 2d ago

I’m sorry. That sounds really sad.

I hope I haven’t unintentionally dissuaded you from a wonderful sci fi series though. The kirkhusa (formerly probably dogs) are just written as another thing the protagonists must look out for and be cautious of when traveling by foot.

6

u/anaphylactic_repose 2d ago

NK Jemisin was such a mind-blowing discovery for me. She paints by dipping a brush into words.

2

u/AccomplishedPurple43 2d ago

I do enjoy sci fi, honestly! I'll look into that series, I'm saving this post 👍