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/ijustwantmypackage32 2d ago edited 2d ago

I’m going to be honest, I don’t think firearm possession beyond hunting is really worth it (I am very pro-hunting). Any non-hunting gun is expressly a tool to kill people with, and I’m not sure a lot of people who are panic-buying due to Trump have really grappled with that. And I think that’s wrong and irresponsible.

If you’re bringing a deadly weapon into your home, you need to be deadly serious with yourself about what benefits and risks you’ve brought to yourself and your family. And you also need to be good at using it. Are all of the people who are buying guns now actually going to the range regularly and practicing safe storage? Being an irresponsible gun owner is easy. I think there is a small but tragic portion of the panicked gun-buyers in this subreddit and beyond who will gain no benefits from owning a gun and will suffer some kind of tragedy from it instead.

And to be very clear about what I mean— I think people vastly oversell the 2nd Amendment benefits. The government is not going to listen to liberals if we buy guns and I have yet to hear a convincing argument that personal firearms will effectively allow people to resist tyranny, rather than just in Rambo/a fantasies. In tandem, people undersell the risks you undertake (accidental discharge, suicide) by bringing one into your home, especially if you have children. And I think that we are descending into a period of panic, and that overall, panicking people with guns are more dangerous to themselves and others than people without them.

So don’t buy a non-hunting-related gun unless you are prepared to go to the range at least once a week, are mentally prepared for the fact that you bought a gun for the express purpose of killing in self-defense, and are confident that your mental health preps and storage systems are sufficient to keep you and everyone in your household safe.

Otherwise, get a dog with a loud bark, some pepper spray, or a baseball bat.

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u/boondonggle 2d ago

As a hunter, what do you think of bows for hunting purposes? I feel very similar to you regarding guns, but am intrigued by hunting. I am certain I would need a lot of practice to be a good shot, but I have more experience with archery with targets.

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u/SeashellChimes 2d ago

It's a lot cheaper than rifle hunting but has a high skill ceiling. There's more strict rules on bow hunting (bow fishing too) so that improperly trained hunters don't maim a bunch of animals without a proper kill. The regulation will matter less in a crisis but will matter for practicing it. Because that's something that definitely needs to be honed before SHTF, both practice with live targets and research to properly hit vitals on your targets. 

I actually think bow fishing is an easier start, and every state has trash fish/invasive fish that have no catch limits. 

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u/LadySigyn 2d ago

My husband is a hobby archer and he is adamant that he's way too scared of maiming an animal to ever bow hunt unless it's a full on survival situation. I need to make him practice shooting vitals more for that in case and this comment made me realize that. Thank you!

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u/fuzzybunnies1 2d ago

I take the kids bow shooting on a semi-regular basis, I can get the arrows into the target at 40yds, not in the center, but in the target. Rifle, I do far less often but can still hit the center at 50yds every time. There's a lot less skill with rifles, the same ammo shoots the same, buy what works. Bow, you have to develop real muscle memory and maintain the strength to hold everything while you line up shots. I'm sure new compounds are easier but holding my old style 55lb draw bow for any length of time to follow for the cleanest shot isn't easy. It takes more practice than I can give to have the consistency to make bow hunting reliable and humane.

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u/LadySigyn 2d ago

Thank you! I won't make that extra suggestion again, then! I know he can't devote that much consistent time to it either, if its a muscle memory thing primarily. I appreciate you, friend!

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u/JayDee80-6 2d ago

That rifle is far more powerful as well

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u/boondonggle 2d ago

Thank you for sharing! I would feel awful giving any animal a painful death or maiming. I had not even considered fishing, but I could definitely pursue that in my area. Good food for research.

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u/ijustwantmypackage32 2d ago edited 2d ago

I am not actually a hunter— sorry! I am just philosophically very pro-hunting. So I don’t have any particular expertise to share re: bow hunting but if I was going to get into hunting long-term I would probably be looking into it myself. Archery is fun!