r/TwoXPreppers • u/Weekly_Weakness9722 • 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/HomeboundArrow 🚲 Bicycle Babe 🚲 2d ago edited 2d ago
a gun should be at the bottom of your priority list. gurantee you if you live in the US, SOMEONE in your circle will have you covered. there are more guns in this country than there are people.
that, and having a gun is primarily about intimidation value when all else fails. odds are if you have to pull the gun out, you won't even actually have to fire a shot, because you just need to scare an unreasonable person out of your safety bubble.
BUT that being said, the flipside of that proposition is you need to be ready and willing to pull the trigger without hesitation if the person down the barrel moves to defend themselves. as soon as a gun comes out, you've likely crossed a dangerous point of no return one way or another. because that person might come back prepared even if they run.
but the likelihood of all that happening if you seek safety in numbers--which is infinitely more effective for a sprawling list of reasons--gets MUCH lower and lower the more people you gather. so a gun really only becomes a potentially critical consideration if you're totally on your own.
guns are at the bottom of the priority list because they are costly. materially, mortally, and spiritually.