Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Preparedness

Sales of firearms and ammunitions are on the rise again in the wake of COVID-19 crisis. Some try to explain it by saying people want a tangible item to ease the fear, but what's left out is the fact that fear may lead to social unrest, necesating the possession of firearms.




This is a sad photograph of people lining up in front of a gun store in Los Angeles. Technically in Culver City, but there are hardly any  gun stores in City of Los Angeles, so people have to drive out to surrounding cities to get in line for one.

California has 10 day waiting period, as well as background check for purchase of ammunition. Everyone in the line has to wait 10 days before they can pick up their purchased gun.

If any one had their guns before, then they would have avoided this situation. If anyone had enough ammunition to go with that gun, they would have avoided this situation.

Same goes for training. It is very unlikely that people rushing to buy firearms are sufficiently proficient in its use. Having a firearm is better than having just a pointy stick, but learning how to effectively use a firearm in self-defense situation requires some amount of training.

This is something that can't be done in an hour. It requires frequent training and refreshers. It's not about some high-speed-low-drag course, but a course where basic tactics are taught should be sufficient.

When the situation happens, there is no time for rehearsal. You have to deal with it.

Hopefully, this crisis will remind people to invest in firearms as a part of self-defense and sustainment in the time of crisis. Even better would be getting some training and retraining the skill.

This extends to other parts of life as well. There is a need to learn basic skills in first-aid, mechanical devices. We can't just rely on apps to get us through tough times. Each individual must be able to conduct some degree of action to protect themselves.