Arm Thy Neighbor?

[The Annoyed Man]

I'm a fan of Matthew Bracken's writing. For those of you who don't know who he is, Bracken is the author of the fairly well regarded "Enemies, Foreign and Domestic" trilogy, and other novels of a possible future America. He is also a retired SEAL and prepping advocate among other things. He has written a provocative article about whether we, as prepared gun owners, might have some kind of "social obligation," as it were, to be able to arm our neighbors in the event of the kind of catastrophe resulting in a total social breakdown.

I have very mixed feelings about this. I have heard it said by more of my friends, including friends from church, business associates, and neighbors who are themselves conservatives in favor of gun rights but who don't necessarily have any of their own, "Boy, TAM, if TEOTWAWKI ever comes, I'm heading over to your house." ........to which my stock answer is "Yeah, when monkeys fly outta my butt......" and then I lecture them: "Look, if you think this stuff is important, then shame on you for not making the effort yourself. It is YOUR obligation as an adult to be ready to protect your family. It is not MY obligation, and I did not invest MY money into this stuff so that you wouldn't have to. Gee, maybe next time I need a car, I'll just come over to your house....."

My neighbor across the street has said this stuff to me, and I've given him the same answer: "Gary, I love you, but it is YOUR job to protect your family, not MINE. Now cowboy up and go buy a gun, and I'll be happy to help you pick one out and teach you to shoot it. But my guns are NOT your guns."

Now, Matthew Bracken tries to make the case that for those of us who have made that effort and who are concerned about the safety of our neighborhoods in such a collapse, that maybe we do have a social obligation to be prepared to arm our neighbors if it comes to that. He does NOT say that we need to go buy a dozen M4 carbines (unless you want to ) for a neighborhood armory, and neither does he say that you're a bad person if you don't prepare to arm your neighbors. He also acknowledges that we are neither likely to want to lend out our expensive carbines and bolt rifles and collectable 1911s, etc., nor is it reasonable for someone who chooses to be unarmed themselves to be critical of someone who doesn't want to loan out their expensive investment. But, he DOES suggest that it might not be a bad idea to scarf up a few cheap, used revolvers in a common caliber like .38 special or .357, to be used as weapons that can be handed out to a neighbor in need. He suggests revolvers because they are dirt simple and you can teach someone the fundamentals of safety and how to operate one in 15 minutes and such a gun won't break the bank if you never see it again. To me that evokes images of some old S&W police turn-ins or something like that which can be had for not too much money.

Here is the link to his article: http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.c ... -neighbor/

Most of the readers of this column probably don’t need to be convinced of the wisdom of owning and practicing with firearms. You may even believe that you already possess all of the guns you need, whether a .38 caliber revolver in your bedside table or a small battery of handguns, shotguns and rifles in your closet or gun safe. You may even own one or more of those liberally despised so-called assault rifles. In any of these cases you may think you don’t need to consider any more gun purchases.

There is, however, one reason to purchase at least a few more weapons: to arm thy neighbors. I can hear you saying, “What is Bracken talking about? If that foolish grasshopper of a neighbor didn’t bother about his security when guns were readily available, why should I worry about him now? Besides, he may even be an anti-gun liberal, so the hell with him!”

This reasoning is short-sighted on several levels.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting concept. For my own part, I'm not sure I agree simply because I hear too many times from otherwise rational people about how they seem to expect or hope that I made my investment for their benefit so that they don't have to. But on the other hand, I believe strongly in the power of neighborhood and the necessity of an armed population, and I'd rather have a community organizer who was more interested in empowering people to protect themselves, than in disseminating commie pinko manure. And, I agree with Bracken on the necessity to be the one willing to stand up for the widows and orphans.

What do you guys think?

[A-R]

Interesting topic. I figure if TEOTWAWKI ever happens, guns & ammo will become a new currency, like cigarettes in prison. Trade some old junky wheel guns and .22 rifles for food, medicine, transportation, etc - whatever else you might need

But I dont' GIVE able-bodied people free money right now, so why would I GIVE them any of my TEOTWAWKI "money" .... they can trade/barter with me, but I ain't opening the TEOTWAWKI welfare office

[PBratton]

Tam, I've had friends tell me the same thing about when the a problem arises scenario... I simply smile and tell them that unless they know the proper hand signal, they'd best not get inside of scope range of me and mine.

[sunny beach]

The ones who are worth arming in an emergency usually have their own guns already. Some exceptions exist for minors and paper felons, but by and large I think it's a good rule of thumb.

[equin]

I agree that neighbors should be encouraged to do what they can to help survive in the event of a TEOTWAWKI scenario. However, in the event such a scenario ever occurs (and I hope it never does) I think helping to arm any surviving neighbors would be prudent from a survivalist standpoint, assuming the neighbors' trustworthiness, of course. I arrived at this opinion after reading Fernando Ferfal Aguirre's book, "The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse." He wrote about his experience in Argentina after that country suffered its economic collapse in 2001. As he stated, a lot of people think that going off to some rural cabin in the wilderness and fending off for one's self will help, but I disagree. That's the last place I'd want to be because you would then leave yourself highly vulnerable as a target for roving bands of thugs intent on murder, mayhem, rape and pillaging your lone little cabin out in the middle of nowhere with no one else to help you, or worse, no one else to hear your and your family's screams if they succeed in assaulting your "stronghold" of a cabin.

By contrast, in a neighborhood type of scenario, you would at least have the opportunity of having neighbors watch each other's backs, set up guard stations and checkpoints and make sure roving bands either don't make it into the neighborhood or, if they do, don't come out alive. And in order to set something up like that, you're most likely going to have to pitch in by sharing each other's stuff, including firearms and ammo and any other weapons that may help in that effort (bows and arrows, for instance).

One other case in point would be a few of the remote villages in Mexico whose villagers eventually got fed up with the killings, kidnappings, rapes, etc. of the criminal element emboldened by the lawlessness caused by the drug cartel wars. There have been a few instances where they finally came together, got whatever arms were available, and made a stand against the bad guys. I would surmise that in order to do so, they would have had to share whatever arms they had amongst each other, especially with those whose turn it was to keep watch for the incoming SUVs of bad guys as they approached or entered their town/village. Here's a report of one such example:

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/05/m ... ainst.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But like I said before, I do agree with the premise of encouraging one's neighbors to also be prepared. The more the entire neighborhood is prepared, the better that neighborhood will be able to survive.

[Middle Age Russ]

If TEOTWAWKI occurs, I would be happy to host a limited number of folks, as long as they bring something to party -- i.e. material things like guns and ammo, non-perishable foodstufs, or certain specialized skillsets/knowledge. As for arming the neighbors, charity begins at home. Until everyone in my home has a full compliment of pistols and long arms, each, with an acceptable supply of rounds for each arm, all sharing will be within the immediate family.

[The Annoyed Man]

Equin, Bracken references Aguirre's book in his article. I plan to buy a copy. Also he recommends "The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable Fragility" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, of which I just downloaded a Kindle copy from Amazon. The Black Swan events are the ones we (the editorial "we") never expect or seem to be able to predict will happen, so we never prepare for them. The great failing of human nature is the expectation that the universe is a well ordered place where there is no chaos, when in fact, chaos is all there is. (I don't believe this is inconsistent with the idea that there is a God in control of the chaos, but merely that from our limited perspective, there is no discernible pattern to future events that can be distinguished as separate from the chaos.) Since we cannot discern predictable patterns from the chaos, it behooves us to be prepared for the unexpected.

I guess that Bracken's point in this essay is that the idea of charity aside, being in a position to arm your neighbor is just plain smart. You still get to choose to whom you will release some of your resources, or even whether or not you will release those resources, but at least you're in the position to do so if it comes to that.

[MadMonkey]

Seems like every person I talk to is either "coming to my house" or "going to WalMart" if it hits the fan. Neither is going to go well for them...

That being said, if I know my neighbors VERY well and I feel they're undergunned... sure, I'll hand out a couple of long guns if something bad is happening in the neighborhood. And I'll take them right back when it's over, but I'll leave them a list of local dealers...

[Dragonfighter]

The ones who are worth arming in an emergency usually have their own guns already. Some exceptions exist for minors and paper felons, but by and large I think it's a good rule of thumb.

Yep, my next door neighbor and neighbor across the street have armed them selves. My neighbor across the street has started and now has a nice little collection of western type arms.

[OverEasy]

Well, if they aren't prepared to defend themselves they probably don't have food or water stored either.
I'm not giving them the means to be able to shoot me so they can take MY food and water.

I get the "we're coming to your house" too. I tell them: you are welcome if you bring along enough food and water to live on.
If you show up empty handed I will consider you to be a looter!

My Christmas card list has gotten shorter over the years. Do you think there is a relationship?

I'm really a nice guy. Don't make me change!

Merry Christmas, OE

[Jaguar]

I agree that neighbors should be encouraged to do what they can to help survive in the event of a TEOTWAWKI scenario. However, in the event such a scenario ever occurs (and I hope it never does) I think helping to arm any surviving neighbors would be prudent from a survivalist standpoint, assuming the neighbors' trustworthiness, of course. I arrived at this opinion after reading Fernando Ferfal Aguirre's book, "The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse." He wrote about his experience in Argentina after that country suffered its economic collapse in 2001. As he stated, a lot of people think that going off to some rural cabin in the wilderness and fending off for one's self will help, but I disagree. That's the last place I'd want to be because you would then leave yourself highly vulnerable as a target for roving bands of thugs intent on murder, mayhem, rape and pillaging your lone little cabin out in the middle of nowhere with no one else to help you, or worse, no one else to hear your and your family's screams if they succeed in assaulting your "stronghold" of a cabin.

I have read Aguirre's book, and I even talked to him over the internet (can't remember where, I thought "The High Road" but I can't find the posts or PM to back that up. Stinks getting old...

But yes, he had some very good insight into an EOTWAWKI scenario, and I feel my community of about 60 - 70 homes in a rural area with two ways in (not counting cross country) would suffice for a bug in, and the thought of bugging out after reading his book seems crazy. Not all of the residents here can be trusted to do the right thing, but I feel I know enough of them that we could weed out the problems, and help those that need it. We are close enough to supplies and civilization to survive, and more importantly far enough away from where large cities are to survive.

Beyond family, I doubt too many will be welcome who do not live here, and even family would do well to bring something to the table.

[Dave2]

I'd hand out my Mosin Nagant, Mauser, and SKS (in that order) to unarmed people who I thought "deserved" them, with the understanding that they'd be returned after said people were able to get their own guns (or if I ran out of ammo for my others). Other than that, though, I don't have enough guns to arm even a full family, let alone a neighborhood.

[jmra]

Each of the firearms I have added to the family collection serve a specific purpose much like the different clubs in a golfers bag. To start handing out my "clubs" might mean that when I need to put, I'm left holding a driver.

[Abraham]

"Boy, TAM, if TEOTWAWKI ever comes, I'm heading over to your house." ........to which my stock answer is "Yeah, when monkeys fly outta my butt......" and then I lecture them: "Look, if you think this stuff is important, then shame on you for not making the effort yourself. It is YOUR obligation as an adult to be ready to protect your family. It is not MY obligation, and I did not invest MY money into this stuff so that you wouldn't have to."

Sounds akin to some of the observations I've made...

Also, most of my neighbors are quite well armed, but stocked up on other supplies to face TEOTWAWKI, I don't know and I wouldn't presume to try to avail myself of what they've done/have to prepare for it. Their preparedness is for their benefit, not mine and I wouldn't assume otherwise.

[Middle Age Russ]

Their preparedness is for their benefit, not mine and I wouldn't assume otherwise.

Abraham, it sounds like you in in the throes of a moral/ethical malaise known as "Personal Responsibility Disorder". You should turn yourself in to the nearest Federal Government office for re-education right away. How can we live in a "fair" society if everyone isn't willing to share with each other?

Seriously, though. Folks with a strong sense of personal accountability and responsibility are doing for themselves, and I don't worry about them at all. They'll likely be hunkered down consolidating their base like me. It is the politically acceptable masses who believe that they are entitled to their "fair share" of everything -- even though they didn't bother to make any preparations -- that I worry about. In extreme circumstances, all societal rules will go out the window for most folks who suddenly come to the realization that they need to feed themselves and the fast food joints and the grocery arent't open.