in vehicle tactics with an instructor and force on force like the courses offered by Sage Dynamics or Centrifuge Training? How much do you think you know about the legal questions surrounding the use of deadly force? Have you taken a class like MAG20 - Armed Citizens Rules of Engagement or the Level 1 Core Course for Law of Self-Defense? What do you know about handling potentially lethal force situations besides the gun-handling part? What are your verbal skills? How do you handle stress? What are your post-shooting skills like? I don't know, maybe you shoot for hunting and competition too. I could ask just as many questions about those things that have nothing to do with equipment.
People who feel the need to posture to strangers on the internet about how wise they are or insist that their advice is sound are generally not people one should be taking advice from.
I'm asking about how much ammo one might realistically need to anticipate having to not break the bank if we get another president who wants to pass another Assault Weapons Ban. Meanwhile, you're talking about
vehicle tactics in a civilian environment, verbal skills
, or insisting I need to take a $1000 class from the same clowns that trying to simulate active shooter scenarios in some range in the suburbs. No offense, but infantry veterans and active duty soldiers see a lot of those civilian training camps as pretty laughable. Truth is, the amount of endurance, mental toughness, physical fitness, and muscle-memory that comes with learning how to actively engage trained fighters who are trying to kill you isn't something you're going to learn in a 2 week camp or class.
As far as knowing when you can and cannot execute lethal force (and where you can or cannot carry), that's something you should know
before you even apply for a concealed carry permit in the first place. Moreover, the law isn't black and white as to when lethal force is allowed or not deemed excessive (as we've seen recently with virtually every police shooting in the last six months), and laws change all the time. So what you learned in a class yesterday might not be good tomorrow.
So I guess I'll just stay ignorant and naive and ignore your very sound wise advice.
As for everybody else who
actually answered, I think you guys and gals have been really helpful. It's given me a lot of perspective and I think I have a realistic number. If anyone is curious, what I actually did was:
Counted the amount that I shoot in a given year
Consider how much space I have to safely lock up / store ammunition
Checked my local laws to see how much I'm allowed to have stored
Considered, if necessary, how much I plan on spending to save money in the long run if we get a non-gun-friendly president
Considered how much I actually have to comfortably spend (not much)
Turns out it's actually way less than I anticipated.
The best advice is always don't go into hock or spend money needed for other things just because the internet says the sky is falling. Figure out how much you have realistically used in past years. It's probably safe to assume things will change one way or another in the future, but for the next 6 months to a year we are probably set. Store what make you comfortable to get through it. If it doesn't require a forlift to move, that's still okay.
This right here is the silver bullet, in my opinion. To me (almost) everyone's perspective was really valuable, but the whole "sky is falling" / ammo panic I've seen over the past few months is really no reason to go hoarding it. I'll have enough to last me now. So super thanks to you.
I don't know if you'll read this, but this actually made me laugh out loud.