Arming anti family members

[Alan Fud]

With all of this talk of possible terrorist attack and with our national alert status at it's highest level since the system was introduced, I was wondering ...

If things hit the fan in your part of the woods, would you arm an anti family member (assuming you had the spare gun / ammo to do so)?

In my particular case, my wife and I would take our child and her two sisters and seek safety. My wife and I shoot and have our CCW's. My two sister-in-laws don't and are even AGAINST firearms. I have the spare firearms & ammo but I would think that having a gun in hand, they might be more of a danger to us (because they wouldn't have proper safety procedures instilled in their brains) than a possible enemy.

So my initial answer is 'no' but them what happens if shots actually have to be fired? Would the situation be improved with having them armed?

What would others do?

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Alligator Al: Share What You Know & Learn What You Don't.

 

[foghornl]

No, but mainly because I probably wouldn't have time to teach said person the safety rules and manual-of-arms. I would, however, bring one into my home, and have that one do the logistical things needed..... i.e double checking food/water/ other supplies, bring up ammo from basement, making sure doors/windows locked, etc.

 

[10-Ring]

I would provide the option, not force it on them. But I'm sure if it came down to an ability to defend themselves or not, they'd take defending themselves.

 

[Greg L]

Most of my family is to far away for this to be a problem for me so I'll substitute "friend" for "family".

IF I did (and it is a big if) it would be something simple like a revolver or a bolt action rifle. As someone else mentioned I would probably put them to work doing other things as needed rather than arming them. This is assuming that we are in one spot and not moving. If we had to move somewhere then I don't know. I would probably have them do the driving rather than the "riding shotgun".

Greg

 

[muddyboots]

The instinct for self-preservation does not automatically segue into self-defense. I know a number of people who would immediately roll on their backs, expose their necks, and hope for the best.

 

[Arcli9ht]

It would be my plan to have more than enough weapons to go around with the few people with me. I don't know anyone who would be with me who is staunchly anti gun, just people who are uneducated, so I agree with Greg. Give them something simple (like a revolver) and assign them to inventory (be sure to show them the basics of gun safety tho). After they get over their anti gun sentiment because getting smacked by reality, then teach them safety and how to really shoot well in depth.

/Arcli9ht

 

[Jack19]

Most of my family are NGOs (Non-Gun-Owners) as opposed to Antis. If the SHTF, there are a couple Yugo M48s, and enough ammo, available.

Funny how facing death makes one give up those liberal philosophies.

 

[Don Gwinn]

At the moment I have literally no anti-gun friends. Closest thing would be my father-in-law. I really believe he'd be on the phone trying to get the police to come save him as the Al Qaeda Mall Ninja team broke down his door. He wouldn't take a gun if I handed it to him.
Luckily, I don't see anything of that nature happening in his lifetime. But if it does, he's dead and there's nothing I can do about it.

 

[mpthole]

No.

Since my family is over 150 miles away the only way I'd even be able to lend them a hand is if they showed up on my doorstep. Basically, I feel that if they haven't armed themselves already, then they haven't been listening to what I've been telling them for the last 3 years. Additionally, if they are unwilling to arm themselves, then they are probably unwilling to perform any other necessary preparations.

However, if it was TEOTWAWKI... I'd probably do what I could for them.

 

[mdsteele]

I don't have any anti family members but the answer is still NO!
If I know that a person is anti and has ever used the ballot box , pen, phone to further gun control, no matter who they are, absolutely NOT!
On this issue, you're either with me or against me. No fence sitters allowed.

 

[Blackhawk]

No.

If they're anti, it would just be an exercise in giving a BG a gun courtesy of the relative. A gun is REALLY dangerous in the hands of somebody who's absolutely opposed to using it. Better to leave it in the safe where it's harder for the BG to get at it.

Note that there's a BIG difference between being an anti and just being scared. Fear of guns can be overcome in a nanosecond if something far more fearsome comes up.

 

[goon]

No. If they are opposed to guns and are unwilling to use one, then what would be the point of having one. I thought about it before I started carrying, and I decided that I would be willing to drop the hammer under the right circumstances. There would be no sense in my carrying if I wasn't willing to use it.

I would find people who weren't opposed to owning a gun, just unprepared. I would arm them, after I had given them proper instruction and I was sure that they wouldn't end up shooting their neighbors kids because they got scared and used the old spray-and-pray.

As far as the ultra pacifists, all I can say is go ahead and be that way. As long as the bad guys are coming after you, they won't risk their lives attacking me and mine. I would come to your aid just as you were about to be killed. That way,you would still be alive the next time to act as a buffer zone between me and them.
If I could get the timing down right, I might never have to fire a shot.

 

[Betty]

No.

My loved ones are already armed or living with one who is, and my friends are not antis. I won't associate with antis.

Also, as the other posters have stated, with owning a firearm comes great responsibility. It takes proper mindset and training to use one effectively.

An anti might scramble for a gun as a quick feel-good solution to their terror, and then leave it in their dresser drawer. When the terror blows over, they say, "See? I didn't need a gun anyway. Nobody needs a gun."

 

[Leatherneck]

Well, I wouldn't PUSH it on them, but if requested, I'd cough up a spare or two along with whatever basic/emergency instruction was possible, depending on the urgency of the need.

TC
TFL Survivor

 

[dairycreek]

Good decision making is always the key element.

People who handle firearms must have good decision making skills when they might have to use them . Here the emphasis is on the word might! To place a loaded firearm in the hands of anybody who is not sufficiently skilled/schooled in its use is inviting disaster. If a situation arises the person who carries the gun must be able to assess it and make an appropriate decision else disaster is an extreme possibility. I would not choose to put a loaded firearm in the hands of any person who is not equipped to use it properly and effectively. Anti family has little to do with it per se. FWIW, Good shooting

 

[Pheonix]

No, I don't have any loved ones who are anti's. I do have some that ask "Why so many guns?"

 

[Pilgrim]

My favorite brother and his wife are a bit yuppie in their personalities. They like to shoot, but they just don't see the need to own guns. They live in a nice neighborhood in Huntington Beach (southwest of Los Angeles) and their house has a complete security alarm system which produces an armed response if activated.

My brother is too young to rememer the 1965 Watts riot and far enough removed from the 1992 Rodney King riot to not have been worried about it. After the attack on the World Trade Center, I asked him if he was sufficiently moved to get a gun. His answer was that he didn't see the Taliban marching down Beach Blvd so he didn't think he needed a gun.

While I don't consider him and his wife to be full blown liberals, they do see my requirement to be armed at all times as somewhat odd.

If something terrible happens, they will have to find their way to my doorstep which is about 230 road miles from their home and the route takes them through the nastier parts of Los Angeles. By then I expect their views on being armed will have changed....if they survive the trip.

Bruce

 

[Neal Bloom]

The few antigun relatives I have would probably run to my house seeking protection in a crisis. If that happens they had better take up arms or they are just useless ballast.

 

[jmbg29]

No.

They can load magazines or cook or something. If they want a gun, they can just take one from the bad guys. That will save the well known step of the bad guy taking the gun from them.

Thank God that the relatives that matter are pro-gun.

One ex-brother-in-law idiot is an anti because he tried to kill himself by shooting himself in the stomach :banghead: when the Army was closing in on him for being AWOL. He can't be trusted, ergo the rest of the human race should be dragged down to his near-animal existence.

Guess what loser-boy does for a living now frequent fliers? That's right, he is a FEDERAL AIRPORT BAGGAGE SCREENER!!!!!

Happy flying!

 

[Mike Irwin]

Live by the plowshare, die by the plowshare.

If they're anti-gun on moral/ethical grounds, let them choke on their sense of social consciouness.

 

[Kalvan]

Would the situation be improved with having them armed?

I don't think so. As the saying goes, people don't rise to the occasion, they revert to their level of training. I don't believe that they are going to suddenly acquire the judgement, tactical knowledge, and skill-at-arms necessary for success in the middle of a firefight where the higher-brain functions will have essentially been switched off.

 

[BerettaNut92]

Out of their own safety, no.

I may go back and help defend the fortress if possible, but that's about as reasonable as handing someone an accordion if they wanna jam all of the sudden, or tossing them the keys to a Cessna 172.

The chances they may hurt someone is great. The chances they will hurt someone else is even greater.

Not unless they were willing to give me a weekend to train them. Not like I can equip them with SKSs and train them in the back yard in suburban LA.

 

[gryphon]

I second the Skunk-man's response.

 

[Still Learning]

No. Got a better use for them:

Borrow a tactic from the Iraqis and use the sheeple as human shields.

 

[hutch24]

You mean you guys have relatives that don't own guns???