Old Fuff,
Again THANKS for your time to respond to my requests for information. Did see your last response just before leaving for another foray into the National Forests. No, not yet implemented a self-defense strategy. But you really got me thinking, and that is extremely valuable to me since even my sons have great difficultly in achieving such a feat. For sure it does take some effort to get this matured brain rolling. But with time and experience comes weight (vast weight), and thus momentum that most times gets out of control, so please bear with me on these extremely heavy thoughts. But before I start, again THANKS for your extremely valued concerns and timely responses.
First, my initial thought for self-defense was to have a way to possibly scare off the way-ward person that was possibly the result of consuming the drugs of the person that you said I would need a reasonably modern semi automatic weapon with extended clip sizes to defend against their relatively super powerful semi-automatic rifle capable of shredding my little trailer, and me, before I even had a chance to even think to fire back. (long sentence, yep, but that is the result of the gravity mentioned above, I just keep rolling!) So for sure, in previous years this was not even a concern, but times enhanced by drugs and poverty, make for drastic individuals that I truly believe a blank round fired would send scurrying. Most are just trying to feed their family or, for whatever reason, acquired drug habit.
As far as appropriately defending against the drug lord with the semi-automatic rifle, I think your prescribed defense needs a bit of enhancement. Possibly the only sure defense is an M1 but not the M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle but the M1 Abrams Tank. Might, at this point in time, be reasonably safe sleeping in an M1 tank.
Gotta wonder where it will stop, possibly someday I will need a personal weapon capable of delivering nuclear rounds while my camper/trailer will be required to stand of the delivery of such a round, and from an automatic weapon capable of “hosing down my little trailer” with a storm of nuclear rounds. I guess the M1 tank will have a limited lifetime for being a reasonable defense, but for now it might do. More important, the drug lord will have the advantage of picking the time of attack, I do need to sleep sometimes.
So bottom line, I can only defend against the crazy that is demented by drugs and/or inability to earn a living and possibly support his family. I believe the blank shot is the best way to preserve the most valuable thing we have, that being human life. If the drug lord gets me, then I will have to write that of to “What God Intended, I feel confident of a warm greeting at the pearly gates”. Not a whole lot else I can do, the drug lord seems to have the upper hand. My prayer, we create an environment where people do not consume drugs and can reasonably easily find a way to earn a decent living. Yea I am a dreamer, but one needs to first dream before ever having a slim chance of reaching a somewhat difficult goal.
Please don't take this as sarcastic, but, just the heavy thoughts of a person with many years of experience in thinking through pragmatic solutions to extremely heavy problems. Think, an “Eye for an Eye” only creates a blind world. Just an analogy for saying that our attacker, given more financial resources through taking advantage of lack of control and poverty, can always buy a bigger more powerful weapon. Where does it stop?
For sure I will share the information returned from S&W about the revolver that you and others on this volunteer site have overwhelmingly defined as a great revolver that I am am now even more proud to be the owner of. And I will use it as defined above to hopefully save some human life, even if it is not my own.
But above all, THANKS FOR YOUR EFFORTS, THEY ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!