Posted on 02/16/2003 8:38:11 PM PST by conservativefromGa
John Strauss
Assault rifles offer a bit too much for home defense
February 14, 2003
As store shelves throughout the city are emptied of duct tape and plastic sheeting by people concerned about terrorist attacks, other folks think the best defense is a good offense.
Don Davis said gun sales at his Westside store have doubled since the latest terrorism alert. He said the $599 AK-47 is a top seller.
Davis became locally famous a few years ago with endlessly repeated TV commercials in which he cocked a finger at the camera and cackled, "Folks, I don't want to make money -- I just love to sell guns."
It turns out that terrorism sells.
"For me, when times are bad, business is good," Davis said Thursday.
He was at a trade show in Florida this week, shopping for gas masks for customers suddenly nervous about chemical or biological attacks.
At his Don's Guns, manager Ben Chance let me test-fire the AK-47 and a $999 Bushmaster, similar to the military M-16, in the store's indoor range.
The Bushmaster delivers a high-velocity round very accurately with little kick. The AK-47 will give you a jolt, but with that kick you get a larger round capable, they say, of going through a car's engine block.
Just what you need to stop terrorists invading your subdivision.
Of course, some people might end up with guns simply for home protection. And if that's the case, Chance says, an old-fashioned shotgun might do the trick.
"A 12-gauge is a nice gun to have in the house. You don't have to aim the gun. You just point it in the general vicinity, and you're actually going to hit what you're pointing toward, because (the shot) scatters."
Business also was up at 500 Guns on the Westside and at Pop Guns Trading Post on the Eastside. But managers at those stores said that had more to do with the arrival of income tax refund checks than Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein.
"There have been a few people come in and express concern," said Mike Hilton, the manager at Pop Guns. "But overall, people tend to be pretty complacent about it, to be honest."
Hilton said he recommends that someone who wants a gun take a training course. Then, once he has an idea of their skill level, he'll suggest a firearm -- often a small revolver.
He's not big on the AK-47 in this case. If used for self-defense, it's likely to "overpenetrate" -- go right through the attacker, through the wall of your home, through the wall of the next house and into somebody there.
Guy Montgomery, manager of 500 Guns, also recommends a revolver -- not a battlefield rifle -- for home defense.
Still, there's a magnetism about the assault weapons. Firing one of these guns is the shooting equivalent of twisting the throttle on a squat Harley -- lots of noise and simple, raw power.
They're fun, but they may not be real practical.
So if you're convinced al-Qaida is down the street and you want to establish a defensive perimeter in the front hallway, do the neighbors a favor.
Just borrow dad's old shotgun.
Unless the intruder is wearing a IIA vest.
You forgot about the one where the home invaders are wearing kevlar vests. Shotgun is worthless in this situation. AK or AR round will do just fine here.
It is not the gun it is the man behind the gun that counts. Some of us do live by the rule one can never ever have too many guns.
Shot generally expands about 1 inch per yard of travel, which translates into a plate-size pattern at the end of the hall
Although one time I did absent-mindedly shoot buckshot through a rifled 12-guage barrel (which is designed for rifled slugs). It produced a yard-wide doughnut pattern at 7 yards, due to the spin imparted to the buckshot.
EXACTLY! Racking your slide when you have a intruder in your home mostly accomplished two things,you give away your position to a intruder who may be armed with a gun that is already loaded,and you risk a jam by "short-stroking" it while under pressure. Don't laugh. It happens. So does forgetting to take the safety off.
Shhhh! If they want to think that,let them.
Is it the best weapon for such without the aforementioned flechette rounds? Probably not, but it is still not useless.
No,but there is only one "right" way that increases your chance of survival,and that is the one that doesn't give away your position until you are in a position to control the situation. Why not just shout out,"Here I come! If you have a gun,you had better shoot me on sight!"?
Not really. Shoot for the hands and disarm and bleed them out at the same time.
Flenchette rounds are not common. Probably most people don't have them.
significant blunt trauma to the individual wearing the vest
Agreed, but I'll take penetration of the enemy over blunt trauma any day, and the military style rifles beat a shotgun for that Of course a good ol' 30-06 has pretty good penetration too. I'm not sure even a trauma plate will stop one of those. Mostly the trauma plates are rated for .308
You shoot for the arms and hands. You may be cool enough under fire to aim at the arms and hands, but I'll go with the center of mass with my AK where I have a better chance of hitting.
I've always been a .30 cal rifle shooter (.308, .303 Brit, .30'06, and my dad's .348 Win), but I'm thinking about adding a big game rifle to the stable. I'm a traditionalist and the English calibers are appealing. The next question is whether to go with a double or a magazine type rifle . . .
I love the .348, but (1) it's my dad's and HE's got it (2) it's an orphan (I do the reloading for him) (3) it's purely a close range gun, those big old pills really fall off after about 100 yards
Quite frankly, I'm less worried about an Al Qaeda terrorist bursting through my front door than an Al Qaeda attack which leads to civil breakdown, in which case home-grown looters and criminals may come through my "defenseless" neighborhood looking for easy prey. I would like to have something that can stop them further away than my front door.
In the case of looters, they generally travel in packs, so it is prudent to have something that can take on a vicious pack at a variety of ranges, which can mean more than one or two rounds. The same weapon should suffice nicely for lesser numbered and more crafty criminals that might show up.
An assault rifle of some type works fine in all these circumstances, whereas Dad's old double barreled shotgun might not - despite the writer's insinuation that anything more is silly.
Modern JBT body armor will defeat a AK round --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.