The Modern Miniteman

As I approach my "gun goal", it's time to evaluate my situation. The intention of being a gun owner was and is not for it to be a hobby or a collection. That's a separate concept, and I'll get to that later. My purpose is the old 2nd Amendment goal of exercising my right to be armed and defend myself and my family if the need arises. I've extended that to include what might be necessary in the event of a temporary breakdown of societal norms (aka SHTF, WROL, etc). To that end, I've decided that I'd like to have the following weapons:

• Service Pistol: A pistol designed to handle defensive situations over possibly an extended period of time and therefore uses a "standard" caliber round and of sufficient power to stop an adult human. I have a Walther P99 with 9 magazines.
• Pistol Caliber Carbine: A carbine length weapon designed to use the same caliber ammunition as my primary pistol which would be easy to use by someone not as familiar with firearm use. I have a Kel-Tec Sub 2000 (Gen 2) chambered in 9mm and takes the Beretta magazines (7 mags). Beretta and Walther magazines can be interchanged with minimal modifications. 
•  Survival Gun: A general use, adaptable weapon that can be used in a variety of situations. I have a Fedarm SS-12, 12 Gauge single-shot with a chamber adapter for 9mm. I'll also be getting chamber adapters for 22LR and some other calibers as well. This gun has a synthetic stock, a paracord sling and folds down to roughly 18 inches.
• Battle Rifle: A full-sized main "battle weapon" designed to either offensively attack an enemy or fight off one or more concerted attacker(s) chambered in a standard caliber. I have an AR-15 clone in .223/5.56 NATO along with 14 magazines. 

It's in my plan to also get the following as time and finances allow:

• Home Defense Shotgun: In all probability, this will be a Mossberg 500, or Remington 870 pump shotgun in 12 Gauge. 
• Concealed Carry Handgun: 9mm "single-stack" handgun for ammunition commonality and adequate knockdown power. In all probability, this will be the M1 version of the Walther PPS.
• Small Caliber Small-game and Practice Handgun: 22LR, Walther P22. Similar handling characteristics to the P99.

That puts the count at 7, and that my seem like a lot of guns, but it's really not. Each has it's own specific job and none of them overlap. There's not really even a "back up" to each other. 

As you can see, the majority of the guns I own or aspire to own are "Minuteman" type guns. What does that mean? I own guns because I believe in being responsible for protecting myself, my family and being a sheep dog to my neighbors. And if it came down to it, I'd do what I'd be called on by my country if things went seriously out of whack. 

Note that all of my guns, whether owned or projected to purchase are chambered for "standard" calibers; that being 22LR, 9mm Para, 223/5.56 NATO, and 12 Gauge. These are rounds that are easy to get, cheap (relatively) to buy, and more easy to scavenge in case of a breakdown. These are serious considerations since, guns become fancy paperweights without ammunition! 

In addition, it's my intention that I have the capability to reload virtually all the calibers listed above...... with obvious exception of the 22LR of course since it's "Rimfire". Right now, I'm set up to do 9mm and 5.56, so I'm most of the way there. I just need 12 gauge. So, is there anything else that I need/want for completion?

•  An Smith & Wesson SW99. A backup/ Truck Gun with in everything but name (and price) is a Walther P99, in 9mm of course. These can often be bought for less than $250.
  
  
•  A 300 "Blackout" AR. There's a number of ways I could go on this. The main idea of a 300Blk being something with better knockdown power inside of 200 yards than the 5.56. I could go with a pistol length weapon or carbine length. Mostly, it would be a "hog gun". Technically, I already own it since I bought another Aero Precision lower receiver.
  
    

•  A Breakdown/Take-down 22LR for obvious reasons. The Henry AR-7 shown at the top would be over $100 cheaper than the Ruger AND espeically if the Ruger 10/22 is equipped with the Magpul X-22 stock.I guess, we'll see on that. 

 So, I guess, that's it. I'm halfway to an overall goal of 10 guns total, with three which that could be considered optional. They would give me that ability to do just about anything I needed to do. I seriously doubt that I would get into collecting. Not that I'm uninterested, it's just that they are simply too expensive! 

Sure, we own a Winchester 1873 in 38-40, but it's a family heirloom and will probably never be shot. Otherwise, these things just get into too much money and something a teacher-father of two just can't afford to get into. So, I'd have to say that I'm pretty satisfied in the progress to my goals as a Modern Minuteman.

Why Do We "Need" The "Black Guns"?

Ah..... the black gun...... that which we love, lust after, loath and fear. It could be said that the genre was invented by the Germans during the last great unpleasantness.

The Sturmgewehr STG44, generally thought of as the progenitor of all modern military assault rifles. In fact, when translated, "sturmgewehr" literally means assault rifle. According to legend, it's a name selected personally by Hitler himself! So, right from the very beginning, the entire genre has a blackmark against it. And if that wasn't enough, probably the most direct descendant that exist today was/is the primary infantry weapon of the "Evil Empire" as well!

As if that's not enough, it's commonly seen as the weapon of terrorist as well. 

While on the other hand, we Americans like to think of ourselves as being the descendants of the Minuteman...

The ultimate "brown gun" hero. The story-line being that we're frontiersmen who had to take our Kentucky Rifle off the mantle when we are forced to defend our homes and freedoms. As a nation of hunter/marksmen using our deer rifles to pick off the enemy. You can decide for yourself whether that's myth and legend based on truth or otherwise. The fact is; that is how we view ourselves, so it's very jarring for certain segments of our population to accept that anyone would find anything other than a the traditional bolt-action hunting rifle to be enough.

In fact, we went down this road so far that, while the military of most of the world was using AKs (the 47 part means 1947), we decided the M-14 would be our weapon of the future.

Don't get me wrong: it's a very fine weapon. But the reality is that, it's really an updated M-1 Garrand, which was our main battle rifle during WWII! A weapon designed for open battle fields where uniformed soldiers lined up several hundred yards apart and shot at each other. I'm sure you're aware, that, that's not how modern wars are fought! Then this happened.....

We decided that it'd be a good idea to pick up where the French left off in Indo-China (otherwise known as Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos). And we noticed  our allies seemed to be somewhat challenged from a stature standpoint. Therefore, the rather large, .30 caliber (.308/7.62x54) M-14 was simply too big, plus the ammunition was too heavy. I'm not going to get into the political morass of how we got into the M-16 today. I'll just say that what was originally the Armalite AR-10 chambered in 7.62 then became the AR-15 in 5.56 and thus was born the M-16. Ultimately, this would be the beginnings of the modern "AR" platform. Please note that the "AR" stands for Armalite Rifle, and NOT Automatic Rifle! By the mid-60s this would become the standard battle rifle of the American military. However controversy would continue to stalk it for the next few of decades. 

By the 90's though, with the introduction of the A3, then the A4 version, the AR/M-16 has developed into a fully mature product and is now the dominant semi-automatic rifle in the United States and in the world as a whole.....that's not an AK..... My take on why this has become the commercial success is that it's the right combination of several factors.

One, we are not a society of hunters any more. I'd say that most people who shoot have never been out in the field stalking game of any kind. Therefore, to them; shooting isn't about a very few carefully aimed shots. Gun owners go to a range or out to the country somewhere and shoot a lot of ammo at iron/paper targets, or dangerous cans, fruits and vegetables. Hence the semi-auto taking over from the revolver and bolt-action rifle. When I was last "into guns" 25 years ago, I was part of the majority as the owner of a Ruger revolver. Now, I'm again in the majority as the owner of a "high-capacity" 9mm, polymer framed semi-auto. 

We also see society in a very different way. It's not the world of Andy, Aunt Bea, and Barney Fife any more. Whether it's purely perception or fact, people feel that the "controls in society" are tenuous at best. That at any given time, we could have an across the board terrorism attack, war with rouge states (eg. North Korea, Iran, etc) and/or a societal breakdown of  "Rule of Law" could happen for a people at any time. Therefore, people who believe this need to engage in self-protection. Meaning the perceived need for military type firearms. Whether that is reality or paranoia, that's for everyone to decide on their own. As for me, I'm leaning toward the direction of believing that modern American society is very fragile and that the behavior of the average person has far few controls than there used to be. Am I fearful and afraid to go to "sketchy" places? No; I've always been adventurous and pretty much willing to go most anywhere, but at the same time, I'm attentive to my surroundings.

This is why I plan to complete the classwork necessary to get a "concealed carry" permit, which is know as a CHL (Concealed Handgun License) here in Texas. Why? Everyday, you see more and more stories of "road rage" turned bad, or the really unfortunate scenario of "active shooter". I simply have no intention of not having options to defend myself and my family. 

Does that mean that I'm not a believer in the whole "prepping" concept. Let's just way that I'm listening and I could definitely see some of the discussed scenarios happening! What am I doing about it? I'm building a an AR. I'm not in a panic, but I'm building one and will keep a stock of ammunition around!