Do You Know These 7 Things to Consider Before Buying a Defensive Firearm?
Maybe you had a bad guy break into your house, you had a bunch of thugs following you down the street and you thought your life was over, or you may be the survivor of a violent crime. No matter the cause, there are legitimate reasons to purchase a tool to help protect yourself and those whom you love. The great equalizer to self defense is a firearm. You don’t have to have the martial arts training of Bruce Lee, wield a knife like a samurai or swing a bat like The Great Bambino. With a firearm you can be a 95 pound female with minimal training and have the advantage over a mountain of a man that wishes to do you harm. Those that do not have much experience with firearms find the question of where to start, very intimidating.
Here are the top 7 things to consider when purchasing a firearm.
#1 Should I buy a gun or something else?
Why are you considering purchasing a firearm? Is it to protect yourself from an intruder? Are you willing to accept killing another person? Guns are deadly weapons. These defensive weapons are designed to stop whatever is threatening you and those you love. Although 80% of people shot by firearms (removing suicides) survive. You must understand, if you use a firearm in self defense, there is a chance you will kill someone. If you are not willing to take the life of another human being, you might want to reconsider if you are ready to purchase a firearm for defense. There are non lethal options available to stop a perpetrator. These other options are not as effective in stopping a threat but do offer an option to those who don’t want to carry a firearm.
Other options include pepper sprays and tasers. Neither one of these options are designed to permanently stop an assailant. Rather, they are designed to stop the assailant long enough for you to flee to safety. These methods have a higher chance of not being effective in stopping an assailant. If the pepper spray doesn’t hit your target in the right area or if a taser doesn’t have clean contact they will not be effective.
# 2 Firearm Laws in your state
The first part of owning a gun is to learn the laws in your state. You will need to know if you need to register your firearm, if you can legally carry a gun in public, and are there laws specifying how to store your firearm. State laws vary widely, many states have a “constitutional carry” law allowing anyone to carry a weapon concealed or open without a license. Other states require extensive paperwork, background checks, personal references, and/or reasons for needing to carry a gun in public. A permit may or may not be needed depending on where you live in the United States. (Click here to see state laws)
#3 Open Carry vs Concealed Carry in public
Are you going to carry your firearm in public? Do you want an EDC (Every Day Carry) gun? If so, are you going to open carry or carry your weapon concealed. “Open carry” refers to the firearm being clearly visible. “Concealed carry” is when a person carries a firearm that is not clearly visible. Most people that carry a firearm for self protection choose to carry concealed. If you open carry YOU WILL BE NOTICED and if you carry concealed you will be more unassuming. Open carry vs concealed carry is not limited to either “this or that”. You may have times you decide it is better to open carry and other times to conceal carry. (Read more here)
#4 What Gun options do I have?
There are many options to what gun you can use for self defense. The most versatile gun would be the pistol. A pistol is small enough to carry open or concealed in public and can be used as a home defense weapon as well. The other two options would be rifles and shotguns. Neither one of these options makes for a good everyday carry gun, but if you are a hunter you may find an option that can be used as a hunting weapon and a home defense weapon. If you want to find out more about gun options click here.(Gun Options in Depth)
#5 Training
Training for self defense takes time. There is more to owning a gun, then knowing how to load and fire the weapon. You will need to take responsibility in owning that gun. Being a responsible gun owner will need training for shooting the weapon on a regular basis. Gun self defense training classes are offered all the time. Most classes will cost on average $200 per session. Having a space to practice is another vital piece to become comfortable with your weapon. The more you are able to practice the more you will understand the importance of gun safety. If you don’t have the money to spend on training there are a lot of free resources out there to help you out. the following link will take you to our article with free resources and some of our suggestions on how to train . (Read more on training)
#6 Securing your Firearm
Anyone that lives in your home will need to know the responsibilities to having a firearm in the house. Children do not understand the repercussions of gun ownership. Keeping the weapon out of childrens hands will be your responsibility. (Gun storage for homes with children) Young children are not the only people you need to be concerned about. If you have a teenager with raging hormones or anyone that comes to visit you that has suicidal thoughts, you need to make sure you limit their access to your firearm. They can pose a threat not only to themselves, but also you. Any life taken with your gun is your responsibility. Remember, let’s not give them an easy out. (Read more here)
#7 Maintenance and Cleaning
Cleaning guns is not just for country songs. A dirty gun has a far greater chance of going “click” instead of “boom”. Cleaning prevents rust corrosion and the buildup of crud from burnt powder. Even if you haven’t shot your gun in a year, you still need to clean it. There used to be issues with oils drying out and gunking up your firearm but with newer oils they don’t dry out as easily and don’t cause as much gunking problems but it’s still a good idea to get the old oil off and new oil on. If you carry your firearm on a regular basis you have dirt, debris, and lint creeping its way into your gun. Firearm cleaning varies for gun to gun but most of them can be cleaned by new shooters within 10 minutes. Most gun shops will have cleaning and maintenance services if you don’t want to get your hands dirty. Always make sure your firearm is unloaded with all ammo and magazines removed before cleaning. (Read More Here)
Owning a firearm is not something that should be taken lightly but hopefully you have a better understanding of what is required.
The point to this article was to hit the main items. If you think I should have included something else in the top 7, please let us know what you think in the comments section.
