weapons - guidance please?

[Plymtom]

So, IMO, there's good reason for that gun being restricted.

The reasons for firearms restrictions are all well and good, but I beleive that the ban it alltogether approach since Dunblane+Hungerford are OTT, if a nutter goes off the rails it may well be easier to do so with a firearm, but as the recent hit and run killing spree demonstrates, they can find a way, i beleive we are too quick to ban things, and too slow to educate/promote sesnsible use of dangerous things, and even worse at appropriately punishing missuse of them in violent crimes, if you're a bad person prepared to do bad things with dangerous weapons, relatively safe in the knowledge that if you surrender, you will be well treated and free in under a decade, whereas permanent incarceration would be a better deterent, and I suggest would have saved more lives than banning certain guns has.

[TJCNI]

I assure you if some scumbag thinks he has any hope of "turning my knife on me" before I've punctured numerous vital organs or slashed major arteries / veins then you're living in a dream world. The hard part is stopping someone going nuts with a knife, but if I'm the aggressor with one then watch me work.

There is no way some smack head would stand much of a chance of turning my knife on me, especially since I will be holding it and utilising it properly not like your average prisoner with a shank made out of a toothbrush doing this repetitive, linear, strike to the mid section over and over again.

I'd like to raise a point, my job brings me in contact with the aforementioned smackheads in usually less than ideal situations and one thing I have learnt the hard way is no matter what training or equipment - someone high on drugs who wont feel pain but has maybe 2 razor blades with a coin between hidden in his hand / on his arm, will do a hell of alot of damage before you can even react correctly, I watched a guy spit a razor blade at a colleague, nothing can prepare for that Im afraid, the advice we are given in relation to knives is no matter your training back off as soon as you can and pick a stronger response.

[fromredtogreen]

Interesting post.

I was a police officer for 9 years and went to a call of assault against a babysitter.

Myself and the young WPC I was with were faced with an enraged man (who had just raped someone) high on amphet.

After two cans of CS Spray and threats with a Baton had absolutely no effect we locked ourselves in the car and called up firearms officers whilst the vehicle was repeatedly hit with a very large knife.

The knife bent over into a 'J' shape - this was scary stuff and definitely life threatening. It only ended when he stabbed himself in the leg severing an artery.

I posted this to make people stop and think a bit. When people genuinely threaten us we can fight or run but its genuine life or death stuff and not a game. My advice is run and live to fight another day. However you can use reasonable force. If I had a firearm that day I would have used it and been legally entitled and backed to do so.

Knives and the like are all very well but in my experience the trick is to either not engage people if possible or keep them at the greatest possible distance.

[Plymtom]

If I had a firearm that day I would have used it and been legally entitled and backed to do so.

Was that as an officer? Also begs the question how would you have used the firearm, no one could argue your lives were in danger but was it a case of shoot to stop, kill, or painfully injure?

[bigdan]

hi plymton.
a Home Office approved cabinet will cost about £100. in the summer i bought two single barrel shotguns at a game fair for £24 and £25 respectively. Basic workhorses but well built and reliable. You wont have to join the clay pigeon club, just go along and get an hours tuition and have a round of clays. it will be the best £40 youve ever spent. Like ive said on previous threads ,a shotgun is so versatile that you can shoot pigeons with it one minute then change cartridges and shoot an elephant the next. Also, and im sure ill get it in the neck for saying this, AFTER tshtf, id rather have a useful tool like the above than a pointy stick , catapult, maglite, bow , air rifle etc etc, not that any of those dont have a place in a preppers kit, but !!!!!!

[Moony]

If you want to shoot a elephant with your shotgun (this is hypothetical btw), you'll need to use slugs, and these require a FAC to hold, even if you are shooting them through a shotgun

[diamond lil]

Lots of posts coming through that we have deemed not relevant - how or where police shoot suspects is of no interest to us as preppers is it? Could we keep it real

[Lucky Jim]

..My advice is run and live to fight another day..the trick is to either not engage people if possible or keep them at the greatest possible distance.

Right..
"The greatest warrior is the one who avoids fighting an unnecessary battle"- Chinese General Sun Tzu 600BC

[Shymatty]

Yes I think its also wise to point out that the shotgun rounds that you can buy with a license in the uk is "Bird shot".

Its fine pellets that are designed to spread out and the ballistic shot pattern over a given distance is much more spread out than say "Buck shot".

Also the mass of the round / rounds makes a huge effect on the energy that is converted to the target.

Buck Shot has 9, 9mm ball bearings which overall weight alot more than the fine pellets found in bird shot. So thinking you are going to take someone down in a SHTF situation with Birdshot like you are going to in the movies is just not going to happen as the mass just is not there.

However if you had an unchoked barrel and had buckshot then no matter what drugs they are on it will put them on their arse.

Having said that Birdshot is very well designed for the job its intended too. Shooting birds / rabbits. It would be ineffective at shooting a larger animal / target. But like wise Buckshot is very suited to taking down large game / targets it would be very hard (not impossible) to hit a bird with it.

There are many types of rounds you can fire through a shotgun, from buck and bird shot to flechette (google it! amazing) to even emergency flare rounds that can be fired from a shotgun.




Having said that Birdshot has killed people. It ruined and probably indirectly caused the end of PC Rathbands life :/

[unsure]

there is a way to turn bird shot or buck shot rounds in to more lethal slug rounds , i`m not going to divulge how , but it is possable in a matter of seconds .