Weapons - Hunting & Defence

[24942895]

Although the focus of my prepping isn't a complete breakdown of society & law, it's a possibility that is in my mind.
Also I'm mostly focussed on myself as I don't have a family, and I'll probably have a couple of friends with me if it all goes to hell, protection of a family isn't a concern.
However I've been watching Doomsday Preppers and there is a consistent focus on weapons, particularly firearms, mostly for defence.
Being in the UK there are alot fewer firearms around which means you're less likely to have to defend against people armed with them, but people will seek them out so some people will have them.

As far as I understand it you can own lower-powered air guns and crossbow / longbow without any special permissions/licensing, good for hunting, bad for defence.

My question is, what are people here doing about weapons for defence?
Are they considered unnecessary? Have people found ways to legally own firearms?

[pigeonsniper]

Although the focus of my prepping isn't a complete breakdown of society & law, it's a possibility that is in my mind.
Also I'm mostly focussed on myself as I don't have a family, and I'll probably have a couple of friends with me if it all goes to hell, protection of a family isn't a concern.
However I've been watching Doomsday Preppers and there is a consistent focus on weapons, particularly firearms, mostly for defence.
Being in the UK there are alot fewer firearms around which means you're less likely to have to defend against people armed with them, but people will seek them out so some people will have them.

As far as I understand it you can own lower-powered air guns and crossbow / longbow without any special permissions/licensing, good for hunting, bad for defence.

My question is, what are people here doing about weapons for defence?
Are they considered unnecessary? Have people found ways to legally own firearms?

Weapons are absolutely a top priority for me, for two reasons, for hunting and for protection. I'm surprised they don't get mentioned more. You can absolutely guarantee that if shtf kicks in and food becomes scarce then people will quickly lose all sense of morality and become violent. You only have to watch the TV footage of people in January when the sales start to get an idea of how people will behave when they really want something.
I have short range weapons (catapults and a pistol Xbow) and I'm in the process of getting a compound bow and a powerful crossbow. I don't trust the government not to make these things illegal at some stage so I'd rather get them before this happens. My wife is also going to learn how to use the bow so we can protect each other.
Make no mistake about it, the ability to defend yourself will be critical if things go horribly wrong. That and stealth/anonymity are key for me. I don't tell anyone I know what I'm doing and I believe this will give us the best chance of survival against the worst predator - namely other desperate people.

[preppingsu]

Please remember anything you discuss about 'weapons' has to be within the law as it stands as we haven't seen tshtf yet. We do not want scoobie getting into trouble for the talk that happens on here.

Of course, if you choose to take up archery as a new hobby or buy a catapult to launch your bait into the water when you go fishing, well, you can talk about that as much as you like!

[pigeonsniper]

Please remember anything you discuss about 'weapons' has to be within the law as it stands as we haven't seen tshtf yet. We do not want scoobie getting into trouble for the talk that happens on here.

Of course, if you choose to take up archery as a new hobby or buy a catapult to launch your bait into the water when you go fishing, well, you can talk about that as much as you like!

Absolutely, purely for recreational purposes of course. In the event of a complete break down of law and order I would just politely ask people to leave us alone

[preppingsu]

Please remember anything you discuss about 'weapons' has to be within the law as it stands as we haven't seen tshtf yet. We do not want scoobie getting into trouble for the talk that happens on here.

Of course, if you choose to take up archery as a new hobby or buy a catapult to launch your bait into the water when you go fishing, well, you can talk about that as much as you like!

Absolutely, purely for recreational purposes of course. In the event of a complete break down of law and order I would just politely ask people to leave us alone

That's exactly what I'm talking about.......

[Bladerunner]

You are correct in that there will be fewer guns in possession of people who want to take your stuff but it is a numbers game.
If you have 3 mates who decide to band together to become the Fantastic Four that is a big help but if a gang of 20 come after your stuff you aren't going to put up much of a defense.
Low profile is definitely the way to go or you could give them a stern talking to and hope that their moral fibres are in good standing, that they will see the error of their ways, and that they will walk away like good law abiding citizens wondering how they could have even thought of taking something that did not belong to them.
They might even thank you for pointing out the error of their ways and give you some food as a way of apology.
In an ideal world you could stockpile food off property but if this is not an option then do your best to hide it within your property. there are some good books available and there is a website that is run by an ex-copper who used to do a lot of house raids. He gives a lot of good advice on where and how to hide things so even a good search by the skuffers is unlikely to find it.
Be lucky (and remain in cloud cuckoo land)

[Plymtom]

Pigeonsniper wrote

Weapons are absolutely a top priority for me, for two reasons, for hunting and for protection. I'm surprised they don't get mentioned more.

Well they have their moments here, I'd reccomend you have a trawl around the older threads there are plenty here.

[junmist]

Owing to being the said law abiding citizen just remeber that anything can be a weapon, low key should keep you a lot safer. As the saying goes He who fights and runs away Lives to fight another day.
The question you need to ask yourself is would owning said weapon make you hang around longer putting yourself and your family in more danger, if the answer is a possible yes don't get one. However if you just want it for hunting or as a hobbie by all means

[24942895]

My main plan if the situation gets dire is to sit tight with blacked-out windows and wait a few weeks to see what happens. When I saw it all going to sh!t in Yugoslavia, as far as I could tell, people in rural areas made for bigger towns and cities, or the countries borders, travelling in family or neighbourhood sized groups. They were moving away from conventional warfare (albeit a civil one (wasn't very)) in which case sitting tight isn't a good idea (neither is heading the same way as everyone else) but a lesser threat might cause similar migration that would allow some freedom of movement for someone who stayed behind. I met some people who had stayed behind holed up in basements and they generally were discovered by troops and as they were 'ok by them' they were left alone and were soon able to pick over the remains of the community and/or leave in a low-key manor.

My previous employment and single status mean I could sit it out, become more predatory or just go feral without worrying too much about protecting others. I have a selection of weapons from a ball point pen to a few knives and am quite sure I'd be safe faced with up to 3 or 4 regular people similarly equipped, but more than that or people with firearms and it's scarpering time.

A need for weaponry as defence against regular people who want my stuff would probably see me checking out the local farms after a couple of weeks, maybe less, but I'd expect any firearms still there would be in their owners hands so to a degree you've only got what you've already got.

I like the idea of a crossbow as a weapon/tool, good for hunting and defence at a distance but it's slow fire rate is an issue.
I grew up using air rifles which I think are still legal below a certain power but again the slow rate of fire makes them undesirable.
As fas as I know civilian-owned firearms in this country have a low limit for their internal ammunition, 5 or so.
If anyone has any further info on any of that I'd love to hear it though.

(that may be a bit rambling as I've had quite alot of codeine today, managed about 4 miles though )

[herbal_thought]

Heres my opinion:



Peace, out.