Firearms: Need versus Want

Some people will tell you that you cannot have too many firearms. Like money and luck, you can never have enough. However, financial restraints and common sense have to enter the picture. Firearms are a means but they are not an end.

For some their arsenal is based on threats, perceived or real. Anyone can make an argument that the need for personal and home defense has never been higher, but there has always been a need for personal and home defense, so does this mean you need more, and need to go into to debt to get more.

The logic some would use is well there are more break-ins so I need more firearms. There is a greater chance of a disaster striking, so I need more weapons. The chances of the SHTF are greater so I need more guns around me.

If you do not have any firearms then yes you probably need to consider getting one or even several. Just how many do you need however, and can you afford to get what you want is the question.

What Can You Afford

Just because the Prepper down the street has a basement full of guns does not mean you need to go out and start spending money. Firearms, are a tool and just one of many needed for survival. You also need other essentials and in most cases, a firearm will be the least used of your survival tools during a crisis.

Decide the most likely threat and prepare based on that. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and blizzards happen seasonally so of course you prepare accordingly. SHTF scenarios would include a nationwide power grid failure, nuclear or chemical attack, armed terrorist attack, cyber attack and so on.

Any disaster will bring out looters and other criminals. Looting, vandalism and civil unrest are side effects of most major disasters. Having a firearm in the home would make sense, but what would it be used for is the question you need to ask yourself. A grid failure, for example, will have the same side effects but on a much greater scale.

Some people naturally assume that once a crisis strikes they will be in a firefight the entire time, holding off hoards of people storming their front door. This would not be the reality in most cases.

Of course, there will be looters and criminals looking to take advantage of the situation and for this, you need to be prepared by having home and personal defense weapons, but not necessarily  enough weapons to wage battle for a sustained period. Again just how many do you need. You need to know the answer.

Regardless of your weaponry, you could not hold out against a trained force with overwhelming firepower, so the number of firearms you have in the home would be irrelevant. This type of scenario is not likely to happen, so we are back to need versus want. You may want enough to hold off a large force but do you need them, and this is purely from a financial standpoint.

If you have enough money to buy as many firearm as you want then do so, but for those that cannot need to prioritize and make careful decisions.

Considerations

Just before an expected ice storm people run out and purchase generators, batteries, canned food, water, candles and other essentials, and in some cases they buy more than they need out of fear, impulse buying in other words.

The ice storm could cause massive power outages or none at all, but you need to be prepared but you should have been building your emergency supplies overtime. You need to be ready at all times.

You cannot prepare in the hours before a crisis, because you will spend more money than you need to in most cases. If you have to rush out and put all of your supplies on a credit card, skip the rent, or mortgage payment to get stockpiled for one disaster you are doing it wrong.

After reading articles on the Internet, some may feel an immediate need to run out and purchase guns as well. Financial collapse, rioting, food shortages, power grid failure, pick a disaster and someone is predicting it will happen tomorrow, or the next day. The doomsday scenarios being predicted on a daily basis will cause some to go into debt trying to get ready because they are scared.

Doomsday is always predicted for tomorrow and when tomorrow comes, it is still always predicted for tomorrow.

You need to prepare but you cannot do it in one day and you cannot do it impulsively. You have to pinch pennies and prioritize, and do an honest assessment of why you need what you need, and save up for it. Reduce or eliminate spending on things that are simply a want and not a need, so you can gather up what you consider an absolute need.

Sit down and make a list of what you know you will need, such as food, water, medical supplies, clothing, illumination, energy and so on. Prioritize and then once the essentials are gathered then start to gather what you may need or want. To some a firearm is a need and not a want, and in some cases, this may be true. Assume a firearm is a need, but decide how many you need, based on the most likely threat (s).

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Source: prepforshtf.com