Do you keep some heat in your toolbox?

[Bolster]

Agreed. Full Auto conversions are much more rare than the media will have you think. And much more difficult, too (at least on modern weapons). Penalties are so severe it's not even slightly worth getting caught. And as much as I'd like to opine on this topic at length, it is off topic for this post. So back to the heater in the garage we go. My garage is "unheated" so nobody will stop y'all if you decide to target my garage.

 

[logical]

I do not want to get into it as this is a GARAGE forum, I am not here to debate my views on assault weapons. As for knowing nothing about the subject, actually I know a fair bit about it, I served my country for 11 years so you could own those weapons.

I am done.

You served in the military so I could own them but are just fine with it being illegal ? Huh?

Anyhow, now that you've decided to play dirty and wrap yourself in the flag...although which country's flag I'm not sure, I'll drop it too. You may or may not know something about full auto weapons in the military but I think you don't have a clue about the current state of civilian ownership.

 

[mrholeshot]

The choice of weapon depends on the circumstances......

If I were to keep a gun in the car, it'd be the biggest, most-nickle-plated flashy cannon of a pistol I could find....think about it: There you sit, minding yer own business at a red light with no way out. Three or four approach on foot, they want your car, your money, your wife.......Nothing will state your position on the matter more clearly than when you retrieve that giant nickel plated .357 from the glovebox and sit there with it in your lap. Upon seeing that, I promise you they will leave and seek out an unarmed victim.

For the home.....I opt for the universal sound of impending death: the racking of the shotgun. No matter what language your uninvited guest does or does not speak, nothing says "leave or die" quite like the sound of a shell being racked into grandpa's old Winchester poly-choke.

For personal carry.....I opt for the Keltec .380......be sure to tear that Keltec down the day you get it, deburr the slides and smooth the ramp - or spend the coin on something nicer that's ready to rock right out of the box. The key to this choice is size and weight, dictated by Florida heat. The bottom line is this: If it's too big and heavy, you won't carry it......you'll end up getting beaten with a stick while your 1911 sits useless in your car or in a closet. Be realistic.....the point of carrying that gun in your pocket is not to win a gunfight, it's to buy you enough time to survive, to take cover, to retreat if necessary, to send enough lead downrange to deter the threat. Sounds counterintuitive, I know; but unless you are willing to commit to wearing a shoulder rig or a big pancake holster every single day, you'll eventually begin to not carry. The average joe is not willing to regularly carry enough firepower to outgun some cat who has the element of surprise and possibly superior firepower, whereas a mouse gun will become a regular and faithful companion.......Of course, my dad can rightfully disagree with me because he regularly carries his 1911 in a shoulder rig, old school - if you are willing to do that, I'll concede the point.

On to ammunition.....fragmenting rounds are a great thing. But do you want a fragmenting round in the pistol in your car? No.....It ain't gonna go through the car door like you'd need it to. What about a pistol in the home? Fragmenting makes sense, then. In a panic situation, we are all gonna shoot like ****, do you really want six rounds of hard ammo missing the bad guy, exiting your home, and continuing into your neighbor's house?

These are some additional considerations I thought I'd add. Also, as a FL LEO......I need to remind you that it is sheer foolishness to think we are gonna show up in time to stop the bad guy....I really wish we could, and we love it when we can.......but it's just not reality. We each have a duty to protect our families and our homes to the full extent allowed by law.

A few things I have to disagree with. First I wouldn't carry a big shiny gun in the glove box. That may keep them off you for a miute but chances are someone will want that gun bad enough to take you out for it. Plus it makes you a target each time your car in in that area. I would never flash the gun to deter.

I agree on the shotgun in the home but not because of the sound of the slide but the sheer close up power and pattern of the shot. Someone breaks into my house He will never hear the slide. If you try to get him to run with just the slide noise he will know you are armed and either come back armed or come back when nobody is home and steal the guns. My way of doing this is let them in the house and take them out. The dead don't talk and can't come back.

Next I would never under any circumstance use a Kel-Tec or any other .380 auto for personal protection. the absolute smallest weapon I would use is a compact 38 with +p ammo. I carrry a 38 in most cases. It has two Hydroshock rounds and 3 Starfire rounds in it. The .380 is the 25 ACP's big brother but not what I would want to try to stop an angry man. The pistol itself I would never trust. Small automatics are not the pistol to trust your life with. A good quality revolver will always get the job done.

The counter thinking on the not to win a gunfight doesn't sit right with me. If I have to pull my gun it is my intention on killing the person I'm aiming at and not to buy time, retreat but to survive. If that means dropping a few people I'm OK with that.

I really don't want to go into detail as to my way of thinking but if nothing else but carrying a weapon or home defence you should never "flash" a weapon. carry something you trust, make it as comfortable as possible and make the decision in your head that only in matter of life and death does it ever come out. then if that time comes make sure there is only one side of the story.

 

[logical]

The choice of weapon depends on the circumstances......

If I were to keep a gun in the car, it'd be the biggest, most-nickle-plated flashy cannon of a pistol I could find....think about it: There you sit, minding yer own business at a red light with no way out. Three or four approach on foot, they want your car, your money, your wife.......Nothing will state your position on the matter more clearly than when you retrieve that giant nickel plated .357 from the glovebox and sit there with it in your lap. Upon seeing that, I promise you they will leave and seek out an unarmed victim.

For the home.....I opt for the universal sound of impending death: the racking of the shotgun. No matter what language your uninvited guest does or does not speak, nothing says "leave or die" quite like the sound of a shell being racked into grandpa's old Winchester poly-choke.

For personal carry.....I opt for the Keltec .380......be sure to tear that Keltec down the day you get it, deburr the slides and smooth the ramp - or spend the coin on something nicer that's ready to rock right out of the box. The key to this choice is size and weight, dictated by Florida heat. The bottom line is this: If it's too big and heavy, you won't carry it......you'll end up getting beaten with a stick while your 1911 sits useless in your car or in a closet. Be realistic.....the point of carrying that gun in your pocket is not to win a gunfight, it's to buy you enough time to survive, to take cover, to retreat if necessary, to send enough lead downrange to deter the threat. Sounds counterintuitive, I know; but unless you are willing to commit to wearing a shoulder rig or a big pancake holster every single day, you'll eventually begin to not carry. The average joe is not willing to regularly carry enough firepower to outgun some cat who has the element of surprise and possibly superior firepower, whereas a mouse gun will become a regular and faithful companion.......Of course, my dad can rightfully disagree with me because he regularly carries his 1911 in a shoulder rig, old school - if you are willing to do that, I'll concede the point.

On to ammunition.....fragmenting rounds are a great thing. But do you want a fragmenting round in the pistol in your car? No.....It ain't gonna go through the car door like you'd need it to. What about a pistol in the home? Fragmenting makes sense, then. In a panic situation, we are all gonna shoot like ****, do you really want six rounds of hard ammo missing the bad guy, exiting your home, and continuing into your neighbor's house?

These are some additional considerations I thought I'd add. Also, as a FL LEO......I need to remind you that it is sheer foolishness to think we are gonna show up in time to stop the bad guy....I really wish we could, and we love it when we can.......but it's just not reality. We each have a duty to protect our families and our homes to the full extent allowed by law.

I don't agree with really any of your weapons choice conclusions either and am at odds with much of your reasoning but I commend you for thinking through it and making conscious decisions on your personal defense.

 

[willymakeit]

I carry alot. Have worked in various areas across the U.S. that made sense to carry wether legal or not. The first thing when in a veichle is to use it to escape if possible.

 

[mooman]

I have a BB gun in the garage. Never thought to use it on anybody. Guess I could if I needed to. Just like Clark Griswald.......

"What are you trying to pull, Clark? What? That's a BB-gun. Are you kidding? This is a Magnum-PI. That's an old wives tale Clark. It couldn't even break the skin. Yeah it could, yeah it could. it could break the skin and start a very ugly infection"

 

[Old Donn]

Not here. Clean kill = no penalty, criminal or civil:

Wish it was that way here, it isn't.

 

[mrholeshot]

Here if they get one foot in the door, Take em out. If you must shoot them outside the door just drag the body across the doorway.


We had the worst case of suicide in history here. Poor guy shot himself 22 times in the back, lol

 

[CUSTOMMANCAVES.COM]

Wish it was that way here, it isn't.

Michigan has a "watered-down" version of the Castle Doctrine:

Michigan (more recent law—Act 309 of 2006—does not relieve duty to retreat "unless [deadly force is] necessary to prevent imminent death;" this represents no change from common law, which does not require retreat unless it can be safely done)


Here is a list of states that allow us the right to defend ourselves:


As of the 28th of May, 2010, 31 States have some form of Castle Doctrine and/or Stand Your Ground law. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming have adopted Castle Doctrine statutes, and other states (Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington) are currently considering "Stand Your Ground" laws of their own.

Everyone who owns/carries should be intimately familiar with the laws in their state and NOT rely upon what the local gun shop owner, LEO or co-worker at the water-cooler tells you.

 

[jtbinvalrico]

I'm a huge fan of "drt"......dead right there stories.....and God bless any man who can realistically and every day carry the proper sized revolver (indeed, the most reliable type).

I've been doing this for a while. Again, truth be told, I really wish LEOs could get there in time, but it ain't gonna happen. So what does happen?.....we hit cleanup on these scenes 95% of the time and we get to see how all the choices in piece, ammo, training, and tactics went down.

It's dismaying to see some thug who never cleans his gun, didn't care about the comp trigger, didn't bother with sight picture or trigger control, probably sighted down the right side of the slide, didn't use any particular stance....it's dismaying to see these guys place winning shots consistently - on cops and civilians.

How do they do it? The element of surprise......that's all I can come up with, that's all that's left on the table. At least four of the previous LEO shootings here have had the bad guy literally just pointing, not aiming, pointing his "gat" at the cops and scoring kill shots.......past the vest, head shots, etc. Those dirtbags got past a lot of tactics and gear to place kill shots they couldn't duplicate on a range if their lives depended on it.

What can you do? Focus more on the tactics....worry less about the thousands you can put into a gun. Subtract pride from the picture. Learn that a tactical retreat can be a valid response.

Carry what you will......I've got many, many guns......none of which are worth a **** unless they are on me.....hence the Keltec (100% reliable, by the way, with hundreds of rounds through it)

 

[Solid Lifters]

I carry a Smith & Wesson 696. Much better than a .38 Special.

For pistol hunting, it's my Smith & Wesson 629 Stealth Hunter.

For home defense, I love my tactical 12ga shotgun.

 

[SpiderGearsMan]

Some very good responses.

My point about having a firearm in the garage was directed at home use, not a shop setting. If you feel that threatened in your own garage, its time to move.

I am a firm believer in our right to own weapons, I say "our" since I am an American I just live in Canada. Though personally I draw the line at assault weapons as, really, there is no reason for anyone to own one. But that is a whole other can of worms that I will not get into.

the boogie man of assault weapons ...oh please not more PC NERDism

 

[atari]

My savage arms .22 is considered an assault riffle because it has a removable magazine. You might be careful what you wish for. My bolt action 10 round .22 is not what YOU had in mind but that's what THEY have in mind.

Also, as for handguns mine is a Springfield Armory XD 9mm service model. I got it a year or so before we could get licensed to carry here and I kick myself fro not getting the sub-compact now. Now when I actually get my permit I will have to buy a smaller pistol. I will probably get a tomcat or something that small. .32 or .38 is what I'm looking at.

.................... oh, Solid Lifters, that shot gun is BAD ***! you should see my cheap savage .22 with the bi-pod and giant scope. (pssssst it looks like an assault rifle)