Another Reply to Mike Adams – Three Essential Firearms for Civil Unrest
Springfield Armory M1A .308
This is complete overkill for the situation presented. A battle rifle is called for when you expect to engage the enemy at DMR ranges when the targets are behind light cover; otherwise it’s far more trouble than it’s likely worth. The M1A wasn’t the ideal tactical rifle even when it took en bloc clips in .30-06 Springfield – it was just better than anything anyone else had. Nowadays we have far better options.
That said, the scenario Mike is talking about here is the Ken&Karen scene we saw last week, where a pair of Missouri attorneys got some media attention for defending their property (a historic site) from a potential Antifa assault. While it would be wrong to describe antifa as “unarmed”, the fact is that few of them carry firearms – most of them don’t have the nerve to actually shoot anyone, and they know instinctively the optics wouldn’t be on their side if they did. So a .30-caliber battle rifle is hilariously unsuited to the actual goals of our hypothetical cul-de-sac commando. You job is to get an unruly mob of violent, irrational people potentially armed with assorted melee and throwing weapons, along with some incendiaries, to leave your property. In theory, anything that looks like a gun and makes the appropriate lights and noises on command will do.
You don’t need to kill anyone here; quite the contrary, what you really want to avoid here is significant amounts of media attention, if possible. You’re on antifa’s hitlist the moment you stand against them, and you’ll be doxxed in short order (immediately contact friends and family – and your attorney – to prepare them for the aftermath if this happens to you), but if the optics of your response are good you won’t face any repercussions from wider society afterwards. And while it’s hard to get the general public to side against the homeowner defending his property from a mob, you want to make this task as hard as possible for the media – they’re less likely to cover the story that way – so try not to actually shoot someone unless you see them holding an incendiary.
So first suggestion: get a rifle that isn’t black. Ideally it would look nothing like an AR or an AK, but whatever you choose, get it in some color that is visibly not black. Silver or gray is a better idea, but if you can get it in some garish colors (without it looking like a toy), do so. Appearances matter in a media environment driven by viral videos and screenshots, so the less it looks like something Diane Feinstein would call an “assault weapon” the better off you are. My strongest suggestion under the circumstances would be a 9mm carbine, preferably one that looks as civilian as possible – like the Ruger PC9. It does everything you need it to do under the circumstances (including having a softer muzzle report than a standard AR, reducing the potential damage to your hearing) and the ammunition and magazines are plentiful. It’s even available as a takedown model, so you could safely store it in your car if need be. It’s also a hell of a lot cheaper than an M1A or even a quality AR.
Benelli M4 Tactical 12 gauge semi-auto
If you’re reaching for the combat shotgun under these circumstances, something has gone terribly wrong. But fair enough – we need to have something on hand that will actually stop one of these crazed assholes charging at your wife (who is hopefully either also armed, or else inside the building securing the house and calling for backup). I don’t have anything against either the Remington or the Benelli – both of which have served in combat with distinction – but you may want to consider something with a bit more capacity. So I’m going to suggest you pick up a Kel-Tec KSG – as before, avoid getting the standard black model. Desert Tan will do just fine.
The KSG will hold up to 12 shells in its dual tubes – 14 if you’re loading 2.75” shells – and as a bullpup firearm it’s quite the short package. It’s front-heavy, even for a shotgun, but that tends to help with the recoil absorption, and since it ejects downward it’s ambidextrous from the factory. And while the KSG has seen no significant combat deployments, it is used by some Coast Guard units for boarding operations. I’d suggest mounting a hand stop to the slide, though, as the short overall length of this weapon means your forward hand could easily find itself in front of the muzzle of this pump-action weapon.
See Related/Referenced: Mr Wizard’s take on Three Essential Firearms for Civil Unrest
Glock Model 20 10mm
As a Glock fan and a 10mm fanatic, it’s very hard for me to say this, but I think this is almost as unnecessary as the M1A. It is by no means a terrible choice – if you have one and you’re used to the recoil impulse of 10mm, this will do you just fine. But like the first two, it’s overkill – and as Mr. Wizard pointed out, if the mob has gotten this far, they’ve gotten past both of your long guns. Either you ran out of ammunition, or you dropped them. The Glock 20 is a fine handgun, but it’s not meant to be a last-ditch weapon against anything smaller than a bear.
As before, you want something that will make the appropriate lights and noises on command, and preferably have a large magazine capacity. The bigger and louder, the better. So I’m going to completely buck all of the advice that you’d normally get from columns about choosing a defensive weapon and recommend the Kel-Tec PMR-30 in .22 Magnum. With a few caveats.
Because .22 WMR is meant for rifles, it makes quite the fireball in this little handgun, and has the appropriate muzzle report to match. No one in the mob is likely to know what this is, but if they confront you after sunset it’s going to look more like you have a flamethrower on burst mode rather than a tiny, toylike handgun. Mount a quality green laser sight to the underbarrel accessory rail, and maybe an RMR to the slide, and you’re good to go – the small amount of smoke this pistol generates will really add to the intimidation factor once the laser becomes visible.
On the caveats – make sure this gun is fully broken in, along with the magazines. The gun and mags both are a bit stiff when factory new, and you don’t want anything malfunctioning if you have to use it. And with that in mind, make sure the ammunition you’ve loaded is both loaded correctly in the magazine (to avoid rimlock) and that the projectiles are 40 grains or heavier, or it won’t cycle properly.
Also: Kel-Tec offers a replacement fluted, threaded barrel and a flash suppressor from their website. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything you could mount to the muzzle in this case that would do any good. You want the fireball and the noise, so neither a suppressor nor a flash hider will help. So don’t bother getting it. That said, MCARBO and Tandemkross both offer a few aftermarket accessories for the PMR-30 that you may like.
Go lighter, shoot faster and be more accurate, your life will depend on it.
This is a second reply to an original article found in Townhall: Three Essential Firearms for Civil Unrest