Q & A - Single Woman - Gun for Protection & Hunting

Hi, Ray:

I am a single woman.  I appreciate all the info on your web site.  My question is:  if I buy a gun for personal safety and hunting I'll have to register it and, when the government outlaws guns, I'll have to relinquish it.  Wouldn't it be better to buy a small bow and arrow for hunting food and a stun gun for protection?  Perhaps you can point me to a discussion of this issue on your web site. God bless you, M

Hello M,

Very good question.

There are several things that you need to consider.

First, find out if where you live are you able to get a Carry & Conceal handgun license? If you can, that is the route I would go first.

I am one that for personal and home protection you need to get a handgun.  But on top of that, go and get your C& C as well so that you can carry it always. Now the nice thing about being a woman and having your C&C, you can carry a pretty nice weapon in your purse and you don't have a "gun signature" under your clothes. For us guys, it is a different matter, that is unless you are one of those guys who carries one those "european hand bags." 

I can hear it now..."Cute purse there buddy!"

So get a handgun first,but more on that later in this article.

I want to address your confiscation / relinquish issue.

My mind set is that if they want my guns, they are going to have to pry them from my cold dead fingers.

Second, the FBI estimates that there are over 200 million privately-owned firearms in the US.

If you add those owned by the military, law enforcement agencies and museums, there is probably about 1 gun per person in the country.

Now, if you want to get a rough idea of how many guns there are out there just look at how many people you see out there then multiply by a factor of estimated ownership.

The last best guess was about 350,000,000 to more likely 500,000,000 - that is 500 million guns out there. That would easily be 1 weapon for every man woman and child living in the US alone.

Don't forget the average gun enthusiast owns several firearms which includes pistols, shotguns, and rifles of all makes and models. It is often estimated that about 1 in 4 people that own any firearms, the average number of firearms in the home are approximately 4 guns each.

SO.. that is a lot of guns to try to take from the American public. 

What I have to ask is who in their right mind would try to disarm the entire American public? 

No one could and no one in their right mind would attempt it. 

SO are we going to lose our guns? As much as the conspiracy folks want you to believe that, it isn't going to happen. Yes there are cases such as New Orleans and such, but on a nation wide scale, the do not have the resources to take all the weapons from every American out there.

NOW.. with that said, start buying ammo now. Because what they will do is put a serious curb on the purchasing of ammo.

Here is a headline from Venezuela sept -2009

Venezuela Attempts Gun Control by Limiting Bullets
By Jeremy Morgan
Latin American Herald Tribune staff

CARACAS – Legislators at the National Assembly are set to take what appears to be a rather unorthodox approach to law and order in a society notoriously renowned for gunslinging and one of the highest per capita murder rates on the planet.

The defense committee at the legislature has been looking at a proposed reform of the 70-year-old Arms and Explosive Law, which apparently has yet to be brought into line with the Bolivarian Constitution adopted by referendum at President Hugo Chávez’s behest in late 1999.

So we can see that if they are to control the guns, they will do it via the ammo. So buy lots of ammo now. Even if you do not own a weapon and are possibly thinking about it, get ammo now. Consider it a "wise investment" for down the road.

Back to What Weapon To Purchase.

I am one who believes that you first weapon should be a handgun. This is a home protection weapon and self protection.

Now, based on your question I believe you might have been thinking of some sort of rifle, shotgun or carbine.

If you are thinking long gun, the second choice would be a shotgun. It is funny, I am writing a follow-up article to the 22 article titled "why I like the shotgun."

For home and hunting, the shotgun is a great way to go. I am one who likes a "pump" shotgun.

There is just something about hearing that CLICK - CLACK of pumping a round in the chamber.

Believe me, the bad guys know that sound too and get out of Dodge quickly because they know that buck shot with there name on it is coming next.

You can also use the shotgun to hunt as well. There are a whole mix of different ammo that you can purchase for the shotgun and you can very your loads.

Assuming you can carry at least 5 in the tube. You can make your first round bird shot for close range. They will not blast through walls and if it does, they loose there velocity.

Secondly you can put a couple of "00" buck shot followed by a couple of slugs.

Here is my reasoning.

First bad guy is going to be close range, the bird shot will take him out.

The second bad guy is going to be a bit further so, buck shot will take that person out.

IF there is a third, you have another round of "00" Buck.

Then if you have the bad guy driving the car who is going to fire upon you out your front/back door, you have some slugs that will go some distance and do a lot of damage. These will go through walls and if that person is hiding behind a car door, you can possibly still get him with the slug.

Gun Recommendations

Handgun - If money is a real issue, I like the hi-point Compact 9 0 AKA - C9. This shoots a 9mm, which is a round that I love. This weapon runs around $165.00 and all the reviews I have checked into, it is a great gun. Now the gun snobs out there don't like it but it is American made and has a life time warrantee no questions asked. Something goes wrong, you send it back to the company and they fix it or give you a new weapon. Hi point also makes a .380 and 45 acp version. But I like the 9mm for being compact and good for C&C. You can use it for C&C and home protection. The grip is small and fits nicely into a woman's hand.

I am also a big fan of the Walther P22. 10 rounds of 22 hollow point in anyone and they know that they are having a bad day. This is a great weapon for C&C, small, sturdy and has a weaver rail on the front so you can mount a laser sight or flashlight. I consider this more of a personal C&C weapon verses a home protection weapon.

Now for shotguns, I like the Mossberg 835 Ultra-Mag.

This is a great all around shotgun. Here you can see is the Turkey version which comes with a nice vented barrel to prevent "barrel rise" with adjustable choke and tapped out so you can put on a scope. This is great for general hunting Then when in home protection mode, you can put on a barrel that is made for slugs.

Great thing about the 835 is that there is a lot of third party accessories that you can purchase so it can be modified with a butt cuff shell holder, folding stock, bandoleer strap that holds 20 rounds of 12 gauge, front end flash lights, etc. All kinds of cool stuff.

These run about $250 - $350

Finally something to think about regarding a shotgun is the "legislative protection."

So if you are really worried about weapons being confiscated, the shotgun is looked at as a sporting arm by legislators and usually the last type of weapon to be banned or legislated against.  This is not always the case, but even in cities like Chicago it is legal to own a shotgun where handguns and large capacity magazines are completely banned.  This may be extremely helpful for the urban survivalist.

So I hope that I have answered your question here. Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions that I might be able to help with.

Why I like the .22

By Ray Gano

Yep, it is true, I like the .22 rim fire bullet for a survival weapon. Now I know that I will take a lot of flack, but in reality the .22 rim fire AKA 22 is a great all purpose round in many situations.

Yea, yea the first words that are coming to your mind are "stopping power" if I ever need to defend myself.

Hey, that is a great point and one that I agree with, but what I am talking about is all around survival not an all out war.

Most of the things that I am going to shoot are rabbits, birds, snakes (rattlers and we have a lot) feral dogs & cats, coyotes, chickens, turkeys, and other small livestock.

Now you and I both know that these critters listed above will be more likely be put within my crosshairs than the two legged ones, that is a fact.

So to start things out…

My Handguns of Choice

Ruger Mark III Target- all stainless steel so it will not easily rust. A 5.5 inch bull barrel which improves accuracy. You can shoot a fly off the wall at fifty feet easily. I like the fact that this also comes with a weaver rail so you can mount a "aim point / red dot" sight or better yet, a laser site for totally point and shoot accuracy.

This is a great "ranch gun" specially with all the rattlers we have out here at the Gano Ranch. You know rattlers are "good eating" to; they taste a lot like tangy chicken.

Second…

Walther P22 - This is a great carry and conceal weapon. Double action, which means you can pull the trigger and the hammer comes back and fires. Holds ten rounds with one in the chamber makes 11. Again the larger caliber has greater "stopping power." But you know what, eleven rounds at center mass will definitely not make a person's day. This is a great weapon to get your wife, I should know, because they come in pink too.

Now the reasons I like the 22 is that they are pretty inexpensive. The Ruger and the Walther both run around $300.00. So this is affordable and able to easily save for this amount. I advise that if you are going to purchase, check out a gun show, you will be able to shop around and possibly get one of these at a great price.

Both of these are pretty light weight considering a 9mm, 45 or .357. Now the Ruger Target is a bit heavier, but I know that my wife has no problem shooting the bull barrel Ruger, but she does like her Walther P22 better. It fits her smaller hand a lot better and more comfortable for her to shoot.

A real great point about the 22 is that ammo is dirt cheap. A box of Federal hollow points that come 550 rounds to a box run about $15 at Walmart. Plus just about anywhere you go, you can purchase 22s. They are pretty easy to find.

Now knowing that ammo is cheap, you can get out there and practice… a lot! You know what they say, “Practice makes perfect.” Since .22 ammo is cheap, I can run 200-300 rounds down range without feeling guilty about wasting money or worry that I won’t be able to find ammo to replace what I use.

The benefit is that I become extremely proficient with a smaller caliber handgun than so-so with say a 45 or 9mm that uses more expensive and possibly hard to find ammo.

In fact, just to emphasize this point. My Walmart right now does not have any 9mm or 45 in stock, but they have at least 30 bricks (550 rounds per box ) of federal hollow point on the shelf.

Other great points about the 22.

It is a pretty quiet round to shoot compared to a 45 or .357 which sounds like a cannon firing. The 22 also does not have that heavy recoil that many females and kids tend to be concerned about. If you have any sizable property, you can shoot it also and maintain safety. There are many targets with built in back stops that will handle a 22. So practicing is easy, just gotta find the time to do it.

Now for all you James Bond wanna-be's, what you may or may not know is that many professional assassins use the 22. In fact get on the web and go to You Tube. Once there type in "Ruger Amphibian." That is a modified Mark II or III with a fully enclosed suppressor / silencer. Average price for this little beauty, about $1200.00 plus. The interesting thing is that in many states, it is actually legal to own one, but you do have to jump through some legal hoops to do it.

Funny story, my friend who is a 20 year Special Forces and now works for a "private company" saw my Ruger and the first thing he tried to do is unscrew the front end to expose the internal section of the suppressor / silencer. I told him it was as standard MkIII bull barrel. He smiled at me and said that a lot of his buddies "at work" carried the Amphibian as a back-up. It looked exactly like my MkIII.

Finally another point about a 22 is that if it gets lost or stolen, it isn't going to set you back several pay checks to replace it. Again, we are talking a little over $300.00 to get a new in the box replacement. Sight it in really quickly and your are back in action.

So looking for an all around survival weapon, I like the 22. There are a lot companies and models to choose from. Me I am partial to Ruger, made in the good ol' US of A. Can't go wrong with that.

My 22 Rifle of Choice

Now if you are looking for a rifle, then it is hands down, the Ruger 10-22 semi auto rifle. It has got to be one of the best buys for your money.

The great thing about the Ruger 10-22 is that there are many third party companies that sell all sorts of add-ons, modifications, 20, 30, 50 and even 100 round magazines. The 10-22 is a pretty cool weapon, which if you want to have fun modifying it, then this is the weapon for you.

What are you looking for in cost? Again, around $300.00 - $350.00. Very affordable. This is a great varmint weapon that you can use for plinking, hunting and even self defense.

As will all the benefits that I mentioned above regarding the 22, the same goes for the Ruger 10-22. You got cheap ammo, so you get so proficient that you can shoot a fly at 100 yards, or bring home some rabbit dinner if times get lean.

In fact, they sell what is called "Ruger 10/22 Full Auto Simulator" which you simply attach to your trigger guard, and crank for simulated FULL AUTOMATIC FIRE!!!!!!

The "Ruger 10/22 Full Auto Simulator" is easy to install and cranks out rapid fire. This little gem fits most semi-automatic .22 rifles. BUT it is NOT legal to own, carry or sell to residents living in California or other liberal states. So if you want one, move to Texas, then you can send all the lead down range you want. All you just have to worry about reloading your magazines. This little modification costs about $30.00 - $40.00. In fact, mount a Caldwell Lightweight Bipod to the front end of your Ruger 10-22 and with the "Ruger 10/22 Full Auto Simulator" you can do a lot of damage to that gang of rabbits down range that just keep gett'en in your cabbage patch. Folks, that is a lot of rabbit in the pot and a lot of lead down range.

So this is why one of my weapons of choice in a survival situation is the 22. Everyone can shoot and become very proficient with it. Ammo is cheap so you don’t feel guilty about sending 200-300 rounds down range plus you can find ammo everywhere. The cost of getting a 22 is really reasonable and if you are a first time gun owner, the 22 is a great place to start for all the reasons I gave above.

Shooting and hunting is a great sport and an American heritage. In today's political climate we need to be exercising more of our rights and passing on more of our heritage. Because if we don't, we will have neither.