The Nation's Pulse/Guns for the Home
YATES, BROCK
Guns for the Home by Brock Yates S omewhere beyond the left's woozy strains of "We Are Family" and the full-auto barrages from the leatherslappers of the National Rifle Association, we seek...
...For more information, please contact Eric Licht (president) at Coalitions for America, 717 Second Street, Northeast, Washington, D.C...
...Obviously a fair number of the shooters are drug dealers engaged in turf battles, or drunken galoots whacking away at assorted relatives...
...Guns for the Home by Brock Yates S omewhere beyond the left's woozy strains of "We Are Family" and the full-auto barrages from the leatherslappers of the National Rifle Association, we seek rational talk about normal people defending themselves with firearms...
...On the other end of the armaments scale are those dainty little pearl-handled .25-caliber automatics that Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck whip out of their handbags, but their sting is so light that they sucThe American Spectator April 1992 53 ceed only in making an assailant even surlier...
...It is empowering conservatives to do again what we did in 1980: Win...
...Keep the thing loaded at your bedside, where it can be used quickly (but hide it when the kids are around...
...There are legions of bad guys out there...
...No harm, no foul...
...We are currently looking for grass roots entrepreneurs to establish additional local network affiliates...
...Revolvers are the old standbys—the six-shooters perfected by Samuel Colt and his famed Frontier and Peacemaker .45s of the Old West...
...Nothing more, nothing less...
...meant by the "right to keep and bear arms...
...OFFICE AND THREW out eight liberal Democratic Senators...
...This stubby, German-designed beauty has a number of attractive features, including excellent engineering, near-pocket size, an exposed hammer (it can never be cocked without your knowing it), and a double-action trigger (you fire the first shot simply by releasing the safety and pulling the trigger, presuming a round is already chambered...
...Polite goodbyes were exchanged, and my friends departed unharmed...
...The PPK's ammo is basically a "short" version of the vaunted 9mm round...
...in an emergency your half-dozen shots will have to do the job...
...They possess massive stopping power...
...Better yet, bad guys would rather face the entire Iraqi Republican Guard than a shotgun at close range...
...presuming this makes sense, what is one to do about the personal armaments race...
...It should also be noted that shotgun ownership is relatively unrestricted in most municipalities and requires minimal permits...
...Several years ago a friend of mine and his wife were traveling in the California high desert when they were surrounded by a motorcycle gang at a highway rest stop...
...Big pistols, like shotguns, carry with them a bonus "fear factor," and sound like small nuclear devices when they go off...
...But let's hope it never comes to that...
...It is simple to use, most reliable, and makes sufficient noise to wake the dead...
...The mere presence of a handgun or rifle is often sufficient to deter an assault...
...The PPK is but one of several high-quality, compact seven-shot (eight if a round is chambered) automatics presently available in the $300-$500 range...
...All that notwithstanding, the mean streets are getting meaner...
...And the gun, fire is about as intense in locales with draconian firearm restrictions (New York, Washington) as in cities where guns can be purchased with a six-pack of Bud and a tank of high-test...
...This trend is hardly to be celebrated, but the instinct for self-preservation will not be abolished through lofty intentions and mushy rehabilitation pro-grams...
...Getting hit by a heavy, slow-moving .45 slug is akin to being slapped with the flat of a shovel (a smaller, faster-moving 9mm might whistle through flesh without inflicting serious injury...
...The networks, the New York Times, the Washington Post, et al...
...We did it by combining new ideas with grass roots political organizing...
...Before we actually choose our weapons, we must answer a basic question: Exactly what are we trying to do with a gun...
...Yet what are the alternatives...
...But the public has begun to take the law into its own hands...
...The bureaucracy hates intrusions on its turf, and will sometimes treat an innocent citizen trying to ward off harm more harshly than a criminal...
...It must be used as a deterrent if at all possible and as a machine of deadly force only as a last resort...
...What sort of ordnance are we talking about...
...That blued hunk of metal in your pocket may be your only salvation...
...But they are bulky and difficult for the layman to reload quickly...
...And we are also aware that august legal minds of every political stripe, not to mention the editors of Guns and Ammo, have carried on numbing debates about exactly what Messrs...
...A 12-gauge pump shotgun is a fine home defense weapon...
...Such a weapon is well suited for automobile travel (as is a large-caliber revolver, if one so chooses) but cannot be easily hauled around in a business suit or small briefcase...
...But what about caliber...
...More often than not, a shot or two aimed out a bedroom window will scare off the intruders and alarm the neighborhood at the same time...
...Most revolvers can be buried in a swamp for years and still work...
...armies of nascent Bernhard Goetzes are forming from coast to coast...
...Still, the chance of average law-abiding citizens being raped, mugged, assaulted, or robbed in their own homes has soared in the last fifty years, giving rise to nationwide concern, of which karate classes, neighborhood watches, and booming sales of Mace, guard dogs, and security systems are all manifestations...
...The ominous, metallic chunk-chunk of a pump shotgun's action was immediately followed by the pitter-patter of footsteps rushing into the darkness...
...The American Spectator April 1992 55...
...If nothing else, it makes a wonderful walking companion and is infinitely cleaner than a Rottweiler...
...an—remain insulated from street-level predators) as yet, another lurch toward neo-fascist paranoia...
...Packed into a modern automatic like the Beretta or the much-improved Ruger P85 are fifteen or sixteen rapid-fire shots, depending on the clip...
...Another acquaintance, upon hearing the rustlings of an intruder in his suburban home, simply slammed a round of buckshot into the breech of his Winchester shotgun...
...This phenomenon is perceived by the national news media (most of whom—with the exception of muggee Dan Rather and Quick-Draw Carl RowBrock Yates is the author, most recently, of Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races (Doubleday...
...Call or write now for further details and help get the conservative movement moving again...
...Pacifism is one...
...Dirty Harry's monster .44 Magnum is perfect for knocking over small buildings, but carrying one is akin to walking around with a crowbar stuffed down one's pantleg...
...CI Ideas + Technology = Empowerment I N 1980, CONSERVATIVES PUT RONALD REAGAN IN...
...toll-free 1-800-525-4992...
...Nor is inflicting a horrible wound, if it can be avoided...
...Two notes of caution: (1) Forget the romance that surrounds assault rifles...
...My personal favorite is the time-honored Walther PPK, the .380 ACP cal...
...Then what is left...
...Killing someone is not the central issue...
...Otherwise forget it and join the Unitarian Church...
...There is a vast choice of such weapons, large- and small-caliber, revolvers and automatics...
...Using the latest in high-technology satellite television, this movement is building the first true nationwide network that links conservative thinkers and leaders in Washington with activists all around the country...
...2) If you choose to keep a shotgun, don't lock SARKES TARZIAN INC O WRCB, CHANNEL 3, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE KTVN, CHANNEL 2: RENO, NEVADA WTTS, 92,3 FM, BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA WGCL, 1370 AM, BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA WAJI, 95.1 FM, FORT WAYNE, INDIANA CENTRAL OFFICE, BOX 62, BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA 47402 TELEPHONE 812 332 7251 Providing the Best Radio and Television Service 54 The American Spectator April 1992 it away in a closet and expect the intruders to courteously stand down while you put on your bathrobe and slippers, then poke around for your weapon and your box of shells...
...The European 9mm, having replaced the aged .38 thanks to higher velocity and improved range and accuracy, is the current designer round...
...One is bound to hit something with that volley of lead, and, at the veryleast, impede the progress of all but the most suicidal attacker...
...The larger sizes—say anything beyond .41—require monster frames to handle the shock of detonation, and are difficult to carry around without looking like one of John Gotti's bodyguards...
...cluck endlessly about the barbarity of selling handguns and rifles to secretaries, housewives, software salesmen, shoe clerks, and social-science teachers...
...The mission of a handgun is to prevent someone from harming you, to make them stop doing what they are doing...
...Any potential for mischief ended when the gang leader said howdy to the Muzzle of a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum when he poked his head into the car window...
...These semi-automatics fire high-velocity, small-caliber bullets suitable only for long-range sport shooting and close-in military or ghetto-style firefights...
...The family that loads together, explodes together...
...Yes, yes, we know that law enforcement authorities become apoplectic at the thought of citizens trying to fight off bad guys on their own, but the cops have so far failed to explain how one dials 911 while being mugged...
...This means it has good short-range hitting power and, thanks to its short barrel, produces a howitzer-sized roar (one warningshot fired into the air can often preclude further action, which is exactly what we're aiming at in the first place...
...Reliance on the cops is another, providing they aren't too busy chasing speeders or writing parking tickets...
...Madison and Co...
...What is needed is a smaller, more compact weapon that will pack sufficient wallop to scare, and perhaps disable...
...By contrast, automatics—like the 9mm Beretta used by the military and many police agencies—carry as many as fifteen rounds and can be reloaded in a wink, but they are complex mechanisms and can jam if not kept oiled and clean...
...A home defense weapon they are not...
...Handguns are a bit more complicated...
...After all, a few stray 12-gauge rounds can raise hell with the furniture, not to mention the draperies and the wedding crystal...
...20002...
...The mid-range calibers-9mm, .38 caliber, .38 special, .357 Magnum etc.—are more compact, but still have adequate hitting power...
...Clearly, discharging a weapon, to say nothing of shooting someone, can often produce more grief for the defender than the attacker...
...Prayer can never be discounted, although, as has often been noted, our Lord works in mysterious ways (and not always to our immediate advantage...
...Airport security people have no sense of humor at all about 9mm automatics...
...9mm "Kurtz") automatic employed by James Bond...
...Now, a new grass roots conservative movement is taking shape...
...Groups can make money through the network, and you or your group can move from entrepreneur to distributorby setting up additional groups...
...Modern automatics are extremely reliable, and considering their compact size and ease of use, they are the weapon of choice, especially for a woman or a man with small hands...
Vol. 25 • April 1992 • No. 4
