Freeze, Heathen

Second cup of coffee, second blog post.

Today I found out that some items I ordered from Israeli-weapons.com are on the way. I can’t wait. I wanted to keep my Vz58 stock, with the weird old plastic-and-wood furniture, but it turned out it was not practical, so I ordered some stuff to help me mount a laser and flashlight properly.

I have a polymer foregrip on the way, plus two pistol grips, front and rear. The front grip has an incorporated flashlight mount. I also ordered a laser mount. This combination should enable me to operate the light and laser without taking my hands off the pistol grips. Because my gun is a folder, I may be able to hold it at hip height while shooting, which would be a huge advantage indoors.

Shooting a folded rifle is generally considered to be a stupid idea. You can’t use the sights. But does that matter when you’re a civilian protecting your house? The distances you’ll be working with will never reach a hundred feet, so it seems like a laser should be more than adequate. And you can’t see ordinary rifle sights in the dark anyway.

I don’t think recoil would be an issue. The Vz58’s recoil is not all that bad. Not to me, anyway. I need to find a permissive gun range so I can find out.

One of the most notorious Internet videos features a police officer being shot over and over by a man holding an M1 carbine at hip level, without a laser. By the time he shouldered the rifle and used the sights, he had already won the gunfight. But he did use the sights in the end. Does that mean shooting a folded long gun is a bad idea? Can’t tell unless I get a chance to try it. It’s a bummer, living in a place where I can’t walk outside and start shooting.

I used to shoot from the hip all the time, and I had no problem hitting things, but I was using BB guns and video game guns. Not a great way to test the theory.

When this junk arrives, I’ll have to sit down and do a parts count and make sure I’m not violating federal law.

I decided not to get a pistol grip with a built-in bipod. This is a pretty neat invention, but in a self-defense situation, how likely are you to shoot from a prone position? The flashlight mount seemed like a better choice.

I haven’t been able to shoot my long guns folded, but I’ve been able to use my lasers, and guess what? They work. If the dot is on the bad guy when you pull the trigger, he’s going to get shot. People criticize lasers, but I’ve seen all sorts of shootout videos on the web, and I’ve noticed that virtually every shooter misses over and over, and that they often don’t use their sights. I don’t see how a laser can be anything but helpful. The sights will still be there, if you get a chance to use them. When an armed idiot is in your house threatening your safety, the shooting will probably last less than ten seconds. I think you want a system that will give you the best possible chance of hitting something other than the ceiling during that time. To me, that means a laser.

I really like 7.62 x 39mm for self-defense. The meanest pistol on earth has puny stopping power in comparison, and pistols are harder to aim, and my rifle holds 30 rounds. What’s not to love? I like the 12-gauge better, but it has more recoil, and the magazines are smaller.

Last night I was the guy who accompanied my church’s ushers when they counted up the offering. I realized what a big responsibility this is, and what the risks are. You’re in a locked room with a steel door that’s hard to force open but easy to shoot through, and you don’t know what’s happening outside. They need a camera in there, to film people who approach the door.

We’re working on security training. Might as well know what we’re doing.

I think somebody in the church should always have access to a long gun. Pistols are fun, but they seem pretty pathetic in real-life shootouts. It seems like a pistol’s usefulness decreases as the suddenness of the encounter increases. If you can lie in wait with your pistol drawn, great, but if you have to yank it out in a hurry, the likelihood of missing seems to go up fast.

Famed church defender Jeanne Assam worked a near-miracle when she shot an armed intruder repeatedly from a distance of over sixty feet. At that range (or a fifth of it), most people armed with pistols would miss. Even more amazing: the guy she disabled was using a Bushmaster. If some crazed doofus shows up at your church with a rifle or shotgun, you don’t want to be fifty feet or fifty yards away, holding a Glock with a 3″ barrel. It’s great that Jeanne Assam succeeded, but it’s almost always better to be the guy with the rifle.

It sounds silly to talk about weapons and church, but before Jeanne Assam put him down, Matthew Murray killed two people and shot three more. Defensive weapons are only silly until you need them. And if you never need them, what have you lost by buying them? A few hundred bucks. You can’t even treat a minor gunshot wound for that kind of money. And they don’t hurt anyone while they’re sitting in storage. As we all know, guns don’t actually kill people.

The main reason for carrying isn’t to be a cop wannabe who waves a pistol and orders people around; it’s self-defense, just like it would be in your living room. But in any big church, some members will have the training to use guns to defend others, and they ought to have the tools they need.

I look forward to putting this stuff on my rifle and taking a trip to the range.

Last night, the leader of my church’s armorbearers called on me to say the prayer at the end of the evening. I was totally flustered, but I managed to put in a reference I thought was helpful.

Over the last few months, I’ve often asked for guidance as to which scriptures to read, and over and over, I hear “Nehemiah.” A few days ago, I picked up my Bible at the start of the day, and it fell open to the first page of Nehemiah.

What did Nehemiah do? He rebuilt Jerusalem. He rebuilt the temple and the city walls. His enemies tried to kill him, and they also wanted to kill the people who helped him. So Nehemiah and his helpers developed a habit of working with one hand and holding a sword in the other. Last night, I prayed that the armorbearers would be like Nehemiah and his friends, building God’s house while remaining ready to defend his people and keep them safe.

On the way home, a thought occurred to me. “The sword of the Spirit, like any sword, only works when carried on the person.” I think we should be armed physically, as Nehemiah and his friends were, but they were probably also intended to be spiritual examples. If you don’t learn scripture, how can you think you have the sword of the Spirit? As I see it, the sword of the Spirit only exists in two forms: the written word of God, and the things the Holy Spirit says through us today, through the spiritual gifts. If you don’t know the written word of God, you’re missing a big part of your armament.

Nehemiah carried his sword with him, like an extension of himself. We should carry God’s word in our minds, so it’s always ready to use. It’s the best concealed weapon you can have, and it doesn’t require a permit. Yet.

My advice: load your magazines. Memorize scripture during lulls in battle, so you’ll have it ready when your enemy comes calling.