The Algiers Point Militia story was especially interesting to me, because Broad Ripple is likewise very close to some unpleasant neighborhoods. Twenty blocks south of where I'm sitting and you are smack in the middle of a neighborhood known as War Zone D by the po-po.
The other day, I saw a post at III Percent Patriots entitled "Arming Thy Neighbors" and was intrigued at the line
Some of your neighbors may be useful to you, even if they are stupid, Useful Idiots today.Think about that. Specifically, think about how that's phrased, and the mindset behind it.
The Algiers Point Militia worked because the neighbors knew each other. I know my neighbor. She may be a registered, politically active Democrat who I think is wrong on nearly every political issue, but we get along okay.
And because we get along okay, on the day when her votes pay off and the sky to the south of us turns red, I'll be handing a .38 revolver* to a friend who will help protect our neighborhood, not someone whose name I don't even know, whose only interaction with me has been dueling lawn signs every election season.
As a matter of fact, if your neighbor is somebody whose name for the past four years has been "Get your damn cat off my lawn you Prius-driving hippie!", you might want to think twice about handing them a loaded gun. There's a chance that their opinion of you might be just as low as yours is of them.
*I have even cleverly arranged a range trip as soon as the weather warms up. She wants to learn how to shoot a gun. I think some clay pigeons and some easy steel targets and a dialed-in dot-sighted M&P15-22 to make it stupid easy to hit them should be enough to get anybody hooked. My cunning plan is coming together...
Ayup.... good skull sweat involved here.
ReplyDeleteI have three 'neighbors'. One set would be thieving low lifes... and they have determined that it's best to leave us very much alone.
Another is quite well armed, thank you, and we are very good friends indeed.
The last set, the 'new people', are darn nice folks... and are self admittedly unarmed. For them, I have several items set aside already... mostly involving very simple buckshot dispensing devices that are dirt simple to use. Should they have the need, the way has been prepared....
In my rural neighborhood, I'm hard pressed to name a household that isn't armed.
ReplyDeleteI live in the suburbs and don't know which neighbors have guns. I can think of 3 I would loan guns to in a crisis (they wouldn't be the pick of my relatively small litter). I wouldn't want to be the only house in the neighborhood repulsing boarders.
ReplyDeleteSeveral others are a definite "no".
Jerry,
ReplyDeleteGood! How well do you know these armed people?
Very well, actually. I grew up with most of them. I've got to go introduce myself to the guy with the McMansion down the way but I've heard he's ok.
ReplyDeleteI have a few loaner items, but as most of the folk near me are, uh, seasoned citizens, or transient renters who only stick around for about 6 months...makes me want to move but I can't beat the rent for the space I have.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things you can do for the day to day, pre apocalypse protection of your property, your personal safety, your political goals, and your mental health is KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOURS.
ReplyDeleteSay hello when you see them. Offer to feed their dog when they are away. Be a good neighbour.
I never understood people fucking with their neighbors. I happen to have lucked out fairly well with mine. Still even if they were moonbat dorks, the only way a feud will end well is with one or both of us moving....which I won't bet my lunch money on.
ReplyDeleteSo I generally make nice because these are the people I may need to watch my back if SHTF, or borrow a cup of sugar, or who might call 911 when they see smoke or thugs coming out of my home.
First off, excellent plan on taking the new neighbor shooting (but you knew that...) :)
ReplyDeleteSecondly, well, not to divulge too much, but I know that several of my neighbors are armed (across the street I introduced to shooting 5 years ago, and next door is my retired MA cop father...). Within sight of my house are two other households that have members of my gun club in them.
I hate my state, but I love my town...
I watched my neighborhood collapse around me. For reasons of infirmity and job change, people sold and moved. I wound up stuck between 2 houses, both of which wound up in foreclosure and whose occupants - and their "associates" - posed an equal or greater danger than any who would infiltrate the neighborhood for nefarious purposes.
ReplyDeleteI got out. In my new neighborhood I find I am adequately armed, but just barely. I'm going to have to buy more guns just to keep up.
You make a good case for picking up a couple of single shot 20 gauge shotguns and some buckshot. Nice thing about that is the relative lack of expense and expertise needed for non-dedicated folks. Five minutes with a dummy round or three and they represent a lethal threat to evildoers.
ReplyDeleteKnowing one's neighbors is nearly always a good thing. I know some of mine only too well through our HOA meetings, which has led me to assess that most of the busy-bodies who would run our collective lives would be a risk to the collective good. On the plus side, I do know who could mostly likely be trusted to secure their "sector".
ReplyDeleteStaghounds is absolutely right. Since moving to rural Virginia five years ago, I've developed a much deeper appreciation for my neighbors. They've taught this clueless cityboy an incredible amount about "country survival" and i hope i've been able to contribute something to them in return. And because many of them are avid shooters, there are at least four "backyard shooting ranges" within a half-mile radius of our house, so there's always someplace to practice. That's nice.
ReplyDeleteI figured shoveling the neighbor's snow, mowing their lawns, and doing other small miscellaneous chores would only pay off after the SWAT team picks me off the clock-tower.
ReplyDelete"He was always such a NICE man!"
My cunning plan is coming "together..."
ReplyDeleteEeeeexcelllent!
A bit like BoatGuy. Since I'm on the Board of the HOA I know there are a few Liberals who might actually defend their children - not too sure about setting-up a perimeter defense though, except at our corner.
ReplyDelete"Pakkinpoppa said...
ReplyDeleteI have a few loaner items, but as most of the folk near me are, uh, seasoned citizens"
Seasoned citizens?
In some cases that means they have been collecting much longer. An don't get me started on the ammo put away for the great-great grandchildren.
So now what am I supposed to do with the crates of AKs and collanders I picked up for my Army of the Apockylispe.
ReplyDeleteTwo of my neighbors, learned how to shoot AK types in the soviet army and if they don't already have a little stash would definitely be loaned a similar weapon by me.
ReplyDeleteAnother neighbor is a good old fashioned, book of Mormon following family that probably has enough food and supplies stashed to feed the neighborhood. If they don't just dash off to the local post-apocalypse Latter Day Temple of SHTF, and they don't have any - they'll get a loaner as well.
The rest? Who knows. Depends on which ill wind is blowing as to which group we would be protecting ourselves from.
One of my immediate neighbors is a hard-core gunnie like me. We've shot together and have a plan. That plan includes dealing with another neighbor who has "joked" several times about how, when "the day" comes, he'll be using HIS guns to acquire the food of other neighbors that he doesn't like.
ReplyDeleteI have trained up others in the area to shoot and I also keep track of which houses in the immediate area are vacant due to foreclosures and the like so that should the big metro area to the east come untwisted, friends of mine from that area will have places to stay, at least until the crisis passes. It goes without saying that I also have some extra supplies stocked here for that sort of extended-stay company. My neighborhood may nook like a long-term blog shoot, but we'll be safe and secure for the duration.
By "seasoned citizens" I mean...80+. Nice, but the guy next door to me, well, his wife revealed he's got the beginnings of dementia.
ReplyDeleteOn the other side, I've got...well, 60 and clueless, 80 and clueless, and behind, trashy and likely thuggy.
Nothing against the next door neighbor, but if it goes sideways he'd be as likely to forget I was a neighbor. The thugs behind me have two vicious dogs, and by the time the lawn gets mowed, its tall enough they can hide in it.
I'm pondering if things go sideways, to have convinced the parents to have stowed enough over there that whatever I leave behind won't be as sorely missed if I have to, well, head there RIGHT NOW.
Most of my neighbors own guns but I might be the only one who could equip a fire team with weapons, magazines and ammo.
ReplyDeleteI still need at least one crew served weapon damn it!
Gerry
He's trying to awaken the Sheeple again ...
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna assume you chose not to write "Mwa-ha, mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha..." after "together...", not that you didn't think it.
ReplyDelete;)
WV: racuma - the non-lethal solution to the pesky trash bandits