Nope.  This isn’t another scenario of, “Well, if someone broke in I’d shoot him,” with the usual argument afterwards of, “You say you would, but you don’t know if you would until it really happens.”

Think she would shoot to kill?

I submit to you the story of Sarah McKinley, an 18 year old recently widowed mother of a three month old son, who found herself in a scary situation.  If you haven’t heard about this yet please click the link above and check it out.

Here’s the short version:

On New Years Eve she was in her home in Oklahoma with her three month old son when 24 year old Justin Martin broke in brandishing a knife.

It took Martin and his accomplice, Dustin Stewart, about twenty minutes to break in and when Martin finally broke through the door she was on the other side with a shotgun load of goodies just for him.    What happened?  Let’s just say that Martin is spending the new year and the rest of eternity in a place where he won’t have a problem staying warm.

During the interview on one of the news channels she says something to the effect of, “I wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t for the baby.”  But she did do it and now she and her baby are safe.

In the end it comes down to means and motivation.  She had the means to protect herself with a pistol and a shotgun, and the motivation was provided by her son.  Would she have done the same if her son wasn’t there?  Who knows?

I won’t go into a lot of detail here because you can read the story and watch the video (with the 911 recording) for yourself, but I will note a few remarkable things:  1)  This young woman seemed calm as a cucumber, 2)  She did all the right things (in my opinion) in this situation up to and including pulling the trigger, 3)  The other guy turned himself in after the incident and is now being charged with murder.

That’s it.

Now, what do YOU think?  Should she have waited and just let these guys take drugs or money or whatever they wanted?  (In which case Martin would probably still be alive.)

Would you have done the same thing in her situation?  Would you have shot early or waited?  Or maybe not shot at all?

Let’s hear what you think in the comments below.

-Jarhead Survivor

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Reader “EA” sends me an email that states:

Maybe I missed it, but why have you not put in any body armor posts? Like bullet proof vests, helmets, etc.? Or did I miss this? I would think you would want this kind of gear for any survival SHTF situation.

Then I think, holy crap, I really don’t have any body armor posts … and perhaps a bit coincidentally, I haven’t written a post about THIS:

It’s an old, heavy piece of body armor that I got … for free! Jealous much? I would be, too. Don’t ask how or why, I didn’t loot it. I didn’t steal it. Someone I know that comes across a lot of old stuff texted me a couple months ago and writes “u want an old suit of body armor?” I read that, do a double take, and type “hell ya!”

What exactly is it? I don’t know. It’s old, used, came from a correctional facility. I suspect the correctional facility upgraded their body armor and the old stuff just got dumped, left somewhere, or who knows what?

Here is a stamp on the suit of armor in case any old body armor experts out there can help a homie out:

I write back to “EA” and say, “great idea – thanks – content to come.”

Little did he know I actually know very little …. about body armor. I’ve just always had other SHTF preparedness needs that my budget never got to body armor level. I know it comes at different levels, different grades, and prices rise accordingly. That’s all I know. That is the end of this body armor post.

Except it’s not.

EA responds:

Cool, I think body armor would come in handy if you’re going to get into any gun fights, then having body armor is just as important as a gun. I mean, cops, swat, army wear them, so why not a survivalist? It would really give you a big advantage in any combat situation as almost nobody has body armor. There is what like 30 million guns in America, but maybe hardly any non law enforcement person has any kind of bullet proof vest.

Ummmm ….. yes, I suppose it would ……

Did I ever mention the person I know also found me a military grade Kevlar helmet once?

I sold it on eBay.

Dumb.

- Ranger Man

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Yo yo yo, ho ho ho, preparedness peeps. Here’s an end of the month shout out to all of you faithful followers that used the Amazon search bar here for your holiday shopping this month – shout out! Thanks for the small commission Amazon sends.

On that note, Santa gave me … THIS:

No, no, no, not the Smith and Wesson 638 Bodyguard Airweight .38 Special +P J Frame conceal and carry revolver. To the right of that, the Crimson Trace laser grip. I’ll tell ya, Santa really knows how to treat a guy. This is one of those items where, with my budget, I’d really have to think long and hard about, but with Santa’s budget – no problem!

I mean, if you’re packing concealed while buying a 6-pack of beer 1/2 gallon of milk at the local convenience store, and a thug pimp playa decides to throw down on the cashier, whooping out a 9mm and threatening to bust a cap on her, do you really want to take the time to aim that snub nose .38 or do you just want grab and – ooh, look at that – LASER!

Exaaaactly!

Installing this thing was slick as that which hits the fan. I just unscrewed the original grip, spread the Crimson Trace grip open, threw in a couple of batteries (came included), screwed the new, more attractive looking grip on, and shazam!

But wait! Here’s the best part:

No, I haven’t had a chance to take it to the range yet to adjust the laser for thug-distance range, but I will. The thing I like about this is that there’s just no thinking involved. You’re in a stressful situation, someone is breaking into your home, your heart is racing fast, just grab and point. Thanks, Santa!

What’d he put in YOUR stocking?

- Ranger Man

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