Do You Have Your Four Year Plan?

Readers of ThruMyLens know that I’ve done three articles this year detailing my efforts to stock up on firearms, magazines, and ammunition in the event that November of 2016 would have brought about political change which would in turn bring new and draconian gun control measures (you can click on the blue links to read my articles from February, June, and September).  Basically, all of 2016 I stocked up.  It’s something I’ve actually been working on since about the 2012 time frame – slowly accumulating I wouldn’t want to be without if a drastic assault against the 2nd Amendment came to be.  But this year, again due to the impending election, accellerated my pace in some areas.

Now that the election is over with positive (albeit surprising) results for firearms owners, some might be tempted to say “boy, you sure were a sucker to have spent all that money on ammo!  Ha!”  I sure don’t see it that way.  I’ve now got enough ammunition to make it comfortably six months without making any alterations in how I currently compete and train.  I compete in both 3-Gun and USPSA, and I burn quite a bit of ammo shooting in matches.  Add to that defensive training courses I take, and practice ammunition, and I can burn through 1000-2000 rounds of both 9mm and .223 in a given month.  So having a nice supply of both of these mainstay calibers is definitely a good thing – I think there will continue to be factors which cause fluctuations in the ammo market impacting both supply and cost.  Being able to go a few months without buying is ultimately save money.  So with Trump in the White House, and a Republican controlled House and Senate, we’re safe, right?  Well, for the time being we’re safe.  But that safety could last for only 4 years.  Trump won, in many respects, by the thinnest of margins – and lost the popular vote.  Trump’s re-election in four years is anything but certain, and so is a Repulican controlled legislature.  So we have to look at the next four years as an extended opportunity to prepare for the political climate turning against us as firearms owners, and continue to stock up and prepare for the worst.  But how much is enough?

For many, if not most of us, buying enough ammunition to last a lifetime just isn’t practical.   Even if one had the resources to procure that amount of ammunition, storing it becomes a problem unto itself.  So how much is enough?  For me, it’s enough rounds to make it through 4-8 years of being unable to buy ammunition – essentially how long it would take for a new administration to be elected and undo whatever the previous administration did to prevent me from being able to buy ammo.  By augmenting my training with .22LR, I could maintain proficiency with as little as 100 rounds per month of either 9mm or .223.  So doing some quick match, with 10,000 rounds of 9mm, and 10,000 rounds of .223, I could make it a bit over 8 years.

With 10,000 rounds each of 9mm and .223 being my goal, I’m about 60% of the way there currently.  Which means I can buy an extra 1000 rounds each of 9mm and .223 each year over the next four years and make my goal.  I bought twice that amount just this year, so that shouldn’t be too punishing at all – that’s an extra $500.00 a year over four years at current prices.

Fortunately for me, I already have enough magazines for all my primary weapon platforms to make it through a very extended buying drought.

                                                My tub of surplus magazines.

Likewise, I have all the firearms I really need if some sort of ban were handed down.  Of course, we all want more.  So for me, it really is just a question of acquiring a little additional surplus ammunition.

On the bright side, an additional four years of freedom will provide opportunities to explore areas of firearms I haven’t previously.  Suppressors for one – there’s all sorts of speculation that there’s support for the National Hearing Protection Act will finally get passed, which would take suppressors off of the NFA Naughty List requiring a tax stamp.  SBR’s (short barrel rifles) is another.  A nice suppressed, SBR version of the SIG MPX would make a heckuva home defense weapon.

In conclusion, we may have won the fight this past November in defeating Hillary Clinton, but the war against 2nd Amendment rights wages on.  Be prepared.