OK, deep south. I was so afraid you were in California or New England and all gun comments would be for naught. We still experience a level of freedom in the south that doesnt exist in certain parts of this country. I'll bet I get attacked for that comment. :)<br>I havent really spent any time around Memphis so I cannot speak for that area, but kerosene is available along the rest of the Tennessee border at nearly any gas station. In Georgia I have seen it as far south as Cartersville. Thats about halfway between Chattanooga and Atlanta. That may be usefull if you come north sometime.

Gator, i was talking about semi-automatic rifles. i agree with you on shotguns, but i was mainly concerned about any other loved ones that may be in her house, a kid might get up and go to the bathroom or something, and end up in the line of fire.<br><br>only reason i menchened the sp101, is because it has a real long trigger pull, and in that time you can decide wether or not you should shoot the person, or wether or not its a bad guy. but i draw the line here, no more talk for me :)<br>

Rhawn - Heck, keep talking. This is all discussion so far; no flames are in sight.

Barb, I'm glad you gathered at least some food for thought. It sounds like your cousin will have good insight as to the best tool for the job. (I will keep him in my thoughts) Also, the clarifications you made will make suggestions much easier. And as far as the title to your post, (stupid question), there are no stupid questions just stupid answers. Just joking. In all seriousness, it is these "stupid questions" that I believe everyone learns at least a little from.! Thanks for asking it.<br><br>Ade, well said! I instantaneously envisioned barb launching 223's through six apartment walls from her ranch rifle.. I like the way Kavanaugh summarized it, ie. the pavlovian bell, that we're all guilty of reacting to at some time or another. <br><br>MKII, Thanks for the clarification on your thoughts regarding rifle vs. shotgun. I reread my post and realized it sounded condescending. My bad, that was not my intention.<br><br>And you are right, with cheap construction and powerful ammo these days, overpenetration is a serious concern. It doesn't matter if it's a shotgun, handgun, or rfile, the ammunition must match it's desired result and enviiornment.<br><br>"only reason i menchened the sp101, is because it has a real long trigger pull, and in that time you can decide wether or not you should shoot the person"<br>First off I love the SP101 it is indeed a great revolver. However, I'm guilty of finding fault in the previous quotation. IMO you should not have your finger on the trigger unless you intend to kill whatever the gun is pointed at, period. A surefire flashligt (E2) by the bedside will eliminate the need to guess what is going bump in the night.<br><br>It is easy to criticize the opinions of others, without offering opinions of your own. So here goes, if you only could get 1 gun and don't want to break the bank, I recommend the mossberg 590. It holds 9 shells and has a 20 inch barrel. Easy enough to move around the bedroom with but also offers enough distance. If you need to shoot farther than the 590 can offer than you probably shouldn't be shooting at all. You can find them used for fairly cheap. Surefire also makes an integral forend, (the place where you actually "cock" the shotgun) which provides illumintation. Avoid non-necessary additions like heat shield (testosterone shield), pistol grip, side saddle, bandoliers, etc. Also avoid magnum loads at first. Try to get proper training with a 12ga. before you make your purchase, that way you'll know if the 12ga is too much gun. I'm sure it will not be as I've taught many small framed, (@100lbs), females to shoot very well. In fact women are usually better shooters after proper training than most men. I guess that all men already "know" how to shoot and this makes it more difficult to break their bad habits and rituals. Good luck and shoot safe.<br><br>Also barb, there are many non-violent ways to deter looters.<br><br>GATOR<br>

Yep, truly deep South! Close to the Coast, and trying to stay away from the pesky mosquitos, the trucks spraying poison (not sure whether it is killing us or the mosquitos!). Some of you asked: I am tall (5'10"), 160 lbs, and work out with weights. And, as far as guns go, the last gun I handled was a revolver back in my single and alone days. I believe that we will lean toward a shotgun for hubby and a .22 rifle for me (either that, or a 20 guage shotgun), but plan trips to a range to try some out first (and plan to be educated also).<br><br>Am grateful for the replies, especially the thoughtfulness, guys. Yes, it does matter to me whether the rounds will go through a wall. I like my neighbors alot, and wouldn't want to be responsible for hurting them. If the worst case scenario happened, we want protection (hopefully unneeded) and a way to provide food, since we do live with woods around us. Heck, we even have doves that come to our feeder, not to mention the wild rabbits and deer (we live in a protected zone . . . and the animals know it!!) ;D<br><br>Was advised to check the old filling stations and co-ops locally for kerosene. One more reason to stock up, with it so hard to find! I was told that the building supply store stocked it "in season". You would think that hurricane season was considered "in season". <br><br>Oh, well. Thanks again so much!! You are all greatly appreciated, as we try to educate ourselves and begin making wise decisions.<br><br>Barb G<br><br>

There are no dumb questions, but there are dumb answers. In the spirit of celebrating Male Answer Syndrome, I offer the following in the hope it's not considered dumb. <br><br>Many emergency situations actually preclude the use of firearms, and as such they become yet another valuable and potentially dangerous item left behind. Consider storing your firearm in a pushbutton combination lock safe, and recording the serial number for insurance and other records. <br><br>All that said, I would not consider a self-loading rifle to be an optimum choice for an emergency firearm. As mentioned before by others, rifle ammunition is just too dangerous to use for defense in dense living environments. Also, practice with a bolt action rifle is very necessary before mastering a semi-auto. <br><br>I also personally would not choose a shotgun, as shot patterns become wider over distance and this increases the chances of your hitting things you are not aiming at. People who prefer shotguns try to get around this by loading birdshot in a home defense shotgun. However, birdshot may not incapacitate a potential attacker.<br><br>Hence I recommend a handgun for home and camp/trail defense. If you choose a revolver, you're pretty much limited to types that chamber .38 Special+P, .357Magnum, or .44 Special caliber ammunition, and to 5" or shorter barrel lengths. The previously mentioned Ruger SP101 is anexcellent choice. <br><br>For a self-loading handgun, your choices are limited to 9mm Luger, .357 Sig, .40 S&W, or .45 ACP. Virtually all pistols in this class have barrel lengths of between 3" and 4", and that's just fine. The Sigarms P239 is an excellent choice, available in the first three calibers mentioned above.<br><br>I some longterm outdoor scenarios, I can see the need for a rifle, in which case a bolt action or lever action model will do fine. To save on logistics, consider a .357 magnum revolver paired with a lever action rifle in the same caliber, such as the Marlin 1894 Carbine. <br><br>If weight is a factor, a longer barreled revolver in .45 Long Colt can be used for defense against bears and hostile people in the field as well as for hunting, but makes a poor choice for home defense. Modern .45 LC loads are essentially magnum cartridges. The .44 Magnum also falls in this category. <br><br>Above all, learn not only how to handle a gun safely, but to shoot accurately. <br><br>Hope this helps.

" but plan trips to a range to try some out first (and plan to be educated also)."<br><br><br>Best move you could make.

Barb,<br><br>It sounds like you're approaching this matter very wisely. Your choices will help you to learn shooting & related subjects well. As your knowledge, experience, skill, & ability grow, you will be able to develop a sound defensive battery, the capability of using properly, & the knowledge of when & how to utilize it.<br><br>If your husband is of similar size, you may even be able to use each others guns well.<br><br>Keep on asking question.<br><br>Good luck,<br><br>John

Wow. I'm sure the poor lady is completely overwhelmed.<br><br>It's evident that we have far more people who feel qualified to speak up on firearms than we used to. I've seen some opinions that I agree with, some that, though no "expert" myself, I'm pretty darn certain are misinformed. People tend to be pretty opinionated when lives are on the line, which is certainly their right. It's a testament to the civility of this forum that the thread has remained very polite- I don't know of another place where that's likely. But... how is she going to seperate the wheat from the chaff?<br><br>Well, adding my own opinions to the mix certainly won't help the situation. <br><br>Unfortunately, I was brought up in a non-gun household, so, decades ago, I was in a similar position, and I remember the tons of misinformation I had to deal with even then- then, much of it was from dealers, magazines and self-appointed experts at the range. So much of it is contradictory you know that a great deal of it has to be wrong, and it doesn't seem that the situation has gotten better with time.<br><br>I don't think there's any shortcut for doing the research , experimentation, and practice to arrive at the solution that's best for you- and it certainly won't be identical to mine, and it might even be much different than that of another physically similar person in a similar situation. In some ways, that's too bad, but it really is your life and those of your loved ones on the line, so no one else can shoulder the responsibility for you. There are few things you'll decide in you whole life with greater potential importance. <br><br>Thankfully, we still have a choice. Please do begin to exercise the right while it still exists.<br><br>On the less controversial points, I researched the storage life of kerosene myself a few years back, and found surprisingly little infomration, though I've seen it stated more than once as "AT LEAST 15 years", and the experience of others tends to bear that out. Don't ask me what you do with it if it does get really old, but if you find out, I'd sure be interested. :-) No doubt I can get flamed even for this, but I REALLY don't advise considering it for jet fuel. :-)<br><br>Even in this highly-yuppified suburban area I've been able to find kerosene pumps in gas stations, usually those sporting the lesser-known brands of gasoline. I suspect that it's formulated to store well because the companies themselves have no idea how long it will be in tanks in the ground before it's sold, unlike gasoline. Judging from the time lag between news from the Middle East and gas price hikes, those underground tanks must empty and have to be replenished at higher wholesale costs every 10 minutes or so. Funny it doesn't seem to work the other way- they always qualify good news by saying that it might take months for wholesale price cuts to "show up at the pumps". ;-)

Just saw Kerosene at Home Depot in 5 Gallon cans, 17.99. They also had a fine little indoor 23000 BTU kerosene heater for $62 on sale.