I'd Appreciate If You Didn't Grab My Asp

TOR posted a link to Women of Caliber a while back and I started browsing it because, well, as a single mom being prepared to defend yourself and your family is NEVER a bad thing. It's written by women self-defense instructors, so I knew it wasn't just someone blowing smoke.

It should be mentioned (I'm not sure that I've really blogged about it) TOR and Ryan the 3L have both been bugging me about being more prepared for home defense. And although something happening to the Boy is my biggest reason to have a home firearm, it's also my biggest concern about having one. He is horribly curious, and is also a ninja. There is not a way for me to safety store a loaded weapon in my home, short of in one of those safes that only open for your fingerprint (and I don't have that kind of $$$ just hanging around). We (the Ryan's and I, as well as others) have been considering and weighing options for more then a year, but I just haven't found one I can with good conscience settle on yet. Now, back to the subject.

I was browsing Women of Caliber and saw an article called Don't You Dare Touch My Asp. Considering my hesitation about getting a firearm, I can't believe I'd never thought of one. Now, I've never personally owned an Asp. A friend of ours had one growing up (which tells you a bit about how we all grew up), so I've seen it used and I would feel comfortable wielding one. They are very simple, but when used correctly can inflict a lot of damage. And as Kellene pointed out in her article, even if you can't manage to telescope the baton out, having a 6 inch- 2 lb hunk of steel in your hands is going to give any hits you get in quite a bit more impact.

I consulted TOR, and I think he generally agrees with me that an asp could be a solution for me considering my circumstances (although I'll let him speak for himself on the one). Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to look around some in town and see if I can't find one at a decent price. My dad (who used to be in law enforcement) also agreed to do lend me his melon for practicing on. No, I don't plan to actually hit him, but we are going to do some scenario type stuff. Practice makes perfect, and I'd rather not freeze up should I need to use the asp to defend myself.

Armed and fabulous.

So recently we started our gun collection. My husband almost died from joy when I not only said yes to buying weapons but gave him a higher monetary number than he expected. So we bought 4 weapons. A .308 which my husband is in heaven over. I think if we had a fire he would grab the girls with one arm and the .308 with the other. We scoped it and I think it makes him drool seeing the red, green, or black crosshairs, lol. We also bought a .17. I have been told that this one will be easier for me to handle as I am 5'4" and more lower body strength from my ballet days. We bought me a .40 for personal protection. I haven't been out to shoot it yet but the Hubs lovs it and I like how small and manageable it is. Our 4th is another drool worthy gun in the Hubs eyes as it is known as the Judge. It is a .45 Long Colt. I have never seen a revolver with a barrel like this. Talk about scary. Plus at 5 lbs it isn't nearly as light as my .40. We bought a few hundred rounds for each gun as well.

Now this is only the start of the collection. I want a 9 mm for my conceal carry weapon. We want a few shotguns, probably a rifle for me, and a semi-auto for Hubs at the very least. I also recommend something not requiring ammo. We have a compound bow for that reason. We will probably buy me a bow as well so that I have something I can pull. Hubs' bow takes a bit more strength than I have.