Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Some California news - all bad

There are two items in the news in California today that are of concern to survivalists or preppers.  Both are related to the safety of your home and family.  First, starting next month it will be illegal to purchase ammunition (that can be used in a handgun) from mail order.  All purchases must be in person and you must provide your fingerprint.  So much for keeping the amount of ammunition you purchase somewhat private.  The second concerns the protection of your property.

This second item is an odd one.  In the state of California you can get a doctor's prescription for "medical" marijuana for any reason: no appetite, too much appetite, can't sleep, can't stay awake, backache, headache, finger or toe ache.  Any reason is a good enough reason.  For this prescription you are allowed to grow your own marijuana plants.  There is a limit of the number of plants.  I think it's somewhere like 100 plants if you say that you want to use the leaves in your cooking but a lot less if you say you want to smoke it.  I don't know the actual numbers, but nobody needs to correct me because it doesn't really matter. 

Getting on with the story... one of the problems is that thieves are now seeing these plants growing in people's back yards since the plants get really tall.  As soon as the plants are ready for harvest the thieves are breaking down the fences, pulling plants out of the ground, loading them into their vehicles and driving away.  There have been lots of gun fights over this. 

In the one case that caught my attention the story was about a man on trial for shooting a thief.  He had almost 400 pot plants in his backyard.  All legal.  Four bad guys came and broke down the fence and started stealing the plants.  The homeowner fought back by shooting at them.  He killed one.  (good shot!) He was on trial and was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter.  He may get over 20 years. 

Now, don't get me wrong.  I think these pot laws are a joke.  I'm sure there are viable alternatives for medical use, although this may be the cheapest alternative.  I don't use the stuff.  Never have, never will. I don't hang out with people who openly use drugs.  I don't hang out with people who use drugs (or at least I am not aware of it).  That's not the point.  At what point is it ok to defend your property?  Or can you not defend your property?  Can you only defend people?  And, at what point can you defend people?  How close does the bad guy have to be?  In your yard?  In your house?  Brandishing a weapon? 

In Texas I've heard you can defend your property using a gun.  What about in Arizona?  Two bystanders "heros" tackled the shooter.  What would the story have been if the "hero" was carrying and shot the shooter?  Would the "hero" be prosecuted if the shooter wasn't pointing the gun directly at the "hero"?

It's a crazy world.  Go buy your ammunition...before the end of the month.

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