SURVIVING A RIOT

  Korean shopkeepers during the 1992 Rodney King race riots in Los Angeles

As much as no sane person would want urban and suburban rioting, there are thugs making noise in social media that they would use the acquittal of Florida neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman as an excuse to riot and loot on a grand scale, not just in Sanford, FL where events took place, or in Florida, but nationwide. These criminals – there’s no other way to describe them – are asserting that they will use an acquittal as a excuse nationwide to go on a rampage in many areas.

The last time we saw rioting on a very large scale, it was very, very bad.

This headline was from only part-way through the 6-day long 1992 Los Angeles race riot. 53 people were killed, and more than 2,000 were injured, as police were forced to abandon entire communities to mob rule.

While it is unlikely that such large-scale rioting would break out nationwide as a result of the verdict of the Zimmerman case, it isn’t a bad idea to make contingencies just in case.

The very first thing you need to do is figure out a Neighborhood Protection Plan (NPP). If you haven’t figure done out with your neighbors, I’d suggest you get a copy of  A Failure of Civility and start working with them on that, posthaste.

A guy with a firearm is a threat. A group if citizens acting in concert for the defense of their community, taking advantage of their intimate knowledge of the local human and geographic terrain, is a formidable force that can face down the most determined mob.

I’d suggest that caliber is less important than magazine capacity and accuracy in such a situation, and that firearms with excellent penetration qualities and long range aren’t optimal. It’s tough to argue a case for lethal force at 400 yards even against a mob, and if your bullet is recovered from the body of a neighbor hiding in a closet, the court will still hold you responsible.

In this sort of situation, the intermediate-caliber, magazine-fed, semi-automatic rifle cannot be recommended enough, and I’d suggest those chambered in .223 Remington/5.56 NATO are best for this sort of situation.

The 7.62×39 cartridge in most AKM and SKS variants is great combat round, but will tend to plow through more material than .223, which tends to fragment and may not penetrate as far.

Likewise, .223/5.56 rifles tend to be more accurate than 7.62×39 rifles, which purposefully "loose-bored" to accommodate a wider-range of bullet widths due to the wide range (and questionable quality control) of the many nations that build ammunition for this cartridge. 

I’d suggest at least five standard capacity magazines of 20-30 rounds, and a minimum of 200 rounds of ammunition (more is preferable).

An accurate magazine fed semi-automatic rifle (or twelve), properly used by trained riflemen deployed in cover, can break the back of any unorganized mob.

Hopefully saner heads will prevail, and any crisis will be avoided. You can’t dictate how others will act, but it is within your power to make sure your family and friends aren’t easy victims. Get organized get trained, and plan ahead.

Bob Owens is the author of So You Want To Own A Gun, and a writer for Shooting Illustrated magazine.