Quotes from Luke Rhinehart's Long Voyage Back , describing post-nuke apocalypse survival at sea.

"... Do you have weapons ?"

"Only an old .22," Neil replied quietly.

"All weapons are requisitioned. We'll take your rifle now. " The officer stared at Neil. "Also, " he went on, his gaze not wavering, "my men will search your boat." He nodded to the bos'n, who directed the four crewmen into two teams and began a search.

"Jim, you can go get the .22 for the nice men," Neil said, then turned back to the officer. "What's the trouble? Why can't we keep our rifle?"

"Civilians are going around shooting each other for food, fuel, fallout shelters, you name it," the lieutenant replied. "The only way the military can regain control is to make unauthorized possession of a weapon illegal."

"How are we expected to defend ourselves ?" Tony now asked.

"That's the trouble," the officer countered. "Everybody's been defending themselves so vigorously the morticians can't keep up with it. Leave the defending to the Army, Navy, and us."

-- R. W. Cat (Runway_Cat@hotmail.com), January 07, 1999

Answers

Bypass the mortician, just dig a big ass hole and dump their body in. Besides, the morticians will be home defending their sweet abode, and make shift graves will be used to dispose of bodies. Remember this, no electricity, no materials, no caskets, not funerals, end of morticians. Actually, cremation would be the way to go.

-- duped (duped@net.com), January 07, 1999.

As my father has promised, We Will Bury You!!! Free of charge, just contact your local communist party official or a Liberal Democrat. Now about those guns.....

-- Nikoli Krushev (Nikoli Krushev@Y2000.com), January 08, 1999.

duped;

>>Actually, cremation would be the way to go.<<

Worms and bugs have got to eat too you know.

S.O.B.

-- sweetolebob (La) (buffgun@hotmail.com), January 08, 1999.

Cremation of large animals takes a LOT of fuel. Will you have a lot of fuel?

It also makes a LOT of smoke. Smoke signals may not be what you want to be sending just then.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), January 08, 1999.

Read that book about 10 years ago. It's excellent. I still have it somewhere, but if you can get a copy, do so and read it.

Good, logical scenario of a small band of folks struggling to survive a holocaust by setting sail. Many post-Y2K correlations to consider.

It doesn't touch the Bagga Saga for humor, but hey- real life isn't so funny anymore.

-- INVAR (gundark@aol.com), January 08, 1999.

Wrong. There are way too many in the "gun culture", their quotes not mine, who would shoot the nice ossifer, step over his dead body and go to the next one. Failing that they would do as our nice Auzzie brothers on OZ have done. Bury the weapons in the,sump oil garden, downunderish for crank case oil garden.That coupled with the fact that most of the southern boys I knew came from a background where the oral history of the family was one of military occupation. The south has already been occupied once and they didn't forget. SO don't expect anyone I've ever known to surrender his weapon if he's not impaired due to poor health, starvation, coersion. One dead Federale= no big loss.

nine

-- nine (nine_fingers@hotmail.com), January 08, 1999.

I must say, it was quit a trip, even in my pre-y2k days, to see dozens of ordinary joes lined up out the front of the old dole office, each with one or three assualt rifles ready to hand in to our most caring and benificent state apparatus. My pacificist leanings were half pleased to see it, but even the man with no nose could smell a post-teotwawki feast. 'Am still undecide about the virtue of mass civilian ownership of mega-weaponry, but the still legal ones do feature somewhere on my y2k shopping list, for drastic horrible save-the-girlfriend emergencies only. Unhappiness is a warm gun.

-- humptydumpty (no.6@thevillage.com), January 08, 1999.

"Its a hell of a thing to kill a man, you take away everything he's got and everything he'll ever have."

- Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven

-- Matthew Bonner (Bonnermc@hotmail.com), January 08, 1999.

Several of my neighbors and friends are all armed to the teeth, and I suspect others in outlying areas here are armed as well. No one will lay down or give up their guns. It makes no difference to me who I shoot, or what uniform they are wearing. If they come to take away my right to bear arms, confiscate my property, or put my family in harms way, I will do them in before they do me.

-- oneonthetrigger (oneonthe trigger@effect.com), January 08, 1999.

I will absolutely not give up my guns. To be disarmed and taken to a camp to die is not my idea of surviving.

Remember, in the countries that the communists took over, they rounded up the guns AND the gun owners. Even a disarmed gun owner was a threat, since he could have cached more, or might MAKE one. Such a person was generally killed. NO THANKS.

-- Bill (billclo@hotmail.com), January 08, 1999.

I've already told the wife that we're not leaving the homestead, no matter what. There's no reason to leave; there's no situation that I can even conceive of in which we would be better off someplace else. Same goes for the weapons.

-- Franklin Journier (ready4y2k@yahoo.com), January 08, 1999.

Haven't fired a weapon since I was discharged from the US Army in '57. Was an expert in 45 and the 90mm tank gun, and of course the M1, carbine and machine gun. Never even thought about firing one again. Have been a pacifist number of years.

Now, however, beginning to feel rumblings in my emotions as well as in my intellect, that things in this world are not going well...time to buy some weapons and ammo?

Got an old ironsides tank around anyone? Expert gunner available.

Joska

-- Joska (Joska@Hunky.com), January 08, 1999.

Joska, I was passing through Northern California recently and stopped up in Oroville, CA. There's an Army surplus store there called "Surplus City," it's a military museum and a surplus store in one. They have acres of stuff! They also have army tanks, jeeps, harley's, it's something to see. And if you need any good army surplus gear, they have it. I think they have a website too. If you ever get up that way, there's a sporting goods store there in town called "Huntington's," they have a museum chalked full of exotic stuffed critters from all over the world and Wild West artifacts. This store isn't for animal rights activists or tree huggers. They also have lots of survival gear and lots of gun's and rifles! Man was I drooling!

-- oneonthetrigger (oneonthetrigger@effect.com), January 08, 1999.

This brings up an important issue. Gun writers such as Boston T. Party have advocated a "go down with the ship" approach to gun retention. That is, when Fred Fed arrives at the door for confiscation, you defend your right to keep & bear on the spot, to the death.

However, as the owner of a serious arsenal myself, I'd like to have you all's opinion on a different approach.

Surrender some or all of the weapons. Don't resist front-on. Your training and firearms skill is more important than any specific gear. Have a 2nd-chance vest (still legal!) and some knives (and know how to use). As the scene unfolds, there is something known as field procurement, right guys ? What if you have family ? Guns are supposed to aid your family's survival, not contribute to your early extinction. Remember the dicta of all succesful guerillas from Spartacus to Mao: never stand a fight you can't win. Never resist head on. Skill, training, attitude and knowledge are more important than gear.

I would draw the line on forced camp relocation though. In that scenario, you might as well feed them 30-rnd mags through til you're done.

-RC

-- r w cat (runway_cat@hotmail.com), January 08, 1999.

Cat,

What will you do after they've taken your guns, and they now say "we want you to come with us". ??? Being taken to a death camp is likely, ro they can just take you to a secluded area and put a slug in your head. This is what the Communists did. Our govt has emulated the Nazis and Communists in so many ways, what makes you feel that they wont just kill you and eliminate a future threat?

-- Bill (billclo@hotmail.com), January 08, 1999.

Notice Bill, that under your scenario, even the common idea of "caching" your chunkers and rocks (as advocated, e.g. by latest InfoMagic) will NOT work. Only Boston T. Party immediate engagement will be possible under the scenario you wrote.

-RC

-- R. W. Cat (runway_cat@hotmail.com), January 08, 1999.

Sure they can have my guns: bullet end first!

-- Range Coach (chadwick@aol.com), January 08, 1999.

Greetings:

"I'm here from the government to help you reduce violence. Gimme your guns or I'll have to do violence on you."

Youall have got to realize that anyone who even mentions the Constitution is a threat to our governments (Fed, state, local). Those who act on their rights as (supposedly) guaranteed by the Constitution are an even bigger threat.

I agree with previous poster: If they come a knockin', you're already dead, giving up some of your stash ain't gonna help you. If you can't avoid or evade, you may as well try to take out as many of them as you can before they get you.

-- z (z@zz.top), January 10, 1999.