Hi everyone, I’ve missed you all so much!

During these unusual times, under the pressure from my mom thinking it’s dangerous, and the mother of my child thinking it’s dangerous, I chose to stay home and keep myself safe. It’s been more than three weeks at home already. A machine that’s been running nonstop suddenly comes to a stop—it’s pretty hard to get used to. Lately, I haven’t been able to research any airline or hotel deals at home, and there haven’t been any card sign-up bonuses to chase, so I can only sit quietly and wait for the government tax refund and pandemic relief payment. With the pandemic still here, if you want to keep yourself safe, you have to take defensive measures. Defense is generally divided into active defense against the outbreak and passive defense of your living environment. Active defense goes without saying—call your mom at home and she can talk your ear off for an entire afternoon. Or I can give you my mom’s number, and I guarantee she can talk your ear off for an entire afternoon. If you need to buy masks, you can also check out: A roundup of how to buy masks in the U.S. during the pandemic and how to use masks correctly

About Buying Guns

Since the outbreak began, people in most countries around the world have been stockpiling one thing—toilet paper! In the U.S., though, people didn’t just start hoarding paper, they also started hoarding guns. According to a Forbes report, gun shops have been doing amazingly well, and many people were buying guns for the very first time.

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants the right to bear arms, so owning firearms and ammunition in the U.S. is perfectly lawful and reasonable. Of course, in red states there is more freedom to carry guns. But in many blue states there are more restrictions on firearms, such as magazine-capacity limits and buying procedures designed to make your life difficult, though they still can’t fundamentally take away the right to own a gun.

My Gun-Buying Experience

On the first day after quitting my job, I went straight to a gun shop to buy a gun. Let me briefly share my experience, but laws are different in every state, so this can only be used as a reference.

As a boy who has loved guns since childhood and has played with many air guns, I’ve always been very interested in firearms. Actually, I wanted to own my own gun a long time ago, but because I’ve always lived with roommates and never bought a house, the only things I could rely on for self-defense were a collapsible baton + entrenching shovel + pepper spray. What finally made me decide to buy a gun was the landlord’s encouragement. Since the people above had agreed, I didn’t really have anything to object to.

Gun Buying Rules (MD)

I live in MD, which is considered a pretty blue state, so gun control is relatively strict. The rules are as follows:

  • Handguns: Because they are easy to conceal, you must complete safety and handling training, get fingerprinted, and obtain an HQL (Handgun Qualification License), that is, a handgun permit, before you are eligible to buy a handgun.
  • Long guns: Citizens and green card holders can buy them freely. International students need to get a hunting certificate. Of course, I haven’t tried the exact process myself.

To buy a gun, you first need to fill out the 4473 form, Firearms Transaction Record. The information required includes your name, gender, height, weight, date of birth, address, place of birth, SSN, nationality, and more, and you also have to answer a series of questions, such as whether you have any mental disorders, a criminal record, whether your status is legal, whether you are on a nonimmigrant visa, and so on. After you finish, the clerk sends it to the FBI for a background check. In general, if you’re a U.S. citizen, results come back right away; for green card holders, it usually takes 72 hours.

You can buy guns online, but they won’t be shipped to your front door. They can only be sent to a federally licensed firearms dealer, and you pick up the gun at the store, where they will also run a background check. Private-party transfers also have to be handled through a firearms dealer. Personally, I think buying online is better because there are more options. But before placing an online order, it’s best to ask the shop where you want to have it delivered whether they’re willing to handle it.

How to Choose a Gun

If you’re a first-time gun buyer, I’d suggest renting guns at a range first to see how much recoil you can handle, and after you know what you’re comfortable with, choose the style you like. M4s and AKs from games may look cool, but from a practical standpoint, home defense is not a battlefield. What you need is just enough to project a deterrent, not the destructive power of a husky tearing up a house.

As for handguns, I actually haven’t gotten my HQL yet, so I haven’t seriously considered them. But recently I added a Maryland-certified instructor on WeChat; he speaks Chinese and looks like he’s from Taiwan. $210 covers everything. If anyone’s interested, you can find me and add him on WeChat, and once the stay-at-home order is lifted we can go take the training together.

Long guns are basically the common types you see, such as carbines, rifles, sniper rifles, and shotguns in various calibers. For home defense, I personally recommend a shotgun. Shotguns are cheap, and their power at close range is impressive. In fact, when gun shop clerks recommend shotguns, they basically tell you that once you rack the slide and make that sound, the other person will run away. For home-defense use, if you choose a rifle, try to choose a smaller caliber—it's quieter, and large-caliber rifles have too much power; if you fire into someone else’s house, you’ll still have to pay damages.

I don’t want to say too much about gun use and safety, because I’m still a beginner too. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something wrong. If you’re interested, go ask Big Brother Bing in the WeChat group.

My Gun

  • Smith Wesson M&P15-22: .22 caliber, a little over $400
  • Scope and flashlight: I put it together myself, a little under $100
  • 100 rounds of ammo: less than ten bucks

Ammo

It looks a bit like the toy guns we had as kids. To distinguish them, American toy guns are subject to special rules; the barrel and trigger must be orange.

Things to Watch Out for When Carrying a Gun

The Right to Open Fire

The U.S. Constitution gives you the right to bear arms, but it does not give you the right to go around going pew pew pew everywhere. You only have the right to shoot someone when your life is threatened.

Under an extremely literal legal system, using a gun for self-defense seems like something very difficult to control.

For example: someone comes into your yard to steal vegetables, move bricks, or even take off your tires. If you see it, you can curse at him or beat him up, but you can’t shoot him, because he is only taking your property and has not threatened your life. So many criminals take advantage of this to commit crimes. It’s like the all-too-familiar note handed to a clerk; the clerk can only choose to curse the person away or obediently hand over the money, and cannot execute them on the spot. Of course, most clerks just choose to hand over the money anyway, since the insurance company will compensate them, and after the other person takes the money, they usually won’t do anything to you. If they do, then that gives the clerk an excuse for on-the-spot execution.

Another example: someone kicks your door open, sees you pointing a gun at him, and in a panic runs out. At that point, you still can’t shoot him to death and insist that he fix the door before leaving. Of course, it depends on the specific situation. If someone has actually broken into your home, I believe any jury would find you used excessive force in self-defense if you killed one or two people. If it really comes to that point, I hope you can stay calm and handle some details—some details that are in your favor.

  • When you realize someone may be up to no good, if time allows, make sure to call the police first. Of course, don’t expect the cops to do much for you—this isn’t back home, and they’re not the people’s police
  • After a shootout, don’t destroy the scene. If you didn’t call the police before, you can do it now. Put the gun aside, act scared, and wait for the police to arrive. Also don’t try to stuff a weapon into the other person’s hand or anything like that. Just do what you need to do. Someone already broke into your home—what more do you want me to do, what more do you want!
  • Get a lawyer, and don’t say too much to the cops. You can remain silent, but everything you say can be used against you in court. Say the wrong word and your actions could land you in jail.

Carrying Firearms

For most people, firearms are restricted to home defense, so try not to walk around with a gun on your back or tucked into your waistband if you don’t understand the gun laws. That can easily cause trouble. This is especially true when you go to another state, where gun laws may be different and can be very frustrating. If you’re taking a gun out with you, it’s generally recommended to keep the firearm and ammunition separate, and lock one of them up.

If you’re flying with a firearm, please refer to: TSA’s firearm and ammunition requirements

Home Storage

Different states also have different requirements for storing firearms and ammunition. Of course, the most important thing is to make sure children or other people can’t access them, while still being able to arm yourself quickly when you need them for self-defense.

  • Lock the gun with a dedicated gun lock: install a Keyboard lock or Trigger lock, which you can find on Amazon for not much money
  • Put the locked gun in a Gun Safe and set a password on the safe
  • Keep the gun and ammunition separate for home defense

Guns and Home Defense

Because the right to use a gun is hard to judge, the role of firearms in home defense becomes somewhat delicate. Using a gun to save your life is already a last resort, and beyond that it’s the worst possible option.

This is not to say that I don’t recommend owning a gun. The point is to be clear about your purpose. When choosing a gun and accessories, I recommend prioritizing training, target shooting, and hunting, with home defense as a secondary consideration. If you buy a shotgun purely for home defense, you’ll miss out on a lot of the fun.

The best strategy is to attack the enemy’s strategy; next best is to attack alliances; next is to attack troops; worst of all is to attack cities.

Since opening fire is the worst possible option, and many people may not even have the means to own a suitable weapon, that doesn’t mean we can’t do a good job with defense. In offense and defense, the attacker always has the initiative. Because the defender has to constantly think about the attacker’s next move in order to respond effectively, we need to know the enemy and know ourselves. So let’s use the attacker’s mindset to set up our defense.

It’s obvious that the other side is only after money. They weren’t sent to kill you, so when they see people, they’ll get nervous. If they see knives, guns, or dogs, they’ll run. They won’t fight to the death, and they have no reason to exchange gunfire with you. They usually go after houses where nobody is home.

1. Don’t flash your wealth; that’s an old saying, but it still applies.

2. If you’ve been torn between getting a dog and not getting one, now is the time to do it.

3. Security doors, alarm companies (like ADT), cameras—anything that should be visible should be made visible. Of course, hanging a gun or a grenade in the window is not allowed...

4. If you realize they’re only after money, warn them as appropriate within your comfort level. The priority should still be to take a financial loss to avert disaster. Don’t fire unless it’s absolutely necessary.

In short, act like you’re poor and not worth robbing, and you’ll basically be ignored. After all, they can smash into a supermarket or rob a convenience store without fearing for their lives, so why would they waste time practicing their marksmanship with you? If the house next door doesn’t even have a security door and can be kicked in with one blow, why would they stand at your door for ages prying it open with a crowbar that’s basically a lethal weapon? This logic is pretty sneaky, but it works very well.

Also, I recently saw local WeChat mutual-aid groups, and I’m sure many readers have come across them too. These groups are organized by area. People don’t do awkward small talk in normal times; they send out help requests in dangerous situations. Then everyone rushes to the scene in an organized, disciplined way—calling the police, firing guns, honking horns. It sounds wonderful. Maybe you’re very enthusiastic and have the means to carry a gun, but in my opinion this kind of behavior is extremely foolish and dangerous. Do not participate.

ymlulu note: In the United States, before doing anything you’re not sure about, it’s best to consult a lawyer or other professional first so you can protect your rights as much as possible within the law.

Conclusion

Finally, whether you ever need it or not, I hope readers who are able and have the means will own a gun and learn how to use firearms. That is your right. The United States is not going to ban guns. Although I don’t recommend opening fire unless it’s absolutely necessary, if you ever truly face a no-win situation, there is no do-over. The essence of proactive defense is to be prepared for the unexpected.

Speaking of rights, I want to say a little more. This is an election year, so readers who can should definitely set aside time to vote. We need politicians to see the strength of Chinese Americans and Asian Americans, so they’ll work for reform in order to win our votes. Politicians are like that: they speak for whoever supports them. For example, many Chinese American lawmakers have not really worked for the development of Chinese Americans. That isn’t necessarily their fault. If they didn’t get Chinese American votes in the election, then when they work for development, people blame them for forgetting where they came from. The problem isn’t with them; it’s with us for not valuing the rights we already hold. Our Chinese and Asian American communities have grown to a certain size, but because of cultural reasons, that strength hasn’t really shown itself. We need to speak up and let American politicians see that we exist and take our views seriously.