Preparedness Priorities?

How real is the threat that martial law will occur in the US in the next 18 months?
Is it your opinion that as a father my priorities should be?
   1) Be debt free
    2)have some cash on hand
    3)have some precious metals on hand
    4)have emergency supplies of water
    5)have emergency supplies of food
    6)have a hand gun
    7)
Jeff

Hi Jeff, I cant say for sure but it is a possibility. I doubt its 50/50 but even if its 20%, which would be a reasonable yet conservative estimation, its still probable enough. Even more important, chances of sporadic violence, rioting and mobs (check the Flash mob posts) those are very real and already occur.
These would be my priorities.
1) Using computer terms, update your own and your family’s “softaware”. For this you will have to assess your current status. How’s your spending? How’s your family budget and where could it be improved? Where does your family stand in terms of awareness and security? Are the wife/kids/yourself spoiled with habits that aren’t acceptable any more given current times? I make sure my kids get it even from an early age what the priorities are. For one, being spoiled brats is simply not acceptable, nor will it be ok for them to be spoiled teens. If that sounds a bit harsh keep in mind that after spoiled kids comes spoiled teens, and right after that come spoiled adults. We have enough of those as it is and I especially don’t want my own kids to suffer being one of them. This also involves something that scares the living heck out of most parents: Spending time with those little people you have living in your home! Parenthood is a responsibility, its about both money and time. Some parents throw money at the problems and hope that’s enough. It’s not. My priority now and always has been my family, and this should be taken into special consideration when preparing. Your family is your safety net, the core that will make all of you strong during tough times. Spend time with your family, wife, kids, make the effort to be as close to one another as possible. This point alone is huge and would require its own article but think about it from the preparedness perspective as well. Working out or practicing sports as a family, hiking, taking those moments to talk about attitudes towards problems, about coping with them and current events. Talk with them about security and crime, ask them what they think, what they’ve been seeing in school/work. Don’t just monologue, have them all talk about these topics. This is what I mean when I say “software”. The gear and stuff, guns, ammo, etc yes its important but not as much as what’s in your brain.
2) About the points you mentioned. I’d get a handgun if you don’t own one already.   Get a revolver if your budget is really limited and you have little resources to gain the skills you need, otherwise a nice semi auto such as the Glock.  A 6-shooter in 38special/357 magnum is light years ahead of being totally unarmed. Of what you have left, buy at least 2 months worth of food and plan on working up to 6 months. Two months worth of food stored sounds like a lot, right? It does if you don’t plan on eating by then. If you think about it that way two months, six or twelve is all very reasonable. A six month minimum goes according the following logic: First, you’ll be eating it anyway, that’s basic enough. Second, if you get fired from your job, given the situation today its possible that you may spend several months looking for a job. The last thing you need is worrying about putting food on the table. If there’s rioting and serious social unrest supermarkets may be closed or looted as well. This is why it makes sense to stock up on food and water.
After you have a gun and two months worth of food, I’d keep the rest as emergency cash. If you cover two months worth of expenses in cash, then put the rest in precious metals. This will of course vary widely depending on how much money you’re talking about but this would be my generic recommendation.
Take care and good luck!

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FerFAL