The Cost of Complacency

 Dear Ferfal,

I am a overseas student in Scotland, I was somewhat of a Libertarian
from my home country of Angola and ended up coming in contact with the
prepper idea few years ago from watching youtube firearms videos,
because I loved the idea of the US second Amendment as I survived
getting shot in an violent home invasion as a kid. It was mostly
entertainment for me, and I didn't lose any money in "Mayan end of the
world" preps, but I lost something bigger as I paid a price for my
complacency.

I read your book and watched most of your youtube channel videos,
sometimes more than once, realizing that I paid a high cost for my
complacency as I wasted my two most important resources as in : Time
and money.

It struck me today as hammer when I realized that there is a shooting
range near where I am staying in Edinburgh, and if instead of watching
redneck shooting videos and posting on survival forums I had spent
some minutes searching Google a few years ago I would have found the
range and became a proficient shooter, because now in a few months my
visa ends and I will be back to my home country. Not only the
opportunity to acquire a valuable skill was lost but my money too,
because in these last 3 years I wasted money in very stupid things
(like expensive Night club binge drinking), instead of investing it in
me. I always assumed the UK was a no gun country and in every forum I
was the consensus that having anything more than a spoon was a crime
here, but even if I can't own a firearm as a foreigner learning how to
use would was something I should have done.

But I can no longer cry about spilled milk, I will spend next few
months attending the range, and I followed your advice in researching
my own country gun laws and found that contrarily to my hear says
there is a shooting range in my home town and our laws allow for
ownership of sporting shotguns and 9mm carbines with a easy licensing
process I intend to take as soon as I go home, and handguns are also
legal even if a bit more difficult to acquire and carry. How many
people just sit idle and assume things like I did ? Unfortunately a
lot, and that included me.

Sure there are a lot things that I am trying to do by taking your book
as guidance such as bugging my folks to get documents for a second
citizenship, getting some vaccines, acquiring some basic gear, working
out (I was a couch potato), trying to get some backpacking and other
stuff, but losing the opportunity to acquire shooting skills was
painful for me.

I am 25 and finishing University this , I am glad that I got a chance
to discover what you had a to share in your book now and can work to
have a healthy and full life.

Thanks for making realize that I was complacent and I will man up, I
realize I was my own SHTF and that no EMP Proof shielding would change
that. There are a lot of opportunities that we fail to take, I am not
making that mistake anymore.

Regards,

S-

Hi S,

Don’t be so hard on yourself, at 25 you realized something that a lot of people don’t get to understand in their entire life.

You’d be surprised by the amount of middle aged people that have told me “What? It’s legal to own a gun?” And that’s just one small part of their closed mentality, just one example of how people limit themselves in terms of what they can and cannot do even before learning the facts. 

The Modern Survival mentality is about that. Yes, you can get firearms training even if you’re not a cop. Yes, in some places you can train beyond what most cops will ever see. Yes, even if you’re not a doctor you can learn how to heal yourself. Yes, even if you’re not “The government”, you can look after yourself and your family. You can be prepared for disasters and various emergencies. Whenever something needs fixed and you pull out a multitool or when someone is thirsty or hungry and you happen to have some water and food in your backapck, people will look as if you had some sort of crystal ball and guessed the future. Its not guessing, its called being prepared!

Thanks for the compliments and good luck on your way back home. Do get your firearm as soon as you can, join a club too so as to find like minded people over there.  At 25 you have your entire live ahead of you. Try backpacking a bit across Scotland before leaving. I hear the outdoors there are beautiful.

Take care and good luck!

FerFAL