WROL? You better know your Local Laws

Colorado homeowner robbed at gunpoint may face charges for killing suspect
"...any occupant of a dwelling is justified in using any degree of physical force, including deadly physical force, against another person when that other person has made an unlawful entry into the dwelling, and when the occupant has a reasonable belief that such other person has committed a crime in the dwelling in addition to the uninvited entry, or is committing or intends to commit a crime against a person or property in addition to the uninvited entry, and when the occupant reasonably believes that such other person might use any physical force, no matter how slight, against any occupant." 18-1-704.5 Use of deadly physical force against an intruder."
One of the things I constantly remind people of is the importance of reality-based survival and preparedness. It’s hard to think of another field of study where fantasy and reality get mixed up so often and to such extent. I participate in various forums and always look forward to people’s thoughts and concerns. It is amazing to see how many times people take fantasy as facts, make unfounded assumptions or even prepare based on completely fabricated suppositions.
A favourite classic of mine: “When SHTF no one will care how much silver/gold is worth”. Really? What makes you think that? Based on what exactly are you making such assumption? Do you have examples of this ever happening? These are just some of the questions such people have no answer for.
In the case of firearms and self-defense shooting, another myth I work hard to dispel is the idea of “WROL”. The weekend survivalist, uneducated other than his Master’s degree in The Walking Dead Sciences, gets on his tactical soapbox and begins: “cuz.. after SHTF… you know… there aint no police… cuz everyones on his own and the law don’t matter no more.. cuz dat’s WROL.. ya know… without rule of law”.
OK, so maybe this is a mild exaggeration but dear God its concerning how many people out there go for a slightly more polished version of what I just quoted.
The reality is a tad more complex. For those of us that have been through what self-claimed experts theorize about, and have gone a step further beyond just having personal experience and spent literally years seriously studying and researching these topics, we know better. The simple truth is that society doesn’t disappear, it may get chaotic at times but it’s still there, and more relevant to the topic the laws don’t go anywhere the day you’re brought to justice and asked to answer for your actions.
The problem with all these fantasies about going out shooting raiders and looters is that there are real looters and real criminals out there. Before the world goes Mad Max and you start kidnapping people and using them as walking blood banks because the world run out of food (but somehow managed to retain the ability to build the most insane custom vehicle with horrible fuel efficiency) before any of that happens you will have to go through very hard times. You will have to avoid getting kidnapped in parking lots or carjacked, defend your home from home invaders, somehow make your home safe when away, find ways of defending your income, you will have to survive for REAL, not Man vs Wild but REAL SURVIVAL folks, do you understand what I mean by this?
Argentina is a country where unbelievable things have been happening for years. It’s a country where those that manage to survive have to go through their own trials in more than one occasion and many fail to make it through every day.
I’ll give you an example. Argentina has suffered an 80% inflation since 2014. 40% for 2014, 40% for 2015. That’s official World Economic Outlook numbers. That’s the second worst inflation in the world after Venezuela, where people kill each other over a pack of food. That’s double the inflation of Iran and almost four times the inflation of Ukraine. Just ask yourself, how would you cope yourself with prices going up 80% in two years? Where would you be, how would you support your family?
And yet, the world hasn’t ended. No Mad Max, just the same crap as always, only worse. When it comes to crime, you better know how to avoid trouble, you better know how to defend yourself, but you better know the law as well because the minute you screw up they will come after you.
This is true for Argentina and its true for America as well. Before you prepare for Mad Max, before you ride eternal, shiny, and chrome, you have to survive the real world. You have to survive the looters and well organized criminals yes, but before that you have to survive the carjacks in parking lots, the meth heads, muggers and home invaders, and you have to survive them within the margins of the Law. Sorry friend, no WROL for you. The law is still very much there, not to protect you, but to answer to. And if you fail to be prepared to do so, if you’re not prepared to fight armed with your firearm but also armed with the knowledge of your local laws, you won’t have to bother with preparing much because you’ll have the State housing you and feeding you, in prison.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.