It’s what you do before the crisis that matters…

Jonathan Glazer, 11 September 2015

If we were part of the storied 1%, preparing for the outbreak would be relatively easy.  Money, storage space, transportation, manpower and even the legal climate would not pose issues for the rich and powerful to plan their survival.  Most have security personnel who are in charge of this planning, so all they do is write a check.  For the rest of us, planning is critical.  Every choice we make is a tradeoff and each of our decisions carries opportunity cost.  Every dollar spent on survival planning is one less dollar available to pay the cell phone bill or buy shoes for the children.  We must prioritize every single element and decide what to buy or prepare and how much to spend.

Maybe a little bigger than this?

A huge underground bunker would be fantastic.  We could stockpile food, water, medicine, ammo, generators, fuel as well as all the creature comforts which would keep us happy until natural causes claimed us or the last zombie on earth keeled over and ceased being a threat.  Most of us do not have such a bunker.  We have to plan either to stay in our homes and defend it or be mobile and carry our essentials with us.  Even if we plan to stay in our homes, the possibility of needing to leave must be in our contingency plan.  This decision might be made for us due to powers beyond our control, such as civil authorities or natural disasters.  In that situation, you may have to grab what you can carry and run.

How do you kill what’s already dead?

Jonathan Glazer, 28 August 2015

The last column touched briefly on how to end the career of a Zed.  Now I will get more granular and detailed.  It is too simple to say something like “shoot them in the head”.  If it were just that simple, this column would not be necessary.  In reality, we tend to get overwhelmed by biters very easily.  During an outbreak, their numbers swell quickly and one’s position can be overrun in a matter of moments.  The problem is that they do not have a sense of fear.  Suppressive fire from heavy weapons makes normal people want to get out of the way and hide, which allows a flanking force to maneuver closer, set up fire lanes and lay down their own volume of suppressive fire.  This allows the first team to move into place and the process continues until both fire teams achieve their objective.  This is known as “Fire and Maneuver”.   Walkers do not respond to suppressive fire.  They simply wander into the withering wall of bullets and fall over (hopefully) allowing the ones behind them to do the same.  The problem is that the machine gunners eventually have to reload, or change overheated barrels or have a snickers.  And the undead hordes keep on moving closer.

Just what are we dealing with here?

Jonathan Glazer, 17 July 2015

The available information on zombie outbreaks has, unfortunately, been unclear regarding the exact nature of the threat. Of course we all know they are humanoid in appearance. They look somewhat like us. They walk on two legs, if they have them, and they are not friendly. Beyond that, there is disagreement about some of the variables. Are they fast or slow? Early zombies, as depicted by George Romero were slow ambling creatures that gradually made their way to you only to rip you to shreds in the course of eating your innards. The idea was that as they decomposed, their ability to make athletic use of their muscles was seriously compromised. More recent depictions show them as fast moving predators that run at full speed and do not tire. I find this a terrifying concept. The British versions endorse this by introducing zombiism as a virus which causes the infected to virtually explode in a rage fueled by overproduction of adrenaline.

Why Zombies, and Why Now?

Jonathan Glazer, 3 July 2015

If you are questioning the need for a zombie themed discussion, you are not alone.  After all, isn’t it a bit late for something like this?  I have a picture of me killing a zombie in Gerber’s booth at the SHOT show a few years ago.  Clearly the zombie trend is not exactly cutting edge.  Perhaps this should have happened shortly before Hornady released their Z Max ammunition.

My response is that now is the perfect time for us to talk about zombies.  Recreational shooting has taken a beating in the wake of the tragedy in Connecticut.  People who were once proud to sport firearm themed attire are currently running scared and feeling outgunned in the public arena.  The threat of punitive legislation lingers in the air with the possibility that many things we previously took for granted might become contraband.  While guns can and have been used for evil, they also have been used for good.  Many people are walking around today in perfect health because they or a member of their family used a firearm as a tool for defense.  The exact number of people still alive due to the defensive use of guns can never be accurately calculated, but they know who they are.   The end result of any further anti gun legislation will be a reduced ability to defend oneself as well as their family members and loved ones.