Things are tough all over. Municipal, county, and state budgets are facing critical shortfalls that could cause severe limitation of ability to deliver emergency services in a timely fashion. A brother officer recently sent me a whimsical photo that says it all: a police K9 car with a Chihuahua in the back seat.

In Hawthorne, Florida, the police department was disbanded because the community couldn’t afford it anymore. Hawthorne will presumably pay the county for sheriff’s deputies to take up the slack. The same has happened with other municipalities in the area.

The Washington Post reports that “Philadelphia officials are leaving 200 police positions unfilled and cutting back on overtime…And police in Atlanta are shouldering a 10 percent pay cut after all 1,770 employees and the police chief agreed to a furlough of four hours per week.” This gives a broader view of the problem.

Our nation is veering toward an economic depression. Poverty breeds crime. More crime demands more cops, but there are going to be fewer.

Meanwhile, the Orlando Sun-Sentinel offers this story on the current, acute ammunition shortage due to panic buying. True, a lot of that comes from public fear of pending legislation under the new Administration.

But could that simple formula of more poverty, more crime, and fewer law enforcement officers just have a little bit to do with ordinary American citizens feeling a need to be more prepared for crisis than usual?

1 COMMENT

  1. From what I’ve been hearing on some radio programs, a lot of the people getting CHLs are recent retirees who are worried about defending themselves. They see the stories about car joackings and home invasions, consider their health, and realize that they can not run away or defend themselves if they are unarmed.

  2. The future is uncertain. Yes, people are wanting to protect themselves not only from anti-gun laws, but from the lawless.

    I’ll pay higher taxes for more cops and bigger prisons.

  3. “But could that simple formula of more poverty, more crime, and fewer law enforcement officers just have a little bit to do with ordinary American citizens feeling a need to be more prepared for crisis than usual?”

    Mas,

    I do think that the pending financial and social crisis we are about to endure is part of the reason we have a gun and ammo shortage at the moment. I’ve always tried to, like you say, “Buy it cheap and stock it deep;” and even I don’t feel like I have enough.

    Cutting the law enforcement budget is not the answer, IMHO. Politicians are never known for forward thinking, neither are bureacracies. Reducing the amount number of LEO’s to solve a problem creates another problem, slower response times and more crime.

    This is going to force more people to be responsible for their own safety. For many this will be something they have never considered before. The political response to this will come along after the problem has started to show signs of fixing itself. In short, “too little too late”.

    I think ammo may become a good form of currency if all the things that I think are going to happen do happen. If not, I’ve got plenty of plinkin’ ammo to shoot up at the Range.

    These are very scary times we live in I’m thinking. I won’t say they will be interesting, because I’d rather not have to deal with them. I do not look forward to the future in the next few years, but I will survive it if I have anything to say about it.

    Take care and stay safe,

    Biker

  4. As the crime rate goes up there will an increased cry from the masses for the government to do something.

    Typical response from the geniuses that make up the US Congress is more gun control.

    More people get that than we think and they are arming themselves.

  5. Mas, this is tangential to your post but the first comment by Tim Covington reminded me of an issue area that I’ve wanted to hear your thoughts on.

    As I get closer to 60, I see more of my friends encountering health problems. Strokes, heart attacks, diabetes etc. Do you or any other instructors have training for the boomer crowd? Specifically those with some health problems. A good friend of mine has recently had a stroke and is left with much less strength in his shooting arm. For others an 8 hour day at the range is taxing. I could go on. But I hope you get the point. They would want your training but not up to what a 20 or 30 something might expect.

    I’m sure you would have no problemo filling a class with the halt and lame of my generation 🙂

  6. I hear ya, Long Island Mike…I’m the same generation if not a little further along.

    Any day now, I expect that my reflexive verbal challenge will change from “Police! Don’t Move!” to “You little b******s get offa my lawn!”

  7. Mas,

    I actually gave ammunition as Christmas Gifts to my Father and Son-in-Law this year. Dad got some so he could keep taking care of my Mom, and the son-in-law becuase he has to take care of my daughter and cover my six.

    If possible, consider ammunition as a gift for younger adult family members. Even if they are into guns and hunting, they might not have the extra cash available to stock ammunition for an emergency. Evan a couple extra boxes of ammo could mean a big difference in a crisis. Consider not trading off firearms, but keeping them to give to family members, even if you have to keep them to the side until a time of need. When things get bad it is amazing how many non-gun people decide they need a gun.

  8. Funny how these budget problems are never a result of LOWERING taxes. And even though the basic functions of “pavement, pipes and police” are the most primary of government, you never seem to hear about cuts in new programs. They can make a new sports arena, but can’t budget road salt?

    How about when it’s time to cut government, find “workers” with the same last name as councilmen, aldermen, comissioners, etc, and lay one off by coin toss?

    Oy.

  9. Hi, Mas..

    Met Chief Russ? Leary? years ago, like 1990 or so. He was a friend of Maj. Briggs, the range officer at the Underhill firing range in Vermont. Got all of your books.. Never had the pleasure of meeting you!

    A side thought about the future…

    Our family has been putting some supplies aside so that if there are times of unrest caused by unprepared, scared people… we won’t have to add to the crowd.

    Like staying home on Saturday night keeps you safe from getting your teeth knocked out at the biker bar…

    Just found your blog AND bookmarked it!

    The best to you and yours,

    Willy

  10. Economic collapse, reduced law enforcement, civilian shortages of ammunition and weapons.

    Sounds like a perfect storm of social collapse. Who will be left to pick up the pieces?

  11. I see it getting worse. Not only are we loosing our officers that we need , but also the rights to have a gun to protect ourselves and our families. this is the best time for criminals, this is there big bubble. They can now take advantage of the economies problems .
    they cant wait for less officers, more gun control. No wonder citizens are stacking up on ammo and firearms. More firearms have been sold since the election last year than any other time that I could remember. Can yoiu blame them. Criminals will be prowling and we must protect ourselves at all cost. I know I will. Hope you will to. And will help police out in anyway while these budget cuts are in place. lets keep our eyes and ears open for a safer community.

  12. You wrote; “But could that simple formula of more poverty, more crime, and fewer law enforcement officers just have a little bit to do with ordinary American citizens feeling a need to be more prepared for crisis than usual?”

    Mr. Ayoob, I’m a long time fan and reader of your stuff. Regarding the poor economy’s impact on law enforcement, my biggest fear is the possibility of a total breakdown of law and order. The Katrina Effect, if you will. Though more than likely, it would be a temporary event, it’s a very real possibility.

    I believe that not only should we as individuals stock up and prepare, (I want to stock up on 9mm, .357 SIG, .45 ACP, and 7.62X39 for my 5 GLOCKS and my Ruger Mini-Thirty) I believe one should also establish a network of sorts, of like minded people that we trust. Not a group of vigilantes or militia, just folks we trust to help out.

    Beware, the Zombie Apocalypse may be closer than we think.

  13. I just wish all the people now frantically buying up arms and ammo had put their mouths where their money is on election day.

  14. You never hear of layoffs of politicians, petty bureaucrats or relatives on the payroll. You only see layoffs in places where they’re going to cause the most pain.

    I can’t figure out why we tolerate this nonsense.

  15. Cuts go deeper than some think, as of 3/1/09 there will no longer be re-enlitment bonuses for armed services personell,(already underpaid lol) which is o.k. for this M.P. but how about all the doctors and lawyers and pilots, and other talented folks that are smarter than me? The ones that know they can make alot more green in the civilian market. I dont get much of a comforting feeling from hearing any of this,,,anyways, I agree with BikerRN, and can only add the obvious, The only thing consistant in life is change. and change is coming,,,

    After reading a back article of yours on the Savage 10, I picked one up and gave it a run. WOW, it is my new found favorite. THANKS

  16. Sounds like some budgets are being cut in the wrong areas to me…. we (taxpayers) have give how much money in corporate welfare and then aren’t expected to react by protecting ourselves when the gooberment can’t….

    so much for personal responsibility

  18. Well, I certainly wish that we’d have less governors and less county auditors, etc.

    But I’m not going to cry if government contracts. Perhaps former officers will stand with the people against the powerful!

  20. I’ve long recalled that my area is low on police presence- not sure how many State Police and Sheriff’s Deputies we have between the MSP Post and the Sheriff, but We don’t have a local dept nearby. On the North End of the Lake- it’s Devil’s Lake MI if you’re wondering- we had a local dept. I knew the Chief for that dept.- I was out side of his jurisdiction. He had maybe 3 or 4 officers, plus himself, maybe 2 cars. He had all of Woodstock Township to cover with that.

    So with his advice, I acquired a few guns for “around the house” use. I’m trying to stock up on ammunition. I handload for my .38s and rifle rounds- the old .303British- but I need to get more shotshell loads- slugs, Buckshot. I figure I’m fairly well off at the moment though.

  21. Here’s the game my local village council is playing:

    They need to cut the budget, and on the chopping block is either 1 full time patrol officer or the annual fee for the local library. The council is going to keep the library on the budget but put “Public Safety” up for a millage vote. Everyone will pay higher taxes for safety, so the council will get to keep both. They know only 20% of the village uses the library, so it would fail a millage vote.

    And taxes keep creeping up.

  22. “Poverty breeds crime.”

    I beg to disagree. During the Great Depression in this country, unemployment was 25%, but the crime was not of the caliber (pun intended) that it is today with a fourth or less of unemployment, but a high level of violent crime.

    It is not economic poverty that breeds crime, it is moral poverty.

    Take a look at US statistics for marriages and births. The number of cohabiting unwed couples (we used to call it “shacking up”) and illegitimate births is steadily climbing. The number of single-parent homes is skyrocketing. The greatest concentration of poverty is in homes headed by a single woman.

    When men abandon wives-girlfriends and their children, when women think like sexual predators, and when children as young as 13 can get birth control – because land sake, we can’t trust them to exercise more control than dogs in heat … well, folks you end up with moral poverty.

    I once spoke to a Nicaraguan-born MD. As a teen he and his family barely escaped their country’s Sandinista tyrants (his mother who set up clinics for the poor was outspoken critic of the govt).

    I asked the doctor given his background, could he predict if USA would ever drift to collapse like his country. He pondered the question and answered, “when you see the middle class cheating on their taxes … when they start seeing no problem with immoral living … that’s when your country will begin to fall.” That was 20 years ago.

    Like I said – moral poverty. And you end up with people who are dependent on the Uncle Sam and his nagging, domineering, snoopy spouse, Nanny State.

    And with us independent types who are carefully and discretely piling up food, water, ammo, …