.22 LR for self/home defense?
I'm not a hunter or much of a gun enthusiast. But I am a soldier. A .22 doesn't have a lot of stopping power as previous answers have said, but again better than nothing. You COULD kill a man with one shot from a .22. With only one shot I would call you a lucky man. Even a head shot with a .22 isn't always fatal. You have to think of how the projectile is intended to work. A 5.56 (.223) is meant to enter a soft target and tumble. Goal is to hit a rib and the projectile comes out of the targets thigh, ripping and tearing its way through the body. Unfortunately that doesn't always happen. I've heard of guys shooting a target 3 or 4 times in order to drop them with the 5.56. The .308 is intended to leave an exit wound a soft target wouldn't survive. Easy enough, effective, but a little overkill and expensive for home defense. .22 is mostly meant for varmint. Designed to hit the target, expand, and tear tissue. Great for varmints, not the best stopping anything large with one shot. For home defense I strongly recommend a 12 Gauge shotgun. Sending many projectiles at once. While the spread is often over-estimated, it is incredibly effective, able to severe a leg at the thigh and known as an MCI (Mass Casualty Inducing) weapon. In answer to your question. I would feel sure 3 shots to the chest would stop someone. If you want a .223 rifle I recommend the SAIGA .223. Made by the same people as the AK-47 it is durable, Rugged, and chambered for the .223. I got mine for around $300. Put on a pistol grip for about $30 more. Was easy to install. Also for home defense i would recommend a pistol grip for any rifles or shotguns you might choose. It helps with handling and accurately placing shots. Less calateral damage that way.
If we wished to reduce the budget deficit then how would you advocate that be accomplished?
-Raise taxes. Begin by rescinding Bush tax cuts on everyone but the poorest households (let's take 75K which is Obama's benchmark). Raise income taxes and capital gains taxes to what they were under Clinton, reinstate the estate tax. Also lift the cap on social security contributions above 97.5K. -Eliminate subsidies to agribusiness, oil companies, and other sectors that make huge profits, and end special tax breaks for them and for countries that outsource. -Close tax loopholes like offshore Cayman Islands headquarterse by changing the laws. -Cut some benefits. I would begin by raising the retirement age for social security. -Decrease the military budget. I would do this mainly by pulling troops out of Iraq and by increasing participation by US allies in Afghanistan. -No more no-bid contracts - make them competitive -You can eliminate some earmark spending but not all of it - much earmark spending goes as aid to Israel, Egypt and other allies, and some of it goes to important things like highway and bridge construction (for every bridge to nowhere there are also roads to somewhere, levees to New Orleans, and bridges that should not collapse). -Amnesty - increase the tax base by bringing illegal immigrants into the system and hence taxing them. More immigration will eventually be needed to solve generational hump problem of aging boomers anyway. -Try to hold the line on health spending. Medicare and medicaid will be the two most expensive programs in the future and will keep growing. The government needs to keep costs down. The best way to do this is single-payer universal healthcare like in Canada. The next best way to do this is to (1)negotiate lower drug prices and allow foreign generic drug imports, (2)allow greater competition between healthcare providers across state lines, (3)introduce newer technologies like computerized records, (4)increase med school admissions, (5)do catastrophic re-insurance (like Obama's plan) to lower the cost of premiums. Ultimately health spending will continue to increase at a rate greater than inflation, but that is completely rational and there is no reason it shouldn't continue - as we accumulate more stuff, people will want to spend more of their money on increasing quantity and quality of life a few extra years. But we should be prepared to pay for this through some higher taxes in the future.
Please HELP: How much to budget for back to School Shopping for 12 Year old girl going into 7th grade?
My 12 year old daughter is going into 7th grade and I fear imminent bankruptcy due to her tastes in clothing. She says it is what everybody is wearing. I guess everyone is extremely wealthy to do all of their shopping at Pacsun and Wet Seal. $35 - $45 dollars for a t-shirt? How much are you budgeting, how many new outfits do you expect to get? Do you have any tips for me? I really feel like I’m failing when it comes to the needs of PRE-TEEN style. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.