Is this a viable option?

[Rogelio]

Hi guys!

My cousin's birthday is in 2 days, and a little ago I started a poll about giving him a gun for his birthday even if his parents did not like it...http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59841

So...I told him that he should make the decision by himself and he decided that he could not live in peace while hiding a firearm...he is a very respectfull man...

Given that, I talked to his parents and they only agreed me to get him a knife and pepper spray...so that is the first part of my gift!!

Then I started talking via pm to a fellow member of THR who is a firearms technician (will not post his name because I haven´t consulted with him about that yet) about flare guns and the possibility to use them to shoot 12 gauge shells - a topic that I will not discuss here, it is not illegal in Peru but I do not know the legallity of that practice in the US- and now I am thinking...what kind of damage can a flare do to a person?? I guess that intimidation is great, but I was really interested on the effects of a point blank shot to the head with one of those flares...

also...I know that in a life or death situation I will really not mind about getting a couple scars in my hand as long as the BG is stopped, but...how powerful can a standard trap shotshell be when fired from a short barrel as the one in flare guns?? I really prefer any of my guns, but given the choice for him...WWTHRD???flare or shell??

Please answer soon, I will take him shopping for knife, OC and flare gun on Thursday!!

Thanks,

Rog

Edited to add: The possesion of a flare gun will not arise any suspicion by his parents, as they own a yatch and down here we are in the best part of summer, so he uses it almost every week.

 

[Rogelio]

come on!!! Give me some help here!!!Please!!

 

[Skofnung]

Hi.

Back in highschool, I dated this chick who had a very cool stepfather. I was helping him clean out his garage one day, and we found a flare gun and about 40 12ga flares. He asked me if I wanted the gun and flares. Lets see, let me think about that, I was a 17 year old pyromaniac with an active imagination... HECK YHEA I WANTED IT!!!

Over the course of the next few weeks, I put the flare gun through it's paces. It was (is) a Orion, blaze orange plastic deal. The first time I fired it, I shot it at an empty antifreeze bottle from about 7-10 yards. The flare seemed to "jump" up and out of the gun. I missed the bottle because the gun fired WAY higher than I thought it would. So, I got closer, say, 4-5 yards. I still missed.

Discouraged with my lousy marksmanship (or was it the gun? yhea, it was the gun)I stood right in front of the bottle and squeezed the trigger. THUMP! The flare hit the bottle with enough force to knock it back a few feet (not much force at all, it was an empty plastic bottle)but the very disturbing thing was that the burning red magnesium "can" (projectile) bounced back at me, missing me by a foot or so. It landed in a patch of grass and caused a small fire, which we stamped out quickly.

So, in terms of impact force, your cousin is probably better off using his foot. Set the other guy on fire? Maybe. But maybe it will bounce back and set HIM on fire. Intimidation? Yhea, I could see that, but when it comes to weapons, I do not want to intimidate.

Fire a regular 12 gauge round in a modern flare gun? Can you say Emergency Room?

Long story short, for a weapon, I would rather carry a stout walking stick than a flare gun. But MAN, did my friends and I have some FUN with that gun and those free flares...

 

[Rogelio]

Thanks for that one!!

I guess that the wisest thing is to stick with the knife and OC...but I just feel it is not the "right" deal....no walking sticks...they are WAY out of place in a 20 year old...

Any suggestions on what else to get him??

 

[Rupestris]

I have to agree with skofnung. A falre gun as a defensive ewapon isn't a good idea. The pepper spray an knife is a better idea.
If your cousin has enough time in his schedule I'd also suggest some sort of training. Martial arts, defensive knife training, etc.

Please read the following link/threads

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15536&highlight=kuboton

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38739&highlight=kubaton

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5797&highlight=kubaton

 

[Baba Louie]

http://www.ultimateweapons.org/subcat.asp?0=203

A nice stick and some serious practice keeping evil-doers away from the body might be the (or A) way to go. Who wants to get in a knife (or flare-gun) fight. A cane www.canemasters.com or umbrella even... along with some practice, might keep the bad guys at bay.
Defensive knife cuts on the inside of the palm/fingers might leave that hand crippled for life. You might be left alive of course, but cuts on the inside of the hand are too close to the inside of the wrist/forearm.
A cane strike to the groin, wrist or throat and then leaving the scene with great haste, makes sense to me.

www.donrearic.com
www.gutterfighting.org

Links are for some inspiration and direction. Canemasters video and a basic cane would be a great gift.

 

[Wanderer]

A collapsing baton perhaps?

 

[Joe Demko]

A few years ago there was a shooting at a VA hospital in Pittsburgh. An elederly gentleman shot one of the workers with a flare gun loaded with a regular shotshell. The gun, which was an older metal one, held together for that one shot. Only the shootee was harmed, not the shooter. At the time, there was much discussion of how lucky the old gentleman was that the flare gun did not simply grenade.

 

[Sunray]

"...even if his parents did not like..." Why create grief for the kid. His ma and pa won't let him use it so why bother getting the kid pumped up only to have to tell him no?
The only BNIB Olin flare guns I've ever seen are for boats. Some places required them while in others they are illegal. On boats only.
No Olin flare gun is designed to fire shotgun shells of any kind but the flares made for it. Said flares are about 1/4 the length of a 2.75" shotgun round. The flare gun is made of plastic and will explode nicely in your nephew's hand if he, or you, fires a regular shot loaded 12 ga. round. This is the kind of stupid BS that the gang bangers did before organised crime started selling them real guns. It's dangerous and daft as hell.