Christian Warrior Training | Christian Warrior Bible Study
In August 1943, the federal government released hunting ammunition to American civilians for the fall season, and the total came to about one-sixth of what hunters normally used. The Department of the Interior’s own news release gave the reasons for releasing even that much. Civilian hunting added meat to the national food supply, ranchers in the Western states needed ammunition to control the predators taking their sheep, and farmers needed it for the rodents eating their crops. The factories were producing for the war. Civilians got what was left, it was rationed, and farmers applied for special quotas to protect their livestock.
That is the lesson for a family preparing for a long war. The firearms and ammunition in your house on the first day are close to what your family will have for the duration, because military contracts take the production lines. You do not need a war to see it happen, either. In 2020, with no war at all, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) counted more than 21 million background checks for gun sales and estimated that more than 8.4 million Americans bought a gun for the first time. Ammunition shelves emptied within months and stayed short into 2022.
I spent 30 years in law enforcement and 20 of them on Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), as an entry team member, a medic, a sniper, and a sniper team leader. This is the list I would build for any family, and it is the list my own family runs.
Build the List by Role
A family firearms plan is built by job. On a wartime home front there are four of them: a handgun for defense, a rifle, a shotgun, and a .22 for small game. Each job gets one firearm before any job gets a second. A family with one of each is in better shape than a family with five rifles and no handgun.
Standardize while you build. One handgun caliber for the household, one rifle caliber, and one shotgun gauge means magazines and ammunition can move between family members when somebody runs low. Write down what you own today under the four jobs. Every empty line is your shopping list, and the inventory sheet for this episode has the four columns laid out.
The Handgun: A Glock 19 for Every Adult
Every adult in the family should have a pistol in a good holster, with spare magazines and defensive ammunition. During a war, police will be stretched thin, and that pistol goes with you inside the house, out in the yard, and on every supply run.
My pick is the Glock 19 in 9 millimeter. It is simple and it can be fixed. Glock builds its pistols with 34 parts. A Smith & Wesson M&P has more, and taking one down requires reaching into the frame to press the sear deactivation lever. Every branch of Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has been issued the Glock 19: Army Special Forces, the Navy SEALs, the Marine Raiders, and Air Force Special Operations. Glock reports that about 65 percent of law enforcement agencies in the United States use its pistols. I like a 2011, and I like a lot of what Sig Sauer makes, but I would not take either one to the kind of fight this series is about. The Glock has proven itself in combat.
A light on the pistol is required. Streamlight makes some of the most affordable weapon lights available, and I carried one on SWAT for most of my career. An optic on the pistol is a strong addition, and Trijicon is my pick. Load the gun with defensive hollow point ammunition such as Speer Gold Dot. Full metal jacket ball ammunition is for practice.
What Luke 22 Says About Carrying
In Luke 22:35-38, at the Last Supper, Jesus reminds the disciples that He once sent them out with no money bag or sandals and they lacked nothing. Then He tells them that now, the one who has no sword should sell his cloak and buy one. They show Him two swords, and He tells them it is enough.
He was preparing them for a time when He would no longer be with them in the body and they would face hostility on the road. He told His followers to carry the means of defense for the season ahead. A pistol on every adult in the house applies that same instruction to your family.
The Rifle: Set Up for the Ground You Live On
The rifle is an AR-15 pattern rifle in 5.56 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which also fires .223 Remington. It is the most common rifle in the country, it uses the same cartridge as the military, and parts and magazines are everywhere.
Every member of the family can have a role, and each rifle gets set up for its role. A son who shoots well at distance may run a longer barrel. You may run one set up for close quarters battle (CQB) with an 11.5-inch barrel. Your wife and daughter may each set theirs up for what fits them and feels comfortable.
Barrel length follows the ground around you. Open farmland, like Iowa or Nebraska, calls for an 18-inch or 20-inch barrel to reach out. I live in the city, where it is about 400 feet from one block to the next, and an 11.5-inch barrel covers that distance, so my family runs 11.5-inch barrels. Even in the country, keep at least one rifle set up for close quarters, because at some point you may have to go inside a building. Walk your property, find your farthest likely shot and your closest one, and let those two distances decide your barrel length and your optic.
Every rifle gets a sling and a quality optic set up for its role. Do not buy an optic because it is cheap. Sometimes the optic costs more than the rifle.
I run a suppressor on everything, to protect my family’s hearing and to keep our sound signature down. The law on suppressors and short-barreled rifles (SBRs) changed this year. The federal National Firearms Act (NFA) tax on both dropped to zero on January 1, 2026. On August 5, 2026, a federal court in the Northern District of Texas ruled that the registration requirements cannot stand without the tax, the Department of Justice did not appeal, and on October 9, 2026, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced it would not enforce National Firearms Act approval and registration for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns. In most states you can now buy a suppressor or an SBR at a dealer with a Form 4473 and a background check. State law still applies, and several states ban suppressors outright. ATF describes the change as an enforcement policy that a future administration could reverse, and it has said unregistered items would be treated as contraband if enforcement resumed. Voluntary registration at the zero-dollar rate is still accepted, and families should weigh that option at the counter.
Night vision is on my list too, and it costs thousands of dollars. Other gear comes first. Until then, I use a white light, the same way I did on SWAT.
The Shotgun and the .22
For the shotgun, buy a used Remington 870 that a police department traded in. They run about 300 to 400 dollars, they are simple, and parts are common. Stick with a standard 18-inch barrel. The shotgun covers self-defense, birds and small game, predators around livestock, and breaching a door.
The .22 Long Rifle (LR) is the most overlooked caliber in the house. A family can buy thousands of rounds for very little money, and a box of 500 fits in a coat pocket. It puts small game on the table, and it will defend you if everything else fails. Over my career I saw people murdered with a .22, so I know it works when it is used properly. Do not plan on it as your defensive gun. If suppressors are legal in your state, put one on the .22, because a suppressed .22 is very quiet.
In 1943, the government justified civilian ammunition because hunting fed families. If you do not hunt, find a hunter in your church and go with them this season. Food storage and production are the subject of Episode 5.
Ammunition: Buy It While It Is Cheap
Two things empty the shelves in a war. Demand spikes when people get scared, and the government puts military orders ahead of civilian sales. The 2020 shortage showed the first. The weak point in the supply chain is primers. Only a handful of plants make them, and after 2020 they were the main bottleneck holding back production.
Right now ammunition is priced fairly. In October 2026, 9 millimeter runs about 20 to 30 cents a round. That makes this the time to stock up. In my house there is ammunition in every corner, because it is cheap today and I know that when a war starts or a gun ban comes, I will be drawing from reserves. Set aside an emergency reserve that you do not shoot, and keep practice ammunition separate so you can train without touching it.
The four common calibers exist on this list for this reason. In a shortage, the rounds that stay findable are the ones the most people and the military use. Store ammunition cool and dry in sealed ammunition cans with desiccant. Fire your defensive ammunition through your own gun to confirm it feeds. Count what you have in each caliber, with practice and reserve in separate columns.
This is the loadout I use. I bet my family’s life on it.Magazines and Spare Parts
Keep buying magazines and keep storing them. They break, and people try to ban them. I have a closet full of magazines, and it drives my wife crazy, but if somebody restricts them or one fails, I have plenty more. When Magpul AR-15 magazines go on sale for nine dollars, I buy 10.
Keep spare parts for every firearm you own:
AR-15: bolt, extractor and spring, gas rings, firing pin, and a spare buffer spring.
Glock: recoil spring assembly and the springs Glock lists for routine replacement.
Remington 870: extractor and springs.
Add cleaning supplies for each caliber and learn to detail strip every gun in the house. In a long war, the gunsmith may not be open.
Training Over Hardware
Most people buy equipment beyond what they can do with it. The best rifle in the house does nothing for a family member who cannot load it, clear a malfunction, and hit what they aim at. Every adult in the house trains on every firearm.
The government sent me through thousands of hours of schools on tactics, firearms, and how to train others. Those skills fade without constant training. The best way I have found to keep mine sharp is to teach other people, so teach your family. Dry fire costs nothing and saves ammunition you may not be able to replace. From my time as a medic, carry a tourniquet and a pressure bandage with your firearm and train to use them. If there are children in the house, keep the defense handgun in a quick-access lockbox and teach the children the rules.
Church safety team members already carry most of this. Situational awareness, radio discipline, use-of-force judgment, and medical response all transfer to the home and the neighborhood. A team that trains together on Sunday can stand watch together on a block.
What Exodus 22 Says About Defending the Home
Exodus 22:2-3 sets out the law on a thief breaking into a house. If the thief is struck at night and dies, there is no bloodguilt for the homeowner. If it happens after the sun has risen, there is bloodguilt.
At night, the homeowner cannot see who is coming in or what the intruder intends. In daylight, the homeowner can see and has other options. God’s law protected the defense of the home and held the defender responsible for judgment in the moment. Training builds that judgment. Your state’s self-defense law still applies during a war, and a family firearms plan has to be built to stay inside it.
Building Your Firearms Inventory
The Wartime Firearms and Ammunition Inventory Sheet in the paid library takes you through the whole process:
List every firearm in the house by job.
Fill the empty jobs in order: a pistol for every adult, then the rifle, the shotgun, and the .22.
Count ammunition by caliber, with practice and reserve separated.
Count magazines and list spare parts by platform.
Write down who in the house is trained on each firearm and what training is still needed.
Put a training date on the calendar this month for every adult in the house.
Fill it out this week, and fill the cheapest gaps first.
Sources
United States Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, “A Limited Supply of Shotgun and Rifle Ammunition to Be Released for the Fall Hunting Season,” news release, August 26, 1943.
Danbury Reporter (Danbury, North Carolina), September 23, 1943, on special ammunition quotas for farmers.
National Shooting Sports Foundation 2020 background check and first-time buyer figures, as reported by Fox Business, January 2021.
Outdoor Life, “Here’s What the Ammo Shortage Revealed About the Industry,” February 17, 2023.
Glock, “GLOCK Technology,” us.glock.com.
SOFREP, “SOCOM Adopts Glock 19,” May 9, 2016.
Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF (Northern District of Texas, August 5, 2026), and the ATF open letter of October 9, 2026, as summarized by Silencer Shop and Concealed Carry Inc.
IronScout ammunition price tracker, October 2026.
Final Thoughts
Fill out the inventory sheet this week. Then tell me in the comments which of the four jobs your family was missing and what you are buying first. I read every comment, and other families learn from what you found.
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✅ Wartime Firearms And Ammunition Inventory Sheet