In partnership with
Free email without sacrificing your privacy
Gmail is free, but you pay with your data. Proton Mail is different.
We don’t scan your messages. We don’t sell your behavior. We don’t follow you across the internet.
Proton Mail gives you full-featured, private email without surveillance or creepy profiling. It’s email that respects your time, your attention, and your boundaries.
Email doesn’t have to cost your privacy.
The Ready Brief #177
Practical preparedness for uncertain times
FROM THE DESK
This is the issue I've been most careful about writing. Firearms are politically charged, emotionally loaded, and deeply personal. This newsletter doesn't do politics, and it won't start now. But roughly 45% of American households contain at least one firearm, and safe storage, basic handling, and responsible ownership are preparedness topics. So here's the non-political version: if you own or are considering owning a firearm, these are the safety and storage basics that protect your household.
Here's what I've got this week:
THE BRIEF
Firearm Safety and Storage: The Basics That Protect Your Household
This isn't a recommendation to buy firearms. This isn't a Second Amendment argument. This is practical safety guidance for the roughly 82 million American households that already contain firearms. If that's your household, safe storage and basic handling knowledge prevent the accidents that make a safety tool into a safety hazard.
The four rules of firearm safety are universal across every training program, every instructor, and every firearm type. (1) Treat every firearm as if it's loaded. (2) Never point a firearm at anything you're not willing to destroy. (3) Keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to fire. (4) Be sure of your target and what's beyond it. These four rules, followed consistently, prevent virtually all negligent discharges and accidents.
Safe storage is the non-negotiable responsibility of firearm ownership. If children live in or visit your home, firearms must be secured in a way that prevents unauthorized access when you aren’t there. A gun safe or locking cabinet is the standard ($100 to $500 depending on size). A trigger lock or cable lock ($10 to $20) provides a secondary layer. Ammunition stored separately from firearms adds another barrier.
Quick-access safes ($80 to $300) provide security with rapid authorized access. Biometric (fingerprint), push-button, or RFID safes open in 1 to 3 seconds for the authorized user but prevent children or unauthorized individuals from accessing the firearm. For home defense applications, these balance security with accessibility.
Maintenance is straightforward: clean and inspect firearms regularly. A basic cleaning kit ($15 to $25) and 20 minutes of attention after each use prevents malfunctions. Store firearms in a dry environment. Apply a light coat of oil to metal surfaces to prevent corrosion.
Training matters more than equipment. A person with basic safety training and a simple firearm is safer than a person with an expensive firearm and no training. Most gun ranges offer introductory safety courses for $50 to $100. Many offer them free. The NRA, USCCA, and local ranges all provide beginner programs.
If you don't own firearms and don't want to, that's a personal choice. Self-defense mindset (Issue 64), situational awareness (Issue 24), de-escalation (Issue 83), and avoidance (Issue 73) are the foundation of personal safety regardless of firearm ownership.
ONE THING THIS WEEK
If you own firearms, verify that every one is stored securely right now.
Can a child access any of them? Can an unauthorized person? If the answer to either question is yes, address it today. A trigger lock costs $10. A cable lock is often available free from your local police department.
ON THE RADAR
Only 1% of Gun Deaths Are Unintentional. Access and Storage Aren't Actually at Odds.
Of all firearm deaths in 2024, just 450, about 1%, were unintentional, according to a Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions analysis of CDC data. It's the smallest category of firearm deaths by far, and also the most preventable one.
The tension people expect, fast access in an emergency against safe storage the rest of the time, isn't as real as it sounds. A quick-access safe solves both. So does a habit some parents use: let a child look at an unloaded, safely handled firearm anytime curiosity strikes, with a parent present and narrating every step. Satisfied curiosity under supervision, plus watching a parent handle it safely over and over, tends to build respect for the object instead of a desire to sneak a look at something forbidden.
LESSON FROM: TERRY SCHAPPERT
Terry Schappert's Special Forces career was built on weapons proficiency, but in A Guide to Improvised Weaponry, he makes a different argument: the tool matters less than the judgment behind it. The book walks through using ordinary household and everyday-carry items for self-defense, but the same four rules of firearm safety anchor every example, because judgment and discipline are what keep any weapon, from a broom handle to a home defense pistol, from becoming a liability.
Schappert's civilian message: owning a firearm is a right and also a responsibility that demands training, safe storage, and ongoing proficiency. The firearm that sits in a drawer unfired for years, with no safe storage and no training, is more dangerous to the household than to any threat.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Puerto Rico's Drought Crisis Deepens as Water Rationing Enters Its Third Week
Roughly 180,000 customers in the San Juan area are losing water service for up to two consecutive days at a time as Puerto Rico's Aqueduct and Sewer Authority manages a historic drought. The Carraízo Reservoir sits more than 11 feet below full pool after San Juan recorded its driest July since 1898, a shortfall Governor Jennifer González Colón attributes to El Niño-driven high pressure blocking rainfall. The rationing began August 7 and remains in effect.
Preparedness angle: a multi-day water outage isn't hypothetical for millions of Americans in drought-prone regions. Stored water (one gallon per person per day, minimum three days) and a plan for rationing your own household's use before a utility forces the issue turn an emergency into an inconvenience.
Source: Fox Weather, Fox News
WHAT I'M TESTING
This is a quick-access bedside safe with fingerprint and Bluetooth keypad entry. It holds a full-size handgun, a spare magazine, and a flashlight. The fingerprint reader opens it in about 1.5 seconds. The rechargeable battery lasts about 4 months between charges.
I've tested it with my family: I can open it reliably. My wife can open it reliably. My daughter cannot open it (not enrolled). The safe is bolted to the nightstand with a cable anchor, preventing removal. It's small enough to be discreet and fast enough for emergency access. About $289.
Budget alternative: A cable lock through the action of each firearm ($5 to $10, often free from local police departments through Project ChildSafe). Less convenient for rapid access but prevents unauthorized use at minimal cost.
OVERRATED / UNDERRATED
Overrated: Firearms as a primary preparedness solution. A firearm addresses one specific category of threat (personal defense). It doesn't provide water, food, shelter, medical care, communication, or community. The preparedness foundation must be built first.
Underrated: Free cable locks from Project ChildSafe. Distributed through local law enforcement, these free cable locks fit virtually any firearm and prevent it from being fired without removal. Available at no cost from participating police departments across the country.
THE LINK DUMP
Project ChildSafe — Free firearm cable locks from local law enforcement.
NRA: Firearm Safety Rules — Universal firearm safety principles and training locations.
NSSF: Safe Storage — National Shooting Sports Foundation storage guidance.
USCCA: Training Courses — Beginner safety and concealed carry training.
Ready.gov: Active Shooter and Mass Gathering Safety — Federal guidance on threat response.
COMING UP
Feeding a crowd: community cooking during disruptions. When you're cooking for more than just your household, here's how to scale up with stored supplies.
PS: I debated writing this issue for months. The topic is polarizing. But 82 million households with firearms deserve practical safety guidance delivered without political agenda. If you own firearms, store them safely. If you don't, that's fine too. Either way, the four rules are worth memorizing because you may encounter a firearm in someone else's home, at a range, or during an emergency. Knowledge is always the safest position.
THE READY BRIEF is published for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing here is professional legal, medical, financial, or tactical advice. Preparedness looks different for every household. Use your own judgment, consult qualified professionals when the stakes are high, and adapt what you read here to your actual situation.
Turn Great Books Into Better Habits.
The best ideas from the best books, distilled into practical insights you can actually use. Explore proven ideas on habits, mindset, productivity, relationships, and personal growth without spending hours reading every page.