I don't claim to know exactly what happened between Zimmerman and Martin. However, as one who has worked a lot more security jobs than I care to recall, I have to say that there is often no alternative to simply walking up to people and talking to them if you want to find out what's going on. In many respects it's probably the most polite way to handle the interaction. Therefore I do not see the mere fact that Zimmerman chose to talk to Martin as necessarily being harassment. Granted, a lot would depend on Zimmerman's mannerisms, tone of voice, specific word choice, etc., as he talked to Martin; but what little information that is available does not suggest anything obnoxious in that regard.

Regardless, the case will now go to trial and a jury will decide the issue. I can only hope that they reach a fair, honest and just decision. I will apologize in advance for making a comment that some people might regard as cold, but in my opinion if it should turn out that Zimmerman was justified in shooting Martin, then there is no need for an apology. Under that circumstance Martin's relative youth would be irrelevant. Martin was old enough to try to kill somebody (or at least put them in fear of being killed), Martin was therefore old enough to die for that. If on the other hand the jury determines that Zimmerman's actions were not justified and returns a guilty verdict for murder and or manslaughter then an apology is the least of the things that Zimmerman should be expected to provide.

The .45 Auto Rim has an operating pressure of 15,000 cup. Note that's copper units of pressure NOT psi. I can't find information on the .45 GAP in any of my reloading manuals.

Apparently there is no direct conversion between copper units of pressure and pounds per square inch. Wikipedia states:

"Since a longer duration, lower pressure pulse can crush the cylinder as much as a shorter duration, higher pressure pulse, CUP ... pressures frequently register lower than actual peak pressures (as measured by a transducer) by up to 20%."

The .45 GAP, while not listed in my reloading manuals, still seems to be a going concern as Glock is manufacturing their G37, G38 and G39 pistols in that caliber. After surfing around on the internet I found a technical report by Speer on the .45 GAP. It is loaded to "+p" pressures for a .45 ACP (23,000 psi) and there were several changes made to the .45 ACP case to produce the .45 GAP case in addition to simply shortening the case. Given that information trying to use it interchangeably with .45 ACP in moon clips in a revolver might be iffy. One of the changes made was to the cannelure of the .45 GAP cartridge so it might not fit the moon clips that well if at all.
http://www.speer-bullets.com/pdf/45GAP%20Tech%20B...

Oh no! I've been quibbled!! Aaagh!!! :-)

At any rate, my bad. I knew there was a ridge in the cylinder chambers, but I thought they were also tapered as well. Granted that would have made for some interesting machining but given the stuff that's being done and literally taken for granted these days ...

Changing the subject somewhat, if one wanted to get slightly funkier with the S&W Governor then in theory it should also be able to take .45 GAP ammunition using the moon clips and .45 Auto Rim without moon clips. I know that S&W does not say so in their literature on the piece, but the .45 GAP is just a slightly shortened .45 ACP, and the .45 Auto Rim was specifically designed to be used (without moon clips) as a replacement for .45 ACP in revolvers that would have otherwise needed moon clips to handle that round.

Just pointing out that trying to shoot .45 ACP ammunition in a weapon chambered in .45 Colt is not the world's best idea unless the weapon has specifically been designed to do that.

(1) The SAAMI maximum average pressure for the .45 Colt is 14,000 psi. For the .45 ACP the industry pressure limit is 21,000 psi. Unless you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that the weapon you are using has been designed to take the higher pressure of the .45 ACP then trying to shoot that ammo in it would not be conducive to your long term survival.

(2) S&W provides moon clips for use in their revolver in order to provide for proper head spacing as well as extraction of .45 ACP ammo. At a minimum attempting to fire .45 ACP ammunition in a .45 Colt double action revolver without moon clips means that the rounds won't extract normally and will have to be pushed out individually using a pencil or other similar object. Furthermore, without using moon clips there is nothing to prevent the .45 ACP ammunition from going so far into a .45 Colt chamber that it can't be fired.

(3) Regardless of whether or not one uses the Taurus or the S&W 410 gauge/45 Colt I doubt that it's going to be that accurate much beyond point blank range. If for no other reason than a .45 bullet is going to have to travel further to engage the rifling in the barrel than it would in a revolver chambered for .45 Colt only. Ditto for .45 ACP. Granted that there is a niche for short range weaponry, just realize that the weapon you're planning on using is so limited.

Ruger makes a Blackhawk Convertible single action revolver that will take .45 Colt and .45 ACP ammunition depending on which cylinder is installed in the weapon. The .45 ACP cylinder has chambers that are tapered to match .45 ACP ammunition and headspaces the ammunition on the case mouth. While I don't own one of these revolvers I do own and use other Ruger revolvers and have been impressed with their ruggedness and reliability. If you really want the ability to swap back and forth between .45 Colt and .45 ACP ammunition then one of these may be what you're looking for.

Regardless, unless you know that your double action revolver is rated to handle both .45 Colt and .45 ACP ammunition and you have the moon clips to do so, do not fire .45 ACP in a weapon chambered for .45 Colt. The .45 ACP has 150% of the operating pressure of a .45 Colt, won't extract and won't headspace properly without moon clips.

If you are dealing with a single action revolver then you really don't want to fire .45 ACP in a weapon chambered for .45 Colt as there is a higher chance that the weapon hasn't been designed to take the increased pressure. Moon clips won't help in that situation given that single action revolvers use a different extraction system than a double action revolver. If you want to play that game with a single action revolver then get Ruger's convertible model with the extra cylinder. Otherwise stick with just .45 Colt.

Ahem, they're the same age as soldiers serving in combat zones and in some cases the same age as police officers and sheriff's deputies. They're also legal adults with all the rights and responsibilities that come with that status. If you're going to think, you might as well follow through with the exercise.

Something to the effect that he would have more flexibility after he was reelected.

While it isn't the sort of thing that's considered to be "night vision", a good pair of 7x50 binoculars can do a surprisingly good job of seeing things outside at night. Granted they're relatively big and heavy, but you don't need batteries and with a reasonable amount of care they'll last for decades.

12 gauge pump, good choice. I would prefer a Mossberg military variant but the Remington 870 is a good call.

One of the problems with the list IMHO is that there is too much overlap between some of the weapons. I think that you really only need one battle rifle clone. I would recommend something chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO/.308 Winchester. Select one of either a Springfield Armory M1A, an FN/FAL or a G3/HK-91 variant. If you're willing to put in sufficient practice with your battle rifle you can probably get away without a sniper rifle for most reasonable situations.

I think that a good sniper rifle would be a nice to have not a need to have. Other people's mileage may vary. While I could see uses for one chambered in .50 BMG, that strikes me as a real specialty niche item that isn't truly a must have. If you think you actually need a sniper rifle then you would likely be well served by a .30-06 or a .300 Winchester Magnum, or possibly a 7mm Remington Magnum. All of those rounds would be much easier to find and cheaper to shoot over the long haul than a .50 BMG.

So far we have a 12 gauge pump action shotgun, a battle rifle clone in .308 and possibly a sniper rifle. The next must have item IMHO is a pistol. In a post apocalypse scenario, if you are wearing any clothes at all, you will likely have at a minimum a pair of pants held up by a belt. On that belt there should be a pistol, some spare ammo for same, a knife, and a small survival kit of some type. The obvious question then becomes what pistol does one choose?

One of the recommendations I could go along with is a .44 magnum revolver. The author picked a S&W model 29, I prefer a Ruger Super Redhawk. One would be well served by either one of those weapons. For the vast majority of uses to which one is going to want to have a pistol I actually prefer revolvers to semi-autos. IMHO pistols are not for use in extended fire fights, that's what the battle rifle clone is for. Pistols are more for hunting/survival/evasion/escape. The advantage of the pistol is that it is relatively small and light enough that you can reasonably have it with you/on your person 24/7.

Now, there are some who might argue that the big .44 magnum revolvers are too heavy/cumbersome to have on your person 24/7. Thus a lighter pistol is actually called for. I would not totally reject that argument, I would simply suggest that the pistol chosen be able to do the jobs that one needed it to. There are several pistols that one might want to look at in this regard. The S&W Governor has already been mentioned. It will take 410 gauge 2.5 inch shells, it will take .45 Colt (aka .45 Long Colt), and it will take .45 ACP using moon clips. Though not mentioned by S&W in their literature on the piece it would likely also be able to take .45 GAP in moon clips and .45 Auto Rim (without clips of course).

There is a piece I have occasionally seen mentioned that IIRC is called the Medusa. It is a double action revolver with an interesting chamber/extractor design that will essentially let it make use of just about any pistol ammunition that takes a.355" to .357" bullet.

If you are willing to contemplate using a single action revolver then Ruger makes their Blackhawk in two convertible variants. One uses either .45 Colt (aka .45 Long Colt) or .45 ACP (without moon clips) depending on which cylinder one has in the weapon. The other does the same sort of thing only giving you the choice of .357 magnum/.38 special or 9mm Parabellum.

As other people have pointed out, gun safes that have electronic locks use batteries. A consideration that has not been mentioned yet is what effect EMP might have on those electronic locks. My personal bias would be for safes that used either key locks or mechanical combination locks. Regardless, some sort of safe to store one's weapons in is pretty much a necessity these days.

It's a good book. I highly recommend it. The caveat though is that it's a book that you don't just read. You need to get out and practice with your rifle of choice getting into position and dry firing a lot to get the best use out of it.