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On Dysfunctionality and Cheaper Than Dirt

Dan Zimmerman - comments No comments

By Don Curton

Growing up, my parents were very old school in that they never let us kids see them argue. I’m sure they had their moments, but maybe they just waited until my brothers and I were in school. We were taught to keep our mouths shut, to consider what we said and to respect others. I got my first taste of crazy visiting a friend’s house as a teenager. The whole gang would go over to “Bob’s” place because a) he was the only kid we knew that had his own TV in his bedroom, and b) he was the only one who had a brand spanking new Commodore 64. The rest of us had to be content to hook the old Pong console up to the family TV in the living room . . .

While there, something erupted between Bob and his mom that resulted in a screaming, yelling, crying, cussing argument the likes of which I had never seen before. I got nervous that something bad was going to happen and wanted to leave. The rest of the gang told me to relax, this shit went on all the time. Bob even paused in mid-expletive filled rant, turned to me and calmly told me not to worry, before turning back to his mom and finishing the fight.

Soon enough, it ended and Bob went back to the C64 just like it had never happened. Then his mom went into full nice mode and begin bringing in snacks, Cokes, etc. and asking if we wanted pizza later. It didn’t occur to me at the time, but Bob had all that, a nice car and got to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. His parents weren’t any richer than mine, they just prioritized differently.

I got another dose of crazy with my girlfriend’s family. Same basic story. Family gatherings where everything was all hugs-and-kisses right up to the until the youngest sister didn’t get her way on something. Then, holy hell, I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. I thought Bob and his mom were bad, but this beat Bob’s house nine ways to Sunday.

I left somewhere in the middle of the “I hope you all die and go to hell” phase. But the very next day, everything was all hugs-and-kisses again. Kinda like Bob, the younger sister, still living at home, had new car, new TV and the very latest in designer clothing, etc. And I know that family wasn’t near the economic level of mine. Again, just a different family dynamic.

What has this to do with Cheaper Than Dirt? I’m getting there, be patient. I see this kind of basic dysfunctionality in action at various levels of society. From the perpetually aggrieved to the selected protected classes. Any time something happens that someone doesn’t like, all you have to do is go into full crazy mode — throw the biggest temper tantrum you can — then get your way and go back to lovey dovey again. Rinse and repeat.

Someone won’t vote a certain bill into law? Accuse them of wanting to kill baby kittens and poison the atmosphere. Get the vote you want, and praise opponents for their bipartisan support. Need money? Accuse a corporation of racism, threaten boycotts and demonstrations until they make a big donation, then pose for photo ops with the CEO with big smiles all around. Once the check has cleared, of course.

So…Cheaper Than Dirt? They did something we didn’t like and we went into hardcore crazy mode. Yelling, screaming (okay, posting and re-posting). We threatened (and carried out) a boycott to show our disapproval. And guess what? They caved. They came around to our way of thinking. They “saw the light” and gave us what we wanted. They are obviously actively trying to kiss our asses (and get our business back). So now what?

Face it, dysfunctionality works. Plain and simple. I don’t like it. I hardly understand it. But it does work. The left-leaning political class has perfected it, elevated it to an art form. They get what they want, over and over. And we play around the edges and screw things up royally. We went partial dysfunctional with CTD. We got right up to the “I hope you all die and go to hell” phase, but we just don’t know how to get back to the hugs and kisses part. The real question is, do we go all-in and get to the hugs and kisses stage, or do we continue to pout and lose one more round?

Better yet, do we accept this model of operation to get our way, or do we reject it as utterly inappropriate behavior?

I’m all for the second option. I don’t feel comfortable throwing fits and I fail to see it as an adult method of solving problems. I’d rather use logic and reason to explain to others how and why we’re right. I’d rather use my “inside voice” than scream and yell. But experience has shown that this takes a poor second place to the spoiled brats screaming about their “rights.”

So forgive CTD. Go full dysfunctional, then get back to the hugs and kisses. Hell, ask for a special TTAG discount. We’ll get it. Ask for special TTAG branded gear. We’ll get that too. Let’s complete the circle and finish this dance. We may wish for logic and reason next time, but this time we went dysfunctional and we may as well accept it.

More to the point, if we don’t forgive CTD, what incentive will any company have to cater to us once they cross the line? There has to be a path back to righteousness, or else we’ll end up boycotting everyone into irrelevance. And that’s not good for our side, either.

0 thoughts on “On Dysfunctionality and Cheaper Than Dirt”

  1. Why are we still talking about this? I never shopped there anyway, because their prices were always high and their shipping rates were crazy. Everything they sell can be had elsewhere for less money with equal or better service and, usually, a cleaner and easier-to-navigate website.

    CTD shouldn’t suddenly “support” RTKBA because their customers threw a fit. They should have always done it because their business is directly related to it and they should believe in what they do. They sold themselves out as much as they did their customers.

    Reply
    • Same here. Maybe they have competitive prices on things I’ve never bought, but every time I’ve gone there I’ve been presented with prices I easily found cheaper elsewhere, not counting shipping.

      There’s something about the way they so easily caved in and joined ranks with those champions of irrationality that makes it hard to start feeling forgiving.

      Sure, they made a donation, but I haven’t seen a statement where they explained in detail what happened and a genuine, detailed apology.

      Their actions make me doubt that they would have my back if it ever came to a SHTF scenario.

      Reply
    • Amen. Their name did not describe their prices. They advertised pretty heavily on the radio where I live, but when I went online, they almost invariably had high prices that I just couldn’t justify.

      Some may have forgiven them. I do not. I still haven’t forgiven Ruger for their Quisling behavior way back when. Nor will I.

      Reply
  2. There’s a big difference between choosing to avoid business with a company, whose policies or beliefs you disagree with, and yelling at your parents. The former is not dysfunctional.

    Reply
    • BTW, when you mollify a dysfunctional person’s behaviors, you are REWARDING and STRENGTHENING those behaviors. The correct thing to do is ignore and penalize them, and if that doesn’t work, medicate them or detach yourself from them.

      There’s also the Christian mode of forgiveness: confession, followed by repentance, and _then_ forgiveness. CtD has barely confessed, I personally have not seen the necessary repentance before they’d qualify for my forgiveness. Repentance includes (but is not limited to) a full blow-by-blow confession in public that goes over the decision making process they followed for their mistaken policies, then visible and public retribution for those who made those decisions (rebuke, then dismissal), and for good faith I’d say a ‘forgiveness’ discount rolling back prices to say 10% below pre-Newtown and just selling out stock.

      Of course, they can go tell me to go f–k myself, which is fine, but that’s my threshold and what I would need to see before I felt they had truly repented and could be forgiven.

      Reply
    • This. I have no obligation to CTD, regardless of my reaction. I have an obligation to my family, regardless of membership, to treat them like family. Cheaper than Dirt made a public display of caving at a time when such acts would reasonably be seen as an act of contrition for something they had no hand in, were not responsible for, and had no reason for being contrite about. Things like that give ammo to the sickos that want to paint all gun owners as responsible for a maniac’s actions. They are at best fair weather friends, willing to take our money as long as it doesn’t draw any attention to them. And I refuse to belive they were reviewing a damn thing except their purchase orders, to see if they had sold anything to the murdered mother. The Feds would have already nailed the country’s largest online firearms retailer if their policies weren’t already tighter than a duck’s orifice.

      Reply
  3. Never shopped there. Prices to high. Sorry, nope, they flew their true colors. Even if prices went insanely low, I will not buy from them. I am not a prostitute. I will not be bought.

    My ethics and my beliefs are not for sell.

    Do not agree with you on this one, Dan.

    Reply
  4. Academy chose not to change during the frenzy (except for limiting quantities). They’ve earned my loyalty. CTD chose another path (again) and my money will go elsewhere.

    Reply
  5. The business/ customer dynamic is not the same as a familial or personal dynamic. A business did something it’s customer base did not like and was informed that the customers would no longer support the company because of it. That is business economics not a tantrum.

    Reply
  6. “I don’t feel comfortable throwing fits and I fail to see it as an adult method of solving problems.”

    This is modern America. Adulthood and maturity are irrelevant. You do realize we’re a country that voted Obama back into office a second time, right?

    “More to the point, if we don’t forgive CTD, what incentive will any company have to cater to us once they cross the line?”

    Maybe it’ll teach other companies not to cross the line in the first place. I don’t forgive catering to traitors and traitorous policies, whether it’s a company, a politician, or the guy next door. That’s not a tantrum, it’s principle.

    Reply
  7. Damn, pong and c64. When I was a kid you had 3-8 channels depending on where you lived and how much of an antenna you had. The channels went off the air at midnight. The games we had were played at the kitchen table. Monopoly and the like.

    But the tv and the games were only for bad weather and night. The rest of the time you were outdoors and don’t dare tell your folks you were bored. They’d find something for you to do. Usually involving a shovel or a hoe or an ax.

    And I’d have sooner stuck my hand in a wood chipper as yell at my mother. All the men in my family from grampa on down would have lined up to stomp a mud puddle in my ass and walk it dry.

    Nowadays you’d probably go to jail for back handing a sassy kid. That’s why so many of the kids are in jail now.

    Reply
  8. Seems like you’re trying to shame us into taking them back. They dumped on us. Doesn’t seem right to patronized them again, so soon. I don’t believe they really learned their lesson yet.

    And Shawn… if you don’t think there’s reason for paranoia, you need to pay more attention.

    Reply
  9. Sorry, but spouting off on the Internet in blog post comments is not the same as a face to face shoutfest in front of others.

    CTD did some bad things. They were called on – although harsh words are just a bunch of hot air. What counts is business.

    I personally didn’t take part in the shoutfest, but I’m still not doing business with them. There are plenty of other companies willing to stand up for their customers who I feel are better deserving of my business than CTD.

    Reply
  10. If $hit were brains, these people would be geniuses. But the fact of the matter is their heads are just filled with $hit. The more these insane people talk, the more they reinforce the notion that liberalism REALLY IS a mental disease.

    Reply
  11. 1 more state going California. And the cancer grows. People are going to run out of places to move to if we don’t make a stand and put an end to this.

    Reply
    • Colorado’s been Calif0rnicated for a long time. Libs move in, demand the same californicated lifestyle, taxes go up, dems/libs get elected…

      Reply
  12. I have a place in Colorado. Just a small cabin. I wrote and called everyone..I really love the place. But I will leave it if I need to. What a crock. These laws stop nothing. And now they just lost a great company doing business in their state. Not only providing jobs, but supplying our armed forces.
    I hope it hits these lawmaker hard in the elections. I hope Magpul can take as many of their workers with them and that Colorado never again kicks out a productive money maker for the community. And I am sorry to all who live there full time and can’t pick up and leave.

    Reply
    • Never pass WHICH court? By the time any case got to the US Supreme Court, it it VERY likely that it won’t be the same one you see today. If two conservative (or one conservative and one swing) justices leave, BHO will attempt to replace them with justices who interpret “apple” as “shoe” if the need arises. And Congress’ prolonged attempts to block ratification will only leave a 4-4 lib-conservative tie (a tie upholds the law) or even worse, a 4-3 lib-conservative majority. Be afraid. Be VERY afraid of “the courts”, at least for four more years. And the trend in elections is likely to continue as BHO adds millions of ‘undocumented’ voters from Mexico.

      Reply
  13. This ain’t the first time CTD has done this. Probably won’t be the last. I’ll never in hell spend another dime there. Midway or OpticsPlanet gets all my business from now on.

    Reply
  14. Yes but I am not part of a dysfunctional family with Cheaper than Dirt.

    What we are talking about here is freedom of association and free markets. I have every right in the world to decide with whom I am going to spend my money. Also Cheaper than Dirt can decide what products they want to sell. They happened to have just made a decision to make their customers happy and it’s a win/win in that people will once again spend their money with them.

    No harm no foul.

    Reply
  15. now, if we can only make being a redneck, a “patriot,” a capitalist and a christian death penalty offenses and we’re all set 🙂

    Reply
  16. It’s a lot like your girlfriend or wife sleeping with your best friend and then trying to offer up something “extra” to make up for it. You still got screwed.

    Reply
  17. Wow, I’m beginning to wonder if Colorado is a lost cause. There are still a lot of good people living outside of the big cities, but certain areas like Denver are becoming more and more liberal. I sure hope Wyoming doesn’t go down this road.

    Reply
  18. Why are we ticked about $99 pmags? I guarantee you they’re not selling any. Pmags can easily be had for $30 or less in free states.

    I hear so many people railing against “price gougers” like they’re criminals. You know that Glock you paid $600 for at your LGS? It probably cost Glock less than $100 to produce. What about the $40,000 pickup that drops to $32,000 the second you drive it off the lot? The way capitalism works is to buy low and sell high. What’s wrong with this? The beauty of this system is that you can choose to buy or not buy and sellers can choose to sell or not sell.

    Reply
    • Cheaper than dirt seems like it’s being run by teen-aged girls. Doing what’s popular, making a lot of noise, stamping their feet when they’re not getting what they want. And they want to come off as “Me Too!” on both side of the fight. And the gouging? If that’s how they want to run their company, who are we to question it? It’s a poor way to get and keep business though. I toss their catalogs when I get them and wouldn’t give them another thought if not for the conversation here.

      Reply
  19. I am by no means a Glock fanatic. I do have a Glock 30 that I carry all summer (in Texas summer is defined as about Feb 15 to NOV 15. I wanted a compact in .45 cal (all other rounds being a sub caliber training device). I planned on a Kahr, I wanted a Kimber, but unfortunately I have yet to win the lottery. I got to Cabellas and held the Glock 30 and I liked it. I went and rented one at the range and loved it.

    I shoot about 50 rounds a month to make sure all of my mags are working. I’ve put about a thousand rounds through it, and have yet to have a failure. Maybe I have strong wrists, maybe I’m lucky, maybe the problem is over stated on Internet forums.

    Today I fired 50 rounds, double taps, from 30 feet and put 49 in the x or 10 rings, one in the 8 ring. I’m not sure that I’d trade my G30 for a Kimber at this point.

    Reply
  20. I was saddened to read about this brave father giving his life for his family. I simply am at a loss at any man not having a gun to protect his loved ones. If any creeps broke into our home, they would be met with a hail of bullets, including .45, 38 special, 9 mm and .22 (shooters including me, my wife and my two daughters, 11 and 9). The whole family practices regularly at the range. And for early warning of a break-in? The two loudest, barkingest, most bad-tempered toy poodles on the planet.

    Reply
  21. Don, Do what you want. It’s not a big deal, I know the companys that see things my way and now I know they don’t. I’m glad I know. They remind me of H&K with the .22 MP5, H&K would not build or sell to civi’s until they saw omeone else make money. I know where to spend my money.

    Reply
  22. You are getting worked up over nothing. The only people who treat the NYT as a reliable source already believe in the anti-gun meme.

    Reply
  23. I’d invite them to move to Florida, but I worry about my own state as well. Safe today, sure, but tomorrow? I have my doubts.

    Reply
  24. Assuming the background check passes the Senate, which is a bit like assuming the sun will rise tomorrow, yes, private sales will be illegal. We did get some wording changes for the worst parts of that law, but it was small potatoes. The plan here at the Secret Hidden Bunker is to hang in CO until the 2014 elections. I plan to personally visit each of the swing districts, holding a free firearms training seminar and gun owner meeting and explaining in simple, easy-to-understand terms that their “Don’t worry about me…I support the Second Amendment” Democrat SOLD THEM OUT!

    Michael B

    Reply
  25. From the video, the law makes it harder for you defend your home from home invaders with a gun, therefore guns are not useful for defending ones home. Since they are not useful for self defense they should be outlawed.

    How can someone seriously follow that logic?

    Reply
    • Yep, I hear ya. Headed there this spring. At least I’ll be there before the 1 JUL cutoff for the totally enforceable magazine cap law…..

      Reply
  26. Doesn’t HB1226 directly contradict the recent Colorado Supreme court ruling? If so, will the law even be enforceable if the bill directly contradicts the CSC?

    Reply
  27. If the guy didn’t have prosthetic legs, he never would have killed that girl. He would have been just another guy in a wheelchair, with no fame or glory, and he never would have met that model in the first place.

    Blame it on the legs.

    Reply
  28. The more laws infringing the right to bear (carry) and keep (own) arms the more of this will happen, until the point cops are being murdered for their guns.

    Reply
  29. As soon as Dicks sporting goods announced after sandy book that they
    Will no longer sell assault rifles( as if the rifle assaulted someone) I immediately
    Sent them an email and told them to cancel my Dicks card and I will never patronize cheaper then dirt either. They had a choice and they made the wrong one, sorry…

    Reply
  30. Well in light of the recent events in Colorado and probably Maryland, I will indeed be joining both the NRA and GOA, despite by biggest wish to stay independent. I’ll be damned if I let the country be weakened by the sheer ignorance and folly of the gun grabbers.

    Essentially what we need is another two years to really go to the polls and take these people out of office. Newtown could really not have come at a worse time in terms of the election cycle. In the meantime, everyone needs to do their part to convert a casual/moderate gun grabber into a 2nd Amendment supporter. Please also get your fellow gun owners to read and follow TTAG whom I highly respect.

    I’ll point out gunfacts.info as an excellent resource. If you do post, please be courteous and not show yourself as an extremist like the gun grabbers.

    The key points to communicate are:
    1. Statistics show that there is no correlation to availability of guns and the ability for the criminals to commit crime.
    2. There _is_ a statistical correlation to the availability of guns and the ability for the citizens to prevent and deter crime.
    3. Firearms are safe, there are fewer accidents with firearms than with automobiles by far. More children drown in swimming pools than are killed with firearms. But, WE CAN DO MORE TO INCREASE SAFETY (training and gun safes).
    4. Firearms kill people, but studies show that removing firearms does not decrease crime but increase it. Because: a) firearms are used by choice to defend against crime by the weakest of victims: women, elderly, children. b) police response rates average in minutes in the best of circumstances. c) the criminals _do_not_ care about short term incarceration, only being killed or never being released. d) UK has proven that removing firearms has increased crime in all categories, that UK cheats in counting statistics (counts only the incident instead of number of victims, and only counts with the successful conviction).
    5. The 2nd Amendment. Yes, this is actually the most important to people that get it. But sadly, most Americans do not anymore. The best way to convey it is as I have done below.

    Please keep up the good work. And come out voting the next election. Attached are my most recent posts below to the MSM comments and blogs:

    Every year, two and a half million people die in the United States; deaths by firearms account for less than thirty two thousand (suicide and assault). The amount of attention given in the media and by certain political groups against firearms simply isn’t proportional.

    This isn’t about saving lives, this is about getting rid of firearms.

    I urge everyone to _independently_ look at the data and see for yourself. Lookup the CDC stats on mortality and leading causes of death. Lookup the FBI stats on crime rates, and go to the websites of the other countries and see what happened to crime rates when guns were banned and removed in those countries.

    The real extremists are the ones that are taking away our most powerful tool to defend ourselves, prevent crime, and defend our country. These same extremists then claim they’re not after all our guns, just the big scary ones used for mass murders. Except that these mass murders are such statistical aberrations, these extremists are willing to punish the _millions_ of law abiding owners for the acts of a handful; when it was these same extremists that created the vacuum of defense against these mass murders and criminals that have killed more people instead of saving them, they then turn around to fan fear and cries for action.

    The American people are not fooled.

    The 2nd Amendment has always been an affirmation of individual and state sovereignty, as is the rest of the Bill of Rights in limiting the Federal government. Both the First and the Second Amendments are complementary, both support each other. Without the teeth, the words have no weight; and without words the teeth would otherwise be used except as a last resort. Weakening either one of the Amendments, weakens both.

    The gang culture is a society cancer.

    These children grow up with single parents. They can’t stay in school. They need to find a job to support their siblings and relatives, except there aren’t any in the area. The police don’t care and instead protect the areas of people with jobs. They listen to the psychopathic inner city indoctrinations in rap and hip-hop that belittle themselves.

    They turn to gangs for all the things they never had. They commit the crimes. They deal the drugs. They murder themselves and the innocent. They perpetuate the cycle of children raised in single family homes.

    They finally get caught. Incarcerated. Let out early, where they then commit more crimes and indoctrinate the next generation of gang members.

    Violence in video games and movies doesn’t create criminals. When children play video games or watch movies, they know they’re in make-believe world. All the rest is real.

    It’s time to stop the cycle.

    Reply
  31. Why would Rep. Rosenthal pay any attention to his constituent’s concerns when Joseph D. professes his loyalty to the Democratic Party by declaring, “I have never voted [R]epublican?”

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  32. I believe there are (for now) 13 states in which dems have complete control. Both houses of the legislature and the governor’s mansion. I would submit that these states are lost and we should concentrate on keeping the red states red. The voters of Colorado, New York, Maryland and the others considering anti-gun legislation voted to elect liberal democrats. A tipping point was reached long ago. These people have decided they value government services more than freedom. hell, we have people right here on this site who claim to be strong supporters of the 2A and yet voted for Obama. I say cut the blue states loose, and concentrate on what can be saved.

    Reply
  33. My DGUs are all on duty, but I am an NRA/FPC/SAF/NAGR member.

    We definitely need some DGUs. I think minority single moms would get a massive emotional response, particularly if they were in the inner city.

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  34. As far as the statists are concerned, the purpose of serial numbers is a registration system to be used for confiscation. Otherwise, what is the purpose of serial numbers, other than to possibly return stolen guns? I assure you that is not what the Frums of the world want serial numbers for.

    As far as I am concerned, there should not be any legal requirement for serial numbers.

    Reply
  35. I just emailed Wilson Combat to help do my part since they’re in my state. It might not help much, but maybe another well known name might add a little.

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  36. If you think Canada’s gun laws are bad, just consider Britain’s gun madness.
    As many people here know, banning guns does not stop the criminals from carrying them. So how has Britain fared since former prime minister Tony Blair’s all out macho “total ban” on handguns in 1996? Before Blair decided to disarm millions of law abiding citizens, the country had three mass shooting that unarmed police officers could not stop. In April 2010, in picturesque Cumbria, a popular tourist destination in northern England, a cab driver by the name of Derrick Bird drove around for 35 miles, casually gunning people down with his 12 gauge shotgun and .22 rifle. He managed to kill 12 innocent people and wound 25 others.

    The big problem here was, NOT ONE person could stop Derrick Bird. Not the police, not the public. Why? Because they were unarmed. Nobody had a gun or access to one that could be used to stop this slaughter. After Bird finished his shooting spree, he casually walked into a secluded area and shot himself. In one instance, Bird was in plain sight of two police officers who were scooting people out of the way and shouting at others to “take cover.” They could not stop him. Their batons and cans of pepper spray weren’t quite a match for Bird’s guns.

    So, just how many of the tens of thousands of UK citizens who owned handguns went on shooting sprees before they were stripped of their weapons in 1997? Only three. Yes, they were three too many, but enough for Tony Blair’s socialist government to disarm an entire nation of all handguns and rifles over .22 calibre. Ten years later in 2006, there were an estimated FOUR MIILION illegal guns circulating in the UK. Criminals between the ages of 15-24 can get access to Mac-10 sub-machine guns, Beretta pistols and replica weapons converted to fire live ammo. Also on the rise is the number of victims shot: By 2004, 440 people were seriously wounded by firearms, up five per cent from 2002. In the first six months of 2009, the number of shootings in London had almost doubled from 123 to 236 compared with the same period in 2008, a rise of 91.8%. Serious firearms offences have risen by 47% across London alone.

    Since 1996, gun crime has increased overall in the UK by 92%. Now we have huge areas of London, Manchester, Glasgow and Liverpool controlled by gangs armed with machine guns, fighting it out over turf and the drugs trade. Teenagers packing illegal handguns battle each other in “respect” shootings. You can buy a .38 revolver on the street in any big city for $775.00. A Glock will cost you $2,000 cash. Mac 10 machine guns and AK-47 rifles are also available for the right price.

    In the meantime, coppers walk the beat unarmed while the rest of the country is left to cower in homes behind locked doors, burglar alarms and barred windows. In 2011, there were 3,700 firearms offences commited in the UK, a country where the Olympic shooting team has to travel to France, Norway or Switzerland to practise, because the caliber of the guns they use in competition are banned for civilian ownership!

    For those “ban all guns” groupies who continue to believe that disarming law abiding citizens will somehow keep us all safe, they should listen to the number of 911 recording on YouTube by terrified women who were calling for help when stalkers, rapists and burglars were in the act of breaking into their homes. The police were too far away to get to the scene in time. All the women in question are all alive today because they had access to a gun in the house and were able to put a bullet in their attackers. In Canada, they would have been charged. Dead criminals are a much better solution, or rather criminals who are afraid to break into someone house, knowing that the owner coulder be armed and willing to shoot an intuder.

    When a citizenry is unarmed and therefore stripped of its ability to protect itself from violent criminals, then that citizenry is no longer free. Britons tofday are certainly not free, as the UK is now the most heavily watched country in the world with close circuit cctv cameras in every high street. Apparently its to keep us safe. I say its has a lot more to do with population control.

    In closing, here is a newspaper report from the UK (with photos) of an armoured car guard who was attacked and badly wounded by three hooded men armed with machetes. In the UK, armoured car personnel are not allowed to possess ANY KIND of defensive weapon, not even a baton or pepper spray. They get a crash helmet and a stab vest. That’s it.

    See here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-517540/Caught-camera-Dramatic-moment-security-guard-fought-machete-wielding-gang.html

    Don’t let Obama do this to America. Please.

    ——————————————————————————–

    Here is another incident in the UK where ONE man armed with a machete held THIRTY unarmed police officers at bay.

    Scroll down to watch the video.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1388265/Police-tackle-machete-wielding-man-wheelie-bin.html#ixzz1MngUHci2

    Reply
  37. Everyone in here but the pastor is completely ignorant. Why the armored vehicles…are you serious? Why the gun ports….really? It’s obvious that not one of you has ever been on those streets, seen what cops are up against, or have even remotely been involved in any type of public service profession. The only reason the North Hollywood Shootout is the only instance the “comes to mind” for you people is that you haven’t pulled your heads out of your monitor-shaped holes in the ground and taken a good look at what the media is NOT reporting. Do that, then we’ll talk. This world is a deadly place, in some places it IS a war-zone, but those of you who have nothing better to do than post out-of-context pictures with uneducated remarks about those fighting that war on a daily basis from your plush recliners and sipping fruity drinks truly have no idea what it takes to keep your cozy homes free from would-be invaders. You think law enforcement in trampling your civil rights? Imagine if they ALL took a day off, where would you be then? Thing is, they won’t…EVER. That’s because, unlike you, they know what lurks in the night because they’ve seen it’s ugly face every day. And, unlike you, they have prepared themselves for it. Yes, LEO’s are soldiers, just fighting a different kind of war that traditional armed service members. The war for YOUR safety. You are afforded the opportunity to say the things you do about them because of traditional soldiers, but the opportunity to CONTINUE to say those things is brought to you solely by the sacrifice of law enforcement officers. That is all, and you’re welcome.

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  38. This is likely the most off-base thing I’ve ever read on TTAG that wasn’t being quoted and then torn apart.

    I am not “throwing a fit” against China when I buy American.

    I am not “throwing a fit” against entitlements and wasteful spending when i vote Libertarian.

    I am not “throwing a fit” to get my way when I go to church or pray quietly in my own home.

    I am living my life according to a set of principles and morals I hold dear. I won’t patronize a business that holds ideas I reprehensible if I can avoid it, and i give zero fucks if they know it or not. They can spend all the money they want kissing YOUR ass, or supporting the infringement of MY rights……. but it won’t be my money.

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  39. “Mistaken identity” seemed reasonable without specific details, until I read this story. A fractured skull and a bloody cricket bat pretty much take it right off the table, though.

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  40. Since the overwhelming majority seem to be advocating for continuing to withhold their business from CDT, I would like to know how many own Smith&Wesson products? Back in the Clinton-era, they sided with the devil….we reacted, and withheld business….and hurt them badly….at first opportunity, they righted themselves – “we” gun consumers didn’t hold a grudge, and now they’re a flourishing business thanks to us….this is the same scenario….CTD made a mistake, they’re repenting….and, despite their market driven prices, they are trying to make good to support our cause….we have enouh enemies already, we need all the friends we can get…CTD is seeking redemption. Give them a chance….in the meantime, lets leverage a few more $100,000 donations from them, to causes that help us…not shopping with them because their prices aren’t competitive is one thing. holding a grudge until they collapse, hurts only us, and the hard-working Americans who work for them, many of whom, I imagine are gun-owners themselves….

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    • -1

      Nice try, OIBL. The saying, “close, but no cigar” doesn’t even apply here, because you arent’t even close. Even if Magpul had tripled their cost to CTD of Pmags, then CTD is *still* trying to get at least double the profit margin than before. They are opportunistic to the extreme and have not “righted” themselves by a $100,000 donation. “Righting” themselves would involve the novel idea of a public apology (a “our prices were just TOO damn high … you spoke, we listened” sort of thing. But that isn’t happening and people aren’t buying it … or buying from CTD apparently. But when a company sells a GI mag for $79.95 and admits that it has some wear marks on it, I see nothing but gouging. CTD’s business model clearly is dependent upon those millions that bought guns from them – and others – that now will need ammo and magazines … and these are people that don’t know the difference. If they can survive on that business model, so be it and good for them. But those people aren’t ‘gun people’ and they aren’t sportsmen – and their purchases won’t be enough to keep CTD in the black.

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  41. As night follows day, this will become just cause in the mind of some half-educated social worker in the countryside to remove children from the home of an annoying redneck who won’t shut up about that Constitution thing.

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  42. Money quote from the US Magazine article: “I like to have Christmas color cartridges,” the 29-year-old MTV star added

    Ha!

    As one of my favorite characters, Didi Snavely, once said, “You will have a Holly Jolly Christmas, and the criminal will have a Silent Night.”

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  43. Westrom is full of it in his “treading the needle” response. He can’t have it both ways and in doing so has defined the only market segment that WILL be buying his products…since the rest of us seemingly won’t.

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  44. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new wingnut catchphrase. It is: “common sense gun violence prevention legislation.” I guess that “common sense gun control laws” wasn’t playing in Peoria.

    All tr0lls, wingnuts and squib loads — pay attention. Further references to “common sense gun control laws” have been banned by the Comintern.

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  45. I have read that King blames himself through “Rage” for being the seed that started all school shootings. Heavy baggage to feel responsible for all those deaths. Must be a kind of penance. Personally I found his novels to be stale about a decade ago. And I just got tired of finding a version of “he cocked the slide of his big .45 revolver” in almost every book.

    (fifth attempt to post this)

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  46. Any further information IRT Armalite is wasted space. They have made their policy and it does not support the Second Amendment.

    On a side note after looking at the above picture. How tactical can a shock troop be if his massive key ring jingles as he moves?

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  47. “No officer or employee of a state agency, member of the
    legislature or legislative employee SHOULD USE or attempt to use his
    official position to secure unwarranted privileges or exemptions for
    himself or others.”

    It doesn’t say SHALL USE, so it has no real meaning at all. The devil is in the details. I hate these stupid edicts that they make so they sound like they aren’t above the rest of us.

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  48. Im off but can hardly find ammo to go shooting with and the range I shoot at just started a 1 box (of theirs) per visit limit. I have enough of my own to bring someone but it would be depleting what little stock I have. Not trying to make excuses but given the current shortage I would rather have ammo on hand for when it is absoloutley needed.

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  49. I WILL NEVER BUY ANYTHING FROM THEM AGAIN, AND THEY ARE IN MY CITY! PRICE GOUGING!
    PULLING STOCK FROM THE SHELVES AND ORDERING ONLINE SITE, SO YOU CANT ORDER IT UNTIL IT GOES WAY UP IN PRICE!
    CUSTOMER SERVICE LICKS BALLS, RIP-OFF!!!

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  50. I thought I’d give them a second chance. They advertised some 12ga ammo at:
    66683 Ammo 12 Gauge Remington Nitro-Steel High-Velocity 3-1/2″ BB Plated Steel 1-9/16 Ounce 250 Round Case 1300 fps NS1235B 4
    $23.67
    $94.68

    I bought 4 cases. 4 BOXES show up. I call them and they tell me it’s my fault and I need to return them to get a refund. How about honoring a deal? These people have no class, and will definitely not have any more of my business.

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