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Question of the Day: Should You Be Able to Buy This Gun?

Robert Farago - comments No comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WVwSIsG6x8

Proponents of civilian disarmament know exactly where to draw the line when it comes to deciding which guns Americans should not be allowed to own: any gun that scares them. The gun control advocates I mean. And if you’ve played that game with them you’ll have heard the rhetorical technique known as reductio ad absurdum. Specifically, “should Americans be allowed to own nukes?” Most gun rights advocates draw the line at weapons of mass destruction. Gun control folk respond by insisting that a black semi-automatic modern sporting home defense rifle is a weapon of mass destruction. Anyway, where do you draw the line? Should you be able to buy a Russian ZU-23-2 AA gun or similar? Without a background check or a permit?

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Robert Farago

Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns.

0 thoughts on “Question of the Day: Should You Be Able to Buy This Gun?”

  1. While I have not had the R51 in my hands to test it, I do like the stream line configuration of the weapon along with the smooth operation. However, after watching the tear down video it appears to be like a nightmare from a horror movie. This weapon must have been invisioned as a Saturday afternoon target shooter at your local range. If one would have to do a tear down in a combat situation (day or night), I would just drop the gun and run. There appear to be far too many notches, grooves and springs to navagate around and under to make this weapon anything other than a nightmare to take apart and put back together under stress. I was dismayed to see that even in the disassembly video, the operator was having major problems just keeping the barrel in line with the slide opening. Looks like Remington need to take this unit back to the drawning board.

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  2. Sure, why not? Only the EXTREMELY rich would be able to afford it, and have the space available to enjoy it. It isn’t like such a thing is going to show up during a robbery at a liquor store.

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  3. As many as you can afford without any checks, permits or registration. If a government employee has access to it, then a citizen should have the free and easy ability to own it.

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  4. Mr. Morgan, you used your “pile driver” and the citizens of the United States have responded. They have voted with their wallets, purses, and at the ballot box. Gun and ammo sales have exploded and anti-gun politicians have been handed their ass in local elections in many States. Your puny, anti-Second Amendment pile driver awoke the masses, and we smashed your pile driver into a million pieces. Good bye.

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  5. If is a tough question. Easy to get bogged down in the mire of details. But simply put a person that is within the constraints and freedoms of the US constitution. Should be able to not only buy and maintain any thing that hard work and the struggle for independence that our fore fathers toiled and labored, fought and died for but should also should have the freedom and protection that our for which country provides. Do I want my neighbor owning a weapon of mass destruction? No. But do I want his rights infringed? No. Do I want mind infringed no. It is the delicate balance of accountability and reason that we all seem to lack from time to time that gets us introuble. Would I sacrifice my family for freedom? Well compare to the price of freedom. Maybe I would. There are plenty that have done much more and sacrificed far more. Anyone else would be a traitor and a coward. Just my 2cents.

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  6. I could sympathize with a town not wanting someone to own something like that within city limits. If I had a neighbor in my apartment complex with a genuine destructive device (not a dang Street Sweeper), I really, really hope he never ND’s it.

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  7. My new want besides guns are a cannon. They have civil war style which require no tax stamp and other modern types that do. I would really love a 105mm howitzer to drag around. They require a tax stamp from what i have read. Why do I want one? Just because. Plus I like making noise. I loaded and fired an M777 which is 155mm and it was awesome.

    I don’t like that you have to have a tax stamp because anything taxed, can be on a list and easily confiscated by statists. So yeah, we should be able to own that kind of stuff if we can afford to buy it.

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    • When I was in college, in the mid 60s, there was a guy in a VW microbus at the school with a water cooled Browning .30 belt fed machine gun in the back. I saw it several times. Also a guy who lived in the dorm with me who had an M-2 carbine (select fire, IOW) hanging on the dorm room wall. Have we really grown so much crazier that our right to do that should be infringed? Cuz if so, why hasn’t there been an Amendment? Our rights are being stolen away by our elected representatives, they hope on their way to be our rulers.

      We need to wake up, as a nation, and here I am preaching to the choir. But I do contribute, as well.

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  8. There are a bunch of folks who own modern canons. Knob Creek always have them. Civil War enthusiasts have large turnouts for meets. Don’t recall any holding up a 7/11. WMD is one of those leftist BS words intended to do a Piers Morgan at national level. So stop repeating communist drivel like that RF. Personally I don’t give a crap what someone wants or can afford.

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  9. AbsoFU–INGlutely because when the government comes goose stepping down your street you best believe they are going to have one….ammo is probably cheaper than .22lr anyway

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  10. Arms = Ordinary Military Equipment.
    That means everything an ordinary enlisted soldier carries into battle.

    Nukes, Tanks, Battleships = Crew Operated Equipment.
    It takes more then one person to service and operate.

    This is not to say that citizens should not own Nukes, Tanks or Battleships… it only means that the Second Amendment does not protect their right to own them.

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    • Additionally a nuke is a standoff weapon. It’s the ultimate deterrent. It has nothing to do with defense of any kind, it’s international insurance to check expansionist aggression and nothing more.

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    • Everything a soldier can carry into battle is usually considered SMALL ARMS. I can understand your point of view considering the idiom:
      4. bear arms
      a. to carry weapons
      (World English Dictionary)

      Another definition:
      Arm
      1. Usually, arms: weapons, especially firearms.

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  11. When I was working at Interarms in Alexandria, VA, before 1968, we had a front parking lot filled with a wide variety of wheeled artillery, all in working condition. You could pay your money, hook your newly acquired howitzer, cannon, whatever, to your trailer hitch and drive off. I don’t recall any reported incidents of our customers shelling their neighbors.

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  12. For me, the limit is if the weapon is designed for indiscriminate killing, such as a grenade that would take out innocent as well as attackers.

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  13. Well why not? The insane cost is going to keep anyone ‘bad’ from getting one. This is kind of like that old stand by for the anti-liberty crowd of comparing ‘assault weapons’ to atomic weapons.

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    • Exactly. The price alone of crew-served weapons would make them as common as Lambos and Ferraris. Spielberg would buy one for his collection, then lobby to have them banned for anyone else.

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    • Define “bad”. The kind of people that would buy these are the truly wealthy and priviliged. They would hire guys like the crowds Halliburton sent into Iraq as contractors to man them. A bought and paid for “militia” that has heavy weapons and only answers to their corporate sponsors. Over a 100 years ago we had that system.

      It’s why factory owners, railroad magnates and mine owners owned whole towns and the people that lived in them. And why they felt free to murder any who opposed them.

      But yeah, anybody with the funds should be able to buy any non nuke, non bio weapons available. And remember, if your next door neighbor decides to have blocks of c4 in his garage and he sets them off accidentally, the law will punish him appropriately for his negligence.

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    • Then all a tyrannical government would have to do is legislate away arms for civilian law enforcement and thereby back-door disarm the public. It’s a flawed criteria when compared to the clear and strong Second Amendment limitation on government already in place. 😉

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      • At least then we’d have law enforcement on our side.

        Regardless, that line in the sand keeps me from getting mired down in the “M1 Abrams and Tactical Nukes for everyone” strawman debate.

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  14. I have two Ubertis bought two years apart. They are quite different from each other: the first is hard to disassemble and reassemble (I use a rubber mallet) and the action is stiff. I have shot it and taken it hunting quite a bit and thoroughly enjoy it, the action is smoothing up with use. The second can be taken down and reassembled by hand, the action is smooth and the trigger is not bad at all, I haven’t shot it yet. Also, the grip on the second is a very nice piece of walnut with good striping – almost like a fancy upgrade – while the first is very plain.

    Regarding the comment in the article about the cylinders exploding: Some sources say a third of the Walker’s had this problem, but now some researchers believe that the number includes cylinders rejected due to manufacturing flaws that were never actually issued. Also, some researchers believe that the cylinders exploded because the troops loaded the conical Picket bullets upside down, in effect they created a shaped charge that blew out the cylinder walls. Many troops were unfamiliar with conical bullets and loaded them point down.

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    • The Walkers chambers were so large that it was an easy matter to load an excessive amount of powder into them this was corrected with the introduction of the Colt Dragoon. Loaded correctly the Walker was not a problematical pistol other than the poorly fastened under barrell ram rod which had a habit of dropping down as the gun fired & recoiled thus preventing the cylinder indexing the next round, again a redesigned catch was fitted to the Dragoon.

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  15. I believe we should be able to own any man portable weapons up to and including rocket launchers and heavy machine guns. If a man can carry it we should be able to own it.

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  16. The founding fathers intended the army to be weak and the militias to be strong, but there is some truth to the notion that they never imagined the weaponry of today. In practice ‘shall not be infringed’ has been replaced with ‘reasonable’, which is unfortunate because in this country there are 300,000,000 different opinions as to what is ‘reasonable’. Short of amending the second amendment, I think the weapon is not the issue we need to be concerned with, but the intent of it’s possessor. I can not think of a reason for a civilian possess a nuclear weapon other than to kill civilians, which is conspiracy to commit murder by it’s very possession. If you can afford such a conspicuous weapon for your own entertainment have at it IMO, just don’t be surprised when the FBI comes knocking wanting to know what you plan on doing with it.

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  17. I don’t have a problem with someone owning a FLAK gun since they cost so much. It’d be like a Rolls Royce or a Bentley of guns.

    I don’t have that much money and neither does 99.9% of the population.

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  18. I feel the same as Topmounter on this, same toys as our CIVILIAN law enforcement. Full auto, SBR with suppressor, flash bangs, tear gass 40mm launchers,, etc.

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  19. Please remember that the government no matter what the scale works for us to provide inrastucture and provide an assembled military to prevent domestic threat.

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    • That’s the way it is supposed to work. Unfortunately, some of our leaders have other thoughts on how it is supposed to work. Just ask Senator Yee.

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  20. Absolutely. Private ownership of hardware like artillery or tanks fits perfectly with the idea behind the 2nd Amendment. They are also prohibitively expensive. I always laugh when the antis make this argument, referring to tanks or whatever. No concept of money…. Not to mention that anyone who could afford something like that most likely has the resources to get a hold of it regardless of legality. Might as well tax it.

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  21. Isn’t that the guy from CNN that had such terrible ratings that it drug down the network and got him fired?

    Sorry I need to be more specific.

    Isn’t that the BRITISH guy from CNN that had such terrible ratings that it drug down the network and got him fired?

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  22. As for individual ownership, I take a thought from my days in the Marines. How about the dividing line being crew served weapons and high explosives. If the Marines trusted us enough to issue it to one individual Marine, then I should be able to own it now. But crew served weapons (mortars, SMAW, arty) treat those the way you do Class 3 now. Or, you’d have to go in part with a couple of other neighbors (some people will split ownership of an airplane that way) to get the BIG toys. Not a perfect solution probably, but something I was toying with

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    • Common man, do you really feel the marine corps trusted you with guns. How often could you go grab your saw or m16/203 and just walk out to the range by yourself. You really think the military trust even a quarter of its members with weapons?

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    • You have that backwards. Government possesses no rights, individuals do! Government cannot grant that which it does not already have so it can only grant privilege. When an individual becomes an agent of government, that individual operates under privilege and not rights for the duration of that action under government authority. Why would an individual with rights place their exercise of those rights under the criteria imposed upon agents of government operating under privilege? Doing so would make practically meaningless the first part of the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Power and authority flow from the People to government and not the other way around.

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  23. Of course. You’re certainly not going to conceal it, or even carry it openly. It’s a little bulky to carry about “disturbing the peace” or “going armed to the terror of the people” (as our quaint NC statute states). It is a very expensive toy that creates no real hazard to anyone.

    Most arguments against fail strict scrutiny, though one can attempt to make a case that there is a difference between offensive and defensive arms. (This example is somewhere in the ‘neutral zone’ of such a classification scheme.) Even so, the devil is in the details with such an argument, as even a nuclear device could be construed as a last-ditch defensive arm to render territory unusable to an invader. As always, it’s not the characteristics of the arm(s) in question, rather the intent of the owner.

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  24. Been to the knob creek machine gun shoot twice
    Saw shoulder fired and tripod mounted full auto, flamethrower and heavy artillery being fired
    Nothing died except for appliances and wooden spools
    All of it privately owned. The thought of that brought a big smile to my face

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  25. People seem to forget the militia part. I may not be able to afford a M1 Abram, a old F4 Phantom, or even a Stinger missile, but the community/town/city/state certainly could.

    Gun owners need to reform the militias, otherwise we will never have any legitimacy.

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    • Militias have been forming and reforming for decades. However, some gun owners ridicule participants, and even the very notion of citizen militias, while in the next breath saying that they “support the Second Amendment’!

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  26. If my neighbor had one of these, I’d still worry more about him running me over with his car than shooting me. Unequivocal yes. Although, good luck getting a holster for it.

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  27. Lots of good comments in this one. I agree with the notion that a crew service weapon, while totally legal to own, would actually make sense as a tax-stamp purchase. Now, in exchange for my common sense reasonable interpretation, kindly remove shorties, cans, and giggle switches from the NFA list.

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  28. The line is simply and clear.

    A person should be able to purchase, own, bear, use, carry, posses any type of arms where the arm itself, without human intervention, is not a direct danger to others.

    Firearms do not fall under that category, in any manner. A firearm requires a human to make it dangerous.

    Nuclear weapons or actual explosive based arms do not require a human to make them dangerous. If the arm in a standard stated deploys does it endanger those around you? If yes, then it can be restricted, if no, then it cannot.

    An explosive going off can destroy my neighbors house, so obviously my possession of explosives endangers them, even if I do nothing with the explosives.

    I can have 500 firearms, and 100,000 rounds of ammunition, and even if my house burns down, my neighbors are not endangered.

    That’ the difference, and where the line can be drawn.

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  29. I’m not going to make an ‘ad hominem’ attack against Piers; that’s just another way of saying I can’t call him out and criticize.

    I will say this though: Mr. Morgan….you wish to remove firearms from all law abiding citizens in the US. No one ever mentions removing firearms from the criminal element. Hell, in this country, it seems our Govt wants to arm criminals. Whatever. I just have one question…..how has the gun ban worked in Britain? How’s that violent crime thing working out over there? You know, the crime against your law abiding citizens. You know, the ones that wanted safety and security so much that they let their govt disarm them. There may not be as many shootings as before or whatever but I daresay, that’s because no one wants to argue with a armed thug. Here in the States, we have the option of cowering and whimpering (liberals) or electing to defend yourself and your own like the independent and hardy Americans that we are. The police doesn’t prevent most crime. They are only there to clean up the mess.

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  30. Hey, Farago- This is a real departure from your usual format, isn’t it? I for one, want to thank you for giving us a prime example of “editing/misquote” technique REGULARLY used by the ‘mainstream’ media. That got my attention right away! But please, don’t use that technique regularly, or even again, please, or I’ll be tuning you (read TTAG) out too, just like some others have. It was a happy day when I watched my first Hickok45 video and to to think of him getting burnt out got my immediate attention! The man is an real encouragement to many, including me; I’d surely love to meet him.
    And honestly, I don’t really care what his ‘real’ name is, although I’m sure there are ‘those’ who do. Incidentally, one of these days I’d laugh to watch him shoot down a drone! (I don’t think they’ve started issuing licenses or setting limits for drones just yet, have they?)
    P.S.: His comment about “….10,000 rounds of practice ammo.” -that’s just spot-on.

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  31. Civilians have been LONG been out gunned. Does ANYONE think that they and their buddies handguns, rifles are a match to the US military or police? There is never going to be civil war; we have democracy and over 150 years of relative domestic peace, with peaceful transition in political power every 4-8 years. Even the US civil war was between the North Fed Gov and Southern Confederate Gov. PS The Brits are NOT coming either. Your gun is: 1) a hobby, 2) for hunting, 3) and last self protection. (you are not a sheep dog vigilante of society. If you think you are, you are delusional.) Of course 2nd amendment written when SINGLE SHOT FLIT LOCKS were the gun of day does not mean we can own any weapon.

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    • Of course 2nd amendment written when SINGLE SHOT FLIT LOCKS were the gun of day does not mean we can own any weapon.

      Read some history! If you don’t want to invest that much time, please read some of the earlier comments in this thread regarding the history of armaments and the militia. 😉

      Also, the Second Amendment doesn’t allow us to own any weapon. It PROHIBITS; government from interfering with the individual right to own any weapon.

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  32. This would be a great weapon to have in your front yard, so you could blast the hell out of those inconsiderate morons who drive by with their boom boxes 5 notches past maximum, and the bass cranked up to blast mode!

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  33. Considering how expensive it is to own regular guns and shoot them regularly, I can’t imagine what one of those would cost to keep reloaded every time you want to take it to the range and shoot things 😉

    That said, anything the government can buy I should be able too. I mean we already sell most stuff or give it away to people who end up using it against us (*Cough* Al Qaeda)

    Honestly, I could be swayed to think that maybe a training class or two on using the thing be given first, and maybe some requirements on shooting the thing ‘for fun’ like backstops, someone mounting one on a house might draw some eyebrows, especially near an airport 😉

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  34. I’m really going to miss a quality Marlin firearm. I deeply regret selling my Marlin 336C .30-30. Thankfully my .45-70 XLR works well.

    Damn FG.

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  35. I don’t remember where or when I heard it but someone once explained the “why not a nuclear arm?” answer to me. They said the nuke was a weapon in defense of “community”. Our rights were more geared around the “individual” and their rights to buy, keep and carry “personal” firearms. With that in mind I’m no fan of tax stamps and other bureaucratic red tape involved with owning fully automatic “personal” firearms or those with a silencer, shortened barrel etc. If someone has enough cash to make one of their personal firearms a fully automatic Thompson or BAR more power to ’em. I don’t think a government permission slip etc should be required to excercise a right.

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  36. And then the teachers will get pissed when their pension return are not as nice as they would like. Maybe they can buy more of the “green energy” revolution

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  37. Mr. Morgan, I see that China Central TV is hiring commentators. You should submit your resume. You don’t even need to speak Chinese, since the majority of their commentators are Canadian or British. And Bejing’s air pollution is getting better since the Central Committee announced their new law forbidding it. Why, it’s almost as good as living in Manhattan, but cheaper.

    Best of luck, old chap! Pip pip! Stiff upper lip and all that…

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  38. Here is my humble suggestion for solving problem of Freedom Group. I’m sure the Cali teachers will love it.

    First, appoint Uncle Leland as CEO. Second, Shrimp Boy Chow gets the Sales/Marketing slot. Third, if they need a boost of capital, a phone call from Steven Seagal to Vlad might be enough to get some foreign capital in the flow.

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  39. Who said governments can own nukes? Who’s permission did “they” ask?

    Edward Teller proposed the production of a 10,000 megaton nuclear bomb, large enough to incinerate all of France for example. Hell, it’s the government… why not?

    As for me? I’ll own whatever I can damn well afford, thank you very much.

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  40. a decade later and he still doesn’t know why Americans love freedom. now two continents hate him… what continent will reject him next?

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  41. Get off my lawn!!!

    Big government doesn’t realize that raping us in the butt with taxes for stupid social programs only makes the average citizen resistant and suspicious of the gov’t. However, if gov’t regs were reduced and your average citizen is allowed to buy whatever it pleases, then there would be more revenue collected through a smaller sales tax.

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  42. “It’s your country; these are your gun laws.”

    Exactly and if you don’t like it, leave and go back to your “Gun Free Paradise”, England. But if you don’t want to travel that far, I would suggest the “Gun Free Paradise” of Mexico.

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  43. A source close to the situation says that the process has moved slowly because it is so complicated to structure the relevant investment vehicles…

    In other words, they can’t unload derivatives because everyone has caught on by now, so they’re trying to come up with a new scam that will work for a little while.

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  44. How did they turn a bunch of profitable gun companies into not very profitable if at all “gun” companies in the age of Obama?

    Well its gotta start with the fact there is not different barrel lengths for the ACR 4 years after release, no caliber conversions, and they refuse to sell a the Remington handguard to the public.

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  45. Re: “They don’t want to sink more money into/increase their exposure in The Freedom Group. But they need to bail out squeamish investors to protect Cerberus. So they’ve done . . . nothing”

    I’m thinking that, Cerberus won’t actually be sinking ANY of their money into TFG. They’ll probably make TFG float the bonds, and they (TFG) be stuck with the debt. BWDIK

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  46. If CalSTRS really believe in their own BS they would cash out and take the loss. After all, its members should not care about loosing money if it is moral conviction that needs to be satisfied. The hole in their pensions can be plugged by knowing they did the right thing. Its the right thing to do, for the children.

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  47. Bitcoin broke below $500 late this past week. Real “currencies” do not trade like a pre-revenue internet stock. Why any commercial enterprise would accept Bitcoin 1.0 is beyond me. I say 1.0 because I believe there will be a viable virtual currency at some point in the future but the current incarnation of Bitcoin is not it. And given the ease with which hackers have shown Bitcoin to be stolen, instead of calling it a cryptocurrency, maybe it should be called a kleptocurrency.

    Apologies to those who think otherwise but recall that the Dutch thought tulip bulbs were a “currency” too back in the 1630s – anyone accepting tulip bulbs for payment today?

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  48. so the author is criticizing Jeff at Gunblast.com over a typographical error but the author himself fails to put forth any useful information other than proving to us that he went to college.

    we all know that grip safeties are simply trying to make up for other lack of safe design. and as Jeff has pointed out in his reviews, why in the world would you want a gun that requires a typical hand position? that is an obvious disadvantage.

    this author is clueless and anyone who picks on Jeff at Gunblast has little business providing opinions on firearms.

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  49. I don’t even trust our printed dollars much less electronic bank transfers. Bitcoin? I trust that even less than electronic bank transfers.

    I appreciate the idea that someone wants to be on the bleeding edge of technology. In this case I think it an extremely unwise move to accept BitCoin for payments.

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  50. Paul Song like all typical liberals are more concerned about their own agendas. As a Asian American he should be more concerned about how a prominent Asian American political figure was so corrupt.

    As a fellow Korean American I’m ashamed of Paul Song. He knows that Korean Americans had to arm themselves during the LA riots. He also lived in the Washington DC area. Many Korean American business owners in the DC area have been victims of criminals with guns. Yet they’re not allowed to protect themselves because of DC’s unconstitutional gun laws.

    He’s also on the board for Liberty in North Korea. He knows first hand how North Korean citizens are helpless against a tyrannical government. He also happens to married to Lisa Ling whose sister was held by the North Korea several years ago.

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  51. Ideologically, yes.

    Realistically, no.

    Only the uber rich would be able to afford it and none of them are on “our side.”

    So, f*ck them, I say no.

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  52. I was just thinking about an alternate form of money this morning. I cannot think of any good alternative. Even gold, whether in the form of coins, troy ounces, or grams, doesn’t seem all that reliable because it would be fairly easy to counterfeit any of those. I suppose people could carry little scales around to verify the exact weight of gold coins, ounces, grams and thus verify their authenticity. That sure seems like a royal pain in the @ss.

    It’s too bad that we cannot trust government issued money.

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  53. As my brother, a British Army colonel, says, “You’d always want an American next to you in a trench when the going gets tough.” . . . So far, I’m agreeing with his brother….

    Each day, on average, 35 people in this country are murdered with guns…in America. 35 every day? There used to be more murders each day, and fewer guns. Yet Piers objects? “Ideological position freeze versus statistics” might be the explanation.

    The gun lobby in America, led by the NRA, has bullied this nation’s politicians into cowardly, supine silence. Even when 20 young children are blown away in their classrooms. Since when is doing what the voters want “cowardice” in a politician? And since when is grave-dancing on the tombstones of 20 young children in Connecticut a virtue? They were extremely unlucky because…Nancy. And Adam. And no school safety officer. Two-thirds of that has been fixed.

    This is a shameful situation that has made me very angry. The situation is so “shameful” that a plurality of Brits recently polled on their political priorities listed “getting their gun rights back” as #1 on their list (specifically ‘handguns.’) Rights? What was I thinking? “Permissions formerly granted by the upper classes….”

    Winston Churchill was an alcoholic racist who despised the lower classes in Britain. His one good work in life was talking the lower orders into fighting two world wars to protect the House of Lords and the Royals. Well done, Winston!

    And to those who claim my gun control campaigning has been “anti-American”, the reverse is true. You meant “opposite,” not “reverse.” Not ‘anti-American’ but typically milk-toast left-wing-posh British. Britain, though, truly is a wondrous land of gorgeous landscapes, rich lords, lairds, and bankers, and fine old piles in the countryside, and …..no defensive pistols. Practically heaven for Piers. Why on earth did Piers leave Britain? It makes no sense! Utterly no sense! Ah, deeper problems? Got it.

    And the senseless slaughter will only end when enough Americans stand together and cry: Enough! Piers, if you consider the ‘slaughter’ senseless, go tell it to the gangs and career criminals in the hood. They never watched your show, so try urban radio!

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  54. I own and shoot the Boberg XR9-s and the longer XR9-L with NO mechanical problems. The guns have lighter recoil and are more accurate than other 9mm pocket pistols. So far each gun has digested more than 500 rounds of ammo.
    I use the Liberty Ultra 9mm ammo for EDC.

    The XR45-s should be shipping by June 2014 and this big bore pocket pistol will take advantage of all the previous “innovations” and add some new features. It will feed.45acp, .45+P and .45 SUPER ammo with felt recoil similar to a full sized 1911a1. It will hold ammo in a “mag-clip”, Yup, a clip inside a mag so thanks to Boberg, now, there really is such a thing as a mag-clip. HaHaHa!

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  55. Or, ordinary working folks who just happen to know how to give a statement and have a professional reputation for being reasonable and honest.

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  56. One of the perks of the job! Between being able to shoot at will and speed with little fear of consequences, I often regret not going into “law” enforcement…

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  57. I read one version of this report that mentioned that the BG was shot in the back and in the next paragraph it said that he had been shot in the shoulder.

    Double standard or not, he won’t be breaking into my granny’s house anytime soon.

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  58. Even as a po-po this guy did some stuff wildly wrong IMHO.

    First, having a badge doesn’t put eyes in the back of your head. An officer I worked with was shot and killed by a BG who was behind him while my co-worker held another BG at gunpoint. One GG vs two BGs is very bad. That is why uniformed guys tend to respond in multiples. Don’t start wandrring around your property when you have no idea who, how many and where the BGs are.

    Second, he abandoned his kid in the house instead of providing immediate protection to him. Like Clint Smith says :two is one and one is none. It applies to people also. You have to think what if YOU become jammed/inoperable.

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  59. Cabela’s in Wheeling, WV. Good friggin’ luck getting service, let alone knowledgeable clerks. If you know exactly what you want & can’t find it anywhere else, get it from them. Or just wait till you LGS gets it in. Cabela’s is no better than a specialized Wal-Mart, so that’s the quality of employee you can expect.

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  60. Haha, what did I say? If you deal in Bitcoin, you will still need dollars to pay taxes on transactions made with Bitcoin. That is, if it doesn’t get stolen first. I’m sorry to burst the bubble for all the Bitcoin believers (Bit-lievers?), but it’s not the future. It has no intrinsic value, it’s extremely volatile, storing it has proved risky to say the least, and now you have to pay taxes on it. Face it folks: the people who got in early made out nicely and got out. Everybody else is rolling the dice.

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    • Hmm, no intrinsic value, highly volatile, risky to store, taxable…doesn’t sound any better or worse than the U.S. dollar when you put it that way.

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  61. I think he went wrong when he went outside. I would think it would be better to wait by the door they were attempting to breech. Much easier to explain two dead bodies that were in your foyer than a perp with a single gunshot in his back.

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  62. I just like .308, plain and simple, puts a smile on my face seans . I tested the SCAR 16 as a Amphibious reconnasaince corpsman (navy’s equivalent of the Army’s 18 Delta). I won’t always carry a rifle on a PSD unless we are in a high threat environment. If were stateside it stays in the car with 4 spare mags in a chest rig in my bug out bag. So weight isn’t an issue. If I’m somewhere like Afghanistan, I carry it, but again with only 4- 5 spares on my plate carrier with more in the bug out bag.

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  63. Hoo boy. I’m actually surprised at the responses here. I was expecting a little more reason. No, no civilian should be able to purchase anti-aircraft guns. Or, for instance, Stingers. If these were available on the open market, it would be trivial for terrorists to attack civilian airliners and wreak havoc on a considerable scale. How is this even being seriously considered? I know some people here believe the second amendment applies to anything and that they should have access to whatever they need to stand up to potential government tyranny, but all else the same, if any weapons were available on the open market our country would look very different and not in a good way. If that is, indeed, ‘what the founders intended’ (funny how must people who throw that around aren’t historians or, say, constitutional scholars), then the 2nd amendment needs to amended. I believe anyone who isn’t a danger to others should have access to small arms for recreation or self defense. Widespread access to weapons of war poses far too great of risk to public safety.

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    • If ‘terrorists’ thought these things were useful they already could buy them openly, or surreptitiously. A 30 second google search turned up a site selling twin 40mm Bofors anti aircraft guns for $10,000. They needed a lot of work but that’s hardly an impediment if your so determined to do something that you’re willing to die in the attempt.

      The fact is that few enough people can afford such weapons and even fewer want them. Restricting them frankly doesn’t prevent crime or terrorism since they are terribly ill suited to either purpose.

      What terrorists find useful are tankers of chemicals, airplanes and bombs but banning the first two means banning the economy and industry and the last isn’t ban able since even a very powerful one can be constructed from common materials using high school level chemistry.

      Terrorist are a straw man in this argument.

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  64. As long as there were signs of the attempted break in, I’d write it off as civic improvement. How’d you feel if you scared off a burglar or someone attempting to car jack, then find out they did it again with a really bad outcome?

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  65. Hmmmm…..

    Individual right so anything it takes only 1 person to operate mechanically? No crew served weapons? What about computerization and electronics?

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  66. Ugghh, at this point perhaps AAC being bought by Silencerco or Sig (where KB works now) would be a saving grace. AAC has headed down a dead end road after making a wrong turn at Remington St, and then KB departing.

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  67. April 27, 2012|By Jessica Anderson, The Baltimore Sun

    Pit bulls are inherently dangerous animals, the state’s highest court has ruled, a decision that could lead to stiff penalties for people found responsible in attacks — even if the dogs have never been violent before.

    A decision by the Maryland Court of Appeals, issued this week, distinguishes pit bulls and mixed breeds from other kinds of dogs. In the past, a victim intending to file a lawsuit after a dog attack had to prove that a dog’s owner knew it had a history of being dangerous. Now, showing that the owner or landlord knew a dog is part pit bull would be sufficient for a claim.

    “It is no longer necessary to prove that the particular pit bull or pit bulls are dangerous,” the court ruled Thursday.

    The case stems from a 2007 attack on a child in Towson that led several local governments to reconsider the laws governing pit bulls. The animals are banned in Prince George’s County.

    But some who oppose the ruling argue that a dog’s breed is not a reliable way to predict whether the animal might become violent. They worry that the decision will make it more difficult for pit bull owners to find housing, and discourage others from adopting the dogs.

    In a dissenting opinion, one justice said the decision establishes a troublesome precedent.

    “Now, it appears, the issue of whether a dog is harmless, or the owner or landlord has any reason to know that the dog is dangerous, is irrelevant to the standard of strict liability,” wrote Judge Clayton Greene Jr.

    The decision is in response to a Baltimore County Circuit Court decision in the case of 10-year-old Dominic Solesky, who was attacked by a neighbor’s pit bill in 2007.

    After the attack, Dominic’s family sued the dog owner’s landlord, Dorothy M. Tracey. The Circuit Court judge threw out the claim, ruling there was no evidence that Tracey had been negligent.

    The Court of Special Appeals overturned the judge’s decision, and the Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling Thursday. The case will now head back to trial.

    Pauline Houliaras, president of B-More Dog, which formed in 2007 to fight anti-pit bull legislation in Baltimore County, said the group is “extremely disappointed” with the court’s decision.

    “This will not make a community safer,” said Houliaras, who is also a certified professional dog trainer and behavior consultant.

    Instead, she said, the ruling will lead to discrimination against pit bull owners and will discourage landlords from renting to all kinds of dog owners across the state because dog breeds are often misidentified.

    “You can’t identify breed based on appearance,” she said.

    Kevin A. Dunne, attorney for the Solesky family, said Friday that “the Court of Appeals decision will likely cause there to be fewer pit bull maulings of the citizens of the state of Maryland.”

    Dunne said the high court’s decision “didn’t say pit bulls are banned. It makes the owner of the dog financially responsible for the injuries caused. It affects you if your dog hurts somebody else.”

    But Houliaras said she fears the ruling will prompt shelters to re-evaluate their adoption policies, possibly restricting pit bull breed adoptions, as well as causing more owners to relinquish their pets, and potentially causing higher euthanization rates of pit bulls and pit bull mixes.

    “We agree that dog owners should be held liable for injuries caused when their dogs bite people, but this should be regardless of the breed,” she said.

    [email protected]

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  68. So … If bitcoin is an all electronic currency, why do people persist in using pictures of tokens with the bitcoin logo?

    I mean, faking a shot of a virtual currency … Just weird.

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  69. Chicago is such a shit hole. I know if I shot a burglar in the back outside, they’d arrest me. Now being a cop, oh well, that’s different then.
    BTW , I live in Spokane.

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  70. Anyone ever play Metro 2033?
    Bullets used as currency. Probably 7.62×39 since its based in Russia.
    Only “factory” ammo was currency, reloads were just for shooting.

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    • 5.45×39 according to the wiki. Their currency is the stuff we shoot from the cheap spam cans, the regular dirty ammo is reloads. Just think, at current exchange rates a Metro 2033 sausage is worth $1.50 in 5.45 (15 rounds at .10 a round.) I played the first one, but it was just so soul crushingly depressing that I had to stop playing.

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      • Bullets used as currency is a recurring staple of Russian post-apocalyptic sci-fi. Usually it is assumed that 5.45, 7.62×39 and 7.62×54 are all used, ranging from cheapest to most expensive in that order.

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  71. Look up bitcoins on Wikipedia. It appears they were generated to bypass central banks. I’m an old guy and remember the REIT failures of the early 1970’s, the Savings Bank crisis and the 2008 collapse. There were lessor failures,about once every 10 years.

    Tracking point may be doing this for publicity.

    The Central Banks jump to the tune of bankers and the very rich. The middle class always suffers, to wit, witness Bernanke saying that allowing banks to ADD hundreds of billions of assets with the Feds approval (no actual assets added, just a letter from the Fed saying their asset balance was now hundreds of billions more, just make the keyboard change in your system) was not printing money!

    Noticed inflation lately? The dollar survives because we all trust it, someday some will not . . .oh wait! Bitcoins have appeared.

    Took me decades to understand simple inflation. We really don’t have inflation . . . too few goods chased by too many dollars, we have LOSS of value of the dollar, too many dollars chasing very available goods.

    You might want to look at Argentina and Venzuela, we are going that way.

    Just like in the book, THE THIN RED LINE, except for the 1%, this is all about PROPERTY, assets. The dollar will too pass, the Central Banks will do all they can to destroy bitcoins and other cyber currency. This is why they are being taxed.

    I’ve never used bitcoins but someday I will.

    This note is a bit disjointed because I’m not happy with where America is going. I too miss America but no empire survives forever.

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    • Property ownership is an illusion. Stop paying property taxes on your land and see how long they let “own” it. The numbers slowly drip over to the other column, the gap gets bigger, the middle class is prevented by government laws and taxes from accumulating true wealth that can be passed on. Just spend spend spend or the government will take it and give it to someone who will.

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  72. That is nice. But releasing a rifle of a caliber of which ammunition is nonexistum must be tough for Ruger. It must be disappointing for customers to have a rifle which you cannot fire for a couple of years. Heck, it may as well be a 45-90 Well, all things to those who wait I guess.

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  73. I just now realized that the NRA-backed bill that passed in Oklahoma must be the reason that people like Bloomberg have armed guards instead of carrying themselves.

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  74. Glad I thought better of it and didn’t try to smuggle an empty AT-4 tube home.

    Really though, what’s so dangerous about de-milled or dummy artillery shells? Some people use them as art or conversation pieces. Once the police determined they were de-milled, why persist in making a big deal of it? Are they planning to raid all the local gun shows too?

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  75. “In brief response to the activities of those who knowingly indicate themselves to be among the burgeoning hordes of Anti-American; Anti-Constitutional Republic; Anti-‘Rights’; Anti-RKBA; Immoral; Illiberal, Digressive Statists — “Kiss My Buttstock”.”
    Gw
    [ P.M.? One of those people who walks into a room and makes you feel like someone just left.
    In sum:- Mostly Harmless, but suffice it to say this cat has absolutely no clue where his towel’s at. ]

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  76. If the shooter had been a civilian and the details were all more/less the same we’d probably read an article here praising the home owner, decrying the injustice of “the system” and … so forth. Might even have been a “defensive gun use of the day” nominee. It would lead to lengthy comments attacking Chicago (rightfully).

    Just an observation.

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  77. Hmmm. Remember that Man-made global warming is another scam to increase government control of individuals. It’s not science, it’s politics. This theory goes hand-in-hand with “gun control.”
    But just in case, always remember to put on your SPF 15 along with your gun.

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    • You sure about that?

      There weren’t droughts this severe in my homeland before, now it is so dry during the summer that you can hear plants sucking up water (no exaggeration). I am not the only one saying this, ask any farmer.

      I do admit that environmentalists are annoying and won’t admit that temperature fluctuations are natural. The problem is that these natural fluctuations don’t happen this fast, humans have affected the temperature.

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  78. It’s the typical liberal/progressive mantra: People can’t be held accountable for their actions. There is always an external force to blame, whether it be inanimate objects like guns or, in this case, the weather. In their minds, the only people that should ever be held accountable for anything are the people that they disagree with. For example, criminal breaks into home and is shot by homeowner. Criminal is just a poor guy down on his luck and didn’t need to die. Homeowner is an evil selfish scumbag that should have been generous and let the criminal help himself to some property so he can feed his drug addiction. See, it’s not his fault. He is addicted to drugs and the government needs to spend more money on drug awareness and rehab to help these guys. But, the homeowner, destroy him!!!!

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  79. The alarmists never mention that ‘global warming’, aka increased atmospheric CO2 causes plants to grow faster and produce more food. With increased agricultural production the planet will be able to support more people and unless there is a decrease in the homicide rate, then yes, there will be more people and therefor more homicides. Oh, the horror – more people!

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  80. FNX-45 (.45 ACP) loaded with (15+1) Federal HST 230gr JHP until I get to the

    Saiga 12-gauge loaded with (12+12+1) 3″ magnum 15-pellet 00 buckshot (two 12-round magazines w/ mag-coupler) If I need more, there is a drum full of Herter’s 2.75″ buck & ball (.65 cal ball and 6x 0-buckshot)

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  81. That’s flat-out wrong. I wish you the best, and will contribute to your legal expenses if it comes to that. Although you may have much better opportunities outside of Chicago, IL, I appreciate that you are fighting stupid laws where you presently reside. I’m doing the same thing in Brea, CA, and I have my eye on free states like WI where most of my family lives.

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  82. A local antique shop around where I live has a punt gun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_gun) which is basically a cannon. It’s intent was to be used for fowling- and it’s now illegal because we decided that’s overkill for hunting. Not because it was too much for private ownership.

    I view it largely as an academic matter. I can’t even afford a .50BMG, let alone something above 20mm. And I think most of you lot are right there with me. Besides, I’m much more likely to get killed with a handgun than a scary black rifle, let alone cannon.

    It is interesting for one point: it tears off the anti’s mask of “evidence based risk assessment”. No one can make a case for cannon killing thousands of Americans, it’s the idea of what citizens MIGHT do with it. And that puts the evidence unequivocally on our side and all their arguments firmly into the hypothetical.

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  83. Like Columbo used to say, “One more thing”,
    I do put a couple of FMJ’s in the first 6 of my XD mag that sits on the nightstand. I like the flat nose of the .40 to create a bit of a shock wave and I figure it is not going much further after 18-20 inches of bad guy. The rest is Critical Duty.
    I don’t do that in my nine, too pointy.

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  84. Never had too many bad ones, but while doing a secret shopper thing a few months back I found that the larger department stores had better service. Generally if the store is busy, I don’t bother the clerks unless I’m actually buying. I mean, everyone wants to shoot the bull in a gun store, so if it’s busy they need to quickly determine who’s actually buying and who out of those who actually needs help (I mean, I generally know what I want before I get there. It’s fairly common). Getting upset because a busy gun store clerk determined that you’re not buying today and moving on, seems a bit overly sensitive.

    Now in any store I’ve been in, if they’re not busy they’ll talk guns, hunting, and shooting all day long. I think the problem is the amount of strange people some shops get. I recall a shop in FL where we would buy and pawn guns. (The average E5 in the military living below the poverty line and all). When we first went they treated us with a bit of suspicion. And after seeing the usual clientele on subsequent visits I understand. But after a few times there we were welcomed. They loved that we trained our kids to behave, that our kids at 4 and 5 at the time could somewhat stumble through the safety rules. They got the intent if not the actual wording. And they loved that we always paid our pawns off promptly. We actually bought several guns there.

    Sure they would probably turn off the overly sensitive the first time around. But they were the best shop around really. They did all my transfers for free since I was military and after we got gunny to open up he offered me a job at gunsmithing after I got out of the Navy. I should have taken it, but I was lured to Houston by big offshore money.

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  85. Yes, we do need to revise the 2A to remove the ambiguity.

    “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Period. End of story.

    No ambiguous references to the outdated concept of a “militia.” No mention of “well-regulated,” because nobody really knows how much regulation, or what kind of regulation, is needed to consider something “well-regulated.” We also aren’t sure exactly who we are supposed to be regulating.

    Pull out the ambiguous conditions and put it to a vote. If it passes, the gun-haters have no platform to stand on and the debate will end. If it doesn’t pass, we have lost nothing.

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