These days, it’s a good thing for us that expressions of anger and outrage have generally been enough to stay the hand of politicians who otherwise would dig themselves some gun control. That hasn’t been the case everywhere, however, and it’s important not to miss opportunity as some of these draconian laws go into effect.
The fact is that most people who shoot, hunt, or otherwise engage in activities that give them some general sympathies for the Second Amendment barely pay attention to politics at all. These are often the same people who tell pollsters they favor universal background checks, but then get pissed off and upset when they find out that means they can’t sell a gun to a friend without going through a dealer.
Well, those people are starting to find out exactly how badly they’ve been screwed up there in the Nutmeg State, as people are going to buy ammunition and being told they can’t. In Colorado, you have a District Attorney graciously telling victims of the severe flooding that he won’t prosecute anyone for storing their guns with friends, family or neighbors. Technically, it is a violation of Colorado’s new law to do such a thing, because it amounts to doing a private transfer without a background check.
Once a lot of gun owners start to understand what this stuff really means, a lot of them who don’t ordinarily pay attention get angry, and this is a prime opportunity for us. How many Elmer Fudds up in Connecticut are now going to go buy ammo for hunting season and realize that the law they thought was only about “assault weapons” was really about them too? If I were a dealer in Connecticut, I’d hand every angry patron a voter registration and tell them who did this to them. I’d even help them fill it out and mail it in for them. Then I’d hand them an application to join the NRA.
Our great successes come when we can successfully turn anger into action. As these new, draconian laws start to go into effect, we have a prime opportunity to make that conversion.
That progression was pretty much what woke me up.
I decided I wanted to buy a shiny, new Glock 17 and was asked by the nice man behind the counter for my pistol purchase permit.
My WHAT?
From that small thing so much else sprung.
The AWB hot on its heels kept me from going back to sleep.
kind of a mild version of my experience. I went through DC’s new, easier version of buying a gun (legally). something like 15 steps, including fingerprinting for the FBI, photographs, being scolded by a cop, and being required to keep a valid registration certificate with the gun at all times. this, for a ruger 10/22. i shit you not.
now i’m an absolutist, even though i’m a progressive (gasp!1!). 2nd amd supporters have freedom and reason and the constitution on our side, but we must build bridges with other groups who want freedom. gays, women, minorities, you name it.
I think we really need to hit dealers. They are often the front lines of this sort of stuff. They should have NRA memberships right there. And they should talk up how terrible these laws are.
Dealers are in many cases part of the problem as well, in the case of “background checks” legislation. I think we need to identify which one of them would betray us, take our business elsewhere and call them out publicly. The Connecticut example is one in which dealers in the state will be hurt by more laws. Hopefully they, too, will wake up and see what happens when they clamor for more legislation that directly benefits their bottom line at the expense of our rights. What goes around comes around.
If AB 374 is signed by Governor Brown, we will see the same types of people hooked up on felony unregistered AW possession charges. Hard to be an angry voter when you’re in jail.
If I were a dealer in CT, I’d close up shop and move to Texas.
And that’s exactly why my brother is unemployed again.
I think that the dealers are a LARGE part of the problem, in that a lot of them seem very eager to raise prices and scream “He’s coming for your guns TODAY!” with a picture of Obama scowling. After the Navy Yard shooting, I went to a fairly small gun show and saw the usual “Mattel” toys with prices several hundred dollars more than another show in the area a few weeks earlier.
Of course, now that I’m trying to sell my/Dad’s collection to comply with company policy, when I asked what I could get for my own “Mattels” I was given a figure similar to what I had been told a few weeks earlier, even with the alleged “shortage”. I have until the end of the month to sell everything, and will probably just take the financial hit and get it over with.
Company Policy?
GunBroker is your friend if you want to get retail for guns you’re selling. Post with a reasonable reserve or better still, NR and low initial bid. You’ll need to figure on paying an FFL at your end to ship the weapons to a receiving FFL. You now have a pretty good chance of getting retail less commission, rather than the lowball wholesale the local dealers will offer you.
Um, you don’t need an FFL on YOUR end to ship across state lines (at least not under federal law) — you can ship directly to the buyer’s FFL.
You can even use the Post Office to ship it, provided it isn’t a handgun.
Ever hear of LYING?
If there’s an official and searchable record of your guns then transfer them to trustable relatives or friends, if not just tell them they are gone.
WTF are they gonna do? search your home?
What’ve you got, Don. Down here in the (relatively still) free state of Florida, we can always use a few more toys to put in the display case…