On SB 2099

On SB 2099 and the Blair Holt Bill........... Read here.

Knowing what is really going on should be a prerequisite to writing a Congressman. Writing about failed or non-existent threats to the Second Amendment makes gun owners appear to be of the same ilk as alien abductees and tin foil hat conspriracy truthers.

In the immortal words of gun advocate Davy Crockett, "Be always sure you are right - then go ahead."

More.........

Gun Hysteria in the MSM

Now that Obama's anti-gun leanings are being touted in the mainstream media, expect more and more hysteria from the television lemmings. Time to leave a few business cards at your local gun store offering to give free lessons on how to use all these new EBRs and handguns.

Unscrupulous Rumours

From a forum post:

So far all my gun purchases have been new. I'm not above saving money but I never felt right about pawn shop purchases. Do you trust them? Have you ever been burned in a pawn shop deal? Stolen merchandise? How do you tell a reputable pawn shop?

I buy a lot of guns from pawn shops. Some are dusty with high prices, others are clean and motivated to move merchandise.

There are several things to understand about pawn shops.

First, they are primarily financial institutions. They are lending agencies with a license to protect. They will protect that license to lend money, as it is their livelihood. They are not likely to risk it knowingly selling somebody's stolen second hand stuff. Being a FFL is second to being a financial institution with these guys. They do not have to sell guns. They do not need to sell guns to make a living. They make a living lending money. If they can break even on selling a gun to a fellow they like, they will. They already made their money on the loan in interest. Let them make a bit on the gun too, and you will become a cherished customer. If you treat him with respect and he believes you will return again, there is a fair chance he will sell you the gun for a small profit over what he loaned on it. Treat the pawn broker with disdain, and you will never find a deal there. He doesn't have to sell to you. Remember.......He may have made his money on that gun in interest and having it go in and out of hock. It is not merchandise. It was collateral.

Second, in most states the Sheriff's department has a pawn detail that regularly goes to pawn shops comparing the serial numbers on pawned items, including tools and guns, to lists of items reported stolen. Pawn brokers are pretty adept at spotting a thief. They do not want to loan money on a stolen item and then lose their collateral. If someone walks into a pawn shop with a Fender Telecaster and can't play it, chances are he won't be pawning it either. Pawnbrokers do not work as fences for known thieves. Doing so places their license as a financial/lending institution at risk. Plus they lose their collateral on money they loaned.

Third, pawn shops help people. Let's suppose you need money. Suppose your engine just blew up in your automobile, and you do not have the money it takes to replace or repair it, and you need to get to work so you can go on living. You have no money in the bank. Your friends don't either. You either don't want to go to the bank and take out a loan for the small amount needed, or your credit sucks and you can't. You can take out high interest pay day loans, you can use a high interest credit card, or you can see a pawnbroker.

At the pawnbroker's shop, you can walk in with an item of value, whether it be a firearm, a piece of jewelry, a camera, or whatever. He will appraise it, offer a loan based on that appraisal, and if you accept his offer, you sign a few documents to make certain you understand the deal, and you walk out with cash. That's it.

Pay back the loan at any time, or on schedule with the interest contained in the deal, and you get your property back. It's that simple. On a firearm, yes, you go through NICS.

Now let's suppose you experience a downward turn of fortune, and have a problem paying the loan back. You will not have a black mark on your credit score as a result. Try that with Visa or a pay day loan place. At the pawn shop, you just lose your property if you default on the loan. That's all. You have a clean slate. If it was a family heirloom that you pawned, either you should not have pawned it, you should have paid back the loan, or if neither of those are possible, you have the option of pawning something less precious to you and buying your heirloom back before someone else buys it.

While your property is in pawn, it is kept in a place that is reasonable for it's security, and the pawnbroker is responsible for it's condition. If it's a gun or jewelry, it is kept under a double lock, same as a FFL. Most likely, that entails a walk-in safe. I was surprised to learn how many hunters pawn their favorite rifles in the off season for safe keeping. In August, they pay off the remainder of the loan, take the rifle out of pawn, and go hunting. If it is burned, damaged, or whatever, the pawnbroker's insurance covers it, not the owner's homeowner's insurance. I know construction workers and contractors that do the same with their tools in the off season.

After hurricane Katrina, the pawn shops in my area were hopping for about two years as people who evacuated......... Good people, respectable people, who had a driver's license, a credit card or two and a car full of belongings and family, went about re-establishing their lives. Would the banks loan them money for gas or a hotel room? No way. They had no address any more. Would the cash advance places loan them money for gas or a hotel room? Not without a job. They could, however, walk into a pawn shop along their way to a final destination with a driver's license and a small item of value such as a diamond ring, or a handgun, and leave in 15 minutes with money for gas and a hotel room. If they never came back with their property, and a lot of them did not, it was simply resold. Folks like myself came and purchased the collateral.

Think about this....... The next week could bring any number of us to a situation where we need cash right then. It could be an auto accident, a natural disaster, a death in the family, or even a great deal on a once in a lifetime firearm that we need cash for. Cash right then. You could use the Visa or go to a pay day loan place. Or you could take something to into a pawn shop and learn a new tactic of survival in a declining economy. Your choice.

To decide for yourself whether pawnbrokers are unscrupulous thieves, go here. To read my pawn shopping secrets, go here. To hear the rumours about unscrupulous pawn shops, just go to your local gun store and ask. Then follow the old guy behind the counter, you know, the one with the nice gun collection....... to his favorite pawn shop and watch him check the latest wares on his way home.

The Escalating Springfield

I was at an Academy Sports today, and I noticed a 1911 in the pistol case. I went forward to take a look. It was a Springfield GI45........for $639. Yep, a plain old parkerized five inch GI45 with the US grips and an olive drab GI45 hangtag for almost six and a half!

I started to ask to see it, wondering if the sales kid would call it a "Mil-Spec" but I resisted. I suspected he might also tell me how this pistol was carried by the Marines at Iwo Jima and in Baghdad today. I just took note of the price and thought I would ask.........Are they this high all over now? Is Academy Sports trying to gouge naive customers? I don't know, but I'm certainly glad that I bought mine from a reputable dealer in 2003 for a mere $400!

Blogiversary Gun

I thought I might buy a Colt WW1 Repro for my blogiversary gun, so I drove over to the store where I saw one on Monday. I inspected the WW1 Repro closely, and it was a fair specimen. The recoil spring tunnel was slightly off center, but not bad. there were no untoward marks or scuffs on the gun. I offered $900 cash.

I was told no, the store could not sell this gun for that. The gunsmith claimed it had cost them more than that. According to him, they were losing money at the $1035 price.

I looked at him in amazement. I handed the gun back and advised him he should at least mark it up to what he paid so he could break even. God knows I wouldn't want his sense of charity to put him out of business.

Perhaps there will be another blogiversary gun soon.

My Best Deal

I'm occasionally asked "Xav, what's the best gun deal you ever found?" My response is simple...The best gun deal I ever found are the ones I've walked away from. Seriously. I've never lost money by walking away from a deal. Of course, that isn't the answer most are looking for.

One morning, on the way to a camp, I decided to stop by a store that billed itself as the largest sporting goods outfit in the South. They were big, the place was impressive. There was more hunting clothing and gear in that place than most people see in a lifetime in the woods. I found the gun section and asked where the used guns were. I was sneered at. I began scanning the handgun cases, taking in all the Kimbers and Glocks when I spotted some blue and walnut at a far case. I ambled on down.

It turned out to be a case of Uberti and Pieta blackpowder revolvers. I have always drawn a line at blackpowder. A young man, who I was later to learn was the owner's son, was unpacking a shipment of very nice single action revolvers and placing them under the glass. I asked to see one, an odd looking revolver with a birdshead grip. It came with two cylinders, a .45LC and a .45ACP cylinder. That was interesting........

I looked at the tag and saw that the young man had tagged the Cimarron revolver at $125, the same as the lowest priced blackpowder gun. I couldn't help myself. I had to ask him if he might have made a mistake. He informed me that he was the owner's son, that he knew his merchandise, that he did not make mistakes, and that if I did not like the price of this revolver, I did not have to buy it. He jerked it from my hands, and stuck it back in the case.

I was dumbfounded. I had just been treated like a moron by a snot nosed teat sucking know-it-all kid. I almost walked out of the store never to return. I fumed a bit as the kid went to answer the telephone. I decided I did not have to take this crap.

When the kid hung up the telephone, I waved him over, and told him the price on his revolver suited me fine, and I would like to buy it. In fact, I told the young man, I'd like to see that other revolver in the case as well. He removed another Cimarron Thunderer, this one in .357 Magnum from the case. It, too, was tagged at $125. I told him to ring it up as well. He asked me if I needed any ammo. I said no, but how about showing me that Colt 1911 in the next case? He told me I would be much happier with a Kimber, but I responded that I didn't think I could afford such an exotic gun, and a Colt would have to do.....

He looked disappointed as he handed me a blued Series 80 Colt NRM 1911. Sadly, it was priced correctly at $609 (the usual price back then). I let out a sigh, and said I guess I would just be buying the two revolvers. I pulled $270 out of my wallet and paid for both new Cimarron Thunderers and the tax as well. I went straight from the gun counter to the door, to my vehicle, to the parish line. To this day, when I return to that store to peruse the gun counter, I always smile at that young man, but he has never volunteered to show me another gun. I wonder why......