Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

The more I watch the faltering and hemming of the new administration, the less faith I have that they can actually do anything to change what’s going on. One thing about developing an interest in being prepared – it usually makes you far less confident the abilities of organizations (governments or ‘public services’) to actually make a beneficial difference.

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Apparently, even I am not immune to the “must buy a black gun while I can!” hysteria sweeping the nation. In a fit of less-than-clearheadedness I talked myself into buying this:

See, I’ve been wanting a 9mm carbine for quite a while now. My choices were, by and large, limited to the AR, Uzi, HK, Marlin, KelTec, Feather, and a few other esoteric ones. My criteria was pretty simple – I wanted something that was durable, reliable, had tons of parts and mag support, could be made compact for travel, and an excellent reputation overall. The AR platforms would have been great but even broken in half it won’t stow in my Tactical Tailor bag. Same for the HK94 with its non-removable barrel (not planning on SBR’ing anything at the moment). The Marlin is a fine gun but again the compactness issue and the non-standard mags were a problem (really, who even uses S&W 9mms these days?) The Feather has the compactness and mag issues going for it but, like the KelTec, its a bit lightly constructed for my tastes. That left, pretty much, the Uzi.

Now, I’ve been wanting one for a while. Instead of thinking about wanting one, I should have thought about why I wanted one. Succinctly, what does it do that my Glock 17 with a 33-rd mag does not do? The only answer I can come up with is that by virtue of its shoulder stock and 16″ barrel it is more accurate at longer ranges. However, at that point an M4 or AK would be just as useful. So, really, unless you have the 10″ barrrel and/or the full-auto capability, there just isnt a compelling reason to get the Uzi. Unfortunately, that kind of logic didnt enter into the equation until a day or two later when the buyers remorse kicked in.

I made, in my opinion, a good deal on it. It comes in the box with all the standard goodies and is in excellent condition. These things havent been imported in almost twenty years and this one is like new. It also came with a genuine OEM .22 LR conversion kit with 3-20 rd. mags.

So, yeah, its a sweetheart and in six-months it’ll be worth twice what I paid for it. But…it really was a dumb purchase. What would have been a smart purchase? More Glocks (never enough handguns), another PTR-91 (never too many rifles), a few thousand rounds of ammo, couple cases of primers, a few kegs of powder, etc, etc. Really, the last thing I should have bought was a 9mm Uzi. So…Imma gonna sell it.

Moral of the story: even the level-headed can get swept up in the moment by a ‘gun Ive always wanted’.