Tam very nicely linked back to this post and opined in her blog:
And no sooner had that post hit the light of day than my vehicle decided that it’s alternator had had enough of this mortal coil (get it? ‘Coil’?) and shuffled off to wherever dead car parts go. As a result, my vehicle very inconveniently puttered to a stop. In front of the homeless shelter.
Joy.
So, I called a buddy of mine to come help me push it off the road because I really didn’t want to ask the whiskey-for-breakfast crowd for a hand. My mood was already several orders of magnitude into the red zone and it wouldn’t have taken much to release some pressure in an unprofessional manner. So my buddy shows up and asks how long till the tow truck arrives. “Two hours”, I reply. He looks over at the homeless milling around aimlessly, goes back to his truck, and pulls a beater Beretta 96 out from under the seat. “Wanna borrow this until the tow truck gets here?”, he asks. I thanked him and told him me and my G19 were just fine. But…here’s the big takeaway from that: because he had what amounted to a ‘disposable’ or ‘beater’ or ‘truck gun’ available he was able to offer it to someone else. And a scenario like that is precisely why we have extras, and extras on top of extras – because someday a friend, family member, or other person you care about might be in a bad position and in this way you can offer them assistance. And thats not just guns, guys…. that could be food, ammo, batteries, money, or any host of other things that, when you don’t have it and really need it, are really important.
This is a big distinction from charity. Charity is generalized giving out of some sense of moral or religious imperative or duty. I generally don’t suffer from this particular quality, so my generosity is a bit more selfish – I give to those that add a value to my life, or I give for the satisfaction I get from the act of giving. It may seem like that’s a difference with no distinction, but I see a distinction. I suppose the greatest distinction, for me, is that charity often comes across as an obligation and I am extremely opposed to obligations being forced upon me rather than they being voluntarily assumed.
On a side note, I had my Bag Of Tricks with me as well as my mountain bike sitting in the back of the vehicle so I could very easily have left the area and made it back to base with minimal inconvenience…if I was willing to just abandon the vehicle, which was not called for at that point.
Looks like the City o’ Missoula got Bum Central up and running again after the big flood, eh? That’s a shame. Do you think that they reconstituted this band of ne’er-do-wells as an act of charity – or do you think that they just wanted to shit on their own town for a sense of moral superiority? Is there a difference? I think so.
timmy:
There IS some advantage to keeping “stray dogs” in a known Pound…
Feeding ans supervision are easier!
In some states you can’t loan gunsbecause of the laws. I always write out
a receipt and the person sign it, if they don’t use the weapon no big deal,
If its used your covered you sold them the gun. You may want to help someone but
you shouldn’t go to jail for it.
That may be, but Im not terribly concerned about it since I’m not in those states.
There’s a word for charity done as an obligation: tax.
I like Tam’s blog, no bs just the facts like yours. You both bring up a question for me. Which other firearms would be good as handouts or put backs in the same quality of SW shield, SD9, ruger P series but keeping with being affordable? Or just run with a couple of those.
I would imagine that any gun that you believe to be a reputable and reliable one, purchased at the right price point, would qualify. ‘Affordable’ is subjective, but to me I would think any sub-$300 pistol is expendable if need be. I haven’t gotten a chance to play with it yet, but Ruger’s new Security-9 delears at around $260 and its made by a ‘real’ gun company, so it seems to be a very strong candidate.
Any gun which cost less than the regular joe and his lady would be willing to spend on a night on the town would qualify as disposable. Empirical studies of dumbasses here in Sweden would put that at about 5000 kronor or 550-600$.
I personally would not hand out any gun that i wouldnt be willing to bet my own life on to anyone i care about.
Ten years ago I was getting five gallon pails loaded with ex-NYCPD S&W M10’s for $100 per gun.
One of those with a box of ammo and a decent holster and you’re light years ahead of some mook with a baseball bat.
Commander:
There are times I SWEAR inanimate objects pick their moment to fail!
It wouldn’t happen outside your favourite gun store, for example, would it?
I find that there are days where I only made one mistake – I got out of bed…..
assuming that pound does not bring in strays from other counties and states. which it does. let alone i bet more fire/med and leo’s calls go to the pound vs any other area of M even the elderly multi units home-care that house 100’s of the people who are sick and dying. but hey that is your tax dollars at work and increase in medical cost. ask the ER nurse how many ER rooms are taken by these ass hats on daily basis. fair share….just means more of my share.
Hi!
If we continue the “Pound” analogy, what do we do when no-one claims them after seven days –
Hmm… I have an idea!
I’d like to give you kudo’s for the (?) pun. The “coil” comment. You might be dogmatic-even though we all are, in our own flavor-but you are witty and have a dry-ish humor which dulls that edge. As always, sir, a pleasure visiting here.
Nothing like having a breakdown,drag the tools and spares out and fixing it on the spot(it’s a jeep thing,you wouldn’t understand). Most mooks aren’t going to bother you when you are already dirty,angry and have a big wrench in your hand and it is near something that looks like work
Revolvers would work well(very low learning curve vs pistol)plus low cost used,common caliber(38/357/44) and inherent sense of low ammo expeniture (they know they only have 5-6 rounds)
Revolvers would be a poor first choice. There are no cheap-enough-to-be-disposable revolvers that are well made. An automatic with a problem is a simple parts swap on a modern design, a revolver is a trip to a gunsmith. Additionally, revovlers don’t take well to rough handling as well as an auto. I suppose some could argue that a used Taurus .38 for $200 would be a candidate, if I can get a quality used 9mm for the same price it would seem a far choice.