Link – NY Democrat pleads with Republican not to share document proposing confiscation of guns

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

The State of New York this week passed some of the strictest gun control laws in the United States, effectively outlawing ‘assault weapons’ and limiting the size of magazines.

But if Republican Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin is to be believed, the New York State Democrats would have gone further if they could have. Much, much further.

In a video posted to his Facebook page, McLaughlin has shared the information of a ‘secret’ Democrat proposal not simply to make the purchasing of the crudely monikered ‘assault weapons’ illegal in New York, but also to engage in a mass confiscation programme, removing Americans’ weapons from their possession.

 

Now, before anyone gets all Alex-Jonesy here, keep in mind that this was proposed legislation that was shot down. Its entirely possibly, and even likely, that the folks that proposed it knew it wouldn’t go anywhere and simply put it forth to ‘send a message’. Having said that, don’t doubt that there were probably plenty of individuals in that room who thought this would have been a great idea.

I might have mentioned this in the past, but it’s a story that, while I get tired of typing it in, I never get tired of telling: many years ago, when I lived in Brooklyn (Chuck Schumers district, actually) I dutifully got my NYC Long Gun permit and, at the age of 18, acquired a nice collection of goodies. Among that collection were an HK93, an AR, AK, Mini-14, etc. Very soon after I got my permit, Ii moved to Montana. Never bothered to tell the folks at the “Firearms Control Bureau” because, well, screw them. So as far as they knew, I still lived at the address on file in Brooklyn. Some time goes by and one day a relative still living in NYC forwarded me a latter that was mailed to me at my old NY address. It was a note from the FCB telling me I was now in possession of those nasty ‘assault weapons’ and I had to either get ‘em out of the city or turn ‘em over to the cops. Now, I had been living in Montana for a couple years at this point and had no intention of moving back, so I scrawled in big letters “YOU WANT EM, COME AND GET EM” across the letter and mailed it back. (Yes, I was ‘Molon Labe’ before it was cool.) Some time goes by and I get a phone call from a relative saying “Hey, remember the house you used to live at? The new owner told me that the cops showed up there the other day looking for you and your guns.”

The moral of the story is that the only possible reason to register firearms is so they know where they are when it’s time to take ‘em. The folks in NY wouldn’t know where to go to seize those guns if they didn’t have a list of where they were…thats what registration winds up being used for, even if they say it’ll never come to that. Ask the folks in California how that worked out.

As an aside, I’m getting very tired of making posts about the recent gun issue. That isn’t what this blog is about, and there are plenty of blogs out there dedicated to the noble fight against those statist weasels. But…sometimes I just can’t help but feel I have to tell somebody about what’s going on in case they missed it. It wasnt the job of the guy waving the baton at the orchestra on the Titanic to warn of icebergs, but I guess he wouldve if he had the chance.

Purchasing priorities

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It’s easy to get distracted by the goings on these days about guns. Firearms are, of course, a large part of preparedness but they aren’t all of it. There’s still plenty of other details to be hashed out, geegaws to be purchased, food to be stockpiled, fuel to be put back, electronics to be gotten , tools to be acquired, etc, etc. But…with a few exceptions, firearms are the most heavily regulated (and thus susceptible to elimination) items we could purchase.

I don’t know about you, but from time to time I read about people who, in their great scheme to acquire everything they need (or think they’ll need), make lists and set priorities for getting the things on that list. While I appreciate that, I think that when prioritizing you need to consider the potentially ephemeral nature of some of the things we want, and plan accordingly.

Let me give you an example. A fella was in the shop the other day and we were chatting about, naturally, the current state of gun buying. He said that he really felt he needed more magazines and at least two more AR’s, but he also needed more food and water storage. I asked him what he was going to do. He said that he had enough money to do one or the other at the moment, but not both. However, in six months he’d have enough to do whichever one he didn’t do now. He figured that he would buy the food and water storage now and then in six months get the AR’s, figuring that the prices might be lower after the hysteria dies down. Not an unreasonable course of action but while it would make sense with just about any other product, it doesnt make sense with guns. Look at it from this perspective…lets say his choice was storage food/water versus new tires for his BOV. To me, thats sort of an apples-to-apples situation…I’d get the food/water and then in six months, when my wallet has healed, get the tires. But guns are different…no one is proposing to neuter, ban, register, confiscate or prohibit tires. The odds are quite good that in six months, heck even six years, you’ll be able to buy those same tires. Not so with guns.

In six months the laws may (or may not) change to the point where what you have right now is all youre allowed to own. Back to his choice of food/water versus another AR and mags – which one is more likely to be just as readily available in six months? The food and water, of course. So while the food/water may be a higher priority, it’s fairly certain future availability makes it take second place to the possibly (or not) unobtainable-in-six-months guns and ammo.

Of course, things could go the other way as well. Tomorrow there may be a terroristic threat to the national food supply and distribution chain and the price/availability of food/water is completely blown away from what it is now. But which is more likely?

I have a ton of more crap that I feel we need around here. More food. More batteries. More clothes. More gold. More silver. More medical supplies. More dog food. More fuel. And…more ammo, guns and mags. But everything on that list is, I am certain, going to be just as available in six months, a year, eighteen months, as it is now…I cannot say the same for the guns and ammo. So…the items most likely to become unavailable get bumped up on the priority list.

Some  folks have been asking me what I think is ‘going to happen’ vis-a-vis new gun regs. Dude, if I had any ability to accurately predict the future I would be in Las Vegas right now working up to owning a casino. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen specifically, but I can make some sweeping generalizations: the adminstartion needs to get its ‘pound of flesh’ from the gun lobby. I suspect that will be in the form of a magazine ban. It’ll be the guy kicked out of the sled to slow down the wolves. The administration can point to it’s 23 executive orders and say they did plenty to show the gun lobby who’s boss, and when further regs fail they’ll be able to blame that on Republicans and say they ‘did all they could’.

Of course, I could be wrong…I often am. But…the assault weapon ban ended over eight years ago so if you havent gotten most of what you need by now, eight years later, you may want to examine just how seriously flawed your purchasing priorities might be.

 

Article – Sen. Chuck Schumer Says the NRA Is an Extreme ‘Fringe Group’

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

This isn’t surprising coming from the mouth of career weasel Chuck Schumer. What is surprising is this sentence:

He continued: “They are a very extreme group.  They don’t even represent average gun holders.”

Not gun owners, but gun holders. As in the holder of something that is not owned by them, but rather ‘owned’ (or ‘granted’) by the state…the state is just letting you hold it.

Orwell taught us that control of the language is essential to advance political goals. For example, they don’t want gun control..they just want reasonable gun control. Implying, of course, that if you oppose it youre being unreasonable. Who could be against something reasonable?

It’s a culture war, folks. No doubt about it. ‘Ol Chuckie just happen to make a grammatical slip that plainly shows how he views gun ownership: as a a custodianship of firearms to be revoked at any time by the state..because you don’t own them, you  just hold them.

Article – A backyard nuclear shelter? Yes, paranoia does sell

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

The usual article about a shelter manufacturer with comments about the customer demographic being ‘scared and nervous’ people.

One sterling quality of American businesses is that they’ll try to make money from anything.

Paranoia, for instance. So say hello to Ron Hubbard, the owner of Montebello-based Atlas Survival Shelters, which converts huge corrugated metal tubes up to 50 feet long into fully equipped, all-the-comforts-of-home underground shelters at a price of up to about $78,000 each, not including shipping and interment.

You may have spotted the Atlas shop from the 5 Freeway as you’re heading into downtown. There’s a corrugated tube out front, painted bright yellow and looking like a tipped-over corn silo. High on the exterior wall facing the road is a banner declaring that the shelters offer protection from nuclear blasts, nuclear fallout, EMP (that’s electromagnetic pulses, which can foul electrical systems), solar flares, mobs, looters, earthquakes and chemical warfare. If there’s anything left off that list, it’s probably not worth worrying about.

I take issue with the term ‘paranoia’ being tossed about. Being worried about civil disorder or WWIII isn’t any more paranoid than being worried about a house fire or a car accident. It’s simply another form of insurance against those things.

Gun day

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Here’s a picture of a fella purchasing an AR-15 for silver. The fella owning the hands on the left is counting out ounces of silver to trade to the hands on the right, who is calculating the value of the various weights.

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This fella bought this silver over the years when it was cheaper than it was now. He’s getting $31.70 per ounce towards his new AR-15. Since he almost certainly paid less for that silver than $31.70 a couple years ago, he’s actually paying less for the gun than if he pulled out greenbacks today. Don’t let anyone tell you that stockpiling gold or silver is a dumb idea.

Speaking of acquisitions, this wound up in my hands:

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You can never have too many paperless Glocks with spare mags. Especially for the price I paid for it. Unfortunately, this particular G is of the 23 flavor, and while the G23 is a fine pistol I am a 9mm kinda guy and just dont have room in the safe for a .40 caliber. So….this being a sellers market, I shopped it around and sold it a few hours later. The guy I sold it to got a good deal since I like him and want to see him have the tools he needs for facing the challenge of the current slide into dystopia. If this thing was 9mm, though…It’d be in the safe with the others. Ah well.

Spoke with a buddy of mine in the NYPD this evening who tells me that at roll call some folks actually announced that the cops needed to bring in their mags to be traded in for 7-shot mags. NY, as you know, passed a law that limits guns to magazines that hold no more than seven rounds. Trouble was, they forgot to add in the usual exemption for The Only Ones. Embarassing, that.

If Things Go Back To Normal I Will Buy….

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

This is from our buddy Ryan over at TSLRF.

Broadly speaking, if all this eventually blows over and there’s no hideous new gun control that prevents us from owning the thigns we can own now, what will you do differently?

Me, I’ve seen this movie before back in ’94. When ’04 rolled around I went out and made bloody sure to buy as much stuff as i could against the possibility of a repeat performance. BUT….I got complacent as the years went by. If all this blows over, I’m signing up for the Stripped AR Receiver Of The Month Plan. I’m just gonna call Stag, give them my debit card number, and have them automagically ship me a stripped lower (or two) every month. Like clockwork.

What about you?

Fenix E11 and Streamlight Nano flashlights

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

For Chrismahanakwanzakah I received, among other things, a nice down jacket. I’d been wanting something that I could compress down to about the size of a Foster’s can and tuck away in my bag. I was up at REI looking to buy some sort of stuff sack for it and stumbled into a closeout sale. I really wasnt looking for anything but this flashlight caught my eye. (I’m a sucker on a deal for a good flashlight.) It’s the Fenix E11LED flashlight. (Fenix 105 Lumens Flashlight) What jumped out at me was that it was a good output (100 lumens), had the usual tailcap switch, had two brightness levels and..this was the clincher….ran on a single AA batt.

Now, I love my SureFire lights. While I understand that performance does not come cheap, there are times I don’t need a $100 flashlight that uses $4 batteries…..like when I’m picking up Nuke waste on our midnight walks. The Fenix E11 was on sale for $19.95 so I grabbed one. I figured it would be a good ‘disposable’ flashlight and if I liked it I would get a few more to salt away in my various packs and bags.

Loaded it up with a new Duracell AA and was mightily impressed. I like this little flashlight. It throws a somewhat unfocussed beam thats good for about 50′, is very compact, has a lanyard attachment, and uses cheap readily available AA batts. I’m liking this light a lot.

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Biggest drawback is that it is, dammit, Made In China. Of course, thats also why it was $20 and not $120. I’m gonna have to go get a few more, a package of lithium AA batts, and these will be the flashlights I leave in the truck and shop kits. It’s not something that will replace my primary lights, which are SureFire and MagLite, but for those times when I want a light that I dont care if it gets lost or damaged this would be an excellent choice.

On Amazon they go for about 1/3 more than what I paid but you’d save that after a few battery changes where you weren’t paying for expensive CR123 batts. So far, Im very, very pleased with this light.

To my surprise and delight, one of these (Streamlight 73001 Nano Light Miniature Keychain LED Flashlight, Black) showed up in my mailbox a week ago…a gift from a thoughtful reader. (….who now gets a shout-out and sincere thank you from yours truly.) Normally, I like the little Photon microlights for keychain/zipperpull lights. But…I’m mightily impressed with this little Streamlight. The major negative review about it is that the twist-to-turn-on/off head can twist a little too easily and come on in your pocket. This wasnt a big deal for me since I planned on using it as a zipperpull, but buried in the reviews on Amazon was a comment from a fella telling how he removed the head, wrapped a little teflon tape around the threads, put the head back on and the problem of the too-easy-to-twist was solved.

This is an excellent light for finding your keys/keyhole in the dark, looking for stuff in your truck at night, etc, etc. Best part is that the darn thing is always with you if you have it hooked to your zipper. The wife an I were unloading the truck in the dark and I let her use it…she was so impressed with it she got on her computer and ordered up five more for her other coats and jackets. She doesn’t get excited easily about preparedness toys so this must be a really good piece of gear. Use itty bitty coin batteries but at about $7 per light, I’m rating these as ‘disposable’ although if you wanna buy a buncha those little batteries you can certainly replace then. Battery life is said to be about eight hours…that’s a long time whe you think about the intermittent use of a product like this.

Anyway, two really cool, really handy lights that I thought I’d bring to your attention.

(Did I mention the E11 takes a single AA batt? Thats my favorite thing about it!)

Kalispell Gun show, new shop

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Went to the Kalispell gun show today. I saw no AR on dealers tables for less than $2k. That doesn’t mean any of them were selling at that price, as evidenced by the fact that the ARs were still there…but thats what they were asking. No AK’s for less than $1k. And even SKS rifles were up in the stratosphere. There was one lone PTR-91 for $2100. Cheapest AR mags were about $30 ea. I saw absolutely nothing I would want to spend money on.

Cool part was that I found a little gun/preparedness shop on my way back. Last time I was in Kalispell, there was a new gun shop being set up. That was six months ago so I figured I’d go see what it was like. To my delight, it was a small gun shop with a large emphasis on preparedness…they had #10 cans from MountainHouse, AlpineAire, etc, first aid supplies, Gamma Seal lids, buckets, books, etc, etc, etc. Prices were good on some stuff, not so good on others. The Mountain House cans were at a pretty good price, though. If youre up in that neck of the woods, it’s Big Bear Firepower 115 Main St., Kalispell.