Call me Ahab

posted by Caleb on Jun 3

It seems like the Indy 1500 wasn’t just a successful show for me and my acquisition of a spanking awesome 1951E Beretta, it appears that Tamarama made out like a bandit as well by selling her pimped-out 6.8 SPC AR.

When I say “pimped-out” to describe this rifle, I’m really not doing it justice.  The sling attachment alone should have rated a 9.5 on anyone’s tacticool meter, and if you had bought this rifle, you would have been the most tactical badass at school.

Using some kind of dark magic, Tam turned her tactical-death ray into a Trapdoor Springfield and a .32 S&W single-action Smith & Wesson.  Clearly, a good time was had by all at the gun show this last weekend.

posted by Caleb on May 30

The Indy 1500 starts today - I’ll be there after work this afternoon cruising the aisles for vintage Berettas.  Specifically, I’m looking for a post WWII ‘34 Beretta in 9mm Kurz to go with my WWII vintage ‘35 Beretta in .32 ACP.

I’ll try and grab some pictures of what Tam describes as a “wamdigenous” (spelling?) gun show, and hopefully I’ll be able to A) find what I’m looking for and B) negotiate Mrs. Ahab into letting me burn the money on it.

posted by Caleb on Mar 17

I had the opportunity to go the Crossroads of the West gun show at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas this weekend; while I was there it seems that Tamara was at the Indy 1500 show back home.  Having now been to both, I can say that the Crossroads show pales in comparison to the 1500.

In terms of size, it was about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the Indy show, with the accompying reduction in dealers present.  I did find a few C&R steals, so it was probably a good thing for my wallet that I neglected to bring a copy of my FFL with me, so I couldn’t purchase anything other than black powder firearms.  I was actually there looking for a ‘60 Colt Army to go with my ‘58 Remington, but the only ones they had (all 2) were really overpriced.  I did almost buy a .36 Navy Colt with a brass frame - but I really had my heart set on a .44.

In terms of other guns, there were loads and loads of black rifles/AKs, all of which were going for way over what they had been not 6 months ago (the last time I went to a gun show).  I guess everyone is stocking up for the possibility of an anti-gun presidency, and I don’t blame them.

I did see some stuff that I had never seen before at a gun show.

1. A Nation of Riflemen T-Shirt from Kim du Toit’s place.
2. A guy with literally three cases of Lugers for sale.
3. Another guy with three cases of Broomhandle Mausers.
4. A Che Guevara flag.

With regard to that last bit, it sort of threw me for a loop.  It was at the same table as “that guy” who is at every gun show with his flag collection, ranging from Don’t Tread on Me flags, to Nazi SS flags, and apparently a Che Guevara flag.  Not only did it not fit in with the rest of his flags, it didn’t really fit in with the usual crowd that you’d see at a gun show.  Needless to say, flags celebrating communist revolutionary mass murderers are not something I’d expect to see at a gun show.

If I were scoring the difference between my real home city (Indy) and my temporary city (Vegas), in the all important gun show category, Indy would be ahead 1-0.  Honestly, for the 12 bucks it cost me to get in, I honestly didn’t feel like I got my money’s worth.

posted by Caleb on Nov 15

Curt points out how the Brady Campaign to prevent gun ownership are, as usual, a bunch of liars.

It’s a pretty good roast, actually.  He points out that their own sources don’t back up the hyperbolic statements that they make about “unlicensed vendors” at gun shows.  The short version is that the Brady Bunch says 50% of vendors at gun shows are “unlicensed”.  To get to this number, they’re counting all the vendors, including the ones who aren’t selling firearms.

I guess the Brady Campaign wants you to have a license to sell Beef Jerky?  Although, that Spicy Alligator Jerky should probably be classified as a Destructive Device.

posted by Caleb on Oct 17

I am usually opposed to weepy press conferences where the families of victims gather round to implore “our leaders” to “do something” about The Tragedy of the Moment. As such, I wish that the WSJ article did not have this headline:

Parents of Virginia Tech Victims Urge Senate to Pass Gun Laws

That being said, the Senate needs to get their crap together and pass this bill.  Sen. Coburn from Oklahoma needs to stop getting his information from Larry Pratt, and realize that this bill is a good thing for gun owners.  I can’t tell you how many countless articles, from Military.com to the NRA have been written explaining in painstaking detail why this bill is a benefit to us.

My favorite objection that people raise to this bill is that any veteran diagnosed with PTSD could/will have their right to own firearms removed; which only makes sense if you’ve never actually read the bill, or if you don’t understand the legal definition of “adjudicated mentally incompetent.”  I have PTSD, diagnosed by a real doctor and everything, and you don’t see me quaking in my Nikes over this bill.  Another blow to the “Veteran’s Disarmament” line is that as of Oct. 4th, the American Legion has pledged to support the bill, believing that it is in the best interest of American veterans.

The draft of this is that the longer the NICS bill stalls in the Senate, the more likely it becomes that someone will attach a horrible amendment to the bill, and force the NRA to withdraw their support.  If that happens, we lose, and we lose a lot.  If this bill passes it means that the NRA gains even more political clout - and by extension so do gun owners.

posted by Caleb on Jun 4

I have been having a repeated conversation with Mrs. Ahab over the last couple of weeks. In a couple of different movies, you see the main characters or bad guys purchasing guns on the internet, which they have delivered directly to their homes.

She’s aware of the simple fact that, well, unless you’re in possession of the appropriate federal license, that it is all sorts of illegal. So, she asked around at work to see if people actually knew that you couldn’t order a firearm off the internet and have it delivered to your home, legally. By and large, most people that she worked with thought that you could.

Thus, you have today’s post. I know that most of my usual readers are familiar with firearms laws, and how they relate to the internet; however if you have a friend that’s curious or unaware of how it works you can point them here.

A person who is not legally barred from possession of firearms (not a felon, etc) may obtain firearms from a dealer in another state. From the ATF:

A person not licensed under the GCA and not prohibited from acquiring firearms may purchase a firearm from an out-of-State source and obtain the firearm if an arrangement is made with a licensed dealer in the purchaser’s State of residence for the purchaser to obtain the firearm from the dealer.

In the above, “Licensed under the GCA (Gun Control Act)” means a Federal Firearms License, which come in all sorts of flavors with different various levels of access accorded to them. This is the provision which applies to sales of guns over the internet.

What that means is that you can buy a gun off the internet; however it has to be sent to a Federal Firearms License. If you’re not an FFL holder, you have to make arrangements to have the gun sent there.

When you go that FFL to pick up your new CQB Tactical Destroyer, that FFL is required by law to run a NICS check on you - even though they’re not selling you the gun. The reason is because federal law requires all dealers to run a background check whenever they transfer a firearm to an individual.

So how do people buy guns on the web? I’m so glad you asked. Websites like Gunbroker and AuctionArms work sort of like an E-Bay for guns. You can go there, browse the different categories, and place bids on firearms you’re interested in. Most of the people that sell on Gunbroker and AuctionArms are federal dealers - since they don’t want to get reamed by the ATF they will only ship guns to other Federal Licensees.

If you win your bid, contact the seller (obviously) to find out how they’d like their form of payment. Additionally, they will require a faxed, mailed, or emailed copy of the Federal Firearms License of the licensee to whom you would to have your new blaster shipped.

As you can see, it you “can” order firearms off the internet; but it’s certainly not a loophole in federal law. In some cases, it’s actually more of a hassle to order a gun from the web, on the flipside of that equation is that the internet gives me access to the inventory of gunshops all over the country so I can often find things that I can’t find at my local (and oft poorly stocked) local stores.

posted by Caleb on Jun 2

Yesterday I went to the opening day of the Indy 1500 Gun & Knife show, an event which I usually enjoy. I had a specific purpose in my attendance; I was looking for either a Henry AR-7 in black, or a H&R Tamer in .410.

I left disappointed, and actually slightly irritated. There was one AR-7 in the whole building, and it was one of the original Armalite manufactured, which while cool was $200. Since I can get them brand spanking new from Gander Mtn. for $185, I declined the extra fifteen bucks. There was not a single H&R Tamer in the whole building, and believe me, I looked.

Honestly, for someone who doesn’t like Glocks, 1911s, or AR-15s; a gunshow can be almost disheartening. It’s nice to run across a table of old wheelguns or nice C&R guns here and there, but then those guys are asking $45-$60 more than what I would pay for the same gun on the web.

Still, the place was pretty full for a Friday night, and a lot of people were buying. I almost talked my friend into buying a Walther P22 (SO CLOSE), and I almost bought a CZ-82 myself.

Also, if one of my four readers happens to be the guy who was talking about shooting groups the size of a baseball at 800 yards - I should have said this yesterday. Bullshit.

posted by Caleb on Jun 1

Today is the opening day of the three day Indy 1500 gun and knife show and your humble author will be in attendance for Friday’s festivities. I love gun shows as I’ve mentioned before; they provide a great opportunity to find that one gun that your local gunshop doesn’t stock but that you really, really want.

(sarcasm warning!) They’re really great, because I can hang out with terrorists and buy fully-automatic AK47s without a background check or a driver’s license! (end sarcasm)

Honestly though, the “gun show loophole” meme is really annoying, because maybe 12 seconds of research would turn up the fact that it doesn’t actually exist. The 1500 doesn’t even allow private sellers to sell “firearms”, they can sell black powder guns, antiques, etc - but to sell actual functioning firearms at this gun show you have to have an FFL and be in full compliance with the law.

I’m looking for either a .410 shotgun or a Henry AR-7 at this show - the .410 has practical use and the AR-7 has “wicked gadget factor”, which will always get my attention. It should be a good time, and I’ll offer a follow-up report for you guys at the conclusion.

posted by Caleb on Jan 13

I fully expect to see literal armies of terrorists walking the halls, buying machine guns without background checks.

**snort**

Sorry, I couldn’t keep a straight face. I’ll actually post a report here about it later.

Edit: So I’m back from the show. All in all, it was a lot of fun, I ended up with a new 9mm pistol for a steal, so I’ll call it a good day. It was a little rough, because they had one of the NEF .45/.410 survival rifles that I really want, in the end I went with the new carry gun.

Also, I didn’t see any Al-Qaeda fighters buying machine guns without background checks. Actually, I even saw a guy fail the NICS check; he got denied by the fed. Tough beans for him.

I do have one comment, though. This is directed to the one guy who has the booth that consists of “WWII” paraphernalia, and when I say “WWII”, I mean “Nazi”. Take your business somewhere else. Like the internet, for instance. Law-abiding gun owners have enough shit to worry about without being associated with the freakin’ Nazi party. I’m sure that you and your retarded cousin-fucking friends can get together in your basement and talk about how much the white man rocks; but we really don’t need your kind at our shows.

Other than that one guy, it was a great show. I got to handle a whole load of firearms, including an brand new MP5K, which was a blast and a half.

See you Monday!