Newtown etc. effect on Gun Sales
 

While returning from the hospital in Boston today where my bride of 40 years is receiving radiation treatment, I decided to stop by one of local gun shops in Weymouth, Ma. just off Rte 3 south. I walked into the 'Hunters Trading Post' where I've shopped for years for good used doubles looking to see what Parkers and LC Smith's they typically have on hand for sale.

The store was packed! People were lined up at the counter (men and women) in the process of purchasing thier handgun while to the right side of the store there were a number of customers looking at or in the process of buying a semi-auto, AR-15 type weapon. It was astonishing to see so many folks in the process of buying firearms and I couldn't help but think that as horrible as the events in Connecticut were/are, the politician's and media's knee jerk reaction to start clammering for a ban on 'assault' type fireararms (and I suppose firearms in general would be the next step) is spuring just the thing they seek to eliminate.

It was an eye opener.

I wish your wife well on the treatments and all goes well. The gun stuff I think is a different form of radiation.

Allen: I hope that your wife is doing well.I went through the same with my wife of 47 years and she is doing great. Thomas

Thanks Steve. She is strong and fighting this hard. My hero for sure.

As for the other type of 'radiation', In as much as the country could benefit from having an open and honest discussion/debate about firearms in the US. It would be much better if our politicians and their media allies would observe a long moment of silence until the families could finish burying their beloved children. Just shut up out of respect and observe a period of silence while the dead are taken care of the the families and friends can grieve without all the background noise. The families deserve that much I would think.

Then have an open and honest debate. And let's be honest about it. Let's talk about how the privacy laws impact mental health disclosures. Just my 2 cents.

Well said Allen.
God bless you and your HERO. Prayers have been sent for you both.

It's sad state of affairs when we, as law abiding americans think that we have to go out and buy a gun due to fear that our government will make them illegal to purchase. No matter what the reason.

It was the same at the Sportsmans Warehouse here in Denver on Saturday. Three people deep the entire length of the gun counter and lots of form filling going on. Lots of waiting on background checks too I think. It was amazing. Similar but not quite as much so at Bass Pro.

Don't worry fellas.

The 1968 gun law fixed everything.
The assault weapons ban fixed everything again.
The UN weapons ban is going to fix things worldwide.
But this time the Dems are really going to fix YOU.
Buy 'em if you can find 'em.


Best, Kensal

PS: Remember... Parkers are guns, too.

I hope Allen's wife pulls through ok. I have a cousin and best friend going through cancer treatment as we speak. His prognosis is pretty good, fortunately.

The media glorifies these shootings so much it is no wonder we have so many.

Because the media glorifies them, the kids nowadays can't think for themselves. No one taught them to think, just to pass the tests.:crying:

The whole thing is depressing. Especially for me having 2 young boys close to the ages of the ones shot.

Hug them, hold them and make sure they know you love them.

we have 3 grandchildren and one in kindergarten. We turned off the news for 2 days, just wouldn't/could not bring ourselves to watch it. Too unbearable. Too emotional. Nana and Papa hugged the kids over the weekend.

Amen.

Lost in all of the gun debate and the other mass killings over the past 30 years, is that in 1980 President Reagan ordered (?) no more federal funds for institutions that housed the crazies. The lunatics were turned back to the communities. The dead mother of this latest killer made statements earlier that getting her son committed was next to impossible. Meanwhile . . .

Here in Minnesota we have more than 600 sexual predators locked in detention centers. They have completed their prison sentences. By law they cannot be released to society unless they are "cured". No one knows what "cured" means. In the history of the law, only 2 people have been released. Sex offenders must be registered with the local police who are required to notify residents of the area in which he/she lives about his/her home address. Lunatics are protected by privacy laws and no one knows if they are in the community.

I hope the commission that is going to study the "gun issues" for the next six months looks at the number of crazies in our communities and considers locking them up, again.

The sad fact is that there will always be more lunatics and/or mental incompetents running loose in a society than those that can be identified, certified and committed.

These are the scariest people to me. And we've all known far too many.

Then my mind sarcastically suggests Washington DC as a perfect example.

Best, Kensal

John, contrary to your post there is a free "app" that both of my daughters ( mothers of daughters) have on their iPhones and that is the location of where registered sex offenders live in relation to my daughters' zip codes. It is surprising and quite unnerving to discover that there are 7 within the area of their zip codes... this is in rural New Hampshire.

Yes, everyone should know about the sex offender registry and that you can check it online. Around here, you can get details on the conviction. We live in a gated community so we have a little protection that way. The greater Savannah area has become a war zone where crime is concerned.

That lunatic in CT wasn't on a sex offender list... yet he offended BOTH sexes by killing boys, girls and women.

My only point is that there will always be MORE screwballs running loose on the streets than there will ever be in "treatment." And their locations are unknown. Hence, the best defense for the individual is a Model 1911 loaded with 230 gr. FMJ ammo. It's a guaranteed lunatic pacifier. Regardless of whether he's listed or not.

Best, Kensal

Right, that point is well taken.

A cousin of mine once said, if you get me you get me, but mess with my family and there will be a tag on your toe by sundown

we need to outlaw violent video games, these kids play them for hours on end and it just brainwashes them to kill, kill, kill. Paintball games do not help one bit either. We need to watch and be aware of what is going into these kids brains.

Don't count on it, The Annointed One has just appointed his second in command to lead an inside the ball park team that will most likely focus just on gun control and probably outlawing possession of firearms capable of handling large capacity magazines. And the Media that follows the Annointed One will help lead the charge.

I don't know if anyone listened to the NRA's press conference this morning but Wayne Lapierre gave a brilliant speech and outlined a specific remedy for the school violence problem. His best line was something to the effect of "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun". He made many excellent points but the media will still paint the NRA as a bunch of gun nuts. I truly hope everyone who owns a gun belongs.

Brilliant speech? WL did more to jeopardize our 2nd Rights today than the shooter did a week ago. What a colossal blunder. LaPierre's arrogance knows no bounds. If our country is at the point where militarization of our schools is the solution then is our society truly free? I can't imagine any intelligent adult thinking the plan Wayne LaPierre put forth this morning is anything other than a preposterous farce.

This mentality is exactly why I have never joined the NRA and I never will.

The Annointed One, The Schumer's and Pelosi's of the world and with the media cheerleading - they will brand WL as part of the right wing lunatic fringe. Already, very little of what WL said has been taken seriously. WL missed a perfect opportunity to make a reasoned case for a variety of actions that could be taken with necessarily infringing on the rights of gun owners. (I am a member of the NRA but I'm also a father and grandfather and former teacher in another life)

And here we have the difference in ideology, WP made perfect sense for a solution to the obvious problem, and the radical left can't see it. Here we go again.

Dave

WL could have delivered/made his case in a different manner with better effect. Much of his content was spot on, but his manner of presentation was not as effective as it could have been. While he may have been correct to point out in his opening that the Annointed One is basically a hypocrite on this issue, he had to know it would color the rest of what he had to say, he had to know the media would be looking for any way to characterize his message unfavorably. He put himself and the NRA in a position where the Media and their political allies could pounce on them. Most unfortunate.

The whole thing is sad and it appears Washington is going to play politics rather than try to address the problems which caused this horrible crime. This is probably a good time for us to go back to talking about Parkers, hunting and more pleasant things

Mills:
I agree with you. I'd much rather be talking about Parkers. But to ignore reality is to accept the fate others deal to you. And... if you think that those idiots in Washington will stop with "assulat weapon" and high-cap magazine legislation, you will have to think again.
Parkers? Well, let's see. They are also talking about "the gun show loophole." That means you may not be able to buy that wonderful BHE you spot at Tulsa. Or have to fill out a 4473 for a pre-'98 shotgun.
You may not realize it, but for the "public safety" you can't even keep a shotgun in your home in the UK without police OK. Think it can't happen here? Think again.
In my book, the NRA did fine. As a former newsman, PR man and ad man, I like the fact that old Wayne stuck it to them. They were already blaming the NRA anyway. Why lay there and take it?
Romney did that during the election. And see what happend?

Best, Kensal

PS: On second thought, Mills is right. Let's go back to Parkers.

Jay what you said really turns my stomach without the NRA you should just leave those nice guns on the front door step to be picked up for garbage . This is the only group that actually is fighting for your right to keep them I dont see the media talking about anyone but them. If our President can be guarded by armed guards why cant my son ? I think I better stop !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:cuss::cuss:

If the thought of militarizing our schools doesn't turn everyone's stomach then our country is truly beyond hope. If we are at a point where the only defense against fellow citizens who would harm us with guns is to carry a gun are we truly free? Does that sound like the freedom those who wrote the Bill of Rights foresaw?

The WL did more to jeopardize our 2nd A rights yesterday than all of the mass shootings combined and we all had better be ready for the blow-back because it will come swiftly and the ONLY real power the NRA has comes through political threats and there are not going to be a lot of legislators who are going to roll over this time.

Than guess what WAKE UP WERE NOT FREE !!!

Wasn't it the armed citizens that gave us our freedom in the first place? The true fact is that we have let ourselves be out manuvered by politics and by people that are scared of us standing up for ourselves. We have let the government regulate us, instead of us regulating the govnment.

I would like to see how FREELY you could walk down some of these big city streets at 11:00 at night for lets say a 2 mile walk up and back

From that we obtained the right to vote for our leaders and our government. So you are saying if enough people do not agree with the majority in an election then it's ok to take up arms against the majority?

There is a great difference than walking down a street at night and waking into en elementary school and if you can't grasp that then you have a warped sense of reality.

In the last 10 years or so, whenever authorities hear of a "threat", real or imagined in a school, or a police officer is called in with his dog for a locker check, there is a "lockdown". Sure sounds like a prison to me.

In my warped sense of reality I am seeing people killed walking down streets and in schools so what kind of defense do either have ? Is that not reality !

Steve and Jay, We all know there is no easy solution to this dilemma. You both have valid points but I feel if you guy's want to continue this discussion it would be better to do it off line. Can we get back to Parkers and related topics? Please...

Personally, I like Parkers.


Best, Kensal