Why I'm Part of the Panic Buy

As most people know, since B.O. got elected to be the next President of the United States, there has been a run on guns. Evil Black Guns mostly. There are many opinions on this. Some think the panic buyers are nuts and resent them for driving prices up. Some believe the panic buyers are right and are doing the same thing. Many are kicking themselves for not buying sooner.

I bought my Evil Black Rifle just after midnight on 6 November. The price hadn't gone up yet, and I had been saving for it anyway. I wasn't buying because of fears B.O. would ban them. I do fear that, but that alone didn't drive my decision to purchase. I knew that a lot of people would be driven to buy because of the election, and I knew demand would skyrocket, prices would rise, and it wouldn't be government that would keep me from getting my rifle. It would be the market.

And boy am I glad that I bought when I did. The next day, the online retailer that I ordered from called and asked if delays would cause me to cancel my order. "Of course not!" was my reply. She told me that Stag Arms, the manufacturer of most of my rifle, was already backed by about 6,000 rifles, and my order would already take 4-5 weeks. Four weeks later, I still don't have my gun, and Stag's website says their current backorder is 20 weeks long!

Black Rifles (often wrongly labeled as "Assault Rifles") can't be found anywhere. Many gun dealers have remarked that their inventory flew off the shelves within a week and they're unable to get more. Black Rifles can't be begged, borrowed, or stolen right now. The ones that are still available are only there because some dealers have started price gouging. Pre-election, a simple AR-15 rifle could be had for $800-$1000, and could be built for less than that (mine will be about $750 once I get it and put it all together). Recently, I've been hearing about them marked up to as much as $2000.

Luckily, there are plenty of dealers out there who aren't marking up their EBR's, or any other merchandise, any more than their costs require. The manufacturers haven't been raising their prices either. They don't need to. They have backorders for the next six months. They're doing just fine.

Hopefully, the boom in gun sales will send a message to the congress-weasels and local legis-critters that Americans like our guns, and when our rights are threatened, we don't roll over. We stock up.

Farewell, Kim

My favorite daily blogger, Kim DuToit, has retired. His daily writings included politics, guns, cars, women, and a host of other topics. He wrote about everything, and he wrote it beautifully. His wife, Connie, also retired, and though I didn't read her material very often, it was always very thoughtful and well written. (It is all still available to read, but they're no longer publishing new material. You can read it at www.theothersideofkim.com.) So, farewell in your retirement, Kim and Connie. You've earned it and will be missed.

Quote of the Day

From Eric:
"Yes, they even have clearing barrels in front of the chapel... Because even God hates negligent discharges."

Amen

Mandatory Community Service

A special salute and thanks go out to The Geek with a .45 for pointing out that the first black man elected President of the United States wants to violate not only the First and Second Amendments to the Constitution(and many more, I'm sure), but the 13th as well. For those of us who are not Constitutional scholars, the 13th Amendment is the one that bans slavery and involuntary servitude. Geek with a .45 explains it so well, I won't try to improve. Kim du Toit also mentioned it, and as always, made it a pleasure to read.

Financial Conundrum

As the people of the United States have voted a socialist into power, I am faced with a dilemma regarding his policies. We've all heard his tax policies, and if they remain as advertised, which I don't think they will, many Americans who already don't pay taxes will be getting another check from the gummint. This also applies to big businesses who are getting bailed out.
I am adamantly opposed to government handing out money to people who either didn't earn it, or corporations who screwed themselves. However, the fact that I cashed Pres Bush's economic stimulus check makes me feel like a hypocrite now. The fact is that that check was no small amount of money to me, and I really enjoyed spending it (actually, I saved about half of it), but now I don't know what to think.
I can say I would rather see fewer taxes than the gummint giving out checks. If they can afford to give me a big wad-o-cash, they can afford to cut taxes.
What really spawned this line of thought was last night's Hannity & Colmes interview with Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher. When Allan Colmes tried to slam him for having been on welfare in the past, he said "I paid into welfare. Its there to be used, not abused as it so often is." He then went on to explain how taking money from the rich and placing it in his pocket is "just stealing." Well said, sir.
With my income level and Obama's tax plan, I could theoretically end up getting a check again in the next few years. And what the hell am I supposed to do with that check to keep true to my beliefs? Tear it up? Send it to an unfairly taxed rich corporation? I'm torn. It makes me sick that I could be a beneficiary of socialism. I live comfortably on my salary, but a free check would certainly allow me to increase my savings or buy a new rifle (take THAT Pelosi!). I feel like my decision would represent either foolishness or hypocrisy. Damn Obama for making me a cause and forcing his dirty money on me.

Well, We're Screwed.

I watched the election results with disgust. I really had more faith in the American people. I thought the polls were full of it. I thought McCain would win out with reasonable people. I was wrong.

Now we're screwed. I was out tonight, expecting riots when McCain won. I was met with an Obama win, and car horns in the streets. Every car horn and Obama sticker was met with a disgusted face. I'm a sore loser in this campaign.

My response? I came home and bought my AR-15 Upper Receiver. It cost me quite a bit (I make way less than Obama's $250,000, or is it $200,000, or $150,ooo, or $120,000...I dunno). I still believe that Obama will rape our 2nd Amendment Rights(among many others), so I decided it was time to bite the bullet (so to speak) and blow some money on an "Evil Black Rifle" which he will likely ban. I bought it before a price increase due to the election can occur. Now I'm eagerly awaiting my personal rebellion against gun controllers. I'm going to call it Nancy, in honor of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I would call it Barack, but I only name my Milsurp (military surplus) rifles, and only name them with female names, so President Select Obama is out, due to his gender. So far, I have named my battle veteran rifles ( I have four) with stereotypical names from their country of origin. M1 Garand is Annie; Yugo SKS is Milka(her stock was already engraved by her former owner, probably a Yugoslavian soldier); Mosin Nagant M38 is Natalya, a good, sexy Russian name; my Mosin Nagant 91/30 is Nadia. The AR-15 will be Nancy, as I've said. Its not a sexy name, but a rebellious name.

My political views from now on will be extremely critical of the Obama administration. We'll see.

Where's the Dirt?

When a campaign gets as cutthroat as this one, I gotta ask, where's the dirt on John McCain? His campaign, the press, and other have dug up (and in some cases immediately reburied) a ton of dirt on Barack Obama, while B.O. can't seem to come up with anything bad to say about John McCain other than not wanting to share his toys.
I have a theory on this. Perhaps, there's no dirt on McCain. [gasp] In a world where our lives are all on Google, the media respects no ethical boundaries, and politicians' lives are a matter of public record, the only thing they have on McCain is that he's been divorced and remarried a rich woman. Thats a pretty clean life for a politician. We may actually have an honest politician. I really like that [naive] concept with regards to McCain because he's a military man. I really like to think he has some integrity.
Thats not much compared to the laundry list of unsavory things we know about B.O., many of which he refuses to clarify or disprove. We know where John McCain was born, how much he paid in taxes, his military record, his family's history, and how many houses he owns. Obama refuses to turn over a birth certificate to prove which country he was born in (my pick goes to Kenya). Same with proof that he his still a citizen of the US, not Indonesia, and there's a video out there of him hanging out with a known terrorist leader (not even Ayers this time; yeah, there's another one) which no one will cough up.
I have to wonder just why the American people aren't demanding clarification, and documentation, from B.O. I think he's got some 'splainin to do.