| Author | Message | ||
     Rick_a |
Just one more. The wife was ridiculing me for carrying a full sized service pistol with a backup. So, I'm sure she'll be fine with me putting a stainless snub nose on layaway. She made me promise "no guns" until next year, so this will satisfy that requirement as well...technically.  20140927_123006 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr  20140927_123026 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr It's a S&W 649 Bodyguard 357, AKA "humpback." It'll be my summertime/discreet waistband carry, and will be taking over most of the range duties over my Airweight 38 spl. | ||
| Teeps |
A man can never have enough! | ||
| D_adams |
Don't let Rocket see this, he'll probably have an aneurysm over it. Oh gawd, MOAR GUNZ! | ||
| Reepicheep |
Wait'll he finds out it doesn't even have a safety!  | ||
| Hootowl |
Now that's a hand cannon! Ever fire a snub nose 357 magnum? | ||
| Rick_a |
Them European folks are born anti gun. It's part of the DNA. I don't hold it against them, as long as they're not spouting off such nonsense to 'Mericans. Yes, I have fired a magnum snub. That's among the first firearms I ever fired. It was a Ruger SP101, which has a few more ounces and a cushier grip to it. Mine will be getting this grip:  ...which adds a few ounces and a cushioning layer of rubber. | ||
| Rick_a |
Got some new leather this morning. Feels like Christmas came early.  20140930_094813 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
It's not that we're born anti-gun , we just don't have the same gun culture that you all have. Our default position is to avoid firearms thus obviating the need to be armed. The American default position is to have more and bigger thus being in the "top dog" position. Works for you, as does our system for us. I don't know why some folk find it so difficult to accept that we don't feel the constant need to be armed. We've grown up in a different culture with different values is all. I've now crossed the pond but still don't feel any need to carry a gun. | ||
| Hootowl |
Not all Americans carry guns. I don't. But I certainly don't begrudge anyone else the right to do so. | ||
| Sifo |
Actually Grumpy, very few Americans feel the need to constantly be armed. They are by far the exception, not the rule. It's a pretty small minority that have even been permitted for concealed carry, and most of those don't carry daily. | ||
| Chauly |
It's the uncertainty that is the deterrent. If there is a "Gun-free Zone", a ne'r-do-well can be pretty sure that he will have free rein to do as they please. If they know that every third house has an armed resident, they're less likely to play roulette. I'm happy to know that I can, even if I don't, rather than I can't, even if I wanted to. | ||
| Hootowl |
"I'm happy to know that I can, even if I don't, rather than I can't, even if I wanted to." Bingo. | ||
| Court |
"I'm happy to know that I can, even if I don't, rather than I can't, even if I wanted to." Bingo. I'm looking at purchasing a farm in a very rural area. One of the things that appeals to me about the area, as opposed to where I currently am, is that I have the unfettered ABILITY(don't know that I will) to protect myself at the end of that 2 mile dead end road at 2am on Thursday morning when I see a rouge vehicle. I'm less concerned with being armed than I am with the potential perps having to struggle with that "is this a cake walk or is there an Expert USMC marksman who's been shot 3 times, has a short fuse and has a Barrett .50 trained on us" decision. How would you decide? In Europe . . . my only decision would be how large a pickup truck I could get down the road to cart crap off. | ||
| Teeps |
Yep! A gun* is like Kaopectate; better to have "it" and not need "it", than to need "it", and not have "it." (* in trained hands) | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Another thing that most of Europe hasn't had in a long time, is an abundance of wilderness and apex predators. Every state in the US has them, from coyotes, to wolves, to panthers/cougars/pumas/mountain lions, and various species of bear, alligators, feral hogs (not predators but very dangerous). http://www.people.com/article/bear-attack-kills-st udent-new-jersey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Keen_coyote_att ack http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_ attacks_in_North_America I feel a bit safer when I can carry whilst traipsing through the woods as often as I do. | ||
| Britchri10 |
Court: Don't try that at my grandfathers farm..Plenty of guns and ammunition there plus 3 or 4 guys who grew up shooting stuff other than paper targets....All within 35 miles of London... England: Not too many handguns but many better armed places than Americans would expect to find.. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Based on my experiences with London mass transit, I wish everyone in London was armed. I was amazed at how many people could be so aware, thoughtful, polite, and efficiently considerate in such crowded spaces. | ||
| Court |
>>>Another thing that most of Europe hasn't had in a long time, is an abundance of wilderness and apex predators. We recently had a Rutgers student killed by a bear . . and, as I am writing this, a school in Ridgewood, NJ is on lock down whilst a bear is removed from a tree. http://7online.com/pets/black-bear-roams-near-scho ol-in-new-jersey/330600/ | ||
| Rick_a |
That's exactly it. Proclaiming the world a "gun free zone" and expecting everything to be peachy is plain ignorant, bordering on stupid, and is the definition of naivety. Such practices have proven to cost taxpayer money, increase home invasion style crimes, and do not curb violence in any way. People have a fundamental right to defend themselves, their families, and their livelihood with the best means necessary when faced with the threat of death or serious bodily harm. Removing that right and essentially giving only law enforcement or government officials such abilities is unacceptable. I've read stories of people being incarcerated long term over stopping attackers with their "sporting only" arms in Europe. Any person(s) perpetrating a felonious and/or violent crime against another should not be viewed as a victim under any circumstance. The world seems to hate America's guns. While I don't like guns in the wrong hands we shouldn't be blaming the guns. We're living in a world where increasing restrictions are being put on people in the guise of public safety and personal responsibility is a thing of the past. We want to blame "things" for the ills of society while policy makers increasingly impose restrictions on all matters of daily life. Having the choice is the very definition of freedom. I like my guns, and carry them when I can. They're also great fun, a skill, and a challenge to shoot. The political and media push is to condemn certain guns and the people that own them as threats to society. That's just not how it works. The best thing to come out if it here in the states is that those types of firearms have become the most popular in the nation over the past couple of decades. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. How many decades will these fools continue unwittingly being defacto gun salesmen? Brainwashed, Rocket. That's what it amounts to. Due to ignorant laws, I can't carry where I'd most want to be. "Gun Free." What an idea  | ||
| Blake |
But Innes, firearms aren't only valuable for defense against baddies with guns, they are extremely effective for defense against baddies with knives, clubs, vehicles, bottles, or just big powerful fists. The vast majority of times, the defensively drawn gun never discharges in anger. The baddies see the weapon and disengage. Perfect! I don't recall the exact stats, but since conceal carry was adopted in Texas, the number of rapes reported has declined significantly. How can that not be a good thing? The instances of armed American civilians thwarting violent criminals are truly legion. Just last week, man with gun stopped murderous islamist in Oklahoma. There's a headline we didn't expect. The story told that proliferation of guns is the cause of our high murder rate isn't completely honest on two counts. One, the majority of gun murders are inner city gang on gang. Two, virtually all their guns are obtained illegally. Carrying a firearm is a huge responsibility. Wife home alone out in country, police not nearby, she really ought to have a good dog and a firearm to help protect herself. | ||
| Blake |
Rick, Are you sure that you're pretty enough for that holster? | ||
| Rick_a |
Not anymore...but the gun is.  20140912_082838 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr  20140912_082715 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr  20140912_082725 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr I need a prettier belt. One of my mom's friends used to say I was too pretty to go into the Marines. One of my old coworkers used to call me "Pretty Rick." I would disagree. | ||
| Rick_a |
Dishonesty is the key to the anti gun campaign. It preys on the low info voter, naive, and gullible, and has the backing of our most corrupt, elitist, and hypocritical members of our government. | ||
| Reepicheep |
What is the purpose of the checkered top? Glare reduction? | ||
| Rick_a |
Pretty much. The barrel is pinned and the cylinders are recessed on these older guns as well.  20140701_090045 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr  20140701_090711 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr The guns were the pinnacle of the lineup with a better finish as well. S&W used to do a few extra steps just 'cause they could, like the early "triple lock." I like it as the barrel profile has perfect proportions (only these older 3.5" models have the dehorned muzzle and rounded lug) and are overbuilt for the caliber so they are comfortable to shoot and last a long time. There's a lot of 100 year old N frames out there still working like new. The tapered barrels also balance better than the full lug and straight walled barrels used nowadays. They've made a few newer renditions of the gun but the topstrap is a matte finish with a laser etched checkerboard pattern. Not cool. The new guns have done away with the barrel pin, recessed cylinders, use metal injection molded trigger parts instead of forged, and feature an internal lock. The firing pins moved from the hammer to frame as well. As collectors and traditionalists eschew the guns of new, the older guns have skyrocketed in price (especially in shorter barrel lengths) with a few models achieving a true cult status. The shop I purchased this from thought it was refinished in chrome, though it is a factory nickel plate, which saved me quite a bit of money. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
I understand entirely where you're coming from Blake, & when we lived in a fairly isolated spot I had a shotgun in the house "just in case" & would again. I understand also, that a gun is just a machine, & that "guns don't kill people, people kill people". I suppose I'm trying to point out in my usual inept way, that we're not born hating guns but we're raised gun-shy. I had contacts in the less salubrious elements of British society years ago, & carrying any kind of gun was a big no-no unless you were one of the real "Hard Men". Going tooled up would get you ostracized & informed upon to the law. I appreciate that guns are easier to get hold of these days & more & more folk have them from all sides of society in Europe now, but the number of weapons is simply way less than the US & they're much much harder to obtain legally or not. This is just one set of statistics I found, & I've no wish to get in a statistics pissing match as generally they're pretty meaningless, but I thought it relevant in this case. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_ firearm-related_death_rate These are per-capita figures & even though the US is a long long way from being the worst on the list there's a huge difference between the US & UK. That's mostly due to availability & culture. But yes, I firmly believe in having some kind of home defence, as you can't always count on "The Man". However you'll not likely catch me wandering around with a handgun stuck in my waistband (unless the balloon goes up then it'll be twin luparas). | ||
| Hootowl |
"I've no wish to get in a statistics pissing match" Then you really shouldn't post statistics. The US includes suicides in its rates. The US has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world because we include stillborn babies in the data, whereas other countries do not. Imagine how much worse it would be if we included murdered babies in it as well. Comparing statistics from different countries is nearly meaningless since the collection method, and classification methodology vary widely. | ||
| Rick_a |
Those statistics are about meaningless. It's nothing to be proud of either way. Statistically violent crime rates are most impacted by high population densities and poverty rates. Of course if all guns but a handful get destroyed there is less gun crime but the effect on violent crime in general is either none or adverse. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
"Of course if all guns but a handful get destroyed there is less gun crime but the effect on violent crime in general is either none or adverse." ^This guy gets it. Anti-gun people would have you believe that gun-violence is worse than any other violence. Violence is violence. Murder is murder. Of course with less guns around you'd have less gun crime. But would you have less crime overall? Only a fool would draw that conclusion. Is homicide by firearm any worse than homicide by other means? Violence and murder is not a gun problem. It is a socio-economic problem. It is a gang problem. It is a poverty problem. It is a social problem. If you factor out certain localities or segments of the population you would likely find that the US is on par or better than most of Europe with regards to violent crime. But to do so would draw cries of classism, racism, elitism - all sorts of 'isms Gun control advocates couldn't be less ingenuous when they spout lies about their desire for improving public safety. I'd respect them more if they simply said "We don't like guns, and we don't think anyone should own them." At least it would then become an open and honest debate. | ||
| Sifo |
The US includes suicides in its rates. Exactly. That's like counting suicide by running your car in the garage as an auto accident. As sad as it is, it's beyond meaningless in the statistics. It's downright dishonest. |
