LGS today

[sipowicz]

Took my "Vegas" friend today to buy his first handgun. We looked at Sigs and HKs and then a Beretta 92. He really liked the 92 and was all set to get it...then I told him to try the Smith M&P. He is lefty so he liked that it was completely ambidextrous. He thought it felt better in his hand and he liked the lighter weight, but was concerned about the non-traditional trigger and lack of a safety. I told him once he got used to it and learned the safety was his head and trigger finger, he did the paperwork on it. I'll be taking him out to show him the ropes after our 10 day jail term...

BTW, place was really crowded....what used to be racks full of AR style rifles were completely empty. Nothing sells rifles faster than Feinstein opening her mouth.

 

[Mickey D]

You are a good master of the cause Sip.

I DROS'd a MOD 64 Saturday. Former guard gun in amazing condition, great price, couldn't pass it up. The store was packed and like them all these days, no evil black rifles to be had.

 

[DCWilson]

I dropped in at my range/LGS a couple of days ago for the first time in weeks and found the racks and shelves depleted while the floor was so crowded it was hard to move around. I suppose the mania will settle down eventually, but the gun business is good in California.

For those people who think of California as Gunprohibitionland, let me repeat that: The Gun Business is Good in California.

I read recently that the state DOJ will process over 800,000 transfers this year. Compare this to the number of federal background checks nationally, and it sounds as though nearly 20 percent of national gun sales occur in California. So not only do we have the highest absolute volume of gun sales in the nation (which you would expect because of our huge population), we also seem to have one of the highest per capita rates of gun sales in the nation.

So all of you California baiters, please take a deep breath, calibrate your outrage meters, and realize that even with its disadvantages and useless laws this state is doing more to support the gun industry in the United States than yours is.

 

[Out West]

Feinstein is one of yours, correct? How the heck does that happen - I thought you were on it.

Out
West

 

[sipowicz]

Feinstein is one of yours, correct? How the heck does that happen - I thought you were on it.

Out
West

She told me she'd forget the assault weapon ban if I would give her a kiss her on the cheek...here, take the rifle.

 

[jframe]

She told me she'd forget the assault weapon ban if I would give her a kiss her on the cheek...here, take the rifle.

C'mon, sip, EVERYONE has to take one for the team every now and then.....

 

[LVSteve]

C'mon, sip, EVERYONE has to take one for the team every now and then.....

Yeah, but the girls get snarky when you kiss them holding your nose with your eyes squeezed shut.

 

[feralmerril]

Was it fienstein or boxer who a couple years ago had bodyguards with her who got rapped for trying to bring their guns on a flight without declairing them? I know I read it about one of them.

 

[charlie sherrill]

Is it true that Fineswine has one of the few concealed carry permits in California? If so it must mean she's better than us.

 

[feralmerril]

We are the "little people".

 

[DCWilson]

Is it true that Fineswine has one of the few concealed carry permits in California? If so it must mean she's better than us.

Senator Feinstein has openly stated that she had a concealed carry permit in 1995 at a time when she was receiving credible death threats. I am unaware of any evidence she kept the permit current for any length of time after its initial issuance or that she has one now, so that question remains open.

I don't know how small a number needs to be for it to be considered "few," but at the end of 2011 the county by county statistics suggest that nearly 38,000 valid CCW licenses existed in California. If you exclude the roughly half of the population that is too young to own a handgun legally or is otherwise excluded from owning one (competency, criminal record, etc.), and then exclude half of the remaining because their personal beliefs make them uninterested in having a CCW, there is about one CCW out there for every 250 Californians who are both legally eligible and potentially interested in such a permit.

California is a patchwork of permission zones, with counties lining up in the will issue, may issue, and won't issue columns. San Francisco County (coterminous with the city) has issued only three valid permits. I suspect something is missing here: Does the city authorize CCWs rather than the County? Is there blanket authorization for concealed carry for off-duty LE professionals? I simply don't know.

CCW issuance is much more common in the remoter counties with smaller populations. I didn't look up population stats to calculate the rates, but I would guess that in some counties (mostly in the inland north of the state) the rate might be as high as 1/25 among those who are both qualified and interested.

As an aside, I would like to suggest that mocking the given name or surname of a philosophical adversary is, in the long run, not an advantageous strategy when it comes to advancing one's own views.

 

[jaykellogg]

Assuming that Diane Feinstein had a permit at one time then one would also be forgiven for assuming she had a handgun. The point I am trying to make is she felt threatened and got a gun and license to carry. That is all we want to do. Apparently she thinks it is OK for her, but not OK for others in her state.

We have a few too many leaders with this elitist attitude.

To get back on topic, there is really nothing wrong with the Beretta 92. It is big and fairly heavy. The US military uses a version of them and I understand some police agencies use (or used) them. My son carried one in the Navy and wanted one (he got it). I have a S&W M&P9, the one without the safety. I like the gun. There has been complaints about the triggers, but I don't mind mine. Last GS I was in was out of ARs and AKs and ammo for them, but the pistols were pretty much the same. I think all hi cap mags are in short supply right now

 

[pharmer]

David you make excellent points. 800,000 transfers is a high number but half are transfers of existing guns. I bought a Glock 21 an hour ago ( first gun of 2013!) by exchanging $400 for it. I did have a 10 minute wait for him to show up. I would do a background check on me but the voices in my head agree I'm OK which is good enough for us. 38,000 CWP holders in a state with 37,000,000 people is around .1%. Florida has near a million CWP holders with a population half as large. Handgun murder rates are about the same in both states (although hard#'s for Florida aren't available). Happy New Year. Joe

 

[DCWilson]

Joe, thanks for your comments. I wish there was some reliable way to distinguish total resales from new sales on a national level and state by state basis. California probably has more complete stats on resales than many other states because state law requires that any handgun PPT be handled through a Federal Firearms Licensee.

I'm still going to insist that firearms sales in California constitute a major percentage of the American firearms market, and that the whole Kommiefornia/Kalifornia mindset does not give this state credit for that fact.

I haven't looked deeply into concealed carry statistics because the subject isn't of major personal importance. I did look up California this morning because I thought an earlier comment in this thread invited publication of the information I found. I agree that 38,000 permits in a big state is not many (though I imagine it is far more than some of the most ardent California naysayers would have predicted). The number could and maybe should be 10 times that high. I recognize that Florida has issued an significantly greater number of carry permits with no broadly deleterious effect on public safety, and that fact ought to impress lawmakers in other states.

This has gone pretty far sideways for a gun store thread, but I just wanted to stick up for California. Every state deserves to be criticized for the few things that are wrong with it, but no state deserves to be reviled and condemned as though the few wrong things were the only ones that mattered in coming to an informed judgment.

 

[Rule3]

But how many rounds are you allowed to have in your gun in California?

 

[MP1983]

BTW, place was really crowded....what used to be racks full of AR style rifles were completely empty.

I'm genuinely surprised to hear they have Black rifles on the shelves to sell?? I'm guessing 10 round mags are the max you can own? Do they hold the old ones? (do they feed double stack mags)... and, are old 20 round mags from the 1970's legal to use and own (in Cali)?

 

[35Rem]

You will never convince me that the infringements upon the 2nd Amendment in Kalifornia is ok.

 

[Fishslayer]

Is it true that Fineswine has one of the few concealed carry permits in California? If so it must mean she's better than us.

Kalifornistan actually has quite a few permits. All depends on where ya live. The County Sheriff (in our case, good ol' Bill Gore. You may have heard of him. Political appointee & just as anti gun as DiFi)) determines concealed carry for the county. San Diego is "Ha ha! Fat Chance" of issue.

And yes. She has or did have one.

 

[Xfuzz]

Concealability....Beretta 92==Hockey stick