Oh Shoot

    It's conceivable the GOP could die as a party over the next decade or less, just a Whig like memory.   Which could be quite good or very bad, hard to know.   - OS

  He had it off while talking to the kids at the zed fence. I hardly recognized him.   - OS

  Ironically, the Manchin-Toomey background check bill would have made private transfers between relatives much more expansive, something like down to cousins and even in-laws and even across state lines too (while still alive).   - OS

  That's what insurance is for. Seems all other affected stores except for these two Wallies simply nipped it at the bud by not taking EBT at all, all seem to all still be standing.   Seems that was the logical thing to do to me. So I still call them dumb asses.   - OS

  I got 'em. Need LD, DD or HD? :)   - OS

Spare stock doesn't matter among your other stuff at home, any more than any other spare part. If one has a legal use, they all have a legal use. They don't have to match up one to one or anything. Same out and about really, it's just that that would sort of in your face say, "hey check me out". At any rate, a carbine pistol tube is just as legal as any other tube in and of itself. I didn't wrap it with camo to disguise or "cripple" it, but only to make it nicer laid up alongside cheek when I shoot it. Much warmer in winter, too. I actually used the lower as part of a "kit" for a while, with 2 rifle uppers and the pistol upper, swapping between the three. Mine is probably the most basic pistol you'll see in this thread if it runs 2 years. :) Some folks recommend taking a picture of your complete pistol first, with serial number of lower showing, using camera date on pic, or a newspaper or something. Whatever. Burden of proof ain't on me, and one can set camera date to anything you want or get an old newspaper too. I say meh. If you follow the rules, what could prove otherwise? - OS

  911 isn't on furlough,  if they were truly worried about physical safety.   - OS

  http://abcnews.go.com/Business/walmart-stuck-food-stamp-shopping-spree/story?id=20563982   It was Xerox's contracted system that went down, not the gummit. On the other hand it was only two Walmarts that decided to let them buy, not Xerox or the gummit.   If credit card verifications were down for a day, do you think they would have let you use your piece of plastic? Boils down to a couple of dumb ass store managers or one area one, seems to me.   - OS

  Yes, and mine has a standard carbine tube on it. But beyond "not having a stock on it", the stock needs to have a legal use if you have one at all, since it would or could also have an illegal use. Remember it doesn't have to be attached to have made an NFA firearm, and if you had no other legal "useful purpose" for it, that's what you have done.   That's also a case of where I wouldn't be comfy having multiple items away from home, say an extra stock along with a rifle and a pistol. While technically legal, it just sort of "sticks out", and I'm all for not inviting scrutiny.   A "pistol" buffer tube might or might not put a layer of deniability between a stock with no clear cut legal use, but I wouldn't count on it.  If I only had with me, or even at home, only owned an AR pistol, I wouldn't also have a stock, period, regardless of buffer tube type.   - OS

  Yep, YMMV depending on circumstances, and besides actual facts of the encounter,  those circumstances may include the chief LEO's or DA's agenda.   - OS

  A router and the free AVG version has worked fine for me for many years now.   I go way back with Norton, best thing they ever did was the Norton Utilities for DOS days and early Windows version. Their anti-virus stuff was always an unacceptable hit to the system, and had so many hard to get rid of fingers into the operating system it trashed as many puters as it saved. Gave up on it sometime during first version of Windows 98, and never tried it again.   - OS

  Bit of esoterica re J.C. Higgins name I never knew:   "The brand name, J. C. Higgins, was based on a real person, John Higgins who was a Sears employee. He moved from his birth country of Ireland to the United States in his late teens and began working for Sears in 1898. He spent his entire working career with Sears and was Vice President for the company for a period of time. He was actually born with no middle name but the Sears Co. presented the idea of labeling their sporting good line with his name and saw it more presentable labeling the brand as J.C Higgins. He worked with the company until his retirement as head bookkeeper in 1930. Higgins died in 1950. His expertise in sporting goods or sports is unknown."   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.C._Higgins   - OS

  Yep, I spent most of my 40 years of work life sleep deprived to varying degrees. And then of course more worthless than should have been on weekends, trying to catch up on sleep.   I was that way as a kid, fighting going to sleep and fighting waking up, and it continued all my life making my biological clock fit real world demands.   - OS

Yep, good example, ultimately could be a problem. You have parts in close proximity that have no useful purpose other than to make an NFA firearm (in this case AOW). Especially if there's a rail to accept it on the pistol. In the AR world, full auto stuff and cans aside, it always comes down to only 3 items I can think of: short barrel, stock, and VFG. Make sure you have a legal use for those three items, if there is also an illegal use -- and though multiples of each are legal if one is legal, I'd be more cautious about that out and about, no sense baiting the bear. Doesn't always have to be AR related either, for example: Perfectly legal. (that's a 16" rifle upper, not shown to scale) However, what if you forgot to bring the rifle upper, but had the pistol and stock? Well, you have "made" an NFA firearm whether you intended to or not or whether you actually attach them or not. - OS

oops, double tap

Okay, okay. TMF got my attention in another thread, but I'm really off now.   Looks like I'll see Red Eye after all. :)   - OS

  It's not subjective at all since 1992, since it's a SCOTUS decision and not an ATF opinion that can be changed on a whim. Any part combined with the total possessed group of parts either has a legal use, or it doesn't. (though ATF kept as mum as possible about it until summer of 2011)   The heart of the "constructive criticism" thing is simply:    "an NFA firearm is made if aggregated parts are in close proximity such that they:  (a) serve no useful purpose other than to make an NFA firearm (e.g., a receiver, an attachable shoulder stock, and a short barrel); or ( b ) convert a  complete weapon into an NFA firearm (e.g., a pistol and attachable shoulder stock, or a long-barreled rifle and attachable short barrel)."   In other words, it's no longer merely what you could make illegally out of a group of parts, but whether there is also a legal use for them.   And to err on side of caution, I recommend that since "close proximity" is not defined, to consider your entire property as "close enough".   And though it's yet another discussion, I don't consider a "pistol buffer" or "crippled carbine buffer"  as adequate insurance to also having a stock that has no legal purpose either, as there's no definition of what constitutes "attaching" it. Gaffer tape or simply bracing it against tube might be sufficient if push came to shove.   - OS

  Probably not. See my added walk through I added above:   look at a part or component: - Is there an illegal config I could use this with? - If no, cool. - if yes, then - is there also a legal config I could use this with? - if yes, cool - if no, don't have it   Only if you have part or groups of parts that have no "useful purpose OTHER than to make an NFA firearm" could you possibly be culpable. And extra parts are just that, extra parts. As long as any can be used in legal config among everything you have, doesn't matter how many you have. It's not a "one on one matchup" type thang.   The only time you could be culpable for a short barrel is if you don't have a legal lower for it to go on, but also had the rest of the parts to use it, (which could include a complete AR rifle, they don't have to disassembled).   - OS

Hell, it's early. :)   But I'm trying to wean off the vampire schedule, off to bed with crossword and Greta, hope I'm asleep before Red Eye. :)   - OS

Oh, meant to mention one other legal quirk regarding the AR rifle/pistol thing, since we're talking letter of the law:   if any of you are deciding to build a pistol only, and don't also own an AR rifle, or at least also have a 16" barrel, having that pistol only (or the unassembled parts for one) and a stock, you could be charged with making an NFA firearm, whether you intended to, or actually did, or not. Same with a vertical forward grip.   IOW, if all you own is an AR pistol or the parts for one,  regardless of what type of buffer tube is on it, don't have a stock too. Or a vertical forward grip if the pistol config isn't legally 26" or more in overall length.   Simpler than it sounds: look at a part or component: - Is there an illegal config I could use this with? - If no, cool. - if yes, then - is there also a legal config I could use this with? - if yes, cool - if no, don't have it   Extremely unlikely, sure, but ....   - OS

You guys are mostly still way over-armored on foot for a passel of zeds.   I'll be moving and popping them with a 2 or 3 bricks of .22LR in a 10/22 long after y'all are out of ammo or unable to move carrying same quantity of all them big calibers.   - OS

  Yeah, it didn't look like he was gonna get up as a zed. But maybe he will, dunno if those were supposed to be "zombie eyes" or not.   - OS

  Yep.   In the real world, would take some extraordinary circumstances to got popped someday for having first made a rifle from a virgin lower, but hey, do it according to the book and you never have to think of a lie, eh?   (A quirk of this ruling is that federal law has no maximum length for a barrel to be classed a handgun, so really, anyone who builds an AR and puts the stock on last, first made a handgun, cause it can't be a rifle without a stock.)  But don't necessarily take that advice as your statement. :)   - OS

Yep.   Just note however that you do not have an automatic presumption of reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury outside the walls of your home, where you can't use deadly force on a mere trespasser or even thief or vandal. (porches are sort of gray, depending on type best I remember without looking it up)   - OS

A towel. Anywhere in the galaxy, you need a towel.   - OS