Oh Shoot

Again, one of the reasons the Kahr sells at its higher price. But lots of folks have to go through several other small 9mm models before they agree. - OS

Did I opine anything to suggest I was somehow immune to chaos? - OS

Doubt it, as Very Bad Things would begin around the 50% inflation level, if not before. Money might well be just abandoned as an option by the majority. This is a unique country, but now without a true national unifying ethos, I would consider any precedents in the world as non sequitur. - OS

The only way we can ever pay the debt, or eventually even the interest on the debt, is by inflating the money. So the scary part is that everyone may become a billionaire, and $68K may actually be pocket change. - OS

After? That part doesn't concern me. Actually, though I do postulate "biblical" magnitudes of kill off, it will of course be far from "end of the world". Short of a natural worldwide physical cataclysm (that special asteroid/comet which logically will again hit, super-volcano, sun flare, etc), or some sort of nuclear self-snuff, humans as a species are almost as resilient as cockroaches. - OS

I'm afraid I see a population crash as inevitable, just a matter of when. It doesn't take a tree hugger to perceive that population has simply over driven the resources for quite some time. The finite amount of x resource doesn't really matter past a certain point, what matters is the cost to get it through your gas tank, water/electrical/gas meter, or alimentary canal; and I see no scenario where overall individual effort will be anything but continually devalued, again due to that double edged sword of technology that has both provided our supply line, but has also allowed us to breed beyond its affordable capacity. Nobody really says much about the almost 7 billion of us, as it's the 800 pound gorilla about which we can do nothing. Environmental degradation can't prune us back quickly enough, but the related economic collapse can. On the bright side, I'm obviously wrong -- until I'm not. - OS

Endless debate, no real absolute evidence one way or the other on most guns. XD's in particular have somehow gotten an (in my opinion) undeserved rep for breaking striker retaining pin, yet some most all who have tested have tried a thousand dry fires with no ill effects. A one dollar part and easily replaced, yet of course a nagging thought. Ruger flatly states that all their weapons can be safely dry fired, etc. Obviously, if you want to take away any nagging doubt on any gun, use snap caps, or a discharged brass. Easy enough in revolvers, and many striker semi autos (including XDs) can be recocked without actually drawing back slide enough to eject shell. - OS

Doh, I've even read that before, was thinking it was some case law opinion. Thanks for keeping me on track thar FG, as always. Personally, "extreme physical pain" will be hopefully at the farthest limit, and I'd rather stop things on "imminent danger of death", which at my age I think would be much easier to justify than in my robust 20's and 30's . - OS

Haven't really jumped into this fray, mainly because the issue is, as some demonstrate here, extremely nuanced, far far from black and white. I've come at least half circle from a blindly "Buy 'Mericun" point of view in last few years, and would posit that view is much more of a "patriotic feel good" than a meaningful difference maker. One of my earliest quandaries came from playing nice golf clubs, the heads of which have been almost exclusively Asian (mostly Chinese) made for 20 years, regardless of saying Callaway, Taylormade, etc on them. Worldwide, more pros not paid to endorse a brand play Mizuno, which cuts out the middleman "native country" premise. Lately I've bought some Chinese knives from Enlan, SRM, and Bee (which may be all part of same PRC megacorp, not sure), but these are the same companies that make knives for Spyderco, Buck, CKRT, Kershaw, etc etc. The San Francisco Bay Bridge is being rebuilt with giant structural members floated over from China. Etc etc etc. all tip of the iceberg examples. I've read compelling articles that claim that the support for importing, stocking, selling, servicing and repairing foreign goods is responsible for more jobs than have actually been lost due to actual domestic product creation. And it seems apparent to me that for a good while now, technology has simply made labor cheaper. Meaning, each year, forget about foreign competition, it simply takes fewer of us to produce the goods for more of us, and we'd likely be seeing about the same stagnant to lower wages and unemployment if we made everything here except tea and coffee. The individual's economic worth has simply declined with increase in population, wide duplication of educational skill sets, and increasing technological advance. Computers changed everything -- much of what used to be needed in individual engineering effort has now been standardized, and it leveled the playing field. China, and many other "non-first-world" countries can buy technology rather than create it from scratch rather than from the 99% perspiration 1% inspiration that equals genius. It's all part of the upside down pyramid of population vs resources, with the great wild card of available science for a buck thrown in. Final point being, I still say it's inevitable that the population will be drastically decreased at some point. It may be a slow and steady world wide degradation, with a Russian gray pallor, but at some point there will be a crash. It's really an environmental imbalance at heart (population/resources), but will be translated economically in practice. We have sophisticated our savagery and the planet will inevitably react with sophisticated savagery in kind. I call it environmental economics, and all will be well again for a few hundred years with maybe half the population gone. In extended consideration, though, problem is that space exploration is the only ultimate hope of perpetuating our species beyond the relatively petty context of homo sapiens heretofore, and seems that once we reach the level of expertise to make a significant inroad on that, we futz the rest up to where we have to abandon it. Perhaps we really are little different than x number of rabbits in x number of acres, doomed to repeat the cycle until ole Sol burns us up, though there's always the chance we can do it on our own well before then. Or the right asteroid hits. As always, I try to end on an optimistic note. - OS

Hey, you notice the handle is crooked? - OS

Wow² ! - OS

Got by the show today, and glad I went. Though like many, I've seen lots of knives at all the gun shows I frequent, but I think this was actually the first dedicated knife show I've ever been to -- I know it wasn't anything like BLADE or something, but still impressed the hey outta me. Sooo many gorgeous handmade knives; the wonder is that I actually didn't buy anything, though I almost bit on a neck knife or two as that seems to have become my particular area of accidental eclectic "collecting" (read, neurosis). Highlights included meeting hso, he was manning the Knife Rights booth, and I did join, something I've sorta been meaning to do for some time. Oh, so I did get one knife -- membership included a commemorative razor blade folder ala one of the many types that the big hissy fit in NYC is about, wherein the DA there even went so far as to extort money in lieu of prosecution to actual retail stores, like Home Depot, for c'sakes. Though I had sort of read here and there about all that, I didn't understand just how low down and dirty all that is. I see at as pretty much on same level as gun rights. If interested, you can catch up here: Knife Rights - Knife Rights Sues New York City Also had a nice long chat with the guys at the Ka-bar/Becker booth, and got to meet Ethan Becker, on his birthday, no less. I think Case and CKRT were the only other two big national companies there, as it was mostly regional independent makers, although I spoke with one all the way from California and one from Michigan. All the makers/vendors were just super amiable guys and I spent about 3 hours there chatting, fondling, ogling. Last booth in the back was a nice feller who was letting go of some of his terrific collection of old Marble knives and gear, but I didn't have a spare $15K for an early Marbles bone hunter with rare sheath, etc.; I think he's gonna have to go through Christie's or Sotheby's or somewhere to turn that impressive collection. Sadly, the show doesn't run tomorrow, so is this prompts you to go, sorry dudes. - OS

It's not a Springfield. It's a HS Produkt. - OS

Unless it becomes totally proportionally uniform and anonymous ala the Fair Tax, it will always be so. - OS

Glad you got it back; I'm an XDite myself (all in 9mm) but have shot the XD .45 several times, awesome. So it doesn't have the soul of a 1911, but the reliability and capacity sure make it one awesome heater. - OS

There is no definition of it in the statutes, so your HCP instructor was simply giving you his. I'd posit that plenty of injuries well short of potentially lethal ones would pass muster with the "reasonable" test. If you get a broken arm, a crushed kneecap, dislocated shoulder, been rapped against the noggin to almost losing consciousness, etc, and still wait to drop perp, or at least point your weapon, because the injury isn't likely to kill you, I'd opine that handgun carry loses much of its purpose for you. Also, obvious disparity of force logically amps up a fear of serious bodily injury before an injury even occurs. - OS

Nope. You've said this twice. Statute reads "The person has a reasonable belief that there is an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury". - OS

Generally considered lesser quality to junk. Highly touted by mall ninjas as good value, though. There are a any number of Chinese made US branded lines that are actually of quite good quality for the price, but the SW line isn't one of them. - OS

It IS suspended if charged with felony, revoked if convicted. It is suspended if convicted of Class A misdemeanor for duration of sentence, but with most Class A 'meanors you could still buy a gun. - OS

Good score, I say! - OS

What was it? Ya can't leave bait like that, c'mon. - OS

Totally agree. If folks could just concentrate on holding their most local reps' feet to the fire, the will of the people would be much better served. And a man spending a billion dollars to get a 400K/year job really sticks in my American craw. - OS

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/general-off-topic/60567-disappointmints.html Mods, El Mergo? - OS

Absolutely not true. Yeah, and was similar in England until 1867. But of course, not now. Should mention that the UK prime minister is NOT elected by the people however, and that would be a damn good policy here, too. - OS

Hannity covered this today on his radio show, derisively of course. - OS