Oh Shoot

I can hit a car easily at 200 yards with mine. Hand held. Well, a full sized 70's car, anyway. - OS

Can tell you without question it's a Bushmaster. They've everywhere in TN, hang out near mountain lion populations, and are really nasty tempered. - OS

I think DHL is now dead as far as US to US shipping. - OS

Best of luck with THAT. Their Express handgun terms have NO provision for individual to individual shipping. At all. Cannot ship handguns AT ALL via FedEx Ground. Don't think they allow individual to individual long gun shipments either, would have to read up, not sure. Although USPS allows THAT, oddly enough. - OS

Not that I've made a systematic survey or anything, but I've sure carried past a LOT of gunbuster signs since I started legally carrying two years ago, which weren't "legally compliant", until now. For the record, I don't advocate that anyone carry past a legit sign. On a purely unrelated side note, I have noticed that my Kahr in the pocket is getting more use lately than my XD in IWB. - OS

Except they're aiming at a possibly already compromised part of the system. Except that this same technique was tried in Mexican leak in '79, which was a lot lower volume/pressure, in much shallower water, and still took 9 months. - OS

There will be a ripple through the economy that 20 Billion won't scratch. I still think that over time, this may have trillion dollar implications. I see little reason to think this will be fixed by August. Not THIS August, anyway. - OS

Well, see, nothing bad happened, eh? That's what he would say. - OS

Well, it does leave the grip exposed though, which seems to be the OP's main comfort complaint. First person I've ever heard complain that the grip of a gun rubbed him raw, though, unless one had added skateboard tape or something. Personally, I think having the grip exposed is almost a requirement for effective deployment. - OS

Heard it yesterday while walking...Phil has come up with various "topical renditions" of popular tunes through the years, pretty good at them. - OS

For interstate travel through a restrictive state, the best law to have printed up is from federal law, specifically, Gun Control Act of 1968, Sec. 926A, Interstate transportation of firearms: "Notwithstanding any other provision of any law or any rule or regulation of a State or any political subdivision thereof, any person who is not otherwise prohibited by this chapter from transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm shall be entitled to transport a firearm for any lawful purpose from any place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm to any other place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm if, during such transportation the firearm is unloaded, and neither the firearm nor any ammunition being transported is readily accessible or is directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such transporting vehicle:Provided, That in the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver's compartment the firearm or ammunition shall be contained in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console." - OS

Thousands of people are bitten each year in the US by venomous snakes, and 5 or 10 die each year. It's also estimated that only 10% or less of those bitten didn't provoke the snake into it. Trying to kill one is one of the best ways to get bit. I've seen only two for pert damn sure cottonmouths in the wild, both in GA near the coast. Certainly a cottonmouth would bite you as readily as a rattler or copperhead under the same circumstances, those circumstances being you within striking distance of the snake! But you'll never convince me a cottonmouth will charge you to do it. Most adults wouldn't die from a single full load snakebite on an extremity from copperhead, rattler, or cottonmouth. But tissue necrosis and whatnot can be pretty bad from untreated one. Though I DEFEND venomous snakes, that doesn't mean I don't AVOID them. Which means not purposefully getting close enough to any questionable ones to necessarily identify them. Hence, I let them ALL live. (I'll tell ya MY snakebite story sometime). - OS

Repeat a tale over generations and it becomes true, because "everybody says that". Snakes, including cottonmouths, get a bad rap. Need new PR agents. - OS

Said I'd duck out, but can't resist. Obviously, any snake will bite you if you threaten it enough and get close enough. Little bitty garter snakes will. Here's one of your own Gawga boys (UGA) synopsis of a research project they did on cottonmouth "aggressiveness": --------------- Defensive Behavior of Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus) toward Humans J. Whitfield Gibbons and Michael E. Dorcas Venomous snakes are often perceived as aggressive antagonists, with the North American cottonmouth having a particularly notorious reputation for such villainy. We designed tests to measure the suite of behavioral responses by free-ranging cottonmouths to encounters with humans. When confronted, 23 (51%) of 45 tested tried to escape, and 28 (78%) of 36 tested used threat displays and other defensive tactics; only 13 of 36 cottonmouths bit an artificial hand used in the tests. Our findings challenge conventional wisdom about aggressive behavior in an animal perceived as more dangerous than it is. Changing irrational negative attitudes about venomous snakes is a necessary step toward quelling the recently documented global decline in reptiles. SREL Reprint #2583 Gibbons, J. W. and M. E. Dorcas. 2002. Defensive behavior of cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus) toward humans. Copeia 1:195-198. You can get a reprint of whole study at: Defensive Behavior of Cottonmouths toward Humans ----------------------------------- Many rattlesnakes will "stand their ground" also, but this doesn't equate with "aggressive." Like rattlesnakes with their rattling warning (not every time), cottonmouths might put on a display of craned neck with open mouth, flattening to look bigger, and even secreting a noxious odor (or like a rattlesnake it may just haul ass). Again, bluff is not aggression. It's more akin to fear, although that is a human attribute we use. Obviously if a snakes stands his ground and you encroach, he might bite you. Any snake. Snakes are not territorial. They don't mark it, defend it, or fight other snakes for it. They are where they are because the hunting, temperature, moisture, and other environmental factors suit them. Females either drop eggs and move on (most snakes) or bear their young live (cottonmouths, rattlesnakes, copperheads) and move on. They do not suckle or provide food or shelter for their young, do not build nests to protect (one species of Cobra does, I believe). Except for sparse anecdotal evidence (urban lore) no snake in North America is known to defend its young, which makes sense, since the young strike out on their own almost immediately. Since momma won't feed them, they have to. Snakes do not chase people. They only chase prey. (Okay, maybe a 150lb anaconda will see you as prey). If a snake slithers AT you, it was confused as to which was stage left; they can't see all that well (distances varies between species) but anything past a few feet is mostly confined to movement. They get 90% of their info from "smelling" with their tongues, which is why they are constantly flicking. Then again, almost everybody has had a snake chase them, or knows someone who has; a lot of the time they are Blue Racers, which of course we don't have in the south. But they'll ALL chase you. Please. Cottonmouths are not particularly arboreal, but all snakes can climb trees and all snakes can swim. Of course, on every rare occasion that a cottonmouth DOES climb a tree, it WILL jump into the first canoe that comes along, since that serves the purpose of the snake so well -- everybody knows somebody this has happened too, right? Please. If memory serves, you believe we have breeding populations of "painters", too? As for Jack, I believe he has a personal relationship with a Yeti, so I guess anything's possible. - OS

No you wouldn't. An extra 30 (minimum) smackers on a deal would break most of them for me. Unless the seller wants to pay it. - OS

I don't really see a "database", just a bunch of posts. That's the "database"? - OS

Or call a cop without speaking to you. Might even be one already in there. - OS

Think I'll just let this thread go. Herpetology urban legend is obviously preserved for yet another generation. Has been such since that first talking snake, I reckon. - OS

Geez, you're dissing my pistola and I haven't even bought it yet! Actually, I can end this right away. There can be only ONE! When there's an uglier gun, I'll buy it. - OS

Actually, AKs are required in mosques, I think. But you can't carry in a bank here, right? - OS

Without a nancy pad? You have maximum machismo. - OS

Well, heck, 1640 fps and only 32 grains. I'm surprised it doesn't vaporize before it gets to the target. I shot a box of Stingers through mine once, they weren't very consistent either. The Velocitor is the only "hyper" round I've tried that did about as well as most others. They're "only" 1435 fps but are 40 gr. I've never actually sprung for anything higher end than that, though. - OS

Somebody Up There Doesn't Like Me ? The statue, often called “Big Butter Jesus†because of its color and “Touchdown Jesus†because of its upraised hands... ...is now being called Terminator Jesus, since only a wire framework is left after lightning destroyed it. Touchdown Jesus: Destruction of Statue Not Act of God, Says Builder - Speakeasy - WSJ "Touchdown Jesus" Statue Destroyed by Lightning - CBS News - OS

Outrunning them blue racers and hoop snakes, I guess. - OS

Thanks for Netty Pot, I learned something. Hope yer feelin' better. - OS