Oh Shoot

I've been interested in several of the Kel-Tech rifles, but their "6,000 round expected life" statement always nags at me. I guess you could always send it back in (orig. owner's, according to warranty) lifetime for rebuild, but still.... - OS

Yeah, I don't have any idea, really. Belle Meade ain't exactly comin' up all roses either, though. The NRA smack might be just the first, if Kwik can get things into a high enough court. - OS

Actually, often even better than here (hard to believe, I know), most all the popular firearm manufacturers have dedicated sites, whether sponsered by the maker or not: glocktalk, xdtalk, ktog, kahrtalk, marlinowners, rugerforums, hipointfirearmsforums, etc etc. - OS

Which simply proves that one should run problems by the many experts on TGO before anything else. - OS

Takes a lot of effort to exercise some "rights" in TN, eh? - OS

He's never said, but I've got a feeling he must have a lawyer in the family or something. Certainly, if he's done all these things on his own, without a lawyer already committed to take his crap on, he really IS nuts. - OS

Looks like you could have reset the hammer yourself fairly easily: KTOG Forum - Disassembly/Reassembly - OS

DHL is gone from all domestic originated shipping anymore. - OS

Yeah, I guess I should have been more specific. The FedEx Ground mess is not so much about federal control as simply states' workplace rules and classifications. It has become federal because of several reasons, not the least of which is the IRS. Indeed, they slammed FedEx Ground with 300 million dollar bill a couple of years ago for back taxes and penalties for ONE YEAR audit of 2002. This has gotten "postponed" due to deals and manipulations that I haven't kept up with, but it was all due to misclassification of workers allowing FedEx's to avoid paying what should have been legitimate payroll tax burden and whatnot. All this has come more to the forefront as the economy worsens and states and the fed is looking for every dime of tax revenue. Another big factor, as far as shipping, is that the meat and potatoes of both FedEx and UPS is no longer the overnight document. Just like the USPS, the volume of necessary paper documents has plummeted due to the Internet. Also, even small overnight shipments have decreased, and 3rd day service has all but disappeared, since Ground services of both UPS and Fedex ground services pretty much get "same side of the country" shipments done in 3 biz days, and coast to coast in five. FedEx bought their ground business from Roadway Package Services, getting them into the Ground business to compete with UPS overnight in 1998. They also inherited the RPS contractor system, but began subverting it immediately. There are very very few of the original RPS guys still there, who all sold out soon as they could. So, since ground services figure larger in both companies' profits, and FedEx squeezes more and more out of the (deemed over and over) illegal "independent contractor" model, it is only logical that UPS would push for more fairness in the competition. This has come to be federally pushed, since about 30 states and the class action plaintiffs therein for FedEx Ground class action suits have agreed to let Federal court do the multi-district fact finding and litigation for the matter. Other states which did not join in the multi-district action have made their own deals with FedEx Ground, which has usually entailed undisclosed payment penalties from FX and changes in the operating agreements between FX and its contractors - it has generally entailed that contractors "own" more than one route, usually more of a franchise arrangement to cover a certain area, and etc . And yet, that has not solved the probs in those states either. Ultimately, it seems that FX will be forced to make all it's "contractors" employees, just like UPS. Whether they become unionized is another matter entirely. And yeah, Daniel, I knew it was dirty, but I was in a somewhat rare position to be able to tell them to take their contract and shove it, and absorb my losses - it would have hurt, but could have done it. Unlike most of the folks that get suckered into the scam, with wife, kids, mortgage, and no financial buffer. Ground also "talks" a great game, promising all kinds of stuff that's not exactly in the contract, but as Yogi said "verbal contracts aren't worth the paper they're printed on". It was also apparent to local terminal management that I was a little more knowledgeable about certain matters and would push back, so they generally leaned on other contractors worse than me; also, knowing that I was only in for a limited time and knowing how to get along with the right folks, I could stand to be sort of a loyal opposition and receive somewhat less of the "Purple Penis Promise" than many. The details of how FX can use the "contract" to control their "contractors" are so numerous I can't go into them here, but basically most everything in there isn't valid, and every time there is litigation to make them change it, they simply do so until the next litigation. It's estimated by the plaintiff attorneys that FedEx has paid at least a million dollars a month in settlements and attorney fees over the last 10 years. That is just considered "operational overhead", like any other business expense, since they make sooooo much more from not having to even have a vehicle fleet or maintenance that it's a drop in the bucket. Which is all to say that I don't think UPS is out of bounds in simply wanting FedEx to ultimately play by the same rules they must. Unionization is a secondary matter, but it would likely happen if FX is forced to make all of its "contractors" employees, buy some trucks, and get out from under its absurd exemption of certain labor laws under the frigging Railway Labor Act, which really was designed to not allow railroad workers to strike in times of national crisis, like you know, World Wars and the like. - OS

Are no carry postings in KY even legally binding? - OS

I was Ground contractor for 3 years as the last touch on my eclectic work history. I pretty much knew it was dirty going in, but even I was surprised by just how dirty. I was able to get in and out with what I needed from the endeavor, but also saw financial lives shattered or chained to an almost feudalistic economic servitude. I hope to see some bucks from the eventual Federal settlement to buy guns with. I don't even have an opinion about the union vs non-union thing, but only feel that FedEx should be forced to compete on level playing field. I'm sure that UPS agrees. DHL, of course, is no longer really a player in the US. - OS

I've never been to Bonnaroo, but I find it difficult to believe they're gonna do such a detailed vehicle search that a pistol and an extra mag couldn't be well hidden somewhere in the trunk recess, or even just up in the springs under a seat or something. - OS

This is all the tip of the iceberg with FedEx. You must know that Fedex Ground (and Home Delivery, which is a division of Ground) drivers are NOT company employees, like the FedEx Express. They are contractors. There have been many lawsuits over the last decade, with an enormous class action one still pending. The basic prob here is that Ground controls 99% of the "independent contractors'" decisions, including actual max income in most cases, in quite underhanded ways. The "contract" has been found to be bogus in state after state, and FedEx keeps scrambling to revise the "operating agreement" to temporarily meet state laws while maintaining it's enormous Ground profit while absorbing very little overhead or culpability. For example, when the California Supreme court found against Ground about 5 years ago, and Federal Courts wouldn't overturn the ruling, FedEx simply "fired" all individual contractors in the whole state, since they had been ruled employees. All contractors were forced to own more than one route, as that made them "non employees". They were forced to leave, forfeiting all their investment in truck/route, or sell to other contractors (and of course the value bottomed out, since there was a time limit), or buy additional trucks/routes and hire employees of their own. So, besides the union thing for company drivers, you have this second struggle for FedEx to keep the Ground/Home division separate. It is THE money maker for FedEx. No benefits, no salaries, no trucks to buy or maintain, etc. UPS of course claims this is a hugely unfair advantage, and they are of course exactly right. UPS has both express and ground service, but both are performed by employees, with full benefits and etc. The reason that FedEx company drivers have never been able to organize is because they are still under the Railway Labor Act of 1924. They could only organize a union if they do it all at once, nationwide, rather than terminal by terminal (the way UPS did), which is pretty much impossible. This classification has been perpetuated by buying political influence from Fred Smith's deep pockets since the git go. FedEx has also paid many millions in the Ground lawsuits over the last decade, indeed, it's estimated at about a million per month in defense and settlements. At any rate, UPS is not under this Railway Labor Act thing. UPS is classified as a trucking company, FedEx as an airline. Right. The FedEx pilots ARE unionized, have been for years. Just some additional info. - OS

The state law clearly bans carrying weapons, too. Having an HCP is an exception. - OS

Wow, it was indeed! edit: (more) Found this excerpt from Long-Distance Hiking: Lessons from the Appalachian Trail By Roland Mueser "Prior to 1973 there were at least a dozen transits under 100 days. Branley Owen's record 73-day hike in 1970 required 14-15 hours per day on the trail and averaging over 27 miles per day. He reached Katahdin 39 pounds lighter and exhausted. Owen carried a minimum of food and equipment, with a pack weight never exceeding 28 pounds." I never personally knew Branley very well -- he was sometimes among the rather large circle of Usual Suspects in the front window of Sam and Andy's, back in the day. - OS

Well, more likely a catastrophic one. - OS

His didn't have an FTF or FTE either. Also, I don't think he'll be updating you on anything, as I believe his "vacation" is probably a permanent one. - OS

Quick search indicates probably a vBulletin hiccup. About the only user tweak I saw suggested was to try clearing browser cache. - OS

Welcome to TGO. Turn your Caps Lock key off, and you'll be even more welcome. - OS

Sorry if I'm missing something. Are you saying your STG has less than 16" barrel and does NOT have to have tax stamp paid? Or that it is less than 26" overall, and doesn't? - OS

A "massive" failure would be a double charged round and your Glock kabooms. If there's even room FOR a double charge in a 9mm case. - OS

Except on school property, state law only bans knives over 4", clubs, switchblades and knuckles. The Belle Meade ordinance verbiage bans ALL knives. - OS

Federal law? Well, you can easily get 5.56 AP, and you can get a 5.56 pistol. And you can buy a FN P90 rifle and FN 57 pistol. Etc? So it is maybe a felony to market it as a pistol round, but not to actually USE it in a pistol (except maybe under some state laws)? I have no idea, just asking. - OS

I've only been there once. Must have been a tame day. The only thing I noticed was that the pistol part is sort of separated from the rifle part, but not totally, no berm or anything between - a couple of folks were walking to their targets on pistol range while folks were still shooting on the upper short rifle range section. I figured that was normal protocol until some guy on rifle range yelled stop, range still hot. Btw, I can SPELL it. - OS

Is that even cheaper than "Jennings"? :-) - OS