jgradyc

Here is a pretty good summary of the reported events surrounding the Zimmerman case.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Trayvon_Martin   If the facts are reported are true and the witness doesn't change his story about Zimmerman on the ground yelling for help, I really don't see a jury convicting him.  Remember, the burden of proof must be "beyond a reasonable doubt."   Regardless, the takeaway for us, in my opinion, is 1) don't chase after a suspicious person and 2) never let your guard down after an incident. If Zimmerman hadn't done so, that kid would never had gotten the drop on him or gotten close enough to punch him.

I've bought two bikes for about $1,500 each. The bikes were dealer closeouts or demos and they were great. A bike shop wants to protect their feedback rating, so you should be okay dealing with them.   I bought a old bike from an individual and it was cobbled together with junk parts. I don't think I'd buy a bicycle from an individual sight unseen again because a lot of people really don't know anything about bicycles so it could be junk and they might not even know it.   I bought a set of bike wheels from a guy who advertised the wrong size because he was ignorant of bicycle wheel sizes. He measured them with a tape measure and sold them as 16 inch wheels when they were 20 x 1.75!!  :rant: I decided to eat that loss because shipping was too much to return them.   I've also bought two cars and an RV off eBay for $5,000, $6,250, and $18,700 respectively. They all turned out to be okay, but they were all from dealers. In the case of the cars, I drove to the sellers location and drove them before bidding.

Yawn... a plastic  gun that  can be fired one time... that jams on every shot... that requires a modicum of gunsmithing skills to assemble... that shoots bullets that are fully detectable by airline security screening... that requires an expensive 3D printer to make the parts.   Wake me when they can make a Henry AR-7 clone that weighs less than a pound.  :snore:

You did the right thing. Maybe what he did will sink in after he gets home and it will become a teachable moment for him. You might have saved his wife's life or a kid's life down the road.   Some people have to be yelled at to get through to them... sad, but it is what it is.

Over at Budget Light Forum, they're calling this Heider light a rip-off. It's a Sipik 68 clone.  I have two. They're decent lights, but they can be purchased for a lot less. Those photos on the website were probably taken with a car headlights. I'd say with the zoom as tight as possible, I could probably make out a person standing 400 feet away with my little Sipiks. I paid about $9 for one and $3 for the other.   EDITED: I've bought 2-3 flashlights from FastTech.com. The little Sipik clone sells for $5.13 with shipping included on their website. These little Sipik clones are sold under all sorts of names. The zoom isnt' round by the way, it's a square of light when zoomed all the way down.   If you want a really bright LED flashlight on the cheap, the best deal going is the Home Depot Defiant 3C. It's a giant 3 C-cell flashlight for $23. It's huge, but good for seeing deer 150 yards away.

I'm ticked off at the guys who did actually buy this much ammo. They're the reason we can't get ammo today. All I need is a box of 50 every so often, but the shelves are bare because people are still hoarding.

If I can't carry in a pocket or with a pocket clip, it's big. That's anything bigger than 4 inches and some 4 inchers.  I have no use for a knife bigger than that, except for carving a turkey on Thanksgiving.   My around the house carry is a 3.2 inch Kershaw, but my EDC carries are a Case 2.2 inch (a fair knife) and a SOG access card 2.0 that's 2.75" long that I use for a money clip.

Tomato vines about a foot tall now. That's all I planted.

I've done a transfer through D&T... great folks. As mikegideon said, just be sure that they have a heads up that it's coming and whether they need to fax a ffl to the selling dealer. In my case, I just bid low on a gun at gunbroker and for some reason, no one else wanted it that day.

^This! A Glock carbine. Wow. They would sell tens of millions of these. Every Glock owner in the US would have to have at least one in 9mm... possibly another in 40 cal.   This is such a no brainer... except all rifles today come with a safety. Glock would have to finally make a gun with a real safety on it. <looking for the right smiley face so my fellow Glock owners won't flame me... it's a joke, guys!>

Babylon 5 was the best space opera of all time. Deep Space 9 had great potential, but Avery Brooks just couldn't act.  So far, Defiance is... fair. Too early to give it a real grade. Babylon 5 really didn't come into its own until the second season.

I'd just point out that this is safety on in the down position and off in the up position. That always seems awkward to me because I want my thumb to be on the grip ready to fire when I click off the safety. Maybe my technique is wrong, but I won't buy a gun with a safety that works opposite to my natural instincts.   I had a Gen 1 (or 2?) Glock 17, but I never liked the grip.  The angle was all wrong and the grip was too thick. The Gen 4 grips on my Glock 26 are much better for my hand. The Walther is another good gun to consider.  The P99 has a decocker.

I hope he has a great home security system.  That has to be north of $50,000.  Well, maybe not. I see several SKS and some Mosin Nagants that he might have bought a few years ago. Still, I wouldn't want to publicize that I had such a valuable collection... too many bad guys out there.

Welcome from the other side of Nashville

I saw this in the news today. Florida man’s massive gun collection gets lots of looks http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/florida-man-massive-gun-collection-gets-lots-looks-115720522.html   My first thought was, "Wow!"  My second thought after looking at the picture was this guy needs more shotguns. :cool:

I really like these hypothetical scenarios because they force to think in advance about responses. I tend to agree with JAB for the reasons he mentioned.

This was a terrrible tragedy. I grew up around guns, but I'm pretty sure that I didn't get to use the 22 until I was maybe  10. Before that, it was the BB gun. Anyone here give their kids a gun at age five or get a gun as a kid at age five?  That just seems way too young to me.

Excellent article. I posted the link over at KTOG, the other gun forum I visit occasionally. More people should read this.

Bump

I just bought a Circuit Judge... picking it up this weekend.  The 45/.410 rifle/shotgun with the tactical stock and laser.  Does anyone have any experience with this gun?  How do you like it? I've heard it's pretty loud, but not much else. It's primary purpose would be a home defense gun for the wife.  Point. Pull trigger. Repeat as needed.  Seems pretty fool proof for a non-shooter.

I waited until someone else posted because your thinking is so alien to the way I see purchases. With that in mind, here is my take...   1. You don't get what you pay for when you are paying a lot more than the average price for an item. Usually, you are just paying for a name and bragging rights, in my opinion. 2. Your heirs won't care a fat rat's behind about how fancy your handgun is. They'll only care that it is something to connect them to you. 3. Who buys a gun to keep it forever? Geez, I'm old enough to not buy green bananas and I don't buy a gun with the intention of owning it for the rest of my life.   Why not upgrade to another 1911, if you really feel a need to, and get something to make it really unique, like Marschal grips with your initials on them? Some fo these grips are really works of art. http://www.marschalgrips.com/hires/hires.html and http://www.marschalgrips.com/   If I had a spare $3895 to spend on a 1911, I'd buy a good 1911 and use the cash left over to buy a 15 year-old Harley Davidson Sportster for a holster. :rofl:

If I ever meet the DA in social setting, I'm buying him a beer... same goes for the Dollar General manager.

  ^This.

My guns are safe queens. I wouldn't think of dropping a gun or even putting it into a drawer or glove box unless it was in a protective holster.  I don't get a lot of holster wear because I'm not unholstering and reholstering it a lot.

I stopped by the Dickerson Road Walmart in Nashville yesterday. They had one box of 22LR and one box of, I think, 22-250. Everything else was empty except the shotgun shells.