Minimum Arms to Carry in Different Circumstances

[FLY]

7 hours ago, Incorrigible1 said:

 

Machine guns have been regulated in this country since 1934. They cannot be sold without prior having obtained permission from the chief law enforcement officer in the county of residence, fingerprints, and extensive background search. 

 

Firearms generally available in local gun stores are not fully-automatic machine guns, but rather semiautomatic, firing one round with each separate trigger-pull.

 

I hope that answers your question.

But they have come for the machine guns.  Specifically in 1934 and 1986

The Firearm Owners' Protection Act (FOPA) of 1986 

"The Act also contained a provision that banned the sale to civilians of machine guns manufactured after the date of enactment, restricting sales of these weapons to the military and law enforcement. Thus, in the ensuing years, the limited supply of these arms available to civilians has caused an enormous increase in their price, with most costing in excess of $10,000. Regarding these fully-automatic firearms owned by private citizens in the U.S., political scientist Earl Kruschke said "approximately 175,000 automatic firearms have been licensed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (the federal agency responsible for administration of the law) and evidence suggests that none of these weapons has ever been used to commit a violent crime."

[Incorrigible1]

On 8/14/2024 at 11:46 AM, Incorrigible1 said:

The last civilian-legal "machine gun" was manufactured in 1986.

 

Unnecessary drama.

 

As I've already noted.

[Huntster]

4 hours ago, FLY said:

But they have come for the machine guns.  Specifically in 1934 and 1986...........

 

Correct to a point. To be precise, in 1934 automatic firearms were no longer legal to possess without paying a tax and possessing a permit, and 1986 was the last year of automatic weapon manufacture which could be owned. 

 

This is more a legal closing of possession than government actually "coming for" them. I submit that the legal strangling is in every way an "infringement".

 

I do understand and agree with the legal principle of registering and regulating ordnance and crew-served weaponry. We just can't allow every Joe Blow to have hand grenades, artillery pieces, or belt-fed machine guns. I'm not sure that a select fire rifle qualifies as such a weapon, but (after a century of fighting crime with such weapons involved), I consider it a struggle beyond my influence. I don't need an automatic rifle, and I am not interested in buying and stocking the quantity of ammunition such a rifle can burn up,. I've fired machine guns, and it was fun, but Uncle Sugar paid for every bit of it (even paying me to do it). I'm not going to invest in it.

[Incorrigible1]

They haven't come for the pre-1986 machine guns. They're still legally possessed.

[Huntster]

Unless it's an M-14, it isn't going to be portable to carry around for protection from sasquatches while simultaneously of an effective caliber..............although there are cases in Alaska of people killing bears with AR-15's in 5.56x45.

 

https://alaskapublic.org/news/2019-01-16/polar-bear-encounter-reported-in-arctic-village-many-miles-south-of-normal-range

 

(Note; the above story appears to have become a matter of hidden information almost immediately for unknown reasons.........I'll note the involvement of the feds..........)

[Frisco85132]

I was a cop for 27 years.  I carried, in one flavor or another, a Glock model of some sort/caliber depending upon the whims and tides of the agency.  I started with a Glock 17 in 9mm in 1990, then the department became convinced that we needed 40 cal, so we went to the Glock 22 in 1994, then for what seemed to be about five minutes in the early 2000s we went to the Glock 21 in 45ACP..........then back to the Glock 17 in 9mm again.  Ugh.  That said, I trust the Glock platform 100% and have carried Glock on duty, off duty, shooting in multiple competition disciplines for over 35 years and now since I am retired from LE and a practicing attorney....I still carry a Glock 19 in 9mm.

That said....in the woods, mountains, or desert....I carry a Glock Model 20 in 10mm with Buffalo Bore Hard Cast 200 grain TCFP.  It screams out at 1300fps, penetrates deeply, and gives me 16 rounds on tap with a pair of 15 round magazines on my belt for very little weight cost versus ballistic payload, and weight is a consideration because of two knee and a hip replacement as the result of a line-of-duty injury.

But, let's be clear....I don't carry to defend myself from a Sasquatch primarily....it's probably 10th down on my list.  The reality is I am convinced that they are dangerous, but not aggressive unless you push the action and so I consider the likelihood of having to engage one to be incredibly remote just based on the number of interactions I have had (1 in 1993) compared to the thousands of hours I have spent in the woods, mountains, and desert over the decades.  Add to that the credible interactions that others have had where no one had to shoot one.  Ape Canyon notwithstanding, but let's face it Fred Beck shot one of them, so yeah...they's be pissed.  I'm not convinced Justin Smeja shot one as he claimed, so I am not going to say he did or he didn't, only that I am not convinced he did.

So, the reality is that I carry my 10mm as insurance against bear, mountain lion, feral dogs, wild hogs which I consider to be the most likely threat, and of course humans with bad intent.  

Looking back to 1993 when I had my face to face encounter, with decades of hindsight....the thought I had back then that I was going to have to defend myself from the Sasquatch was PROBABLY initiated by ME and my body language or a scent I gve off that caused a defensive posture reaction response in the creature.  I had been a cop for 5 years by this time and my thinking was "threat focused" and "threat management" and "aggression response" and the stimuli of being face to face with something I didn't believe existed back then, or at least didn't believe was a "Michigan Thing" reset my brain clock in a microsecond and my whole reality changed.

I am still nine out of ten toes in the "no kill" camp, and I sure as hell don't want to ever be forced to shoot one.  I'd like to see another one, not just hear wood knocks and a couple of suspected vocalizations, and see some suspected prints...but just have that moment where I could experience it again and NOT be thinking "tactically" but more like "Okay, what can I learn?".

Sorry for the long post.  Once I got to typing, I got too lazy to stop.