Let's visit on the Porch II (Belgrade: earthquakes, manufacturing, epicenter)

[Montana Griz]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

You may have heard on the news about a southern California man
put under 72-hour psychiatric observation when it was found
he owned 100 guns and allegedly had (by rough estimate)
1-million rounds of ammunition stored in his home. The house also
featured a secret escape tunnel.

My favorite quote from the dimwit television reporter: "Wow! He has
about a million machine gun bullets." The headline referred to it
as a "massive weapons cache”.

By southern California standards someone even owning
100,000 rounds would be called "mentally unstable. Just imagine if
he lived elsewhere:

In Arizona , he'd be called "an avid gun collector”.

In Arkansas , he'd be called "a novice gun collector".

In Utah , he'd be called "moderately well prepared", but they'd
probably reserve judgment until they made sure that he had a
corresponding quantity of stored food.

In Montana , he'd be called "The neighborhood 'Go-To' guy".

In Idaho , he'd be called "a likely gubernatorial candidate".

In Wyoming , he'd be called "an eligible bachelor".

And, in Texas , he'd be called “a deer hunting buddy”.

.......Ya know, I find this situation interesting

I've become acquainted with a great number of people during my many years of traveling around most of the lower 48, AK & Canada (not for pleasure, but required to do my job)--i.e.: doing business with the mining industry as related to their requirements in ore handling, ore crushing, etc,etc. Thus I've had discussions with people of all levels AND interests, and in several cases....."collections" of various (and different items) that in some cases would be considered "odd" and/or unusual ...........Never was I ever told that they were "at some point" considered to be "unstable" or a risk to society.

......Example(s): A Mine Mgr in Timmons, Ontario who collected and displayed
his collection of "swords" from around the world--approx 140!

.....................: A retired LEO right here in Montana who is a Korea War vet
who has over 150 firearms in his "world wide collection".

A father (in his 60s) & a son (in his 30s) who both are "so called Blue Collar" workers (boy I hate that term), and each one has in excess of 100 firearms---they happen to live in Colorado.

And one other vet from Korea who has a collection of approx 160 "Knives & Bayonets", he also has never been subjected to any kind of scrutiny.

If it proves out that this guy in CA is not a felon and has acquired these weapons (and Ammo) legally........I hope he gets some "ACLU" type lawyer to look into "the possibility" of taking legal action against those who "put him under psychiatric observation".

I guess my point is: If a person "is legal in all respects" as related to his (or her) collection of items that are disliked, feared, and misunderstood by others who are uninformed, ignorant, misinformed and totally against his particular collection..............why should this person be looked upon any differently than a man with 160 knives & bayonets? These are just questions that crossed my mind and based upon what we know of the situation --at this time-- I felt I would let my opinion(s) be known.

[ElkHunter]

Montana Griz,

Not too long ago, I was taken to the hospital by ambulance. When the ambulance crew got to the house and were getting ready to put me on the gurney a female attendant (not sure if she was EMT or Paramedic) turned to another attendant and said, "He's got a terrible pistol on him." I said, "No mam, it's a Smith and Wesson."

I reached down and took it off and set it on the coffee table. She said,"Isn't there someplace you can put it?" I said, "I did." She said, "You need to put it away." I said, "I did."

It's just the mentality of some folks I guess.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Wurzig

82? Are you kidding? Do you still have a roof on your house?

I am out of touch with the CA news for the past few days.....are you having the fun devil winds?

Haha, this is more like normal for here. We've had abnormally calm for the past couple years, except for once a month ago when it blew into the 60mph range. We don't think it's even "breezy" til it gets above 30mph at the very least!

Actually I didn't even hear it (this house is very quiet) and didn't know we'd blown away til I checked the daily observations!

[Wurzig]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

From experience I can tell you you need lots of gun safes. When I pick up ammo, I buy a can at a time. A can is 1000 rounds. Don't want to run out, don't ya know. But when you do pick up a can, it's a lot cheaper. Last can of ammo I got for my AR was only $105. That's 1000 rounds of .223 ammo. A can of .40 cal is only $65. for full metal jaket. Hollow point is a bit more, I think it was $70 a can. But I don't shoot hollow points that much. I practice with FLJ and then load with Hydra shocks when I get home.

So, you are sayin' you don't keep them long enough to go bad? 1,000 rounds!

That EMT was me! hehe! <joke>

[Wurzig]

Originally Posted by Reziac

Haha, this is more like normal for here. We've had abnormally calm for the past couple years, except for once a month ago when it blew into the 60mph range. We don't think it's even "breezy" til it gets above 30mph at the very least!

Actually I didn't even hear it (this house is very quiet) and didn't know we'd blown away til I checked the daily observations!

The worst we ever had was in '80 or '81 in the big Duarte/Bradbury fire......the helicopters were right over our heads, before sunrise, going 90 and not moving.....santa anas.....embers were coming down in our yard....

We get winds here in CO.......we're high but in a flat area.......

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by Wurzig

So, you are sayin' you don't keep them long enough to go bad? 1,000 rounds!

That EMT was me! hehe! <joke>

Don't worry. Stored properly it won't spoil. Best ammo I have is for .30-06 and it's 1953 vintage. Lake City ammo. Can't find anything better.


The last couple years I've slowed down on my shooting but I used to burn up 150-200 rounds a week from my pistol (1911 Springfield .45) and 150-200 rounds a week from my rifle (M1 Garand). Those were my target weapons. My hunting hardware was a lot less, maybe 150 rounds a year.

[janab]

Originally Posted by montygarlic

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood.
18° F when I rolled out.

Walking down to the road to get the newspaper I chased up: one buck, two does, two yearlings; 3 gray partridge who were hunkered down on the road at the end of the drive and let me get about 20 feet from them before bustin' out; two small flights of geese (about 8 each); and three pair of mallards that jumped up out of the irrigation ditch.

Some days I think this place is Eden.


mg

And a partridge in a pear tree....

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

Don't worry. Stored properly it won't spoil. Best ammo I have is for .30-06 and it's 1953 vintage. Lake City ammo. Can't find anything better.

I read somewhere that this used to be true, but that somewhere around 20 years ago the legal gunpowder formula was changed at federal behest to make it deteriorate a lot faster, to prevent ammo hoarding (cuz everyone knows those ammo hoarders are gonna run wild and shoot up the world ). Anyone know anything for sure about this?

Way back when I had some ammo inherited from my dad that probably dated to the 1950s as well, and it was all good. In fact I'd say those ancient shotgun shells packed more of a whallop than what I can buy today.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Montana Griz

I guess my point is: If a person "is legal in all respects" as related to his (or her) collection of items that are disliked, feared, and misunderstood by others who are uninformed, ignorant, misinformed and totally against his particular collection..............why should this person be looked upon any differently than a man with 160 knives & bayonets? These are just questions that crossed my mind and based upon what we know of the situation --at this time-- I felt I would let my opinion(s) be known.

That's a really good point, and should apply to absolutely anything a person might collect or own a bunch of, even if it's not an everyday item.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Wurzig

The worst we ever had was in '80 or '81 in the big Duarte/Bradbury fire......the helicopters were right over our heads, before sunrise, going 90 and not moving....

That's not real safe for the helicopter pilot... durn things aren't stable in high winds.

Here's a pic I took from my roof about 4 years ago. Wind was doin' a mild 40-45mph that day. Fire was about half a mile away but not going anywhere due to the lack of ground cover, other than the rabbitbrush which burns like a torch. Two helicopters were doing the water shuffle from the sewage treatment plant, which is about 10 miles away. One of 'em damnear got hung up in the power lines.



Speaking of power lines, wish I had pics of this, but they strung the new high-tension wires down the way with a helicopter. Kinda neat.