MagnumDweeb
Member
I admit I went through a 'panic' phase. Ordering huge amounts of ammo. Spending nearly all of my disposable(money earned outside of lawschool) income on ammo (sorry sweety, it's soup and salad this week for dinner). And admittedly I'm not quite done.
I was at the gym talking to a non-shooter about guns and getting some and he wants a revolver. He's in construction, father of three, big ol'house I went to once to paint a few rooms in, and we got to talking about the general 'panic' of the current day. And I admitted I got a bit spend happy. I blew through disposable savings I had socked away for over a year and half to buy enough tools to stock my first machine shop in my first house ($3,200). He kind of stood back, and I admitted I was still getting three Mosin Nagant Rifles and 1600 rounds of surplus ammo for them(dissassemble two and keep for spare parts and only really shoot one). Well I bought another 9mm(only one I have as I sold the other one over a year ago to cousin) and that's the final of my handgun purchases outside of my NRA Pistol training classes. There are of course other purchaes but I don't want to make a whole list.
I think my personality had to more to do with it than the 'Panic' itself because we aren't all standing in soup lines(knock wood) or having to fair in a society with lawlessness abound. I honestly don't think any of that will happen but better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
I don't think many members have lived through the depression, I'm only twenty-four(there are days I wake up and can't believe it's happened this quick). And I have had many conversations with my grandfather who lived in Florida during the depression, when ammo was almost impossible to get what you wanted in your own county and you were having to ride a horse or carriage to get to a store that had what you needed. His family was fortunate enough to have plenty of savings(a family tradition to this day) and had plenty of farmable land belonging to his family and he and his nine other siblings and parents had the skill to use it. And then there was the hunting. We can see today how there are more and more folks getting hunting permits, heck hunters donated over five thousand pounds of deer meat in one state to help the needy.
But today, there isn't much in the way of hunting here in Florida that is easy to get to. Can't bag a deer in your backyard picking through the hog slop like in my grandpa's days. Personal livestock is a grey matter(not supposed to butcher your own animals for consumption) and most folks buy at grocery stores as oppossed to Flea Markets where country folks sell 'organic'(meaning they don't use pesticides and let nature take it's course) produce for a fifth of the price.
So maybe all that knowledge and my grandpas 'depression' stories drove my buying spree. Before the Obama election I only owed two SKSs I bought off a friend to help him out in a time of need which he was supposed to buy back when he had the money(but after six months, he didn't have the money and wouldn't return my calls) and had my Yugo Mauser which is a joy to shoot. I had shot my Uncle's ARs and Aks and thought they'd be fun guns to own 'one day' but wasn't much interested in them.
So things have come to what they are, anyone watching the news and pays attention either feels helpless, worried, or incredibly ticked off. Violent crime is up and food seems to be getting more expensive somehow. We, the consumers, are being told it's our fault by millionaires and billionaires that the economy is going this way. And so I can see how some folks might have a hard time seeing light at the end of the tunnel, at least the light being close.
I'll admit I've been buying ammo because I fear it might not be there for a few years, that things aren't going to start rebounding in the beginning of the next year (weren't we told four months ago it would happen the middle of this year). I don't fear our rights being stripped, the 2nd Amen. movement has gained a lot of steam and I've not only joined the NRA but became a Pistol instructor and at every chance preach to the masses (already got 42 people on 'retainer' waiting for when my insurance gets okayed and my training materials arrive). What I fear is a matter of supply, I'm already not making money in the stock market, and while I have plenty of don't touch unless there is a fire savings and net two hundred free to spend bucks a week(mow twenty-eight yards a week, the rest goes into don't touch savings) and am doing well in law school. I just got that weight on my shoulders that keeps the light at the end of the tunnel seem not so bright.
I'd like to think I'm not the only one, am not a chicken little, that my actions were merely a typical reaction of mine to any such incident(overreact productively, prepare to plug all holes in the bucket immediately figuratively speaking, and prepare for the absolute scenario). Either way, and I keep telling myself in vain, that the buying is over that a 'k' of ammo for each caliber is enough, and I've got plenty because in reailty I've got more than enough.
But the guy at the gym was nice enough to say that when things seem bleak, and so long as I'm not being self-destructive, there are worst things than investing in tools that are liable to be far more valuable a year from now than a stack of T-bills(treasury bills, we talk a lot about investing and have time and time again given each other really good pics at one time or another i.e. Mosaic, Citibank[during a buyout by another company], Citigroup, Wachovia and the Wells Fargo pick up, etc. etc., and municipal bonds).
Even if the 'Panic' were to end tommorrow, most guns would still retain their value I believe. Those ARs that went for 699.99 three years ago that are now going for 1,200 would probably still go for a $1000 a year from now. Anyone got anything they'd like to add.
I was at the gym talking to a non-shooter about guns and getting some and he wants a revolver. He's in construction, father of three, big ol'house I went to once to paint a few rooms in, and we got to talking about the general 'panic' of the current day. And I admitted I got a bit spend happy. I blew through disposable savings I had socked away for over a year and half to buy enough tools to stock my first machine shop in my first house ($3,200). He kind of stood back, and I admitted I was still getting three Mosin Nagant Rifles and 1600 rounds of surplus ammo for them(dissassemble two and keep for spare parts and only really shoot one). Well I bought another 9mm(only one I have as I sold the other one over a year ago to cousin) and that's the final of my handgun purchases outside of my NRA Pistol training classes. There are of course other purchaes but I don't want to make a whole list.
I think my personality had to more to do with it than the 'Panic' itself because we aren't all standing in soup lines(knock wood) or having to fair in a society with lawlessness abound. I honestly don't think any of that will happen but better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
I don't think many members have lived through the depression, I'm only twenty-four(there are days I wake up and can't believe it's happened this quick). And I have had many conversations with my grandfather who lived in Florida during the depression, when ammo was almost impossible to get what you wanted in your own county and you were having to ride a horse or carriage to get to a store that had what you needed. His family was fortunate enough to have plenty of savings(a family tradition to this day) and had plenty of farmable land belonging to his family and he and his nine other siblings and parents had the skill to use it. And then there was the hunting. We can see today how there are more and more folks getting hunting permits, heck hunters donated over five thousand pounds of deer meat in one state to help the needy.
But today, there isn't much in the way of hunting here in Florida that is easy to get to. Can't bag a deer in your backyard picking through the hog slop like in my grandpa's days. Personal livestock is a grey matter(not supposed to butcher your own animals for consumption) and most folks buy at grocery stores as oppossed to Flea Markets where country folks sell 'organic'(meaning they don't use pesticides and let nature take it's course) produce for a fifth of the price.
So maybe all that knowledge and my grandpas 'depression' stories drove my buying spree. Before the Obama election I only owed two SKSs I bought off a friend to help him out in a time of need which he was supposed to buy back when he had the money(but after six months, he didn't have the money and wouldn't return my calls) and had my Yugo Mauser which is a joy to shoot. I had shot my Uncle's ARs and Aks and thought they'd be fun guns to own 'one day' but wasn't much interested in them.
So things have come to what they are, anyone watching the news and pays attention either feels helpless, worried, or incredibly ticked off. Violent crime is up and food seems to be getting more expensive somehow. We, the consumers, are being told it's our fault by millionaires and billionaires that the economy is going this way. And so I can see how some folks might have a hard time seeing light at the end of the tunnel, at least the light being close.
I'll admit I've been buying ammo because I fear it might not be there for a few years, that things aren't going to start rebounding in the beginning of the next year (weren't we told four months ago it would happen the middle of this year). I don't fear our rights being stripped, the 2nd Amen. movement has gained a lot of steam and I've not only joined the NRA but became a Pistol instructor and at every chance preach to the masses (already got 42 people on 'retainer' waiting for when my insurance gets okayed and my training materials arrive). What I fear is a matter of supply, I'm already not making money in the stock market, and while I have plenty of don't touch unless there is a fire savings and net two hundred free to spend bucks a week(mow twenty-eight yards a week, the rest goes into don't touch savings) and am doing well in law school. I just got that weight on my shoulders that keeps the light at the end of the tunnel seem not so bright.
I'd like to think I'm not the only one, am not a chicken little, that my actions were merely a typical reaction of mine to any such incident(overreact productively, prepare to plug all holes in the bucket immediately figuratively speaking, and prepare for the absolute scenario). Either way, and I keep telling myself in vain, that the buying is over that a 'k' of ammo for each caliber is enough, and I've got plenty because in reailty I've got more than enough.
But the guy at the gym was nice enough to say that when things seem bleak, and so long as I'm not being self-destructive, there are worst things than investing in tools that are liable to be far more valuable a year from now than a stack of T-bills(treasury bills, we talk a lot about investing and have time and time again given each other really good pics at one time or another i.e. Mosaic, Citibank[during a buyout by another company], Citigroup, Wachovia and the Wells Fargo pick up, etc. etc., and municipal bonds).
Even if the 'Panic' were to end tommorrow, most guns would still retain their value I believe. Those ARs that went for 699.99 three years ago that are now going for 1,200 would probably still go for a $1000 a year from now. Anyone got anything they'd like to add.