Legislating gun shows out of existence...

 I like to attend gun shows...I like the atmosphere, the variety of guns, ammo, memorabilia, accessories and other items I see...I like talking to the people I meet there, many of whom I've known for decades and not all by name...Some I meet and exchange ideas with whom I may never see again...I usually carry a gun with me to these events, sometimes more than one...I like to trade and otherwise acquire guns for my personal collection...This year I added several guns to my household property, while at the same time divesting myself of other personally owned items, including firearms...I like to alter the content of my gun collection by trading because it keeps me sharp concerning the relative values of firearms...Sometimes I buy outright, other times I'll sell one or more of my guns to finance the acquisition of others...The variety of the guns which hold my interest is what keeps me involved in this activity...

Upgrading the content of my meagre collection is the intent of my participation in this hobby, just as it is with collectors of other types of items...I should interject another thought at this point, I don't really consider myself a collector, rather an accumulator as I increase my knowledge in a specialized field of firearms, namely revolvers, and specifically Smith & Wesson revolvers of the 20th Century...I accumulate some of my gains in personal property through mainstream venues such as licensed gun stores and pawn shops where I've uncovered some real gems, in addition to some real clunkers...Even the clunkers have their value as they can be stripped of their more valuable parts and accessories, while trading away the remains to someone who needs the parts...In my eye there are no unloved firearms, only those which need to be relocated to a more appreciative owner...

It is well known that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for guns, as headlines are made everyday concerning those who feel it necessary to strip me and all other Americans of our constitutionally guaranteed right to do as we please as long as we don't harm others...Many of these rabble rousers are actually well-intentioned but misguided fools who simply have not thought the subject through to a logical conclusion...These can at times be convinced of the error of their ways of thinking, but the most dangerous ones are those who use the subject of gun ownership and use as a springboard to personal power, and control over wealth...Politicians, both those who are elected to office and those who prefer to own and direct the officeholders, are the true dangers to our always fragile republic...Many of these power-seekers choose to fulfill their lust for control through the fear generated by a public which feels helpless against criminals and the insane who are merely bent on death and mayhem in their frustration over their unsatisfactory lives...

The power hungry who in their insatiable greed for more and more control over the lives of others know that they cannot achieve ultimate power as long as an armed populace exists to stand in their way...Therefore they have learned that they must disarm those who would stand in their path by either convincing them they are safer disarmed, or to forcibly disarm them through legislation which makes it ever more inconvenient to hold ownership of firearms as personal property...This has been done incrementally at all levels of government as the power brokers continue to find elected officeholders who are willing to accept support in election campaigns at the expense of debt which can only be repaid with legislation which serves to increase the power of those supporters...The latest in those incremental steps takes place in a few days in Texas...

On January 1, 2021, enforcement begins of an interpretation of Rule §3.316 of Subchapter O of Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Title 34 of the Texas Administrative Code...This bloated title will begin to affect gun shows in Texas through the enforcement of sales tax collection on the occasional sellers of private property...For those unaware of the people who populate gun shows, sales occur not only with licensed firearms dealers who already collect sales tax on purchases, but also collectors who sell and trade from their own collections of privately owned firearms and other items...It will make these private individuals responsible for collecting a sales tax from purchasers of their collectibles and disbursing it to the various taxing entities, both state and local, who greedily present their outstretched palms...The money thereby collected will be used to finance yet another layer of government which must be added to ensure this new source of public income will be drained of its potential...These newly appointed public servants will of course be dedicated to wringing every possible penny from these previously private sellers, making sure that their careers stay intact...

The effects on the gun shows will be multi-layered...The pushback from participating vendors who have never seen their activities taxed will be immediate and vigorous...Taxing authorities will choose some of the more entrenched vendors for exemplary punishment when they resist becoming tax collectors for the state...Attendees such as myself will resist becoming the unwilling financiers of this new layer of government, and sales will fall...Eventually as vendors and attendees drop out, the promoters of the shows will see their own incomes drop to the point where they must fold their tents and close...This has the effect of reducing the circulation of available cash leading to yet more unemployment and recession...As gun shows begin to be reduced in number, the newly appointed tax code enforcers will begin to use their interpretive powers as it applies to the law to visit their presence on those vendors at flea markets, seasonal festivals, Girl Scout cookie sales, church rummage sales, private garage sales and those who advertise their personal belongings for sale on CraigsList...No rock will remain unturned as the tax code enforcers justify their own existence...

But there will be joy in the encampments of the power brokers as their control over people and the available wealth slowly increases at the expense of rapidly depleting democracy and freedom...The only question remaining is that of who will be left at the top when there is no longer a bottom...

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Keeping It Safe...

This article was inspired by the questions from a young lady friend who is thinking ahead to her first gun safe purchase...

I've only owned National Security safes personally...That company was acquired by Liberty Safe some years ago...When I had my first FFL, I eventually bought two more National Security safes besides my original to hold everything...When I entered business as Shooter's Station, I put two of those safes into inventory, but kept the original which I still have...After buying the third safe I remembered the advice my first service manager gave me as a new auto mechanic when I was thinking about my first roll-around tool box...He said, "Try to imagine which tool box will hold all the tools you ever expect to buy in your lifetime, then buy one twice as large and it may last you five years before you have to buy a bigger one"...And he was right...The same principle applies to gun safes...

If I was buying a new one today it would be a Liberty...I think they have the best product as well as the best customer service...Liberty also still sells the National Security brand for those who don't mind paying more...You'll also find out while shopping that there are "gun safes" and there are "gun lockers" as I call them...A gun "safe" will have rounded corners which indicates 100% seam welded construction...Gun "lockers" have square corners and are spot welded which can be cracked open like a walnut shell by any experienced thief with a 12 pound sledge hammer and a prybar...I prefer safes with Sargent & Greenleaf locks (either dial or electronic), any other brand is second rate...You also want the locking mechanism to have thick bolts driven from all four sides of the door edge (mine has 16 1" steel bolts), and a glass relocking system which prevents the safe from being opened even if a thief has cut away the complete outer lock mechanism...

Ask about the thickness of the steel used in all six sides of the safe...On mine they used 1/4" steel on both the inner and outer walls on five sides (some safes don't have an inner wall), and my door is one inch thick with alternating steel and copper plates which makes cutting torches useless...Weight is a big factor also when a safe is fire-lined...Mine has thick fire-liner between inner and outer walls, and this is where a lot of the weight comes from...The fire-liner rating is important, the higher the better and the more chance that whatever is inside will survive a house fire...Remember that you can protect not only your guns, but also any important papers, old photographs, jewelry, watches, etc...And the additional weight can discourage thieves from trying to move the entire safe...At Shooter's Station we had an additional safe (besides the walk-in vault we built) that was truly old-school - it was double walled with the cavities filled with three inches of concrete for fire liner...It weighed 3500 pounds and was installed with a fork lift during the construction...It's still there today...One of the photos in my article on the store's construction in my photo blog has a partial view of it...

When you choose where to place your safe, try to pick an inner wall if possible...Thieves have been known to steal a tow truck, tear down an outer wall, chain onto a safe and pull it out of the house to another location where they can cut into with a carbide saw...Mine is in an inner closet, under a load-bearing beam, where it would be very inconvenient for a thief to even bring in industrial cutting equipment to access it...It's best to have the people you buy it from to install it because they have special equipment and methods to move it in and out without damaging the floors or walls, even climbing stairs...It's well worth the delivery/setup fee...They can also bolt it to even a concrete floor with lag bolts...The best place I know to buy a safe locally is Lone Star Gun Safe on FM 1960 in Houston...If the same people who own it now are the same who founded it, they are great to work with...Another great place to do business for safes, guns and other items is CC Plus on Hwy. 105 in Conroe...

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