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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Short term, at least in the People's Republic of California, the plague has put a big ding in them. Many counties are trying to prevent the county fair grounds from holding gun shows at their locations with only modest luck, but they are succeeding in putting restriction on them. Guns and ammo both can only be displayed in locked cases. Just one more nail in the coffin of the Second Amendment, if the commie clowns who run California manage to keep nibbling at our rights.
ReplyDeleteI used to think and hope that we could stop the assault,that our biggest problem was the new generation and how they are being indoctrinated into this new way of keeping us safe and viable as a free people. I think I should have started worrying much longer ago. Hindsight, the "how do you mean" kind that stares back at me when I have conversations with the younger generation, that's what is scariest I think.
ReplyDeleteMike, as your younger generation agrees with you.
DeleteI concur with you. While I wouldn't agree on either side, I agree with reason. Either I would what's the point...
As always Ben, you are the voice or reason and you're at the top of your game here.
DeleteBravo, and get well soon!
Kira