Old Glock guy

A few years ago when gas prices spiked to nearly $4.00 a gallon, it was blamed on oil prices approaching $150 per barrel. Now gas prices are closing in on $4.00 again, with experts everywhere saying that we could hit $5.00 by summer. It's being blamed on Iran, the Euro, the weak dollar, etc. But crude oil prices are only around $105 per barrel. So what gives? Do you believe that oil companies are holding back on supplies, or otherwise price fixing? If not, what factors would account for the disparity?

So it sounds like any of us who carry any kind of blade should have a carefully prepared, well rehearsed "explainable legal purpose."

I was just over at GFH yesterday, and the BH appeared to be open.

It looks like NJ knife laws were deliberately written to give LEO's a good deal of latitude. I suppose if questioned, we get one shot to make our case that our chosen blade has "an explainable lawful purpose." I have had more than one LEO tell me that a lot depends on context, that a well dressed, apparently law abiding citizen is going to get a lot more slack than someone who appears to be a gangbanger. Seems pretty unfair, but given that paradigm, I'm thankful to be more in the former category.

Just had this happen again today. I attended a knife class, and asked if my SOG Aegis would be effective for SD. It's this one: http://www.absoluteknives.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=AE02 Mind you, I only carry it so I can open boxes, cut twine, and occasionally take the tops off wine bottles. An LEO who was present (a very nice guy, I might add) advised me that I was committing a felony, because "spring assisted" knives are illegal in NJ. Heck, I bought the thing on Amazon! I could not find anything in the laws to say that there is anything inherently illegal in my carrying it. Anyone care to comment?

How about when a couple of guys are involved in a gunfight with BG's and one runs out of ammo, so he yells to his partner, "Clip!" Do they really call it a clip???

Alas, I'm working this morning and have other responsibilities this afternoon. No shooting for me.

Nice post Wombat! From having trained with you a bit, and having taken some of the same classes, I admire the time and effort you put into sharing your quite insightful observations with the rest of us.

Hmmm... I've been thinking about getting a safe. Maybe I should buy one from that guy.

Some good discussion here. Even the whole sidebar about firing a "warning shot" was kind of interesting. I actually had an LEO tell me one time that if you ever shoot someone, you should crap in your pants, so you can say, "See, I was so afraid for my life that I pooped my pants." (Those weren't his exact words, but he really did say that.) And no, I'm definitely not endorsing that approach, just pointing out that you can hear all kinds of things from LEO's and others. I appreciate everyone's input. As vladtepes and others have noted, if you have drawn down on someone and that person rushes you, I suppose it's safe to assume that you would be in fear for your life, hence justified in shooting. BTW, that video raises some interesting questions. While I was watching it, I thought that the driver was in control of a lethal weapon, and could have used it to neutralize the threat of deadly force (i.e. by running the guy over). She certainly could have made a case that she felt her life was in danger, from the way the guy was acting. In the end though, she drove away with just property damage and did not have to take a life. It looked more inadvertant than calculated, but it turned out to be the right thing to do.

Just picked one up yesterday. It's lots of fun to shoot. Put almost 200 rounds of Federal bulk ammo through it right out of the box, and it was flawless.

Old people are like Slinkies. They're not really useful for anything, but it's kind of fun to watch them fall down the stairs.

I saw a video recently where a homeowner pulled a gun on an intruder and told him to freeze. Instead of doing so, the BG charged the homeowner, who hesitated long enough for the BG to wrestle his gun from him and shoot him before fleeing. Luckily, he was only hit in the arm, and was not seriously injured. That got me wondering what the lawful procedure would be in NJ in such a situation. The way I see it, there are three different variations of the above scenario: 1) The BG is armed with a gun, knife, club, or whatever. 2) The BG is unarmed when he charges you. 3) Due to either the light or the position of his hands, you're not sure if he's armed or not. The first situation is the easiest. You shoot right away. What about the other two? What would be a proper, legal response in NJ?

LOL to that! Yes, that's kind of how I felt when I was there. Guys, I appreicate your kind comments, especially since I gave serious thought to not posting this after I wrote it, thinking it might be too self-indulgent. And yes, I did fly out of Newark. As jOn suggested, I do sometimes carry when I'm home. Actually, I find the Crossbreed IWB holster to be quite comfortable. It was more the mental issues, the thought that people might know I was carrying that made me a bit uneasy. At one point I even chuckled to myself, envisioning a scenario where someone caught a glimpse and yelled out, "LOOK OUT! HE'S GOT A GUN!" Not sure if that would happen in Florida, but it would certainly be a possibility for those fortunate few who carry in New Jersey.

Yes, good episode and great bar scene. I'm going to go home tonight and watch that scene again. You could feel the tension building as the conversation progressed. Clever of Rick to not relax when Dave placed his gun on the bar in an effort to appear non-threatening. Nice quick draw and target acquisition. As others have noted, it wouldn't have hurt Glenn to help out, but I guess he had other things on his mind.

I'm not familiar with the Sigma, but I would agree that the M&P is fairly similar to a Glock. (And BTW, I didn't give you a -1, which I see now is up to -6!)

I wanted to post this because it was a first time experience for me, and I thought it might be helpful to others. I left for Florida last Wednesday for a business conference. Since I had recently obtained my Florida CCW permit, I was determined to take a handgun with me. After some research on this forum and others about air travel with a firearm, I thought it best to call the carrier (Jet Blue) to be sure I was doing everything properly. The person I spoke with was polite, but merely read back to me the same information that was available on the website. Moreover, she told me that the gun needed to be in a separate suitcase, outside the rest of my luggage, which I was sure was incorrect. I checked the TSA website and confirmed that it needed to be in a locked hard case in my suitcase, with the ammo separate. When I got to the airport, I declared the firearm while I was checking in. I signed a declaration, then the woman at the baggage counter took the key from me and accompanied me to another counter where she took my suitcase behind a door to be checked by someone. From what I had read, I understood that I was going to open the case in front of a TSA agent for him to check inside. Anyway, she came back to tell me everything was OK, and she handed me back the key. On my return, I made the same declaration, and the baggage counter agent led me directly to a TSA officer. He took the suitcase from me without even asking me for the key (I offered it), placed it on a belt, presumably to X-ray it; then sent me on my way, telling me everything was fine. Everything went without a hitch, and the whole process only took me about an extra 5-10 minutes each way. My experience confirmed what I had read, that the procedure can vary quite a bit, depending on the airline, the airport, and the people inolved. I arrived in Florida on Wednesday evening, I headed to a bar for a couple of beers and some light pub food. I had read in the fine print that came with my CCW permit, that weapons were not permitted in bars (along with a number of other places), so be sure to read the info carefully before packing. The next morning, after a beautiful run along the packed sand Gulf beach, I headed out for breakfast with my Springfield Armory XD9 SC in my Crossbreed IWB holster. I must say that having spent my entire life in NY and NJ, it was a weird experience! I felt like everyone was looking at me, although of course they weren't. I kept tugging at my shirt tail and checking in the mirror, sure tells to any bad guys in the area that I was CCW'ing. I toted my HG around all day, putting it in my satchel when I went down to sit by the pool. I had it with me the next day at my conference, and while it was physically quite comfortable, I was still pretty self-conscious all day, particularly when someone was walking right behind me, or when someone bumped into me. (I was wearing it in the 4-5:00 position.) All in all, the whole thing went pretty smoothly. I was glad for all the training I've taken at Gun for Hire. I guess that it gets to be second nature eventually, as with anything else. I would be interested to hear anyone's comments or similar experiences. Sorry this turned into such a lengthy blog.

D'oh! Just saw this. By the time I get out for a run and do some things around the house, if I get there at all, it won't be until late afternoon. Hope to run into you over there sometime before too long.

Have you looked at the Springfield Armory XD9 subcompact? It's in the size range you're looking for. I have one as a CCW. I find that it handles well, with a pretty simple operation similar to a Glock, except that it has a grip safety, which makes me feel a little more at ease when it's pointing down my leg in a holster.

I was going to suggest Jello. That way we could pick out the pellets and eat it when we're done. We could make it part of our NJGF picnic.

Some cool ideas about hiding stuff. Hey, what was that guy doing for a few minutes in that secret room? Not sure I really want to know.

Rifleman, those are some great links. Thanks for posting them. I'm going to take another look around my house for suitable hiding spots. Oh, and BTW, I believe I've mentioned this before, but you definitely have my vote for best avatars.

Excuse my naivety, but when you get these huge clunkers delivered curbside, how the hell do you get them in the house? Also, I've heard that a safe provides a focal point of interest for a burglar or other intruder. Do you manage to somehow keep them hidden?

Whenever I see a story like that that sounds a bit fishy, I always have to wonder what really happened. Tough to make an accurate call from a brief newspaper account that only presents one side.

I'm not an attorney, but it's my understanding that if you ever needed to take them to court, you could still do so, but with a judge presiding (as is often done in civil suits) rather than a jury. I'm pretty sure they can't ask you to totally waive your right to take them to court.