5 MILLION NEW GUN OWNERS - 2020

[calfoxwc]

not coming after OUR GOD-GIVEN right - our 2nd Amendment.

they'll try.

oh, and it's only headed towards the end of August.......

Over 2M new gun owners reported in first half of 2020 ...

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/million-americans-new-gun-owners-2020

Jun 04, 2020 · More than 2 million Americans became first-time gun owners in the first half of 2020, officials reported. The National Rifle Association tweeted the …

[tiamat63]

I don't trust most people driving, let alone with a weapon.

Doesn't mean it shouldn't be a right, but like marriage, many need to realize it might not be for them.

[D Bone]

30 minutes ago, tiamat63 said:

I don't trust most people driving, let alone with a weapon.

As a registered gun owner and driver who was stopped at red light for over 30 seconds, and was then rear ended at 40mph, by a texting, uninsured driver, I couldn't agree more.

Both scenarios scare the shit out of me. 

[Westside Steve]

The law of unexpected consequences.

When the spare bedroom door is closed the cat  desperately wants is to get in there.

WSS

 

[calfoxwc]

training is so important. I advise folks who ask, to not buy a gun if they don't plan on

getting professional training.

The CCW training isn't sufficient. I've thought about being certified as an instructor...

[mjp28]

8 hours ago, calfoxwc said:

training is so important. I advise folks who ask, to not buy a gun if they don't plan on

getting professional training.

The CCW training isn't sufficient. I've thought about being certified as an instructor...

How true !  Especially when they do not come from a gun ownership family.  I had a BB gun at 7 and started shooting a .22 at 11.

A gun is no toy get good training folks for your and everybody else's safety.

AND I'd trust a trained gun owner way more than a 17 year old texting teenager trying to pilot a 3,000+ lb. hunk of metal......like the one that rear-ended my wife in her red car earlier this year.

[DieHardBrownsFan]

Too many hot heads driving, whether they have a CCW or not doesn't mean shit.  

[mjp28]

4 minutes ago, DieHardBrownsFan said:

Too many hot heads driving, whether they have a CCW or not doesn't mean shit.  

Also true, that's why I want a gun particularly a shotgun at home.  Maybe a 20 ga. for the wife.

I've been looking at something like a Remington 870 home defense  6 + 1 shotgun among others.  

[tiamat63]

6 hours ago, D Bone said:

As a registered gun owner and driver who was stopped at red light for over 30 seconds, and was then rear ended at 40mph, by a texting, uninsured driver, I couldn't agree more.

Both scenarios scare the shit out of me. 

 

Seemingly yesterday, though a good number of years back for a younger Tiamat, I was intent on having freedom anyway I could.    In the State of Ohio you can get your motorcycle endorsement at 15 & 1/2.     Well,  in my number of years riding off road shit (225DX, yz125)...  it wasn't much of a stretch.   Especially for someone like myself as a defensive driver.  

Spent the money on a little enduro bike and got used to the road in town, handling traffic, getting away from traffic, etc etc.    I admit, people were ... OK... about seeing bikes back then.  16 rolls around, middle of my junior year,  I ended up buying a Ninja 5R.    Decent bike for what I wanted and got it at a good price.   That would have been late  2005ish.  Kept that bike for 2 years until I graduated high school.    Last time I rode it was August of 2007 before having to part with it when I moved.      First off, let me say how sick it was having a bike in high school.  Yes, it gets you a good deal of attention.                 The original iphone was released a little before hand, but up until that point, texting and driving wasn't a thing.   I had never heard of it.  Mostly because I didn't get unlimited texting until sometime later and back then, those messages were precious until they became 10cents per send.     So you were always doing that mental count of what you thought you had left before the charges rolled in.       And AIM + Myspace was still a thing.    Nobody was as glued to their phones as they are now.

Fast Forward almost 10 years, it's Summer 2016 and I'm late 20's.     Had the itch to ride again, found a CBR6 for $1200.   She needed some work, but it was mostly always going to be just a temporary thing with me in this case.   I knew people hardly paid attention to the road.     First ride out,  I hit 90, then RT11,  322 West, back up to 90.     Hand to Christ, it was even worse than what I expected.  Of the cars I passed, I'm convinced 25% saw my headlight.    That might be generous.     Almost every god damn driver had their eyes down looking into their palms or worse, their phones up in front or just to the side of their heads taking a picture.

I'm a little bit of a thrill seeker on rare occasion.  And I admit, I never thought I'd live to see 30 with some of the stupid shit I did as a kid.   Hell, before CoViD I was scheduled to suit up and get one more football game in.  So pain isn't unfamiliar to me.                      But riding ain't what it used to be.  It's beyond a calculated risk and moved well into the territory of "only a matter of time".      Sold that bike 3 weeks later having only rode it in town a couple of times between purchase and sale after that initial jaunt.    

It's just awful that people can't put their phones down for a 10 minute drive.  It would save life, limb, money and a whole world of pain for them and others.       I once had a genuine passion for riding that I always envisioned I would pick up again when I became an adult.    Sadly I put that passion away because all the defensive driving in the world can't make up for how unaware most of these fucking people are on the road.  

 

 

[calfoxwc]

I too, had a Suzuki 250 - my cousin in wv and I went to AMA enduro events in the mountains. It was a heavier street/trail, he ran a penton 250. Only a few times I rode on a trip about town...

and generally, always said drivers can't see them, I won't ride on the street much.

   One day, I'm driving down the road in town, and went to turn left to go to my friend's house... all of a sudden I saw the bike - and hit the brakes - the big biker swerved, and saved it in somebody's yard. I got out terrified, he looked at me, shook his head, and nodded, and took off. I could have gotten my ass kicked. lol - I was just a year out of hs.

   I younger guy in the neighborhood was a hotrod on a minibike, and wanted my bike when I sold it, I wouldn't sell it to him, I was afraid he'd get killed.

    Sure enough, he bought another bike...and got ran over a few blocks from our house. He died.

now? I've seen people on the freaking xpressway weaving, and when I finally pass them, my wife sees them looking down and over at their phone. it's worse than stupid.

Having a gun in your possession - is serious business - it's a weight of the world of responsibility on your shoulders. Safety is #1.

 

[D Bone]

2 hours ago, tiamat63 said:

 

Seemingly yesterday, though a good number of years back for a younger Tiamat, I was intent on having freedom anyway I could.    In the State of Ohio you can get your motorcycle endorsement at 15 & 1/2.     Well,  in my number of years riding off road shit (225DX, yz125)...  it wasn't much of a stretch.   Especially for someone like myself as a defensive driver.  

Spent the money on a little enduro bike and got used to the road in town, handling traffic, getting away from traffic, etc etc.    I admit, people were ... OK... about seeing bikes back then.  16 rolls around, middle of my junior year,  I ended up buying a Ninja 5R.    Decent bike for what I wanted and got it at a good price.   That would have been late  2005ish.  Kept that bike for 2 years until I graduated high school.    Last time I rode it was August of 2007 before having to part with it when I moved.      First off, let me say how sick it was having a bike in high school.  Yes, it gets you a good deal of attention.                 The original iphone was released a little before hand, but up until that point, texting and driving wasn't a thing.   I had never heard of it.  Mostly because I didn't get unlimited texting until sometime later and back then, those messages were precious until they became 10cents per send.     So you were always doing that mental count of what you thought you had left before the charges rolled in.       And AIM + Myspace was still a thing.    Nobody was as glued to their phones as they are now.

Fast Forward almost 10 years, it's Summer 2016 and I'm late 20's.     Had the itch to ride again, found a CBR6 for $1200.   She needed some work, but it was mostly always going to be just a temporary thing with me in this case.   I knew people hardly paid attention to the road.     First ride out,  I hit 90, then RT11,  322 West, back up to 90.     Hand to Christ, it was even worse than what I expected.  Of the cars I passed, I'm convinced 25% saw my headlight.    That might be generous.     Almost every god damn driver had their eyes down looking into their palms or worse, their phones up in front or just to the side of their heads taking a picture.

I'm a little bit of a thrill seeker on rare occasion.  And I admit, I never thought I'd live to see 30 with some of the stupid shit I did as a kid.   Hell, before CoViD I was scheduled to suit up and get one more football game in.  So pain isn't unfamiliar to me.                      But riding ain't what it used to be.  It's beyond a calculated risk and moved well into the territory of "only a matter of time".      Sold that bike 3 weeks later having only rode it in town a couple of times between purchase and sale after that initial jaunt.    

It's just awful that people can't put their phones down for a 10 minute drive.  It would save life, limb, money and a whole world of pain for them and others.       I once had a genuine passion for riding that I always envisioned I would pick up again when I became an adult.    Sadly I put that passion away because all the defensive driving in the world can't make up for how unaware most of these fucking people are on the road.  

 

 

Loved reading this.... YZ 125?!! attaboy! I knew cal rode, but not you. 

As much as I love all things 2 wheels and especially moto/super X (still pretty damn good at it), I have never and will never ride a street bike. If I were the only dude on the planet, it would be the only way I would ever go anywhere, but people are such selfish assholes and I just won't risk the inevitable. 

When she was 15, I made my now 25yr old daughter swear to me - on my life, that she would never get on the back of a street bike. A few years later she told me that after she really thought about our conversation and knowing how much I love motorcycles, and for me of all people to ask that of her, she said it was then when she really got it.

I live in a rural high desert SoCal town where 60mph 2 lane roads are the norm, and I drive them like I'm 10 and watching a horror movie in the dark.... always ready to bail at any given time. If I pass 20 cars head on - with nothing but yellow paint separating our 120+mph closing speed, 12 of the 20 cars will have drivers looking down and to their right as we pass.... God I hate people.

If I would have been on a street bike or bicycle instead of my truck when I was rear ended, I most likely wouldn't have known what hit me. 

[calfoxwc]

1 hour ago, D Bone said:

Loved reading this.... YZ 125?!! attaboy! I knew cal rode, but not you. 

As much as I love all things 2 wheels and especially moto/super X (still pretty damn good at it), I have never and will never ride a street bike. If I were the only dude on the planet, it would be the only way I would ever go anywhere, but people are such selfish assholes and I just won't risk the inevitable. 

When she was 15, I made my now 25yr old daughter swear to me - on my life, that she would never get on the back of a street bike. A few years later she told me that after she really thought about our conversation and knowing how much I love motorcycles, and for me of all people to ask that of her, she said it was then when she really got it.

I live in a rural high desert SoCal town where 60mph 2 lane roads are the norm, and I drive them like I'm 10 and watching a horror movie in the dark.... always ready to bail at any given time. If I pass 20 cars head on - with nothing but yellow paint separating our 120+mph closing speed, 12 of the 20 cars will have drivers looking down and to their right as we pass.... God I hate people.

If I would have been on a street bike or bicycle instead of my truck when I was rear ended, I most likely wouldn't have known what hit me. 

yep. Life is too short. Years ago, on a cruise with 11 friends... we got to Cozumel - and they said in the briefing on the way, "do not rent a motorscooter". It sounds fun and free wheeling/adventurous. But, they got hit by a tired taxi driver, head on, she was badly injured, and he was life-flighted back to the U.S.A.

    We all took taxis to this very cool national seashore park - and they drive like bats out of hell.