Tag: Oregon

September 28, 2023 – They Did It… Gun Shows Are Dead in Oregon

September 28, 2023 /

The gun range that I belong to hosts two gun shows a year. By many’s account, this is the best show in the state. I really have nothing to do with it so I cannot claim any credit but it does make me feel good that my peeps know how to do it.

So, why has this been the case? It is really about what is not there as much as what is. I’ve of course been to other shows too. There is the snack man, the Beenie Baby collectors, the Pakistani knife dealer etc. Those have been largely missing from this show.

Today, we had all of those and more. Something new to me, there were at least five custom knife makers there. Don’t get me wrong, they did beautiful work and the prices reflected it at $150-300. I respect that a lot and I am sure the craftsmanship is worth the price, but this is a gun show. I have never seen more than one at this show in the past. The reason to go to gun shows in the past were to 1) find deals 2) see and handle things because of vast selection 3) buy guns. I will address these individually.

There are no deals to be had. This really is nothing new since the proliferation of the internet. Anything can be researched at anytime of the day and everyone knows what the price is. What I actually see is instead of a gun show discount, there is more like a gun show premium. I find things to be significantly more expensive at the show then day to day. Think about it, I pay an entry fee and then I pay a higher price than market.

Speaking of selection, I would estimate that this show only had a third of the tables as firearms dealers. I have never seen this, I would estimate that the last show was 2/3 dealers. It seems like there was table after table of junk. When I say junk, I mean that it looked the tables were full of parts that were removed from personal firearms.

I have plenty of firearms so I don’t really need any old gun. In fact, I should probably focus on upgrading rather than adding. But, because of that I am looking for some niche items like a Savage 99 in 300 Savage from the 1950s. If I do end up buying one, I want it to be in original configuration. I want the steel butt plate and the rear sight intact. It is not a rare firearm but the options are extremely limited when there are half the normal number of dealers. Add to that the gun show premium and I am not really interested in the ones I saw.

Last and certainly not least to buy guns. Since the passage of Measure 114, everyone is holding their breath for the results of litigation (which is happening while I type). Background check results are not less than three days. Under federal law, if you are not approved or denied after 72 hours, the dealer can release the firearm to you. That means that you are not walking away from a gun show with a firearm. If you are lucky, the dealer you are purchasing from is reasonably local. In three days (best case scenario) you can drive to the dealer you paid for your firearm and pick it up.

What has happened? To me, I think that all of the uncertainly around what will happen with Measure 114 has driven dealers out. The buying frenzy that resulted consumed inventory, low margin or small dealers folded. Others decided not to release firearms after the 72 hour hold. When the red flag laws were implemented a couple of years ago, private sales disappeared and now dealers have given in.

They won; we should not kid ourselves anyway. To think that law abiding and freedom loving people are going to withstand a barrage against our rights over generations is a fools errand. The ocean wears down rock, it seems improbable and incomprehensible but it happens. Consequently, I say that the gun show is dead. Yes, it is still physically there, but it has terminal cancer and it is only a matter of time before it is gone completely

End Your Programming Routine: Do you know who I don’t meet? I don’t meet the person that says ‘I am not a gun owner, never will be but I understand and support your right to do so’. I am more likely to meet ‘I am a gun owner and I believe that only these guns should be permitted’. They tend to side with the anti-gunners because they are not going to ban their guns (yet). To be honest, the only reason I went in the first place is that I get in for free and I was already in town for trap. When it is time for the spring show, I am not planning on going unless all the factors align again like this one.

January 5, 2023 – Happy New Years… You Deserve What You Get

January 5, 2023 /

These 20 new Oregon laws are going into effect in 2023 (msn.com)

I don’t know why I get suckered into paying attention to this stuff. It doesn’t change the water temperature in my pool. On the other hand, it is really revealing and annoying the things that our government finds important and spends our money on. Here is a summary of the nonsense.

LawGrade (-/0/+)Analysis
Newborn Home Visits to be Reimbursed–Forces insurers to include up to three home visits in plans. Read: Spend more of other’s money
Lower the cost of one day fishing license0I am all for making fishing more accessible but that money goes for conservation.
Restitution payments to victims first +Victims are paid before court costs. Sounds like the intent of restitution
Department of Education composition matches state demographics–Like all affirmative action, I am not in favor quotas. Let’s focus on feeling better rather than results.
Workers compensation cannot be suspended without prior notification0Seems fair. I am sure most of this was used on people that probably milked the system
School board members must provide any conflict of interest, source of income, etc.–I am all for transparency, when equally applied. Why are we picking on one group specifically? What about all politicians?
Red light tickets can be issued by a clerk, not just an officer–I don’t believe in cameras. I don’t believe in lowering standards.
Department of Education will use standardized testing to develop future plans and measure effectiveness–So, they weren’t doing this already? And what have they been doing?
Dental coverage offed to members of COFA and do not qualify for the Oregon Health plan–These are non-US citizens that are earning less than 138% of the US poverty rate. What the…?
Evidence collected in a sexual assault investigation must contain a medical examination form0So, we were collecting samples without any associated information? Seems like we shouldn’t but a law was necessary?
The word Alien is now replaced with non-citizen0I guess this is so we can tell the difference of intent between space aliens and non-citizens if future law.
New position of Child Support Referee created. Can have adjudication powers0I don’t know enough about this or the system to know if this is good or bad. Presumably this adjust the judicial system burden.
Unlicensed real estate agent fines increase–I am not in favor of enforcing cartels. From my experience real estate agents don’t deserve what they get and there is no legal requirement to use one.
Voter registration can use Social Security Cards to verify identity–What a great idea. Let’s add more uncertainty into the process. Do you know how many people I know that have had their identity stolen?
Defines benefit year as Jan 1 with 52 contiguous weeks0Fine. We need to have common definitions for all of our entitlements.
Employers will require five days notice to force employees to work overtime–It is a wonder that there are any employers in this state.
Expands the list of occupational diseases for firefighters+This includes volunteer firefighters. I think first responders deserve some respect. It would be better to not have a list at all.
Restricts the amount of regulation local government can place on alarm systems and electric fences+Finally, something that actually restricts government.
Expands workers comp beneficiary list0In these days of gender/identity crisis, why not. My man servant deserves to be taken care of if I depart this earth. If we are going to sanctify this nonsense, we need to support it.

Generally speaking, there is really nothing that is actually important here. I suppose legal clarity reduces loopholes and things but it is really amazing how many people really don’t understand the phrase ‘shall not be infringed’. For some reason, they interpret that to mean shall not be infringed in gerrymandered set of parameters like except if it is fully automatic or has a magazine that can hold more than 10 rounds or it is black or whatever.

My point is we can say something is that we can make a law that the sky is blue but then we will still have people that want to argue all of the fringe elements. Like, well it is actually black at night or gray when it rains or red at sunset. It is a never ending series of definition/loophole/denial or whatever process happens. So, while I ranked all clarification laws as neutral, they really should get a futile ranking.

There is something about incompetent’s ‘fixing their mistakes’. Have you ever observed this in real time? I have. The first thing is that they don’t actually understand the problem(s). But, like the Dutch Boy plugging the leaks, once they stick their finger in the hole, the other hand is high fiving anyone who walks by. The people walking by have spent the last hour staring at their phone and only look up to see our hero has plugged the leak while there are twenty five leaks behind them and a hundred ahead. After the high five, they go back to their phones and walk right through the mess.

End Your Programming Routine: I have to apologize. I think I got triggered when I read the list of laws that were going into effect. I shouldn’t be surprised or upset that idiots do idiotic things, it is their nature. I should have never looked at the list, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to know what new fun I was in store for. And now you do too.

November 7, 2022 – I Voted, Where is My Sticker?

November 7, 2022 /

Fifteen years ago, when podcasts first came out podcasters used to take risks. They would do things that were experiments. It may not have been all great in terms of audio, but it was real and I loved it. Podcasting is no where near what it used to be. Sure, it is more polished and there is a formula for success but I kind of miss those days.

Today, I am going through the Oregon Voter’s Guide. I guess you could say that this is one of those risks. I am comparing the guide to my ballot and offer techniques on how to analyze candidates and issues. This is a longer one because there is a lot of content to get through.

When I was re-listening to what I had said, I noticed a couple of errors. I used the term ‘status quo’ instead of ‘quorum’ erroneously. This is toward the end, talking about ballot measure 115.

End Your Programming Routine: After I finished recording, I did some more research into individuals paying for pro and con arguments. It didn’t take much effort at all to find information. I very well may talk about this again. But, vote or don’t vote; it is your right to do either.

August 15, 2022 – Keep Your Enemies Close

August 15, 2022 /

I don’t have much to add that I haven’t already said in the podcast. Shoot the Breeze with Paul Evans was a campaign fundraiser that I participated in a little over a week ago. I will let you draw your own conclusions from the podcast.

End Your Programming Routine: Just like Jack Spirko says, just because you don’t agree with the systems doesn’t mean you don’t try to use it to your own benefit. So, I definitely don’t support Oregon Democrats, but my neighbor that is also a member in my fraternal order and willing to help with causes that I am involved is probably worth keeping a relationship with.