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A good question in your mind does not always translate to someone hitting the green up arrow. Does anyone even pay attention to their rating? I honestly had never looked at mine until just now

We ARE in Tennessee. It almost never hurts to slip somebody a 20.

I demand a recount!!! You ARE disagreeable and you have twice the count I do. You are obviously performing some "special" favors for the person counting the reputation points. Who is that these days? TGO David? MacGyver? I demand to know because I want to be as popular as you. Dolomite

I think there are about three or four guys who actually knew how it worked and they kept plus oneing each other.

Awwww man... Are we turning the thread gay? Hang on... (exits race-war-preparedness bunker to retrieve queer stomping boots)Okay, I'm ready. Adam and Eve, not Adam and Ste..... dammit, NBP Party guerrillas just breached my triple strand on the NW corner of the perimeter. Gotta go set off inner ring claymores. I'll have to get back to this topic later.

Must be the Ron Paul comments

I use them some, when there's a great (in my view) post. I also zero out a lot of -1's when folks don't deserve it (also in my view).

I never gave it a thought until I read this post. Now I'm upset! Mike.357 is kicking my rear end!

I just now really found out what them little "icons" are and don't know how they work....

If retailers are offering you the convenience of paying via credit card, and it costs them more to do so, why should they not pass that expense on to you? Don't like it? Pay cash.

At least there's an up AND a down arrow here...Facebook really needs a "Dislike" button. How else are people gonna know they're idiots? Their friends aren't gonna tell 'em.

That's what we're seeing in Europe, sans the immigration part. Now that half the households in the US get some kind of federal money and almost the same % pay no federal income tax, we've become very similar. As has been mentioned, the worse the economy becomes because of Dem socialist policies, the more the fix is in for the Dems as more folks join the payroll. Just like Greece and France, the US citizenry just isn't willing to bear any pain at all, so everything keeps getting postponed until The Big Pain happens for all. On the bright side, I actually do have some confidence that Romney with a GOP House and Senate could actually make a significant difference in our decline. On the dark side, as you opine, I imagine that the public will not stand steadfast with them long enough to make that difference, and will trot right back to the Sugar Daddy Party at the first sign of discomfort. So in that regard I think our course may well indeed be set in stone to a degree that simply won't be changed until that Big Pain happens, but at least we might be able to retain significantly more personal freedom the longer we can stave off these damn communists, and at least be in a position to reclaim the country from the ashes rather than live an interminable slavish existence in them. - OS

I sure didn't know all this!

Maybe we can have a "bump you Rep Points" thread like we used to have the "bump you post count" threads.

Heheh I just bumped you up one.

I've had to vote for self-claimed Christians all my life, so have no real prob voting for a Mormon, a sect that merely adds an additional layer of lunacy atop the Christ story itself. And though you meant it as a joke, will indeed be easier than having had to pull the lever for Pope Boy. - OS

Timestepper has graciously agreed to once again try to have a skills get together. This time we will be using my place to do it. I'll be adding a few things I've learned in the military, and everyone is invited to bring their skillset to the table, as well as come and learn some new skills along side everyone else. I'll be camping by the creek the night before, and invite any and everyone else to do the same if they would like too. My address is 225 George Jones Road Oliver Springs, TN 37840. Camping on site friday night is encouraged, I'll be cooking a campfire supper that night, and there is fishing in the creek and lies to be told. Please let us know if your coming out for this. The date is June 29th, and 30th.

Is this the only industry that blatantly rips off it's customers in this fashion? I just don't understand why a business that sells items that are worth hundreds of dollars needs to have a "cash discount" or a "3% credit card fee" when buying a gun. There's no other place I shop, online or brick-and-mortar, that does this. I realize that there are some gun stores that don't do this but they are few and far between. I guess the worst is shopping online. Why on God's green earth would I send a money order to buy something from a website? If you buy online, you use a credit card. I know someone will chime in and say they pay with a money order when shopping online but you're the exception, not the rule. Someone educate me on the fees that credit card companies charge vendors. And if it's 3%, why not add that to the cost of the gun so people like me don't flip out? Sorry for the rant but I hate seeing the price for a gun with an asterisk next to it with "cash discount price!". Sorry, I don't walk around with 1200$ in cash. Forgive the rant, had to vent that one out.

Ya think it may be folks pushing back over all the BS surrounding that story? I don't agree with it either, but DO understand why they came about.

Heh. I "open-carried" a cap-and-ball revolver to school in Junior High on "Cowboy Day" once. I had the Principal's permission beforehand, too, It wasn't loaded, of course. And I was a straight-A student with an exemplary record. And it was a small, rural town. And it was a quarter-century ago..... I have to stop now. I'm getting depressed.

That is correct. However, I am holding onto a sliver of hope that Romney and the right kind of GOP majority will be able to make dramatic improvements, thereby staving off disaster. If Obama gets a second term, I don't think we really have to worry about the SCOTUS because our fiscal situation is going to destroy this country. Our current debt at the end of this year ($16.6 T) is almost impossible to pay back. Increasing our debt by $1.4 T per year (although it will be higher once Obamacare kicks in) for another four years puts the final nail in the coffin. It is sad when you think that at the end of Bush's term our debt was roughly $10 T. If Obama wins a second term, our debt at the end of his term will be $23 T or higher. For whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. Unless Romney (assuming he wins) and the gang can work some magic, it really is over. When the "Big Pain" happens, I don't think we will be able to recover. I am somewhat expecting global carnage on a biblical scale.

My 10 pointer... My 15 year old daughter's 12 pointer...

I took this 150 pound Feral Hog with bow. It was my first "bow" hog. I done it as a full body mount.

This is like the reputation bump thread.

They were giving you time to reconsider the Taurus. - OS

The punishment does not fit the crime.

If you say the right things the points will come flying to you! (The occasional sacrifice to the gun gods is also rumored to help.)

My wife's Savage 99 also likes the Remington 100gr load. I got lucky and found seven boxes at a flea market last year. Before that, my experience was that it liked 87gr bullets a lot more than heavier ones. The 100gr load I got best results with was 34.4gr of IMR 4064 topped with a Sierra 100gr GameKing BTSP at over 2700fps. I would suggest only boat-tail 100gr bullets. I never got a flat-base bullet over 90gr to group worthwhile.

I too wondered what those buttons were for the longest time, then I realized I had a reputation and it didn't go up by magic.

LEO turn ins are notorious for a rough finish, yet rarely fired condition. Years of banging around in a holster on car doors and donut shop booths. If the action works correctly, and the forcing cone isn;t cracked, jump on it. I would suggest you not shoot a steady diet of 125 grain loads in a K frame 357. 158 grain loads will be fine, if you can stand them.

^ This. TGO, isn't a popularity contest, it's a place to ask questions, pick up information and exchange ideas (or at least that's the way I see it.) I further think that alot of folks never even think about voting a thread or a post up or down unless it's unusually wise, funny, informative or offensive. (I know I don't.) And, as WD-40 pointed out, some don't even know (or care) how. Bottom line, you have no power over what others think of you - it's what you think of yourself that counts. As for me, I think I'll have another cup of coffee.

Well, I've thought about this over night and decided to toss in one more piece I wrote, even though it doesn't strictly pertain to hunting and fishing. This one, too, was published in Muzzle Blasts mag. a few years back (January 2002, if I recall correctly). It was written while I was still living in Kansas and was originally literally a letter to my boss (dispatcher) at the time upon learning that he and his family were planning to vacation in Colorado. (He made the the mistake of asking me for advice.) I'll admit that I have my doubts about putting it here if for no other reason than, after reading it, the chance that everyone here will conclude that I'm the dumbest walking cluster-f*ck who ever tripped over his own fishing rod (seems that our young friend Ramjo has already made that conclusion, lol). Nonetheless, here goes! Hope you enjoy it! Letter to the Boss © 1998 W.D. McCrary Dear Boss: Congratulations on having chosen the Colorado Rocky Mountains as your vacation spot this year! As you may know, even though I'm originally from Kansas, I have spent a great deal of time in the Rockies. In fact, due in large part to inaccurate maps, faulty compasses and the mysterious geologic forces which strive to constantly re-arrange other wise familiar landmarks - I have probably spent more time in the Colorado back country than most members of the search and rescue team. At any rate, I am convinced that you, yourself could not have picked a better destination. I must admit that I am honored that you have come to me for advice and I commend you on your excellent judgment. Naturally, over the years, I have acquired an almost encyclopedic knowledge on this subject and you may believe me when I say that I have forgotten more than you know. From the time of Zebulon Pike to present there have been literally thousands of books and articles authored on the subject of camping and living in the Rocky mountains. So many so that my wife jokingly inquired as to why anyone over the age of eight who owns a library card would willingly come to me for advice. I politely informed her that I, for one, could understand your wanting to learn things that only a real expert like myself would know! With that in mind, Boss, I have decided not to fill your brain with information easily obtained from other sources. Instead, I have enclosed the following list of things you should NOT do while you are in the mountains. I know you should not do these things, because unfortunately, I have done them all at some point in the past. Needless to say, the results have ranged from just thoroughly embarrassing to damn near disastrous! Good Luck Boss! May you learn at least as much from my "adventures" as I have... Things you should NOT do in the Mountains (Or anywhere else for that matter!) 1. Do not wrap an egg in clay and place it the campfire to cook. 2. Do not try to start a campfire using only a mouthful of brandy and a Zippo lighter. 3. No matter how cute and cuddly it may look - Do not try to pet a baby porcupine. 4. Never try to kill a skunk with a banjo! 5. Never try to bluff a moose... 6. Never try to cross a stream on any log which is more than ten feet above the water - Especially if the water is less than three feet deep! 7. Never leave your clothes more than a mile from where you are actually "skinny-dipping." 8. NEVER allow yourself to be convinced that riding a plastic toboggan down a two thousand foot snow mass and into a mountain lake would be "a really neat thing to do!" 9. Do not sneak up on your camp partner and "woof" like a grizzly - Especially if they are holding a cast iron skillet or a fly rod. 10. Do not throw rocks or pinecones at your camp partner when they in the bushes answering the call of nature - Especially if they are bigger and meaner than you are. 11. Do not throw rocks or pinecones at any stump that looks like a sleeping bear. 12. If you must climb a tree to escape from a pissed off, recently awakened bear, do NOT disturb anything which even remotely resembles a yellow jacket nest (at least until AFTER you are past it). And finally - Even if the hornets choose to go after the bear and leave you with only a few stings - Do not jump up and down, clap your hands and laugh uproariously while you are still standing in the uppermost branches of a pine tree!

Of course it is I'm a conservative!

I've bought a couple of guns from http://www.jetguns.com/ and they don't charge and CC fee. Good prices too!

It isn't a standard practice, but it is common amongst small companies, ranging from restaurants, service, etc. Go and look at the books at businesses with 30 or less employees, and compare that with actual observed transactions, and you'll see that many evade taxes through cash sales. Small businesses generally don't have the revenue to get them audited or thrown in the federal pen (I'm assuming that's what PMITAP might stand for). But having been around sole-proprietorships all my life, its just something that you see all the time.

I used to have my own business and I never charged extra for customers that paid with credit card. Now, local customers knew that if they paid me cash, I would make more profit, and the good customers would opt to do that. But I didn't think it was fair to have a different price based on how customers paid me. Some may say this is not smart business practice, but I went into business for the customer, not just for me. So, I too, dislike when a posted price is a "cash price" and if I want to use my credit card, then I have to pay extra. A business should know that if they want to make up that 3% loss, then just sell more items. I shouldn't have to walk around with hundreds of dollars on me at all times to buy items in cash, nor should I have to continually make trips to the post office to buy money orders if I want to buy from an online vendor that does the same thing. I'm not sure why many gun sellers do this. I think it is shady.

That fee dosn't bother me. I can avoid it by paying cash. I get peeved at senior citizens', law enforcement, etc. discounts. I also dislike stores that charge one price, but another price if you have this card, and this price if you're a super duper gold plus member.

Mongoose? Ducks? Honey Badger!

Not sure about keeping them away, but a .410, a shovel and closed lips does wonders for taking care of them once they're there. (Not that I would know anything about anything remotely deemed to be illegal, but that's what I've been told...)

Fire. Lots and lots of fire.

Every one of those sorry excuses for cops should be tried, convicted, and sent to prison for a long, long time.

Don't think it's "forced." The guy is just holding the stick out in front of him. Don't think I'd hold it right next to me if I had the sob on it, either!

I have tried to sell a rifle. Axing price is 650, its a fair price. I inevitably get someone saying i will give you 600, i countered with how about 700. Kinda figured it was fair. Why does a prospective buyer feel it is okay to lowball you? I love the look on their faces when i counter with a higher price. People are morons and i hate dealing with them.

Its not just the parent though. My parents were very, very good. And, in the end, I turned out OK as well. But as a teenager, did they really know what I was doing 24-7? No. At some point, 13, 15, 17, a teen begins to be places they should not, doing those things they should not. I did them, most of us did. Rob someone with a gun, no that never crossed my mind, never thought of going off to hurt someone or even damage property, but we did plenty of things that had our parents (or other adults) known would have been "bad" (for us, only victims would have been ourselves!). Thing is, my parents thought they knew where I was, who was there, and what I was doing. Often, they only had the 1 thing right (who I was with). We often found the means to go out and about, and do stuff. Its not their fault for not knowing where we were.... its darn near impossible to do that with a teen unless you lock them in a cage. Which leads to this pretty basic but ugly truth: some people are just no good. Good parents, decent lifestyle, no reason to turn bad, but they do. Other kids have everything against them, and turn out to be productive, well adjusted and great people. Parents are a HUGE factor, but there are plenty of times when good parents produce sorry offspring. Can't blame the parents in every case. In this case? Maybe, maybe not, there isnt enough to say. Sounds like he WAS a good kid. It only takes a few min of peer pressure from the local low-downs to undo a decade of parenting --- and that happens all too often. It only takes screwing up once to get caught and ruin your life, or end it. Was this the first time, or the 100th? In the end, it does not matter.

Nice M&P. As has been said, if you can swing it, keep yours and buy the Sig outright. After 30 years of buying guns, I still regret every one I've sold or traded to get something else. I know it's your choice and your money, but consider it. Especially since the RIA is so new to you, at least that's my take on it. Good Luck.

Stolen from elsewhere From http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc503.html "Taxes and fees you cannot deduct on Schedule A include Federal income taxes, social security taxes, stamp taxes, or transfer taxes on the sale of property, homeowner's association fees, estate and inheritance taxes and service charges for water, sewer, or trash collection. You may be subject to a limit on some of your itemized deductions including nonbusiness taxes. Please refer to the Form 1040 Instructions for the limitations based on the adjusted gross income."

How can one infer consent to enter a business if the business has said if you are doing/carrying "X" you are not welcome here? If the sign says you can't there is nothing to infer. I see nothing unconstitutional about the signage nor do I see any reason to eliminate all penalties for someone who walks past a "No Firearms" sign. What does need to change is the seriousness of the charge...there is nothing fair or equal when the criminal charge against an HCP holder who walks past a sign is more harsh/different than a non-HCP holder who does the exact same thing. As long as the HCP holder isn't brandishing his weapon, threatening people, etc. then simple trespassing is as serious as the change needs to be. I'm sorry that you don't like your local hospitals' policies or their security provisions...I sympathize...but your "right" to carry a firearm does not and should not trump the hospital's right to set the rules that they want to set. In some states, you can use deadly force to protect property but that's not the issue - "property rights" is not about the "property" nor does the property have rights...it's the entity (person/business, etc.) that has the rights to enjoy their property and set the rules for their property as they see fit.

The signage is simply a way for a business/property owner to make his policy known to the public and a business/property could post such signs whether there was any specific language in the code regarding a "firearm's sign" or not. I agree that the "special" criminal charge for HCP holders currently associated with such as sign may be "unconstitutional" but even if it is, I don't think we'll ever get very far with changing the law simply by crying that it's "unconstitutional". A couple of weeks ago, the question of controlling trespassing/soliciting came up in our Neighborhood Watch meeting - I don't know if it's true throughout the state but both the sheriff's deputy and the police lieutenant who came to our meeting stated that if we, as individual home owners, post our property with "no trespassing" or "no soliciting" signs then anyone who does trespass or solicits has already, technically, committed a crime. However, no such crime has been committed on a property that isn't so posted until/unless the homeowner tells the person to lave and they don't. I see a "no firearms" sign in the same light - when you see a no firearms sign at the doorway to a business you are, in my mind, already guilty of criminal trespass because you already know you aren't supposed to be there and you intentionally entered the business anyway and such would be true whether there was any special verbage in the code about "firearms" or not. Now, as a practical matter, whether it's a solicitor or a HCP holder carrying past a sign, I think it unlikely in the extreme that law enforcement is going to arrest anyone for criminal trespass unless the person makes a fuss/refuses to leave. However, I still think such a person has already broken the law because, except for circumstances where the government has said otherwise, a business owner/property owner has the very basic right to control what happens on/in his property. Moreover, whether or not a person thinks their right to carry is "more important" than the rights of a property owner why would you walk into a business and give your custom to a business that obviously doesn't support your 2ND Amendment rights? I live by the motto that if my gun is welcome then my money isn't welcome either.

What is sad is that the law doesn't already protect business owners from being libel for one customer hurting another. I kinda understand if an employee hurts a customer, but even that has issues. What happened to a PERSON being libel for THEIR actions, instead of everyone else being libel? It's like how every gun owner is somehow libel for every criminal's use of a firearm.

Goes to prove, One person can make a difference.