Buzz

I understand what you are saying. I thought Obama did a respectable job. His main mission was not to make a big blunder and he didn't. Obama is a better speaker and better debater than McCain, so it is hard to imagine a scenario where McCain could really take Obama down in a debate. However, I do think you are underestimating Obama's ability to push his liberal agenda if elected. Don't forget, the Dems control Congress right now. He could put a serious smack down on the 2nd Amendment if it were a priority. The question is whether it could be a priority, considering the other pressing issues right now. Here's my concern - the country didn't get into our current problems overnight. Even if we had Congressional agreement on the right policies, energy, the economy, and education issues are all going to take awhile before things go in a better direction. Obama knows that there is limited progress he can make in one term on those. 2nd Amendment issues could become a "quick win" taget so that he can generate proof that he accomplished something before the next election cycle. Don't forget, Obama is from Illinois, a state with some of the worst restrictions on 2nd Amendment issues. When Obama gets to start nominating Supreme Court judges, you can bet that will leave a lasting impression on the Court.

My vote would be for a .38 or .357 revolver. Can't be beat for reliability. Small enough to conceal. One of the easiest for a new shooter to master. Lots of options within that group. I really favor the 3" models. Ruger SP101s are tanks. On the heavy side for carrying 18 hours a day, but will eat as many .357 loads as you care to put through it. Smith model 60s are a good choice also. I love the 3" model, but actually own a 2".

The average over a period doesn't really tell the whole story as it relates to consumer sentiment. The unemployment trend has a lot more to do with how consumers are feeling. From their perspective, are things getting better or worse out there? Look at the unemployment trend from 1989 until 2007. Things got progressively worse each year under Bush 41, then better each year under Clinton, then went back up during Bush 43. http://www.miseryindex.us/URbyyear.asp?StartYear=1989&EndYear=2007 I still maintain that Clinton was just lucky in this regard, but it is what it is. Consumer sentiment also got a MAJOR bucket of cold water from 9/11. Bush 43 has had a lot of unexpected crap come his way during his term.

I was turned off by the lock also. When S&W started shipping the 642 without a lock, I bought one. I'm happy with it. I haven't had any timing problems, etc. Not a particularly fun gun to shoot, but the light weight is great.

There are facts to back up the perception that the economy was better. The average GDP growth under Clinton (1993-2001) was 3.4% annually. From 2002-2007 (excluding '08 on purpose), it has been 2.57%. Unemployment was better under Clinton also. Now... I happen to think Clinton was just lucky on timing. It wasn't through anything he or the government did. The dot com stock run fueled a BUNCH of that growth and that burst just as Clinton was leaving office. By the same token, I think Bush 43 was just particularly unlucky that 9/11 happened on his watch. (Some of the other issues were of his own creation.)

Really terrible. A complete waste of $440k of taxpayer money. However... that is mere pocket change in comparison to the $100 BILLION dollars in pork that politicians shamelessly added to the $700B bailout package. Tax cuts for children's wooden arrows? NASCAR tax relief? What the heck kind of crap is that? ALL ON BORROWED MONEY! Those politicians ought to be prosecuted for treason.

I don't wonder why. Consider the typical 20 year old college student. They were born in 1988. The only presidents they have known in their lifetimes have been Bush 41, Clinton, and Bush 43. In their memory - the Clinton years were pretty good economically, but that was probably before they were really that interested. By contrast, the Bush 43 years have been horrible. He/she was 13 years old on 9/11/01 when the towers went down. Old enough to understand the nationwide fear. Things have gone downhill since. They feel lied to about Iraq. They probably know personally kids who have either been there or are going. The economy is bad. Gas prices are through the roof. They are facing uncertain future employment. The hype is that health insurance is unaffordable and everybody is getting kicked out of their homes due to foreclosure. If that was ALL you knew in your lifetime, wouldn't you be ready to embrace the candidate who seemed the most different from the prior administration?

McCain cannot deliver a knockout blow to Obama with a debate. Plain and simple, Obama is a more polished and confident speaker than McCain. Obama is slick and persuasive. He makes things sound good and reasonable, even when they aren't. McCain had a golden opportunity to take a stand and back up his "Maverick" rhetoric. Sadly, he blew it. McCain should have taken a stand and voted NO on the $800 Billion rescue/bailout/handout bill based solely on the fact that it includes $100 Billion dollars of pure pork. That would have been a maverick political move. The bill would probably have passed anyway. $1 out of $8 dollars is going right down the drain. Voting no would have been the right thing to do and might have been a game changer for McCain. As it stands now, his goose is cooked.

I really prefer stainless steel on a carry gun, but I'd accept one of the high tech coatings available now. I love the look of a blued gun, but it just won't hold up to concealed carry very well.

FWIW.... I would not carry on a job interview for a white collar, office job. The reason is pretty simple. Guns are controversial. People have a right to feel any way they want and not all of them agree with my personal views on the matter. Businesses could be posted and I wouldn't want to find that out when it was too late. In that case, the risk of not getting the job would outweigh the risk of leaving the gun in the car. Now that I think about it, the only way I would carry into a job interview would be if I were applying for a position where having the HCP would be an asset.

I have a P245. It's a fine weapon. Yes, it does have the 6+1 capacity limitation, but that is only one round less than a P220 and I find it much more concealable. The P245 will accept P220 magazines, so if you are going to carry a spare mag, it might as well be a 7 round mag. The only other semiauto carry gun that has tempted me is the Glock G23. Pretty much the same size size, but lighter and a 13+1 capacity.

It is this way only because citizens accept it. It definitely does not have to be the case.

Baloney. This is the third state where I've been a HCP holder. Neither of the others took 90 days to complete the process. There is no reason that TDOS needs that long. My experience can only lead me to conclude that they are a disorganized mess. I can see taking 30 or 45 days. I'm not suggesting that we short circuit the process, but it shouldn't take 90 days. Beyond that, citizens absolutely deserve to have someone who can give them straight answers on where in the process their application is. Not returning phone calls & having completely clueless people answering the phones is unacceptable.

My wait is finally over. I was fingerprinted and submitted my application on June 30, 2008. Received my permit in the mail on Sept. 25, 2008. They told me it was issued on Sept. 17. 8 days later it was in my mailbox. Total time was 88 days from start until finish. The total time is completely ridiculous. However, my main frustration is the inconsistent information you get when you call. I called several times. Sometimes they took my name and never called back. Sometimes I would get someone who would just read me a script that basically said not to call back until 90 days. If I pressed for some real information, the excuse was that the person I was talking to didn't have a computer, so they could not look anything up (but they could take my name & number). Once in awhile, I would get someone who could actually tell me where my application was in the process. That did lead to a request to fax in the yellow copy of my application. Maybe that expedited the process, maybe not. I'm not sure.

I was told on Day 65 that I should have it in 2-3 weeks. I called last Friday, which was Day 82. They took my name, driver license number, and phone number and told me they would call me back. My call was not returned. So... today was Day 85 and I called late afternoon. This time I was told that it was issued on 9/17/08 and that it should be 7-14 days. First time I've actually gotten a firm date that it had been issued. IF it arrives on schedule, it will be pretty close to Day 90.

No, I am not looking to carry it in the 9mm configuration. However, I would definitely shoot it at the range as a 9mm.

Dropping in a conversion barrel is no big deal, even at the range. It only takes a minute-- probably less. I just don't want to spend the money on two Glocks. Besides, this would let me practice with excatly the same trigger feel as my carry gun.

I am fully confident that either would be a great choice. I originally intended to carry a Sig P245. Love the 45 caliber, but I'm questioning the 6+1 round capacity. The P239 is pretty much the same form factor, but only offers one additional round in the mag and weighs pretty much the same. The G23 offers 13+1 .40 rounds at about the same size and weight, with the option to reload with G22 mags. In the long run, I might even pick up a G27 which could also use the bigger mags. I think I'm talking myself into the Glock.

I've decided that I want to buy a 40 carry gun. I'd like to have one that I could convert to 9mm for range use. Looks like my best choices are either a Glock G23 or a Sig P239. I've been a Sig owner for years, but have never owned a Glock. Both are about the same size. Of course, the Glock is cheaper and has a higher capacity. Anybody have experience with 9mm conversions on either one? I think either one can be converted with just a barrel. From what I gather, 9mm will work in the 40 mags, right? Any advice appreciated. Thanks, Buzz

Glad that some of you are getting yours... I'm still waiting. Today was day 80. As requested, I faxed in my application 15 days ago. They told me that I should have it in 2-3 weeks. I keep hoping the mailman will bring good news.

Metal, I've been considering buying a really good IWB for awhile. That's a good looking holster. Who made that one? Update:Now that I look at it a little closer, it looks like it might be a Little Bear that you've added the clips to. I really like the idea of having the Kydex clips with multiple holes. That would give me some flexibility to tweak the ride depth and cant just how I want it. Right now, K&D is probably my leading candidate for my next holster.

I called to check on mine and they requested that I fax in a copy of the application. They didn't mention anything about the certification, just the yellow form. I faxed it on 9/2/08. The story I got was that there was a bottleneck in their process for scanning the application forms. After faxing this in, the lady told me I should get the permit in 2-3 weeks. We'll see.

That makes me feel a little better to know that somebody else was requested to fax in their yellow application. Since my confidence in the process is already low, it didn't make any sense why I'd been given instructions to fax in the application. However... looks like that actually helped.

Yep... I miscounted and stand corrected. It was day 59.

I was printed and turned in the paperwork on 6/30/08. Day 57: The representative who answered said that she didn't have a computer on her desk, so she would take my number and Stephanie would call me back. No call back. Day 59: This time I spoke with Linda. Her first response was that "we're on a 90 day cycle..." I nicely dug a little more and she looked a bit more and confirmed that all of my background checks are complete. I said "Oh good, that means I should be getting it soon, right?" Well, not according to Linda. The next step is that the application has to be scanned. Unfortunately, that is in another area and their system is down for maintenance until at least Tuesday. She can't do anything until my application is scanned. For now, it is probably in the stack down there and they have no way of predicting when it might make it into the computer. She told me that if I could fax her the application on Tuesday, then she would be able to move it along. This definitely feels like the run-around, but I'll go ahead and fax it to her as she requested. Can't hurt I guess. Geez... This is the craziest process I've ever seen. I've made three rounds of calls. Never talked to the same person twice. Never went away feeling like I had really gotten a straight answer.