Hopefully no one else out there is trying to buy a gun at this point, but in case you are looking to buy one belatedly, here is how to go about it. New Gun BuyersFirst, you cannot legally buy or borrow a gun from a neighbor without going to a dealer for a background check. At this time, you don't have much choice on what you can buy. Guns are out of stock, cases and shelves are empty, and orders are coming in late. You do not have the wide variety of every handgun for sale in the nation at competitive prices that you did in January. You have three choices: One, go to the store and buy whatever they have in stock. Two, go to/call the store and ask them to order whatever gun you want from their wholesaler. Three, order it online and ship it to a dealer. Going to the dealer Go to the dealer's website or Facebook page to see what their current procedures are. If you need to call, be aware they may not be taking calls due to extreme volume and general busy-ness. At the store, you will probably be asked to stand six feet apart in line. Some stores are requiring to you to glove and mask up before entering. Most stores are letting limited numbers of people in the store at any one time. Other stores have parking lot pickup for guns and/or background checks. You're not going to go to a big sporting goods retailer. Places like Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas, Sheels, and Sportsmans Warehouse are closed (because they sell more than just guns). You will need to go to your local gun store. Your local gun store may not accept new buyers. You missed your opportunity to get in line last week. They may only be servicing people who have made a purchase, but were waiting on the background check to clear. Under these circumstances, if you are allowed in to shop, be prepared to accept what they have in stock. Unless you have a concealed firearm permit (CCW) you will not be going home with your gun same-day as you can do normally. Carson City (the people who run background checks for the state) are so backlogged it'll take hours on hold, if, the gun store can get someone to answer, or days for the Dept. of Public Safety to process the faxed request. Prepare for a week of waiting. If the dealer orders you choice of gun from his wholesaler for you, the gun will have to ship from the warehouse and be processes when it arrives at the dealer. Though shipping is overnight, wholesalers and manufacturers are so backlogged that they may take days to ship. Ordering online If you bought a gun online and are wondering why the seller is asking for a Federal Firearms License (FFL), you just learned their is no "online" loophole. Firearms purchased online must be picked up at the store, or, shipped by the seller to your gun dealer. You cannot just get a gun mailed to your home (with some exceptions that probably won't apply to you). When you buy a gun online, part of the checkout process will be indicating what dealer you will have the seller ship it to. Some sellers may have a list of dealers (FFLs) that includes your dealer, or you may need to email a copy of your dealer's FFL over to the seller. Many dealers have these forms available online for download, but you may need to call others to have them fax their FFL to the seller. Be sure to find out BEFORE ordering if your dealer of choice will accept the shipment. Some dealers are refusing to accept gun shipments at any price in order to take care of their other customers first. The gun will then ship to your dealer where you can go through the fun background check process and hopefully have your gun by Easter. Can I Sell My Guns and Ammo to Make Money During the Shut Down? Can I Let a Neighbor Borrow a Gun?3/23/2020
Since January 2nd, when the ban on private gun sales went into effect, it became much harder for Nevadans hard up for money to sell off their gun collections for cash. Private face-to-face sales were made illegal when universal background checks went into effect. Many of the first-time gun buyers panicking are responsible for this law as Clark County was the only county to vote for Question 1 in 2016, which emboldened the Democratic majority in state government to ram through SB 143 in 2019. So no, you can't privately sell, transfer, or lend a gun to someone who isn't a relative, with very few exceptions (follow the flowchart and yes, we know it's confusing). The only time you can legally let someone use a gun for self-defense purposes is when the threat is imminent and as a soon as the threat is over. The law implies a scenario like an armed home invasion robbery of your house, not to a woman who is being threatened by her creepy ex (though there is room for debate). If you want to sell, give, or let someone borrow a gun who doesn't meet the exemption criteria under the law, the gun must be transferred through a gun dealer (FFL). The problem with that is Carson City is so backlogged and overwhelmed with background checks, it is taking hours, days, and even a week for the check to be run. Even private gun sales/transfers to someone with CCW has to go through the dealer/background check process. So no, you can't just sell or lend out a gun. It's not that simple anymore. Elections have consequences. As for ammo, no restrictions on that. If you want to charge your neighbor $50 for a box of 9mm, that's up to you. Though you should be generous and toss in roll of toilet paper to cushion the blow. While America is worried about the coronavirus pandemic that the government botched, anti-gun Democrats in the House of Representatives have introduced their dream bill containing every bad idea of gun control that has been floated in the past decade. Get involved and let it die now! The bill would:
Use the Firearm Policy Center's tool to email your representatives now! One of the major things that all prepper websites and manuals tell you is not to go too heavy on guns and ammo. You can't eat aircraft aluminium, stainless steel, and lead. Everyone wants to focus heavily on the sexy things like guns, ammo, and optics. I've got all that good stuff, or did, shortly before that tragic boating accident last weekend. I've also got plenty of food and essentials, but not enough. Having a month's worth of freeze dried food ain't gonna cut it for a long emergency. The 18-24 months of the coronavirus scares me, not because I think I'm gonna need that food, but because it might be that long before I can lay in a sufficient stock of long-term food. Again, this isn't because I anticipate relying on that stuff during this crisis, but because of whatever next crisis there may be. Such as, what if this crisis turns into the trucks stop rolling nightmare the survivalists have warned of? What if the government nationalizes food productions and stores? What if stores institute buying quotas? What if I can't stock up from Costco when the panic buying is over and stock is plentiful again? Hoarders are getting a bad name. Hoarders are just preppers who are stocking up too late. Early in the game or before it altogether, the system has the inventory and resiliency to accommodate the people who are purchasing large quantities of goods. Over the past month, everything would have been fine if everyone bought a little extra over the last few weeks. Then when the panic comes, most people have a cushion of a few months. That's exactly what I did. My method was to keep an eye and ear out for potential crisis and stock up when the storm clouds were on the horizon. I accomplished this in early February back when shelves were full. I goofed on hand sanitizer, but live and learn. I didn't go out last weekend and buy cases of water or years' worth of toilet paper. heck, when I did go large on anything I ordered online so as not to be "that guy" and empty the shelves. So now I have several months worth of food before I get to the emergency stuff. I don't have to go shopping until Memorial Day. I wish I had six months to a year, but again, that's a lesson I've learned the hard way. I also need to reconsider my reserves + shoot ammo supply where I replace what I shoot every few months. I was due for a purchase and didn't take advantage of the super low prices. So not only do I have to deal with the uncertainty of not having a mountain of food and ammo, but I get to kick myself for not taking advantage of low prices. As 2013 showed us, it could be years before prices for freeze dried food and ammo drops again. Time will tell. Ultimately, I failed in not buying reassurance and certainty for me or my family. As a result, I will have to continue to shop and slowly acquire my preps. Buying a lot of extra stuff right now is not responsible to the sheep that were blindsided by this. Stores are enforcing rationing of some items. My family has a little less that I do, but I've been buying a few extra things at the store for them each time I go. Over time, this will accumulate, but until it does, I won't feel comfortable. In closing, I screwed up. I feel right for the "well they aren't banning food" trap. I even saw this coming! Yes, in all likelihood we won't need to eat the emergency food and we can continue to shop as mostly normal, but it's not going to be fun or easy. When things normalize, I will never let this happen again. The Range 702 in Las Vegas is offering a private beginner safety class for new firearm owners during the shutdown and coronavirus crisis. This is huge for new gun owners who bought during the panic.
Website: www.therange702.com Phone: 702-485-3232 The Bass Pro Shops in Las Vegas was shut down Saturday by law enforcement. A local gun forum member reported that law enforcement agents from an unknown agency in suits arrived and ordered the store shut down. The store made a loudspeaker announcement that the store was closing and cited the governor's order to close non-essential businesses. It is unknown what agency responded or what the official orders were. Bass Pro Shops is one of the valley's largest firearms and ammunition retailer. Many people rushed there this past week to obtain firearms and ammo. Who knows how many people will be unable to pickup their firearm due to the closure. Bass Pro is doing curbside pickup, however, this excludes firearms. It is unknown if they will reopen the firearms section pursuant to NRS 414.155 which prohibits the government from banning gun/ammo/accessories from being sold. Bass Pro is more of a department store so it is hard to segregate gun shoppers from everything else. Also, corporate stores are reluctant to find work-arounds in these times. More reason NEVER for an informed gun buyer to buy a gun from Bass Pro Shops. We also learned that Spurlocks in Henderson was told by authorities to close, but as of today, they are still open processing background checks. The gun owners of Nevada will not stand for ill-informed police and government officials illegally attempting to shutter gun stores. The better question to ask, does your local busybody, the cops, or some idiot city official know? We haven't heard of anyone attempting to close gun stores, but if they do, you can be sure a crowd of patriots, standing 6 feet apart and in no cluster larger than 10, will arrive to protest. Many Nevada shooting ranges are closed. Clark County closed the Shooting Complex. Green Valley Range shut its range side of the operation. Desert Sportsman, Pro Gun, and the Boulder Rifle and Pistol Club have closed their gates. Reno Guns & Range is offering curbside pickup of guns (supposedly because Californians are coming in thinking if they pay enough money, they can buy a gun here). Many people are upset that the ranges are closed. For the outdoor members-only ranges, it's silly. Members have keys or keycards to open the gates. In an outdoor environment, there is little risk of transmission of the virus. And the people who are going to shoot together are likely already family or friends that will see each other regardless of the shooting ban. With some common sense, handwashing, and wiping down of any surfaces touched, outdoor ranges should be open. As for the county ranges, that takes staff to run it. The counter where you pay at the Shooting Complex and the training video room is a good way to get people sick. Contacting surfaces everywhere... Yuck. The staff doesn't deserve to catch the coronavirus that way. Indoor ranges should be closed because of lots of contact surfaces and it is a closed environment where the virus could be caught via airborne transmission. So where to shoot? Out in the desert! It's always open. Choose a good location with a backstop outside the no-shoot zones. BE SURE TO PICK UP YOUR BRASS & TRASH! The Nevada background check system has failed under ultra-heavy loads. Sheriffs' offices across the state are closing and not processing or accepting new concealed firearm permit (CCW) applications. Once the crisis has passed, we need to make changes to fix this problem so it doesn't happen again. Only the Nevada Firearms Coalition has the proven track record in stopping gun control. Among their successes is lobbying for getting rid of Clark County "blue card" handgun registration, enhanced preemption, and stopping the 2019 attempt to allow counties to make their own gun laws. The NVFAC needs your membership, your involvement, and the Political Action Committee (PAC) needs your donations! Support their training mission and their political activities. Give the Second Amendment a fighting chance in the future! Some people expressed concern that openly carrying during the current panic would be wrong. To do so, they say, would be insensitive towards those who are already frightened by the pandemic, shortages, closures, and layoffs. Others think that open carry isn't safe. First off, another person's perception is just that. Their perceptions is mostly based on internal factors; their knowledge, feelings, and beliefs. If they feared guns last month, they'll fear them today and tomorrow. Adding a pandemic into the mix and the resulting social uncertainty exacerbates their fears. Seeing someone with a gun reminds them that they are in uncertain times and facing danger. That creates fear because they probably have not resolved their own physical and defensive security. If they are secure, they are not squared away mentally. You gun is just a reminder of their internal issues. Triggering them should be no more concern to an open carrier than the driver of black Jetta should worry that he is going to remind some guy of his ex-girlfriend's car. The shy concealed carrier that is worried about sensitive people's feelings probably also has issues of his own. Many concealed carriers who poo-poo open carry haven't resolved their perception of society's perception of them for carrying a gun. There is a deep-seated reason why a majority carries concealed. People just don't feel comfortable being armed or letting people know that they are. They project this emotion, even if its a tiny one, on to open carriers. Now other people prefer to carry concealed for well-thought out reasons like being the gray man. I'm not beating up on them. This isn't about your considerate concealed carry. No, we're talking about the nervous opinionated nellies. Second, open carry for the average, aware armed citizen is perfectly safe. Open carry gun snatchings are very rare and happen to very stupid people usually who have no retention. A retention holster will make the difference. Check out the comprehensive post of gun snatchings here. |
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