Category: All About Guns
A trio of New York City gun owners say the city’s gun registration requirements and waiting period require
them to traverse additional administrative hurdles to acquire guns legally.
MANHATTAN (CN) — A group of New York City gun buyers asked a federal appeals court on Tuesday to reinstate their Second Amendment challenge against the state’s administrative gun licensing requirements, which they claim infringe on their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
Charles Mills, Craig Sotomayor, and Braden Holliday sued New York City in 2023, claiming regulations like the city’s 90-day waiting period to purchase firearms, background checks and the ban on possessing a backup concealed handgun limit are “absolute bar — even if temporarily — to their right to have and bear arms.”
Holliday, a Bronx resident, separately challenged the city’s imposition of purportedly exorbitant application and renewal fees as a restriction on his ability to possess arms.
He says New York City’s licensing and renewal fees, at $428.50, “grossly exceed” the $10 statutory cap imposed on every other jurisdiction in state, with the exception of Nassau County on Long Island.
Their case was thrown out at the motion to dismiss stage in December 2024 by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, who concluded that “none of the predominantly administrative regulations here operates to permanently deprive applicants of their right to own and carry firearms.”
Appealing to the Second Circuit, the gun owners claim Rakoff misapplied and misunderstood the text, history and tradition analysis under Bruen to be applied in Second Amendment challenges, and the viability of constitutional challenges to “exorbitant licensing fees.”
“Reversal of the district court decision is required here, because at the 12(b)(6) [motion to dismiss] stage Second Amendment challenges, the issue is only whether the law is being challenged affect the plaintiff’s right to acquire, possess and or carry arms,” attorney Amy Bellantoni told the three-judge Second Circuit panel during oral arguments on Tuesday morning.
Bellantoni told the panel New York City’s administrative constraints on gun purchasing “go right to the very heart of the plain text of the Second Amendment, which is the right to keep and bear, to have and possess, and right to acquire is necessarily wrapped up within the right to possess, because without the ability to acquire, then you have no possession and no carriage, you have no defense.”
U.S. Circuit Michael Park, a Donald Trump appointee, queried what the injury from the licensing fee and registration fees entails for gun buyers.
“We’re not at the stage right now yet where the city needs to justify requiring a permission slip, but I will say that the harm there is that without the ability to acquire at the point of purchase, my client has been harmed,” Bellantoni said. “He’s not been able to acquire the handgun and carry it and possess it for self-defense at that moment.”
Park also asked how mandatory waiting period was different from a presumptively permissible administrative delay for a background check.
Bellantoni said a waiting period of five to fifteen minutes to run the buyers’ background check would be sufficient.
“Now, 30 days, it’s not reasonable,” she said. “What are we waiting for? They’re already eligible law-abiding people, and now they have to be like children. You know, wait until they get permission to take their property out of the store. It makes it’s it makes no sense.”
Jeremy W. Shweder for the New York City Law Department meanwhile urged the panel to affirm the lower court’s dismissal, arguing the gun owners lack standing or their claims are moot.
“Plaintiffs have not adequately alleged that there are no set of circumstances under which the challenge regulations would be valid,” he told the Second Circuit on Tuesday. “Plaintiffs essentially argue that they satisfy their burden at step one merely by saying that there exists a firearm regulation and then pointing to the Second Amendment.”
Shweder said the buyers had not plausibly argued that the 90-day waiting period, an anti-trafficking measure, infringes their acquisition to the point of infringing the keeping or bearing of arms for self-defense.
“Stepping back, the anti-trafficking law is not a bar on the acquisition of firearms,” the city wrote in its appellate brief. “It is not a bar on keeping or bearing firearms; and it is not a bar on where firearms can be carried. It simply regulates the pace of additional firearm acquisitions by requiring someone who has just acquired a handgun — and may already have many more — to wait 90 days before purchasing an additional one.”
The city noted the Second Circuit has already upheld the constitutionality of the $340 licensing fees in Kwong v. Bloomberg, and that Bruen specifically contemplates licensing fees as long as they are not so exorbitant as to deny the right to keep and bear arms.
U.S. Circuit Judges Debra Ann Livingston and Reena Raggi, both appointed by George W. Bush, rounded out the panel, which did not indicate how or when it would rule.
Farm life lends itself to a different type of personal threat that needs an adequate defense strategy.
This is the reason you need a snake gun if you like in the Deep South. Agkistrodon piscivorus, the cottonmouth water moccasin, is a venomous serpent that gravitates toward bodies of water. (Photo provided by author.)
This deep into the Information Age, it’s getting tougher to justify firearm purchases from a practical perspective. Home, vehicle, and personal defense are perennially pertinent.
Hunting in much of the country is obviously also still a thing. However, with urban sprawl inexorably encroaching on many of America’s vast rural spaces, the probability that you might need a firearm to defend yourself or your space against predators is shrinking. However, that doesn’t mean the need no longer exists…
One Step Away from Tragedy…
My farm and my wife are the only two really good investments I have ever made. We live half an hour from the nearest proper town in rural Mississippi.
If I can’t pee in my front yard without irritating the neighbors I really don’t want to live there. In short, I do like my space. Our backyard is a seven-acre lake I built a quarter century ago.
Back when we were homeschooling the kids, that lake was our swimming pool, fishing hole, science lab, and playground. Flipping the aluminum Grumman canoe over and using it like a submarine made for fun on an apocalyptic scale.
The only serious downside was all the blasted water moccasins. The scaly monsters breed like rats. Glancing out over breakfast and seeing one of them placidly trawling its way across the lake like some kind of Imperial German battlecruiser just made my skin crawl.
Even now the thought sends a bit of a shiver down my spine.I know that there are those among us who feel that venomous serpents are really our friends—like slithery fanged puppies.
They opine that we should just happily coexist with these vile deadly creatures. Screw that. I have treated venomous snake bites as a physician and seen what that stuff does to human flesh.
I have also personally had them stand their ground and choose fight over flight more than a few times. If nothing else, I just have little interest in stepping on one of the blasted things in the dark. I exterminate them on sight. I feel no guilt over that. We built the lake. They wouldn’t even be here were it not for us. That and Mississippi is certainly not suffering any particular shortage of the scaly beasts.
My seven-year-old scampered out onto the back patio barefoot in the early morning cool in search of mischief. I tagged along, because playing outside with your kids is the most fun a human male can have doing anything–no exceptions.
As my spawn leapt down the steps in unfettered glee, I saw him. The cottonmouth was pushing three feet long and was coiled up like a rope with its bilious white maw showing. That little pink foot was on a collision course for a whole pile of venomous pain. I snatched my son up by the arm in the nick of time, scaring the holy bejeebers out of both of us.
Author with his Tactical Solutions 22 LR out on patrol. (Photo provided by author.)
Posting my boy as a lookout, I jogged inside and grabbed the first gun I came to—a cut-down Remington 870 pump-action 12-gauge with four rounds of birdshot in the magazine and an empty chamber.
I racked the action and had the gun ready by the time I got back to the snake. Moving my kid aside, I drew down. For about half a minute, we had ourselves a moccasin standoff.
The serpent was coiled up on the topmost stone step of several that led down to the water’s edge. I wanted to kill the snake, but I didn’t want to blast my patio to pieces in the process.
After a bit the snake turned tail and struck out for the water. I drew a bead on the spot just past the steps intending to decapitate the monster when the moment was right.
When the big snake got to the end of the steps, he dove straight down into the water, depriving me of a clean shot. In frustration, I just ran down to the water’s edge and emptied the 12-bore into the rushes. I was rewarded by a spectacular shower of mud, water, and snake guts aplenty. Best. Day. Ever.
Particulars
Author hunting venomous snakes on his property with a hand 12 ga shotgun. (Photo provided by author.)
I have killed a total of 64 moccasins in the backyard thus far. I keep a tally. We used to have a problem with beavers murdering my wife’s dogwood trees.
We also have a cyclical problem with feral dogs. They run in packs and don’t wear collars. I typically wouldn’t care so much about that, but they have approached my wife on two occasions growling when she was outside in the yard by herself. Two legs or four, nothing growls at my wife without earning my attention.
I write for gun magazines. As a result, I have access to a wide variety of weapons to deal with these sundry rural challenges. Along the way, I have made some interesting discoveries. These revelations have informed the selection of firearms I maintain within arm’s reach.
Snake Guns
This cut-down, side-by-side 12-gauge was my primary snake gun for years. It is quite effective but has a limited range. (Photo provided by author.)
I originally used a variety of 12-gauge shotguns. The Mad Max side-by-side pistol in a homemade shoulder rig kept me company on my walks. A autoloading riot gun stood ready to cover the lake.
However, it is 68 meters from the patio to the far side of the pond. I have found from experience that this is too far to reliably snuff a water moccasin with a scattergun. My current snake gun is a sound-suppressed TacSol X-Ring .22 rifle with a Leupold optic.
I keep the gun cleared with a loaded 25-round magazine alongside for safety. It is a simple thing to charge the rifle as I jog out to the battlefield. T
his rifle is undeniably expensive. The MSRP for the gun alone is a whopping $1,671. However, it shoots like a laser and is completely hearing safe without muffs. I once used this weapon to shoot the head off of a moccasin while it was swimming across the lake at more than fifty meters.
With a decent sling, the X-Ring is easier to carry than my old 12-gauge pistol. It also gives me 25 rounds on tap. I’ve never come home with less than fifteen. It would also theoretically do a job on other threats should the need arise. I once saw a man kill a 6-point whitetail with a Ruger 10/22. I wouldn’t recommend that, but it can be done.
Counter-Dog Systems
Another option for a short-barrel shotgun. (Photo provided by author.)
I despise venomous snakes, but I like dogs. I have little interest in causing any lasting harm to our canine friends. However, I can’t have them harassing my bride, either. The answer to this quandary was found not so much in the gun box as on the reloading bench.
A Lee Load All 12-gauge Shotshell Reloading Press is a paltry $79 off of Amazon. It’s the best value in the American gun world. Shot and powder charges are determined by the use of plastic bushings, and you can mount it in a workshop or even a storage closet. Components are not expensive, and the thing is pretty stupid-proof. The finished product is factory neat.
The Lee Load All will set you back $79 on Amazon. It produces lovely reloaded shotshells. (Photo provided by author.)
I have used my inexpensive Lee Load All to make cheap short-loaded, low-recoil BB rounds for my stubby 12 bores. I have also used it to craft home-rolled flechette rounds using GI-surplus darts. The machine’s real forte, however, is counter-dog rounds. These are standard 12-gauge loads packed with 6mm plastic airsoft BBs.
Loading 12-gauge rounds with 6mm airsoft BBs creates some superlative non-lethal counter-dog shells. (Photo provided by author.)
You still need to use a wad, and those can be legitimately lethal at intimate ranges. However, out past seven meters or so, these loads will indeed just liberally dust a belligerent hound’s flanks.
This is adequate to dissuade any amorous designs they might harbor toward my own farm she-dog as well. I keep a box of these home-rolled anti-K9 shells handy next to the gun. I’ve used them maybe half a dozen times in the past twenty years and have yet to have a repeat customer. Avoid the eyes, and it’s no harm, no foul.
Serious Stuff
Any decent 5.56mm AR will handle basic farm security needs. This BRN-4 parts gun from Brownells is an accurate copy of the vaunted HK 416 at a fraction of the price of a German original. (Photo provided by author.)
Any decent 5.56mm AR variant will handle the weightier farm threats. The local cops are all my buddies, but they’re at least fifteen minutes distant on a good day. For that first quarter hour of a home invasion, I’ll be on my own. Fret not, I’m totally good with that.
This is the gun that gets grabbed if the dogs don’t get the point with the plastic stuff. It will also do for pigs when they come wandering through eating absolutely everything.
It was just such a smoke pole that solved our little beaver problem as well. There’s a reason the US Army has used the 5.56mm round for some six decades now. We forever prattle on about stopping power. I’ve seen a lot of people shot, some of whom were shot with rifles. None of them seemed happy.
Life Lessons
We all love optics on our practical guns. However, store your gun in an air-conditioned space and then drag it out into the jungle that is a Mississippi summer, and that optical sight is worse than useless.
The air down here in July is so thick and so wet you can rip off a chunk and gnaw on it. Any optical sight will instantly fog over the moment you take it outside.
As a remedy, I prepositioned an old blow dryer on an extension cord by the back door. I pause to blast the glass on my sights front and back with the hair dryer before leaving the house.
I do the same thing with my camera when I’m heading outside to shoot outdoor gun pictures. This takes about 15 seconds if done properly. Raising the temperature of the glass just a bit is adequate to prevent condensation. Everything in life is physics.
Similarly, it’s always a good idea to wipe your guns down when you bring them back in prior to putting them away. Repeated cycles will tend to promulgate rust and corrosion. I also rotate my ready ammo from time to time for the same reason.
Ruminations
Despite all of our civilized trappings, there are still places in America where you might genuinely need a utility firearm. Folks in urban spaces will most likely not encounter an enraged grizzly bear. However, denizens of Kodiak Island don’t have much of a carjacking problem, either. Different spaces, different missions.
We rightfully grouse about America’s onerous gun control laws, but ours is the purest form of freedom to be found anyplace on Planet Earth. We are blessed to live in a place that, with a few exceptions, allows us access to the tools we need to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe and secure come what may. The specific particulars are also, coincidentally, simply great fun.
I like how the White Officers led a Bayonet Charge with cigars in their mouths Grumpy
Categories
What I call ugly & soulless
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The small handgun, properly carried in a pocket, is becoming a more-popular option among those who
carry concealed defensive firearms. Photo: Brent T. Wheat
There was a time when carrying “protection” in your pocket had a different meaning, at least to a randy 18-year-old guy. However, for those who are old enough to know better, the more common reference refers to keeping a small handgun concealed in your pocket as a means of protection.
Meanings
First off, before we get too wrapped up in semantics, there is no precise definition of what a “pocket gun” is or isn’t. Depending on your physical size and the style of your clothing, a pocket gun might be anything from a .22 derringer to a .45 ACP semi-automatic pistol or, really, anything. In my general estimation, most folks think of smaller guns chambered in .380 ACP or 9mm, though the term can cover a spectrum of calibers. There are even pocket .44 sixguns. Just ask John Taffin!
Just like every other “new” trend in shooting, pocket guns have been around since firearms were first invented. In the 1800s, no gentleman felt fully dressed without his pocket derringer to deal with ne’er-do-wells while some desperadoes cut down black powder cap-and-ball revolvers to keep as a literal “Ace in the Hole” in case of a bad deal at the poker table.
Pocket pistols have been around as long as handguns have been around! Photo: Alan Garbers
Though there were notable exceptions, smaller firearms of the past tended to suffer from reliability problems or were simply inferior quality, while the available ammunition had terrible terminal ballistics. With improvements in both firearm and ammunition technology, there has been a small resurgence of interest in this mode of carry.
Nowadays, it’s rare to find a really poorly-made firearm on the market, so even the smallest of guns tend to be reliable. Meanwhile, better ammunition has made smaller, less powerful cartridges perform significantly better on the receiving end. While not the first call for cops and counter-terrorism teams, having a mouse (gun) in your pocket is a reasonable choice for self-defense — within certain parameters.
Downsides
Better quality guns and ammunition have leveled the playing field somewhat but there are still major drawbacks with small pocket guns due to those pesty, non-negotiable laws of physics — less velocity (less wounding ability) due to shorter barrels, limited ammunition capacity, shorter sight radius and smaller grip and controls. These last three factors make pocket guns more difficult to shoot accurately.
In fact, here at GUNS, we often rail against the widespread misconception an airweight .38 revolver — a common pocket gun — is a great choice for novice shooters and arming spouses. Nothing could be further from the truth! Such guns are very effective in the hands of an expert but are nothing but a marvel of frustration for an inexperienced shooter.
When considering pocket carry, the question boils down to which is more important in your situation: concealability and convenience or having the ability to shoot larger bullets more accurately?
In most cases, concealability isn’t a critical factor and when it is, there are better, super-concealable ways to carry guns. The choice of a pocket gun, thus, frankly, boils down to a matter of convenience. However, unlike some uber-tactical authors, I’ll agree choosing NOT to be armed to the teeth at all times — including when in the hot tub or while undergoing surgery — is a reasonable lifestyle choice for most folks. It’s your life; live it how you want. Sometimes, this means picking a pocket gun.
And, please don’t lecture me on how I’ll be nothing but a victim carrying a little popgun when the squad of active shooters storm my local farmers market. At least I’ll have a gun, which is more than many people can say because it’s pretty obvious a large percentage of “CCW people” don’t carry a gun most of the time. To me, this is a far more critical error than the flavor of your chosen piece or caliber.
Since they’re more difficult to shoot accurately and often lack major advantages in the ammo department, I consider pocket guns mainly as a tool to expedite your escape from imminent harm. Someone else with a bigger gun can go hunting the bad guy(s). Essentially, to me, a pocket gun is better than a rock or club, but not by much.
Having said this, I also frequently carry a pocket pistol as a backup to the larger weapon concealed elsewhere or carried “off body.”
A pocket holster is simple-as-simple-gets. This Falco Black-Hawk is made from suede to anchor
it in your pocket during the draw. Photo: Falco Holsters
There are also synthetic pocket holsters. Most of these use some type of gummy surface treatment to anchor them,
such as this Falco Carey model. Photo: Falco Holsters
Don’t Drop In
When headed out the door, it’s a simple matter to drop a small gun into your pocket and go forth armed, with far fewer hassles than carrying a bigger handgun inside your waistband. However, I don’t mean literally mean “drop.” Putting any firearm, regardless of mechanical safeties, loose into a pocket is the height of folly.
The likely result is a negligent discharge and a bullet into your thigh or someplace even more sensitive. Pockets are the natural habitat of things like key rings, pocket knives, small flashlights, lip balm, money clips and all sorts of other pocket garbage, all of which will fit nicely within an unprotected trigger guard. Move the wrong way just once, and you get a real surprise in your pants. You DO … NOT want this to happen.
Fortunately, along with better ammo and gun choices, there are now many great holster options. Aside from the important matter of trigger security, the other main goal of a pocket holster is to keep the outline of the gun from being seen (“printing”) through your clothing. Therefore, heavier construction is better than lighter materials.
They even make pocket holsters for subcompact 9mm with an optic, such as this Simply Rugged Opti Grab holster.
Photo: Simply Rugged Holsters
Even if you carry inside-the-waistband, having a spare magazine secured in your pocket with this
Simply Rugged Pocket Mag Pouch makes for faster reloads. Photo: Simply Rugged Holsters
A pocket holster should also have a means to keep it from being withdrawn from the pocket when the gun is presented. Some use a non-slip surface or suede to grab the pocket lining, while others use an integral hook design to keep the holster in place. I’ve carried all the different types, and all seem to work fairly well. Fortunately, since pocket holsters are really nothing more than a fancy pouch, they’re fairly inexpensive, so the inevitable process of buy, try, buy another, try another is less painful than for belt holsters. If your current pocket holster is lacking in some way, just find another one until you hit the sweet spot for you.
If you plan to start using pocket carry, you owe it to yourself to actually try it on the shooting range. This can be off-limits for some ranges, so you might have to do dry practice at home. Regardless, if you haven’t made a significant number of practice presentations from your new rig, you’re really shortchanging yourself. Sometimes, it can be eye-opening the moment you discover your gear or technique just isn’t up to the task.
Ultimately, pocket carry is a great way to stay armed at all times without the hassle and discomfort of carrying a larger rig. While it’s not the optimal choice for a deadly confrontation, at least you have a fighting chance because you are armed. Pick a “decent” pistol of “reasonable” caliber, stoke it with high-quality ammunition, place it into a quality, tested holster, and then rest easy because you’ve got some solid protection in your pocket.
Even a teenager can understand that!
General Delivery
Horsethief, NM
(Sunday Night)
Alex Bartimo, Editor
Shooting Times
Box 1790
Peoria IL 61656
Dear Bart:
This isn’t actually from Horsethief. I’m camped in the big timber about halfway up the side of San Miguel mountain. Saint Mike, we call it. You may not be able to read my poor handwriting because of the the watermarks on the paper. I know I should be weeping about missing the deadline on this month’s gun review, but I’m sorry to say these splotches weren’t made by tears.
Rain and snow did that.
I’m trapped here, and it’s my own fault. Down at the house in Horsethief, I contracted cabin fever. No pals had visited in more than a month. I don’t take a newspaper (you can get bad news anywhere). I’d read every book on the place at least twice, and Horsethief has no library or newsstand. We get one television station from Albuquerque via a repeater in the mountains, and it runs Bozo the Clown, As The World Flips, intriguing situation comedies about the family problems of New York taxi drivers, and wilderness stories about mountain men who feed themselves and their pet mountain lions with mushrooms and rosehips gathered in the dew.
My set is still like new-it never gets turned on.
The fact of the matter is, I was bored stiff when I got this foreign .380 you wanted shot and decided to make it my excuse to come up to this big stretch of forest belonging to a friend of mine. I was going to stay a couple of days, shoot, and drowse in the sunshine.
Didn’t work out that way.
I like to carry extras, so I packed my old pickup with sleeping bag and big tarp, groceries for two or three days-including canned corned beef hash, chili con carne, coffee, bacon, eggs, and a sack of fresh biscuits. And one jug of Henry McKenna redeye to ward off the weeps around the evening fire. Luckily, I also brought a Coleman camp stove and lantern because I planned on cooking on an open fire.
I stowed the camera equipment, figuring on getting pictures of .380 on tree stump and (using a selftimer) heroic poses of my classic profile looking off into the horizon.
The trip up was nice. Plenty of sunshine. Few melting snowbanks left from winter. Jeep road a little tough on pickup, but made it to campsite okay. Strung lariat rope between two trees and wired end of tarp to it. Made lean-to. Took rocks from clear, cold stream and built fireplace. Gathered enough dead wood to last two days. Unrolled sleeping bag, laid holstered Ruger .44 beside it. Was home.
Built fire, had hash and biscuits, raunchy coffee. Took tot of McKenna while looking at stars. Wondered what city folks were doing. Turned in early.
Up before first light. Drizzling rain. Get GI poncho from truck’s toolbox. Trouble getting fire going with wet wood. Pour on Coleman fuel. Burn fingers…..Biscuits, bacon and coffee.
Sitting in lean-to, I examine new .380. Most unusual. Called the Mama Mia. Made in Costa Rica by Hijos de Basura, S.A. and imported by Larson E. Rippoff Inc. Homossa Springs, Florida. Price: $469.98. About five inches long. Ten-shot staggered magazine extends one-half inch below butt. Double action with pull of approximately 20 pounds; single-action pull about 25 pounds.
Shiny plastic grips. Shiny plastic trigger guard (combat style). Shiny plastic sight rib and sights. Rear sight adjustable for windage. One click equals 12 inches at 25 yards.
Extra 48-shot magazine is curved. Might not do much for feeding but looks jazzy, making pistol five inches long and 1 ¼ feet deep. Optional flash hider and grenade launcher supplied with my review gun. Extras cost only $189.98.
Many cast parts in pistol. Nothing wrong with well-cast parts, but these of somewhat lesser quality than lead soldiers I made as a boy.
Can’t shoot, must wait out rain. Wait all day. Except for small supply under tarp, wood is soaked. Crank up Coleman stove. Chili and biscuits. Wish had brought tortillas and refried beans. Hit sack early. Sleeping bag feels damp.
Third day now. Raining harder. Decide to go home. Dismantle camp, pack truck. Trouble starting engine. Drive 10 feet from camp on muddy trail, skid, nose into boulder. Rear wheels spin. No four-wheel drive. No tire chains. Stuck. Rebuild camp. All wood wet. Hunker around Coleman stove. Things have to get better. Feast on bacon, eggs, soggy biscuits. Long pull at Henry McKenna, then dream in wet sleeping bag. Fourth day. Bear sign around truck. Glad I hadn’t woke up. Might have made mistake and shot bear with .380. Wish I was in Horsethief, watching taxi driver program. Still no interest in mountain man and lion.
Go to stream for coffee water and wash. Bank full, running fast, water chocolate brown. Wash in muddy water and get gallon jug of emergency water from truck. Use sparingly. Going nuts.
Sun peeps through in afternoon. Rain stops, but pickup still stuck. Grab opportunity to shoot the Mama Mia. Staple dry targets from toolbox to big conifer pine. Have W.W. R-P, and Federal factory loads. Load 10 round magazine. Brace against tree now. Squeeze off first round at target. Low/left in 7 ring. Empty case smokestacks. Feed next round into chamber manually. Not on paper. Now shooting low/right 6s. Go through 20 shots, all hand operated. Group is high, right, low, left, 16 inches (diameter of tree).
Forty-eight-round magazine loaded and put in place. Will not feed first round. Note for first time that loading ramp is very steep-about 45 degree-and narrow. Get screwdriver kit from toolbox and dismantle pistol.
Many tool marks inside shiny exterior. Horseshoe rasp, maybe. Springs all piano wire type. Apparently from very small piano. After some difficulty, reassemble and try 48-round magazine again. No dice. Big magazine apparently meant to be handy place to carry ammunition.
Shoot single shot for a while. Groups don’t improve. Curious square holes cut by bullets. Perhaps due to quadrangular rifling in bore. Try all brands of ammunition. Results the same.
See squirrel munching acorn in nearby tree. Very fat. Squirrel out of season, but I get an evil idea. Rations low. Squirrel rolled in biscuit crumbs and fried in bacon drippings would be great morale builder.
Sight seven inches high and left on squirrel with Mama Mia. And miss. Squirrel munches acorn. Hold upper right quadrant or rodent. Does not disturb dining squirrel. Working slide by hand, fire five quick shots. Squirrel looks on with interest. Think of going for .44 Magnum, but don’t believe squirrel tail and ears would make good supper.
Fifth day. Grub low. Biscuits turning green. Hunting squirrels, porcupines, and even bears with .44 Magnum. Mighty hunter in magazine articles; dripping dud in wet forest.
Sixth day. Definitely in deep trouble. Old bones won’t stand up to 40-mile walkout. Wife home from Flower Arrangers Convention in Santa Fe by now. Will find me gone and cats unfed. Will be mildly irritated. Probably throw things. But she will call friends in State Police and Forest Service. They will check out jails, hospitals, then Kelly Canyon, Desert Saloon, El Paso. Then they will settle down to look for me. Shouldn’t be longer than one more day….
Down to dregs of coffee by seventh morning. Broken clouds. Mama Mia WD-fortied and put away. Reading labels on empty hash cans. Stomach growling.
Suddenly hear chopper working way up canyon. Use Coleman fuel. Make smoky fire. Helicopter hovers, lands in mud near pickup. Pilot is Dick Shaw, a State Police friend.
Embarrassing situation. Shaw disgusted. Dismounts from machine, walks toward pot of weak coffee, gets dirty cup, and drinks. Sees I’m cold, wet. Gives me a cigarette.
“How’d you get yourself in this fix, Skeeter?”
Mutter something about big job I had to do-caught by weather. Shaw not at all sympathetic. Says he will radio for four-wheeler with chains and winch to come get me. Will probably cost at least $100. I say okay.
Shaw blasts off. I start breaking camp again. Must go home and face music. Will mail this letter tomorrow.
Might be just as well if this was one gun review that didn’t get printed.
Su amigo,
Skeeter