Buying Guns on Wednesdays

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I just realized I had unintentionally, or at least subconciously, fallen into the habit of buying all my guns on Wednesday afternoons. Here in the Peoples Republic, we have a 10 day waiting period - or 240 hours from the time of purchase - before we can take our guns home. So buying a gun at 4pm on a Wed. allows me to pick it up the following friday afternoon and have a weekend at the range to get sighted in or run a few hundred rounds through it.

Today, I'm looking for two things. One is a levergun in a deer caliber, either .30-30 or .35 Rem, maybe even .357 or .44, I'm not sure yet. The other thing I'm picking up is a Remington 870 Express.

"You don't already own those basic tenants of every gun safe in America?!?! WTF, dude, I thought you were into guns?"

I only own one levergun, a Marlin 1895G, and it's chambered in the ultramanly .45-70. I also own several shotguns for sport and hunting, including a Benelli Nova that whoops the Remingtons ass hands down. So why would I be purchasing these new guns?

My parents. They live in a fairly remote area of the mountains, up around 4000ft. They get cougars, bobcats, deer, occasional boar and lots of coyotes and other varmints on their property. Lately, mountain lion activity has been at a high, with several sightings within about a 1/2 mile of their property. Add to that all the deer attacks I wrote about earlier, and all of a sudden my folks are worried about not having guns in the house.

Not that I let them move up there unarmed, understand. I got my dad a Lefevre Nitro S/S 12ga to hang above the mantle and shoot anything that bothers them, I put a couple .22's in the house, and I "lent" them a couple of 9mm pistols to keep in the nightstands. To me, that sounds pretty well prepared. Not to them.

They're worried about a cat getting a hold of their dog. We love that dog like family, so I can see where this may be disconcerting. They won't let her go out alone after dark anymore after my mom heard a cat scream, so they walk her with flashlights and a blinky thing on her collar. My dad wants a rifle in case he needs to make a more precise shot than the double barrel will allow. My mom wants a pump shotgun to scare the illegal immigrants and drifters that cross the property.
"So go buy one. They're only a couple hundred bucks."

"But I wouldn't know what to get."

"Just ask the sales...never mind. I'll get it."

So, I'm going shopping. I'm going with an 870 for them because a) they're both right handed and don't need the tang safety, b) they're on sale, and c) I've never had a bad one, but I did get a lemon of a Mossberg 500. I think the 870 is the quintessential American shotgun. I have literally worked on one with nothing but garden tools and managed to fix it. The levergun is just self-explanatory. I'll add some hi-viz sights and dial it in, buy some Powerpoints for it, load it and put it in the cabinet and never worry about it again.

Off to the shop in a little bit. I hope the credit card is up to it. I still haven't decided if I'm going to ask that they pay me back, or if I'll just consider these on lease.

More

I call BS. California changed the forms again, and for some reason I have to wait until Saturday to pick it up. I ended up going with a Benelli Nova Tactical and ordering a Marlin 336C in .35 Remington. My folks should be pleased. I am. Hee hee...new toys!

Disclaimer and Note: California and Federal law prohibit "strawman" gun sales. This post deals with the gifting of longarms from child to parent and parent to child, whereas neither fall into prohibited categories, without documentation, which is expressly allowed as per California Penal Code 12076(c). FAQ here.