Thursday - January 01, 2009

Playing by the rules

I will be doing a bit more gun posting this year. Artsy gun porn when I find it, range reports when I can make them, updates on all the dumb laws and bills when I learn about them. It won’t be a daily thing, but I hope to drop at least one per week. We’ll see.

I’m going through the pistol permit application here in NJ right now, and it is both easier and harder than I figured. But once I get it, I have to figure out what to buy. I’ve decided to approach it as if I’ve never done this before, just for fun. I got the forms and filled them all out honestly. I already asked the state cop who did my paperwork all the naive questions. I found out he processes about 90 applications a year, which isn’t very many since his area covers about 9 small towns around here. He shares the duty with another officer, so my guess is less than 200 people a year go through this. I’m also guessing the population of all those little towns might total 10-15,000 people. But the permits don’t expire in NJ (though you do get only 90 days to buy something), so over the years the numbers add up.

When I finally did meet with him - it took almost a month to match our schedules - he said mine was his 3rd session that day. I put on my special I-live-under-a-rock face and asked the young fellow if he’s seen a surge in applications since early November? “Are you kidding? I’ve done more of these in the past 2 months than in the whole year before that. People think this new guy is going to outlaw all the guns. I don’t think it’s gonna happen ... well, not in his first term at least; he’s gonna be too busy with other stuff.” I said that I’d been thinking about it for some years, but that was my motivating factor as well.

So we’ll see how it goes. I’ve made my appointment for digital fingerprinting next week. After that it’s just a matter of waiting for the reports to come back from the FBI and the state background check folks. Then I have to figure out what to purchase. Right now I have to go pick up another little $2 money order, because I can get more than one pistol purchase card on this background check iteration. If I wait another week, or more, then I’ll have to pay another $18 for another background investigation. At least I can get a 90 day extension for free; buying 2 guns inside 90 days is a bit more cash than I can budget. Thinking the officer’s statement about the 2nd investigation through, I gather this means my fingerprints will be staying in the system. I’m not thrilled with that, even if they go in some other “non-criminal” file. Just so long as my face doesn’t appear in some CSI episode as they use their magic cop-puter to do a multi-point match on a set of fingerprints in 3 seconds against a database of 70 million records.

I’m sort of leaning towards a very small pistol right now. Something small and light and not too expensive. Perhaps that Bersa Thunder, or the little Ruger or Kel-tech .380s that are almost the same. If I buy a 2nd one, it will likely be a .22 for practice. Something for semi-serious target work. I have to do my research there; my knowledge of .22 pistols is about 25 years out of date. I gather a Colt Woodsman doesn’t cost $75 anymore ... hell, it ain’t even made anymore I think. So maybe a Ruger Mk I? Heck, they’re up to Mk III on that model. I’ve got to do some research! Good thing I’ve got 3-5 months to do that before the permit comes through [/sarcasm].

Posted by Drew458     on 01/01/2009 at 11:50 AM   
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control •  
• Comments (12) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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