Gun Show

Here it is. The very first gun that I have ever owned. I am told that calling a rifle a gun is as unpardonable a sin as referring to a battleship as a boat, but whatever. Now I have something that shoots bullets and can be used to properly dispose of nazis and communists.
In case you are wondering, it is a 1943 Lee Enfield Rifle No4 mark 1* .303 bolt-action repeater, a British rifle produced in the United States presumably under the "Lend Lease" program. I did a little research beforehand and decided that the Lee Enfield was the weapon that I wanted. It fit all the right criteria. It's supposed to be powerful, accurate, durable and within my price range. Also, it's over 50 years old and it counts as a collector item so it doesn't require all of the typical hassle and paperwork of gun ownership in California. This one is in good shape with good rifling and matching serial numbers all the way around. I got it for $300 cash out-the-door which was the upper limit of my budget and about what I expected to pay. Here is a close up of the markings on the side that you probably can't read anyways.

I bought this at a gun show over the weekend. I had never been to a gun show before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I had done my research on the Internet and had planned on making a purchase if I found the right weapon at a price I could afford. It was my understanding that gun shows in California are supposed to be stricter than anywhere else in the country. Only licensed gun dealers can make sales of any kind, and all weapons are inspected and recorded prior to leaving the show. The police are supposed to be present to monitor and check everything that goes on. Handguns require background checks and waiting periods and no one can buy without ID. Californians take their gun control laws very seriously. You will notice the green sticker on the stock of my rifle. That is the green sticker of gun control safety. As long as that sticker is there everything is under control, and therefore safe.

It used to be that California had the gun show loophole that allowed criminals to purchase weapons at gun shows and get around all of those pesky background checks and waiting periods. True you can still purchase a shotgun or rifle with out as much hassle, but there is still documentation and certain rules that need to be followed. With new legislation in 2006 that is supposed to limit the sale of weapons to criminals at gun shows, the rules are supposed to be even more restrictive. You are not even supposed to be able to make private party transactions without brokering the deal through a licensed gun dealer that documents the transaction. That's all true according to my research at least. The reality that I witnessed while there seems a might bit less formal. I was under the impression that the host of the gun show venue would give a damn about the law. Apparently everyone at the gun show really only cared about the orgy of weapon purchasing that went on there.

The green sticker ceremoniously placed on the end of my newly acquired vintage rifle was the only attempt at gun control that I was to observe that day. The green sticker does not signify whether or not I am eligible to own a weapon, it merely distinguishes the weapons that are sold from the weapons that are not sold. Only weapons with green stickers on them are allowed to leave the convention center. The green sticker of gun control safety is really only keeping the pockets of the vendors safe in an attempt to reduce theft. God help us if the criminals at the gun show figure out that there is no green sticker control in effect in California. You can just buy regular old green stickers at the drug store if you want and nobody asks you any questions or checks your background or looks at your ID. I expect that before long there will be a gun show green sticker loophole fiasco in congress. Anybody can just buy green stickers and then walk into a gun show and green sticker guns willy nilly all over the place causing the local authorities to mistakenly identify those guns as being acceptable to be outside of the convention center.

I completed my business with a man whose face I cannot recall, and whose name I never knew. After a few assurances that it was a good working weapon, money changed hands, and the rifle came into my possession on a handshake. To complete this recordless transaction the green sticker of gun control safety was applied to the stock, and out the door I went. Like a good citizen, I was prepared to offer my driver's license and newly stickered rifle for inspection to the officers on duty. They seemed annoyed that I was bothering them. I think that mostly they didn't care who came in or out of the convention center or what they were carrying. The green sticker of gun control safety was ignored as well and turned out to be about as effective a gun control measure as all the rest. Basically I could have gotten my rifle for free if I had been opportunistic enough.

So I am excited about my rifle and am looking forward to firing it at something in the near future. A neighbor of mine that also owns a similar rifle has taken the time to look it over and assures me that I did well. He even has some extra ammo laying around, which I understand is expensive and not so easy to come by for this rifle. That's the only real draw back that I can see to the Lee Enfield.

The only thing left to do now is to load it and see what happens. Hopefully the only thing that ever ends up getting shot is a practice target...or maybe if necessary a communist or two...or maybe even if Karl happened to get shot somehow (that wouldn't really hurt my feelings too much in the long run). We'll see.