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The Most Wanted Gun in America (NY Times article on the AR)
NYTimes ^

Posted on 02/05/2013 5:37:52 PM PST by Red in Blue PA

THE phone rings again at Pasadena Pawn and Gun, and a familiar question comes down the line: “Got any ARs?”

The answer is no. Pasadena Pawn and Gun, a gun retailer and pawnshop 15 miles south of Baltimore, is pretty much sold out of America’s most wanted gun, the AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. Since the massacre in Newtown, Conn., in December, the AR-15, the military-style weapon that the police say was used in the shootings, has been selling fast here and across the nation.

Before Newtown, the rifles sold for about $1,100, on average. Now some retailers charge twice that. At Pasadena Pawn, on the wall behind glass counters of handguns, are three dozen or so AR-15-style rifles. Dangling from nearly every one is a tag that says “Sold.”

“The AR-15, it’s kind of fashionable,” says Frank Loane Sr., the proprietor. His shop has a revolving waiting list for the rifles, and a handful of people are now on it. “The young generation likes them, the assault-looking guns.”

....

Another feature of the AR-15 is that it can be easily personalized and accessorized.

“You can take the whole gun apart and replace any part you want to without special tools, without knowing a whole lot,” says Tim McDermott, a range officer at the Personal Defense and Handgun Safety Center in Raleigh, N.C. “They are Legos for guys.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: awb; banglist; guncontrol; obama; secondamendment
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To: Travis McGee

41 posted on 02/05/2013 7:01:50 PM PST by CodeToad (Liberals are bloodsucking ticks. We need to light the matchstick to burn them off.)
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To: Red in Blue PA
Coincidentally, I was shopping for an AR on that day, but before the news reports started, and decided against the Colt AR at Walmart for $1,200, thinking I could get a better deal.

Should have bought it when I had it in my hands. No going back to that moment in time now.

42 posted on 02/05/2013 7:06:03 PM PST by GBA (Here in the Matrix, life is but a dream.)
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To: yarddog

***** “I think the shortage is not going to last all that much longer for ammo. This is a small wal-Mart and their long gun display was full. I did notice no ARs and they had 4 of various makes on display for months.” *****

Shelves are bare here ... bought their last box of 22 short just because they had them. They had a few random 12 and 20 GA (Target) and (1) box of 7mm... and that was it period.

TT


43 posted on 02/05/2013 7:06:09 PM PST by TexasTransplant (This needs to go viral http://vimeo.com/52009124 please watch it)
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To: Graybeard58
I've read dozens of articles about the shooting. Some say he left the rifle in the car trunk, some say he used it in the shooting. We may never know the truth.

We know the truth. He used an AR in the shooting and left a shotgun in the trunk. The articles saying he used pistols were all based on one media mistake.

Try applying some critical analysis skills rather than just throwing your hands up in despair.

44 posted on 02/05/2013 7:11:10 PM PST by Strategerist
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To: Red in Blue PA

Sorry... Clarification

***** “I want an M-14 (just can’t afford it) it has great sentimental value and it is what I consider the ultimate weapon of protection.

There are many “OTHERS” I can’t afford, many I may pick up from the field... a few “OTHERS” that I just want... because I MAY NEED or want them.” *******

I may have been vague in my earlier response

TT


45 posted on 02/05/2013 7:13:02 PM PST by TexasTransplant (This needs to go viral http://vimeo.com/52009124 please watch it)
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To: 3Fingas

I have several Wieger’s


46 posted on 02/05/2013 7:17:48 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: Strategerist

***** “I’ve read dozens of articles about the shooting. Some say he left the rifle in the car trunk, some say he used it in the shooting. We may never know the truth.

We know the truth. He used an AR in the shooting and left a shotgun in the trunk. The articles saying he used pistols were all based on one media mistake.

Try applying some critical analysis skills rather than just throwing your hands up in despair.” *****

Don’t give a crap ... the piece of metal, the tool, the object called an AR did “NOTHING” ... it was the Libtard that murdered... and that is a subject that will be discussed in the very near future... “What is the difference between Killing and Murdering of a Human Being”

MSM will distort and end up defending every POS murderer... just to help Zero Confiscate all Guns... wait and see

TT


47 posted on 02/05/2013 7:21:34 PM PST by TexasTransplant (This needs to go viral http://vimeo.com/52009124 please watch it)
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To: mylife

I have a Century Arms Golani sporter in .223. The Israeli Galil was a refinement of the Valmet which grew from the Kalashnikov and the Golani is the semiauto version.

I love it. All steel, machined rcvr, a little weighty but Tapco mags help. I must be an `AK snob’. The AR just leaves me cold. First qualified on the M-16A1 in 1970, last qualified on the M-16A2 in 2010 before I retired (long story). Pure personal preference, nothing more.

Maybe it’s the AR charging handle, like a toothbrush. Forward assist afterthought. Tap, tap, pull, tap. Rotate selector to semi. Watch...your...lanes.

But grab the AK op handle & you’ve got that bad boy under control.


48 posted on 02/05/2013 7:24:07 PM PST by elcid1970 ("The Second Amendment is more important than Islam.")
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To: 3Fingas

Sure looks pricy LOL


49 posted on 02/05/2013 7:29:17 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: elcid1970

I wish I had grabbed one of those back in the day.
And a Daewoo too.


50 posted on 02/05/2013 7:32:31 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar

How about a Stirling 180? Still got it and not looking to give it away or sell.


51 posted on 02/05/2013 7:34:48 PM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: Strategerist
Try applying some critical analysis skills rather than just throwing your hands up in despair.

Who pissed in your punch bowl and when did I throw my hands up in despair?

Go piss up a rope ass wipe.

52 posted on 02/05/2013 7:38:50 PM PST by Graybeard58 (_.. ._. .. _. _._ __ ___ ._. . ___ ..._ ._ ._.. _ .. _. .)
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To: Red_Devil 232

Interesting.
I have never heard of the Sterling AR-180.


53 posted on 02/05/2013 7:38:57 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: TSgt
Frank needs a refresher on trigger discipline.

I think he was planning to shoot the NYT reporter, but later changed his mind.

54 posted on 02/05/2013 7:47:47 PM PST by Right Wing Assault (Dick Obama is more inexperienced now than he was before he was elected.)
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To: yarddog
I was in one of our local firearms stores on Saturday. Place looked like a set for "The Walking Dead" - empty racks that used to be filled with rifles and shotguns. Only rifles left are the classic wooden stocked hunting style. Only shotguns left are the real high-end jobs. There hasn't been an AR, even an AR styled rifle in the bigger calibers, in there in weeks. 9mm handguns were decimated. .40s not much better, and in .45s only the high end $1500+ or extremely cheap Taurus models were left.

Ammo isn't much better. They did have some .45 ACP which I availed myself of the opportunity to purchase. No 9mm, no 5.56mm. Though they've been getting some shipments that sell out within a couple of hours even limiting it to 2 boxes per customer.

Unless there is something artificial and intentional driving this ammo shortage I think it is going to ease over the next few weeks. People have stocked up about as much as they can afford and/or want/need to. Not many people are shooting very much. I think demand will taper off but probably remain higher than it had been before. After all, there have been a lot of firearms sold recently, and they are going to get taken to the range... Personally, if I could find it reasonable I'd pick up another 500 rounds of 5.56 and maybe a like number of .45 ACP. I'm good on 9mm, .380, and 12GA... Of course, if I got a couple hundred rounds of 5.56, I'd be out at the range next weekend and shoot it off... ;-) The backorders and shortages of firearms are going to take a lot longer to ease. I heard Stag had a 2 year backlog. I heard a rumor that S&W and Colt are just about at the point of not taking any more orders for the year, and that a major wholesaler/middleman has zero, zip, nada firearms whatsoever to ship to retailers. I figure the accessory market (eg. magazines) will ease over the next 3 to 6 months.

55 posted on 02/05/2013 7:48:06 PM PST by ThunderSleeps (Stop obarma now! Stop the hussein - insane agenda!)
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To: mylife

$350 for the magazine conversion < (Ten circle 10 x $50) = 500

10 Mags per weapon is a good starting point.

Never have to worry about finding suitable mags again...assuming the mag hysteria abates sometime in the future.


56 posted on 02/05/2013 7:48:28 PM PST by 3Fingas (Sons and Daughters of Freedom, Committee of Correspondence)
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To: GBA

I passed up a Colt 6920 right after the election. Instead I picked up a S&W M&P15 (the 2nd S&W AR I own) because I got a smoking deal on it ($650 after rebate). The S&W is a decent rifle, but sometimes I wish I had spent the extra $400. No use crying over spilled milk. I was able to get a bunch of Vickers Slings, some excellent iron sights, and a few magazines for the amount I saved between the two models.


57 posted on 02/05/2013 7:57:22 PM PST by 3Fingas (Sons and Daughters of Freedom, Committee of Correspondence)
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To: mylife

Armalite, produced in Sterling England.


58 posted on 02/05/2013 8:02:55 PM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: 3Fingas

Oh Rub it in!

Sweet deal... now find ammo

TT


59 posted on 02/05/2013 8:02:55 PM PST by TexasTransplant (This needs to go viral http://vimeo.com/52009124 please watch it)
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To: TexasTransplant

The time to stock up on ammo is before the inevitable panic.
;-)

You can occasionally find cruddy Tula steel-cased ammo. Also, if you get up very early and work out some sort of arrangement with the stock clerks at Wally World or Academy Sports, you may be able to get a few boxes of .223.

Forget reloading, you can’t find the components right now.
That is another thing to stock up on before the panic.

Don’t worry about it though. I think the ammo supply will slowly return to normal in the next couple of months.


60 posted on 02/05/2013 8:12:36 PM PST by 3Fingas (Sons and Daughters of Freedom, Committee of Correspondence)
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