As I’ve mentioned before, the Mormon theory behind why they let non-LDS use their food storage facilities is something along the lines of being a good neighbor, god would want us to, etc, etc. But there’s the equally plausible reason that if the neighbors have food and supplies they won’t come to your demanding yours and you won’t have to do something ugly.

While stumbling around the blogosphere, I found this:

This guy is your enemy.   (During the Collapse, that is.)

He doesn’t seem like it; in fact, he looks kind of wimpy.  He’s not a jack-booted Homeland Security trooper breaking down your door to take your guns, so he can’t be a threat, right?

Wrong.  Dead wrong.  He’s a bigger threat to most of you than the government.

RTWT. I’m not quite ready to believe that in a crisis everyone is my enemy. However, I am not naive enough to believe everyone is my friend.By and large, my neighbors just figure I’m that cranky old man down the street…like Clint Eastwood in ‘Gran Torino’. I’m sure they know I’ve got a few guns in the house, but this is Montana…it’s the rare household that doesn’t. However they have no idea about the food, fuel, meds, communications, batteries, etc.

My policy with the neighbors is basically this: be friendly, but don’t be their friends. I’ll be the neighbor who shovels your sidewalk when I’m shovelling my own, help you carry something heavy from your car, let you borrow the lawnmower, let your family park in my space when they visit for Thanksgiving, etc, etc….but you’ll never see the inside of my house, know what my views are, or anything else that should remain private. If someone asked my neighbors about me they could say I’m helpful, fairly polite and considerate, and thats it. They couldn’t tell you who I voted for, where I work, what food I like, or anything beyond what you learn waving at someone when you pass them on the sidewalk.

If a crisis comes along, my neighbors have no reason to think that my situation will be any different than theirs. And from a security perspective, that’s exactly how I want it.

Anyway, it’s an interesting post in an interesting blog and it’s worth a read, IMO.

(Miami, FL) –Taurus USA announces their new Taurus® T4SA at the 146th annual NRA Meetings in Atlanta, Georgia. Taurus USA, a leading manufacturer of innovative design in the firearms industry, is reinforcing the company’s commitment to American-made quality and ingenuity. The Taurus T4SA is a lightweight gas-impingement 5.56mm semi-automatic carbine that boasts superior reliability and durability.

Hmm…this can open up a deliciously diabolical philosophical debate: it’s the end of the world and you can only grab one of two guns – either a HiPoint 9mm carbine or the Taurus AR.

I can literally jump into my email and order, right this moment, at least three different American-made AR’s for less than $600 ea. Even when you drift into MSRP country, you can still get a decent AR for less than $750. Taurus is going to have to price their product significantly below that if they want to capture any share of the AR market, IMO.

And, according to this source, the MSRP is $1200. Madness.

My experience with Taurus has been almost nil. Taurus is, to me, one of those guns you buy only if you literally have no other option. (Or you want a disposable gun to leave someplace where it might get lost/stolen/destroyed.) I had a buddy with one of their Beretta 92 clones and it was a decent enough gun, but with trade in Berettas going for around $350 these days why bother South American quality control and non-standard magazines?

Oh, thats right…I’m one of those ‘yuppie survivalists’  who can’t grasp the real issues the way ‘us working men’ do. Hey, if ‘yuppie’ means I’m willing to make the sacrifices to buy quality gear the first time around, so be it. There’s a solution to not being able to afford ‘yuppie survivalist’ gear – either earn more money or spend less money elsewhere.

Thus far I haven’t seen any of these Taurus AR’s floating around, and my vendors don’t show them at the moment, but it will be interesting to see how they are received. The AR market is already pretty saturated, and unless you’re bringing something new to the table it is going to be hard, I would think, to draw any appreciable market share unless you have a radically different pricing schedule.

The AR market is such right now that you can buy two brand-name AR carbines for what you’d pay for one of those Taurii at MSRP. The only reason to spend more than a grand on an AR these days is if it has some really sweet options on it…match triggers, special furniture, high-end scope and mount, etc, etc. Right now, though, you can get rack-grade M4geries all day long for less money than I’ve seen them go for in a long time.

Another reason I love living in Montana –

Doorbell rings and it’s my neighbor from across the street. He hands me a  couple containers of Accurate #9 and Accurate 1680 and says “Here. I don’t load anything anymore that uses these.”

See, that’s the sorta thing that gets me taking the snowblower to your sidewalk in the winter for free.

Cleaning up around the shop and found half a case of the .22 magazines.
Guess I’ll open up the link again in case anyone needs more. I thought I’d got rid of all of them but apparently my housecleaning is so bad that a slew of .22 mags can wind up hiding from me for a month.