Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (January 2007, week 4)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Sun, 28 Jan 2007 15:11:13 -0600
Reply-To:     John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject:      Re: Guns guns and more guns
Comments: To: Nathaniel Poole <npoole@TELUS.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <C1E22E0A.3786%npoole@telus.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Same was pretty much true when I was in Alaska. In the major cities - Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, lot and lots and lot of guns - final frontier and all that stuff. But lots of city folk also DID NOT have guns. But get out in the back country - away from the bigger cities, into the smaller communities, both on the highways and in the bush, there were guns all over. Handguns and long guns. I had a room full of guns, but only 4 that were personal to me. The rest were for sale, as I was at the time a licensed gun dealer. Sold to locals in the bush who supplemented their meat locker by hunting. Many people I knew carried hand guns as last ditch bear protection, especially when fishing streams.

BTW, I once owned a rifle made personally by Roy Weatherby - one of his earliest. - a 30-06 built on a Mauser action. It had a very low serial number - something like 116 or 119 on the barrel. I traded for it in an Indian village in the western interior of Alaska. There was only a piece of a stock, which I removed. It was nearly burned off. Fire in camp or something. Muzzle end of the barrel was slightly damaged. I kept it for years, finally sold it to a friend who was into big game hunting - Safari's to Africa, etc. he sent it to Weatherby, and Weatherby installed a new barrel re-chambered to a Weatherby 300, and stamped it with the original serial number, and installed a new wood stock of a type used on the original gun - screw bean mesquite. It was georgous. After it was all done, Weatherby did not want to return the gun. He kept it nearly two years. Offered my friend his choice of rifles from the catalog - even trade. Finally Weatherby relented, and returned the rifle. My friend still has that rifle, and it has been twenty four years since we made the trade.

So far as travel with a gun is concerned, one has to weigh the risks. I suspect that there is more risk of traveling with a gun, than without, simply because the presence of one gun against another raises the potential for violence. To be robbed at gunpoint is bad enough, but to oppose one gun with another is almost a sure way to get shot before one can respond with ones own weapon. It's a tough issue, and to each his own solution.

Regards,

John Rodgers 88 GL Driver

Nathaniel Poole wrote: > Thanks all to everyone who responded to my concerns regarding gun > experiences while traveling. The conclusion I arrived at is that while the > question is really too large, it comes down to odds being small, but they do > exist and like many folks said, you have to use common sense. And whenever > one ventures into the unknown, one is always taking risks. All the more > reason for doing so. Just wish I hadn't read all those southern gothic > novels ;) > > And for what it's worth, we in Canada have our own armed, anti-social > rednecks, but in our case the further you are from major urban centres, the > more likely you are to run into them. > > Nathaniel > > >


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.