{"id":4596,"date":"2021-05-12T17:22:59","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T00:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jessicaeblack.org\/everythingelse\/?p=4596"},"modified":"2021-07-24T17:01:25","modified_gmt":"2021-07-25T00:01:25","slug":"how-to-buy-a-gun-in-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jessicaeblack.org\/everythingelse\/2021\/05\/12\/how-to-buy-a-gun-in-california\/","title":{"rendered":"How to buy a gun in California (and ammo)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For the last month, I have been seeing a lot<\/strong> of snakes. Too many of them have been rattlesnakes. It didn’t take long for me to want a gun. I had lots of advice (see below), and I finally bought one a few days ago. Before the memory of the experience fades, I wanted to blog about how to buy a gun in California. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(See my only other post about guns, from 2015: What are we afraid of? Guns, gun control, & fear<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warning<\/strong>: This post is meant to be humorous. If you take your guns or your gun control too seriously, you might want to skip reading it. Or alternatively, you can have a lot of fun writing a comment. I promise to share all (but no vulgarity please!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jump to:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Snakes, or why I bought the gun<\/a>
Deciding on a gun<\/a>
Finding a gun<\/a>
Purchasing a gun<\/a> (Requirements, tediousness…)
What’s that about ammo?<\/a>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Periodically–every 2-3 years or so–throughout my life, I’ve felt the urge to get a gun. For one reason or another, the desire has always left me before I actually made a purchase. Previously, I always wanted a Glock. Glocks aren’t really meant for snake-killing though. So this time, I wanted a revolver. (Yes, a shotgun might be better, but I wanted something small and easy to carry.) This time, I’ve bought a gun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was I just waiting for an excuse that wasn’t “Glocks are cool and I’d like to exercise my right to bear arms?” Maybe. The certain thing is that there are many snakes this year. As an added incentive, I ride alone all the time, in cattle ranches in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. (All about those rides and their purpose<\/a>.) A gun could be useful to put down a suffering animal, scare off wildlife, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land of many snakes<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I killed my first rattler–slithering behind the house where I walk down to the horse corrals at least twice a day. It was not<\/em> fun. My boyfriend who carries a revolver with snake shot, wasn’t home. There was no shovel within easy reach (even though we must have 8-10 shovels around the place). The only thing I could find without leaving the snake unattended was a crowbar<\/a>. I tried to drop the crowbar on the snake’s head (or right behind it), but I ended up pinning it by the “tail.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That just made it angry, and what had been a calm, placid snake started rattling and trying to bite me. Fortunately, it was good and pinned. I grabbed a nearby paving stone and dropped that on it, breaking it’s neck. Or back. Whatever. As you can see in the video below, it still<\/em> refused to die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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