Just a reminder.

From KCSteve, a reminder (via Head's Bunker.) that there are Bad People out there.

Gentleman in Georgia has his (very nice) Luger collection stolen while transporting it to a gun show.

Bad for all the usual reasons. Any readers in the Southeast US who frequent gun shows or watch the classifieds for guns should carry this list around with them - especially if you see a new vendor selling Lugers.

BTW - the ATFE people have thoughtfully provided a form (not required for anyone) to record your personal weapons on that captures the data law enforcement and your insurance company would like to have in the event your weapons are stolen. I note that it is *nowhere* near long enough for the Castle.

I know I take a risk by talking about the collection, and it doesn't take rocket science to figure out where I live. One of the reasons I started the blog was to get "out of the closet" so to speak - to show people that normal people you meet in everyday life may just have a basement full of guns, yet aren't that dangerous. I'm doing okay with that, I think - well, except for the 'normal' part.

I've actually gotten positive comments from people who really did think that anyone with as many arms as we have here at the Castle pretty much had to be a dangerous, if not deranged, individual. Job holding, solidly middle class, over-educated me broke a paradigm for them.

But, reality is - you can figure out where we are, which *is* a risk. Of course, Precautions Have Been Taken, both passive and active, that extend beyond the Interior and Exterior Guard. The fact that the Armorer actually prefers beaters to museum pieces not only helps keep the cost down, it reduces value to knowledgeable thieves, and the fact that the Armorer has very little New Stuff (none, actually) and most of it is in odd, expensive, hard-to-get calibers also reduces the temptation *and* the risk to the public should the collection get stolen.

None of that will stop the Stupid Thieves, however. That's just a risk you take in life.

And there is this:

I know the fellow who owns these guns, and yes, this collection was many years in the making. He's a nice guy, very knowledgeable about German handguns and always willing to share his knowledge. Damn shame that some POS would steal from him. He's like many on this board, self employed, and selling off his collection was part of his retirement plan.

This is the second big gun collection theft I have heard of in the past few months. In the other case, they got some of the guns back and caught the guys, but not before the scum bags had sold off some of the better items.

Interesting tidbit: in the second case the collector had a C & R license, and because he had a federal license, the BATF got involved and the perps are now facing some major federal charges in addition to state charges.

So - It's time to Rerun the Notices®:

This is my basement:

It's time to drag this thing back up into the light for all you not-long-time readers. This is just a periodic post for relative newbies to the site who don't realize the real reason I set this thing up was to share my gun and militaria collection -The Arsenal of Argghhh! - with the world. I decided to move out from primary deviancy (where you hide what you are) and move past secondary (where everybody knows what you are) to tertiary - where you embrace what you are - and point out you don't know what the guy next door has in his basement... but that doesn't mean he's a nut. I did that after a friend asked me to be the guest speaker on the subject of gun collecting at my Rotary Club (which has a fair number of liberals in it) and the response was not hostile, though some were taken aback - but mostly, "Wow - that's kinda kewl, and you aren't some troll hunkered down in your basement with racks of AR15s and cases of ammo waiting for the Apocalypse..." Mind you, if you have a rack of AR15 and cases of ammo, that's fine with me, as long as you aren't (hopefully) delusional on top of that... if you are, get out more, eh? I *do* have cases of ammo, but they aren't stored with the weapons... But be damned if I'm going to spend the money on new-made when there's all the nice surplus fodder out there! But that experience, along with being poked by Beth and Jonah to blog, is what got the Castle established, back on Blogspot, almost three years and 1,077,000 uniques ago.

As the blog has morphed over time, now and again I've gotten a little too wrapped up in the politics and the war - and, well, yes, work, too - and I've strayed a bit from my roots. A lot, really. Well, that and the great parties the Denizens throw in the comment sections now and again... It makes it fun when sometimes it's real work to maintain.

I don't believe that I make the mistake that many celebrities make - that my opinions on things political somehow matter more than others. Not really. This is more the equivalent of standing on a soapbox at "Speakers Corner". And you have to come find me - I'm not infesting broadcast media. You *ask* my server for these packets.

Anyway - for you guys who are here because you heard that John of Argghhh! actually sometimes talked about guns and militaria - here's the navigation map to The Story So Far. They link to the appropriate archives by topic. I'm (still)working a new post on the evolution of the Vickers Machine gun - but these things take time! In fact, here's proof - I have the collecting jones so bad that I actually tracked down this - an actual Australian Army inventory sheet - so that I could fill this (procured buck-nekkid empty five years ago) so that it looks like this.

Hi-res click here.

Anyway - here's some linkages to the discussions - where it says "The Arsenal" is a link to the photo-archive. (always available on the sidebar) - the rest are links to the blog archives.

Rifles
Pistols
Sub-machine Guns
Machine Guns
Gun P0rn: A Naughty Expose' of the fiddly-bits.
Artillery
Grenades
Helmets
Ammunition
General Militaria
Guns by Nation

And, of course, there is always the direct link to the Imperial Arsenal itself!

Visitors should also note the following caveats:

Periodic Goblin Warning (SM)

As a service to Goblins who are considering Seizing The Arsenal (this excludes LE types: y'all come with a warrant, knock [no no-knocks, please, the front door is expensive], take what the warrant specifies and we'll talk about it in court - just please take care of 'em, you know, periodic cleaning, oiling, etc. They're used to being spoiled like that) here is a periodic warning on Why Trying To Steal My Collection Isn't A Good Idea.

Note to thieves trying to figure out where I live: Once you do that, you've got to get past the living interior and exterior guard, the security system (hint, cutting the phone and cable WON'T help), and finally, if I'm home - me. WonderWife (TM) v3.x is also right handy with the Winchester M97 trench gun. I like that one because it's handy, will blow you into large chunks, but not pass through the walls of the house to annoy my neighbors. Hardwood floors, so clean-up is easy. I'm a reasonable fellow, if you surrender meekly or run away, that will be fine. Not interested in killing or maiming anyone unless you are dumb enough to attack me or my family. The furry members count as family, BTW. Do that, then I will clean the gene pool. Plus guys, impressive as it looks, it's not as valuable as you might think - and it would be very hard to move, since you would be flooding the market. Not to mention the fact that every dealer within a (classified) radius would have a list of serial numbers and descriptions within 24 hours (ain't the internet great?). Oh, yeah - did I mention that robbing licensees is a federal offense? The feds don't go overboard after little stuff, but whacking this collection would likely garner their interest - so choose your accomodations! Plus 'bangers won't like these - the ones that look like they can shoot a lot - can't, and many of them won't work properly if you hold them sideways like they do in the movies.

So, go find an easier target, eh? No - better yet - get a real job that has better fringes.

Periodic Disclaimer for anti-gunners and law enforcement surfers (I don't mind you LE types) Heck, I don't mind the anti-gun types until they start trying to send LE types to take 'em away... here we go with the Periodic Disclaimer (TM):

Everything you ever see in photos here that I own is fully legal to own, federal, state, and local - WHERE I LIVE! Your mileage may vary, such as living in the Borg Collectives of California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, etc. Though ya might be surprised to find out what's legal where you live. I am a licensed collector (which isn't a license to collect, just to receive via the mails), and that only applies to curio and relic firearms. Fortunately, that's about all I want to own.