Thursday, April 7, 2011

Stuff You Wish You Could Get (UPDATE at bottom of post!)

Recent updates: 
You probably know I got an 8gb iPhone 3Gs recently, that I've had a job for a couple of weeks after a long time of not having one, etc. 
I am also going to try to get a job at McDonald's to work mornings , since my current job at the pizza restaurant is only from the afternoons evenings, and today I only worked for around 2½ hours. (yes, Ara, I doubt I'll really like it, but it's close by)


Sorry for the delay...this post is taking way too long to get finished, as usual, but I'll see if I can finish it tomorrow.
Here's a bit more for now to give you a clue as to what this post will be about:
If you're like me in the way that you like knives, guns, and other stuff like that, stay tuned (if not, stay tuned anyway, since I might put a photo at the end of this post and might link this up to a photo challenge as well).


Finally, Part I: Guns
Ladies and gentlemen, we can now get started. Here are some of the guns I wish I could have that the all-knowing government lawmakers have decided aren't for people like us. I can only play with them on my iPhone's iGun app and wish I had the real thing...


I'll make a note here that many "illegal" firearms and firearm accessories such as automatic weapons (pre-May 1986), suppressors, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and "destructive devices" like the Vietnam-era single-shot grenade launcher known as the "Thumper" are able to be legally acquired by civilians, with some prerequisites. First, you must be 21. Second, to get an automatic weapon (machine gun) or possibly a "destructive device" (I'm not sure about them, though), the gun must have a serial number from May 1986 or before. Unfortunately, there are a limited number of pre-1986 guns, so the ones available for sale aren't cheap - things like the HK51 and MP5 can cost around $20,000-30,000, whereas submachine guns that look like they were basically stamped out of sheet metal such as the M-10 (MAC-10) can cost "only" about $5,000. 
Not only that, but a lot of the really cool and sophisticated automatic weapons are new, not from the 1980s. 
Next, I'm pretty sure all you have to do is pay $200 per item (a one-time thing for each item; not an annual fee) for a NFA/Title 2 license or stamp or something like that, fill out the various paperwork, and wait.
You have to give your fingerprints if you go about the process the normal way, but I believe if you get the item as a trust (the preferred method), corporation, or LLC, you skip the fingerprints part and also have the option of putting someone else's name on the list, so if someone such as a spouse or other family member might be using the gun, suppressor, etc., they can legally do so.


In case you were wondering, I'm no expert on this subject. However, after scouring the Internet and various forums, I'm pretty sure that the popular idea that if you get the stamp/Title 2/NFA license/whatever it is, ATF agents can enter your home or wherever the items are thought to be located, without a warrant, is wrong!
I've read that agents can pay you a visit any time they feel like - if you are a federally licensed NFA/Title 2 dealer - but not if you are an ordinary citizen; obviously, the license for owning a Title 2 weapons and being a dealer of the said weapons are two very different things. Although civil rights are constantly being eroded, to my knowledge, if any agents want to gain entrance to your premises when you have a Title 2/NFA weapon, they need a warrant, or you can basically tell them to "Get off of my turf." Well, you could try that even if they had a warrant, but I certainly wouldn't recommend that option. I've rambled way too much and probably didn't make my points well, but I hope you got some sort of an idea of what I was trying to say; it did take me a fair amount of time.
Update: I just checked Wikipedia, and it appears I was right: "The M-10 was built predominantly from steel stampings.


Anyway, here is the first gun in our lineup: the AA-12, a 12-gauge, fully-automatic shotgun engineered from the ground up for military use, unlike regular shotguns that are simply modified for combat applications. 
In case you haven't already made the determination for yourself, this gun is awesome. If you like explosions better than just the smoke from a 12-gauge shell, just switch to the grenade shells, which are accurate to a much larger range and needless to say, are considerably more devastating than buckshot. 
In the event that one isn't enough (which would be a pretty bad situation, considering someone with one AA-12 is essentially a one-man army already), stick two on a turret (called "The Hammer") and you can control twice the firepower from the safety of a vehicle or elsewhere. Gizmag has something funny to say about the said turret under the "Other Applications" heading. (I would have copied and pasted it and given credit but I don't want to worry about copyright issues)  




You may have noticed that I used parentheses and ramble a lot...my writing style might not be the most professional, but I'm not trying to write a book right now; that might come later.


Now to the second gun in my/your/our dream arsenal (it is yours as well, isn't it?).
The FMG-9 looks like a laptop battery, flashlight, or something similar (including a VHS, but who carries those around nowadays?) but it unfolds to become something quite a bit more intimidating than a laptop battery. While I don't think it's currently being manufactured in numbers (and might not ever make it to production), it won't matter to most of us anyway. 


Next up, we have the KRISS, which fires .45-caliber rounds (consequently, it has much more knockdown power than a SMG like the the MP5, as that gun uses a 9mm bullet), but like the AA-12, it has almost no recoil. It also looks pretty cool, in my opinion. And did I mention that its firing rate is around 1500 rounds per minute? (that's fast, people)




The last gun on this short list is the M32 Multiple Grenade Launcher (embedding disabled). If one 40mm grenade (such as from the M203 single-shot grenade launcher often mounted under M4 combat rifles) doesn't cut it for you, get yourself one of these, which can shoot six rounds in rapid succession. Also, it can be outfitted with a wide variety of 40mm rounds, including the Hellhound, which is twice as powerful as a standard 40mm high explosive grenade. In other words, KABOOM! 


I could make this list ridiculously long and include everything from the extremely impractical, such as a minigun or the Mk19 grenade launcher (both of those have to have mounts; there's no way you could fire one handheld), to the somewhat more practical, such as the FN SCAR or XM25 smart grenade launcher, but then I'd probably never finish this post and wouldn't get to part 2. 


And now, Part 2: Knives
There are a lot of knives I like, but while some are legal, carrying them is quite another matter, and having a knife just to keep at home doesn't make much sense to me. The same thing kind of applies to a gun; even though I could technically be given a handgun right now, I could only keep it on our property, and I'd rather wait until I can get a concealed carry permit at 21 (and by that time I should have enough money to afford a Sig for $500-600). 


Some of the knives in the "legal but not-so-legal-to-carry-around" knives include several from Cold Steel:
1) The Extra-Large Espada 
Being able to pull this massive folding knife out of a pocket in case of danger, hooking the thumb plate on your pocket so the 7½-inch blade opens in one motion, with a click! and being able to say, "You call that a knife? This is a knife!" and be taken seriously by an overly aggressive person would be very cool - not that I recommend brandishing any sort of weapon to "look cool" unless you want it confiscated and a possible free pass to your local jail. But even to have a knife in your pocket that big would be pretty neat, in my opinion. "Bigger is better," as they say... ;)


2) The Colichemarde dagger
This knife just looks nice, and it resembles the daggers worn by V in V for Vendetta to a fair extent, so imagine if you got a "V" costume and had six of these instead of props...that would probably make for some interesting self-portraits.


3) The Tai Pan
A broad point designed to resist breaking, a tsuba-style handguard, a steel pommel, and a checkered Kraton grip (kind of like rubber) probably make this dagger a very effective combat knife.


Now we get to the part of the list that consists of non-regularly-legal knives.
First, there are the OTF (out-the-front) double-action automatic knives made by Microtech, Benchmade and other companies. If they were legal for "regular people", those would be very cool to have; just going click, click as the switch makes the blade go out and back in to the handle would put regular folding knives to shame. Contrary to popular belief, a double-action OTF knife relies on momentum for the blade to go all of the way in and out of the handle, and since the spring doesn't push the blade all the way out, it would not be able to puncture much other than paper if the handle was placed on the object/target and the blade was released. I'm not making much sense here, am I? Anyway, one knife that could probably puncture something (within reason, of course) when the handle was put on it is the next knife.


Lastly, we have the ballistic knife. Unlike double-action OTF knives, the spring in the ballistic knife can only send the blade out of the handle; it can't put it back in. However, it can probably puncture something things it's placed directly against, and true to its name, when the blade is unlocked, the blade can shoot from the handle and become a lethal projectile. Unfortunately, it too is probably illegal everywhere, although there might be exceptions, just like the  
This image was on Wikipedia, so unlike the other things I linked to, I don't think there are any problems with copyright issues with it.


Update:
I forgot to include the very knife I was going to have be the basis for this post, so here it is:
The WASP Injection knife
I'd include more info about this one, but I've written an awful lot already and have to get ready for work, so read the info on the knife's website if you want to learn more.

I think I'll end this post here. I hope you enjoyed it, found it informative, or at least didn't think it was an absolute waste of time. If you consider it only a slight waste of time, I'm fine with that. :)
Now go back to work so you can save money for a new Sig (like this one) and a suppressor. ;)
But if you really are interested in suppressors, check out AWC and Advanced Armament.
The former makes things like .22 bolt-action rifles that are so quiet you can only hear a click, as well as detachable suppressors such as one for a .50 that reduces the sound to about that of a .22, and Advanced Armament makes lots of cool stuff as well. I'm thinking I might get some suppressors someday, after I have guns to put them on and money to spare...

13 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Dun dun DDDUUUNNN!!!!!! (eagerly awaits rest of post)

Kala said...

Congratulations on the new phone. I have a Palm Pre Plus and it's the bomb.

Maximillian said...

Elizabeth,
I'll try to finish this sometime soon...sorry to make you wait.

Thanks, Kala. :) It is pretty useful.
I'm somewhat curious as to which country you live in, but if you don't want to say, that's ok.

Anonymous said...

I like things that go BOOM, so I'll stay tuned. :) I have fascinations with guns. Probably comes from playing all those war games with my brothers instead of playing with dolls. While most girls were having tea parties I was out saving the world with my brothers. :) Actually, it probably comes from watching too much Star Trek. :\ At the age of 6 I was conquering the Borg. Ehhhh...you probably don't know who the Borg are. meh.

As to headphones [mentioned on the last post], I think my dislike of earbuds comes from the fact that my ears are smaller than normal. Lots of people tell me my ears are small. So earbuds never feel as if they fit: my ears get so terribly sore. My sister Pepper had the same problem...but she finally got over it when she bought her ipod and stuck with the earbuds. I usually use the "over-the-ears-behind-the-head" kind of headphones. Anyways, sorry to ramble. :)

Best wishes for a great Saturday & Sunday!! :)

-Ara

Maximillian said...

Haha. I've heard of the Borg...aliens who assimilate and all that, but I don't watch Star Trek.

Ah, I see. I think I know what kind you're talking about. The hook-on-ear type are good for running since earbuds can fall out of your ears...

Thanks; you too. :)

Maximillian said...

Oh, and Ara,
There's no need to apologize for rambling; I like nice, long comments. :)

Elizabeth said...

Wow, I'm not knowledgeable when it comes to weapons at all, but even I know 1500 rounds per minute is absolutely insane! Haha, I loved the "[if it]gets nasty, get down to business" bit :D. The Espada is beautiful… and those ballistic knives are awesome and really scary at the same time. Imagine them in the wrong hands? It'd be too easy to do too many things one shouldn't do xD. And you actually made sense about the momentum/spring/handle explanation. I don't know how on earth to rephrase it, but I understood it :). My (older) brother recently got a new toy, a Mossberg 500 12 gauge tactical shotgun, in addition to his DPMS Panther AR15(one of them has a shortened barrel, though I can't remember which it was). Are you familiar with either of those? Anyway, this was interesting :). Oh, and I'm the queen of rambling and parenthetical statements, so no worries xD.

Maximillian said...

Oh, you really think all sorts of illegal weapons aren't already in the wrong hands, since we all know criminals obey every law, like good citizens? ;)

So you like guns too? :)

My dad has a Mossberg 590 12-gauge pump action with a few improvements/accessories such as a different stock and a shell holder on the side...if the 500 is similar to it, I have an idea about what it is. The AR-15 is good if you don't like recoil (I have shot them before), but I don't really like them; I think they're rather boring compared to a bunch of other guns. After all, the M16 design has been around since the '60s. Newer models are being made with a gas piston (rather than a gas impingement system) like the AK-47, so it's much more reliable and less likely to jam. If you're unfamiliar with those terms, I could go into detail somewhat even though I don't know all that much about them, but I've got to go to work in a few minutes, and Wikipedia would almost certainly do a better job of explaining that I would.
Thanks. :) BTW, I added one more cool knife that I forgot to add to the list, even though it was the one that made me think of writing a list like this...

Allison said...

Hmmm... I think would consider this post just an ALMOST slight waste of time.... since in my family I already hear enough about guns and knives ect. enough already:) lol
You are a great photographer! I wish I was patient enough to learn how to take beautiful pictures!!!
~Alli :)
p.s. that "Lego" thing below is hilarous! And double P.S.-- I feel for ya with your car problem. ;)

Anonymous said...

that ballistic knife!!! Man if I had one of those I'd carry it around in my purse! :) [I'm dangerous, I know. :D] But all the cool toys have to be illegal. I need to remember this and put them in my book. :)

To answer your comment on my blog that you left days ago [sorry, for taking so long to reply!!!], I have heard of Final Fantasy but never played it. I have a folder of Lightning pictures for references, so yeah she influenced my sketch. :) But I'll never be able to describe completely what Awel's outfit looks like, so the only connection most people will get is with Awel's weapon. I've figured out some twists to put on the rife/sword combo so that it won't seem like I'm totally ripping off FF. :) Anyways, weapons are kinda fair game to writers - no one would kill you for using lightsabers in a non-Star Wars book. :)

Thanks for the comments. They never fail to make me smile. :)

-Ara

Maximillian said...

Ara, so Lightning was your inspiration for Awel in some parts. :) I saw her shorts as well, which Lightning also has, and thought they had some similarities. Thanks for getting back to me; I'd assumed you were really busy or something. Well, I'll say more when I get the chance - a tornado knocked out electricity and cell service, so I'm writing this from a church family's house where we had church today (using their wireless network on my iPhone).

Maximillian said...

Ara, I could go on and on, about butterfly knives (balisong) and many others...

So Lightning was your inspiration for Awel in some parts. :) You just saw her on the cover of FF XIII, or knew about her some other way?

Well, it wasn't just her sword/gun that I thought reminded me of Lightning; there was also her shorts, the "I needed to be strong" aspect of her personality and maybe something else as well.
Thanks for getting back to me (better late than never); I'd assumed you were really busy or something.

Maximillian said...

Alli, thanks for the comment!
Sorry for taking so long to reply; I tried to reply to your comment multiple times, but my comments got accidentally deleted, went poof when the tornado knocked out power, etc. At my church as well as in my family, guns, knives, etc. are popular topics. :)
Although I'd disagree with you (I don't consider myself even a good photographer yet, but I hope that time will come soon), I apreciate the compliment. If you'd like to learn more about how to improve your photography skills, digital-photography-school.com is a good place to check out.
I'd say more, but then this comment might end up disappearing like its predecessors.