Oh what happened

I found an ad on armslist.com , federal 40 sw ammo $10. per box, $200 per case. The guy wanted cash sales. So I go to the TN gun owners website and ask for someone in Chattanooga to send me a PM for this sale. Since I'll be there next week, he can front the buy and I'll pay with extra when I pick up order.
I get 47 replies from members that aren't in the Chatt town area. "What is this, you're talking in circles." I got 1 reply from a Chatt member, I sent him a PM and no reply.
Well the guy is out of ammo and I missed the sale.
Those east TN boys are a different breed of yankey.

I understand what they are saying since your post makes no sense whatsoever.

Makes complete sense to me.

Makes sense to me, too.

A whole lot of folks want to make "private sales" that they do not have to register, often for a very limited stock. They get in and get out very quickly, more or less gypsy merchants; so you missed out on the specific one you were aiming for and gave a whole pile of others a free sales lead by posting a public request. Any established dealer with legitimate license would have responded to your direct Email most likely at the very least.

This is one of the shortcoming of the "informal" (also called blackmarket) trade in firearms and ammunition that works around excise taxes and other regulations meant at least in part to keep weapons out of the hands of the unstable. It is not necessarily illegal in many areas, but the feds do want their excise taxes even if the local states or communities exercise no regulation over it whatsoever. As I understand it those excise taxes are not only meant to be paid by the purchaser but they also are dedicated to outdoor sports and recreation. Private treaty is all well and good, until someone makes a business out of it and then it becomes public and when that crosses state lines public commerce falls legitimately under government attention by the Constitution.

To me this is like buying tools out of the trunk of someone's car trunk who sneaks on to a factory parking lot offering "new" tools at a cut rate to those workers who come out on break. Some of those guys are offering legitimate sales, although you will probably not ever be able to find them for after sales service, but a pile of that stuff is too hot to touch, and you will probably not be able to distinguish between the two at the guy's trunk. That is part of the reason that most factory and facility lots are posted against outside solicitation, as much so as against union organizers. Most facilities call the local police when one of these guys show up. Beyond just being concerned about trespassing, they are concerned about the legitimacy of the items being offered to their employees and the complications that might be involved.

I go by the pricing adage that if it is too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.

BTW that can also get one into felony trouble for receiving stolen merchandise. Guns and ammunition are prime targets for housebreakers and out-of-car thiefts in case you didn't know that. There is no telling whether the gypsy-offered goods are hot or whether such material in regards to guns and ammunition has even been involved in a crime.

Shoot targets or hunt, whatever, as it is legal for you in your state, but I would not do that with any thing but known legal guns and ammunition purchased through legitimate dealerships. Casual sales of these kinds of things can result in far too many complications for me to chance participating in myself.

Whether I am armed or not in my own home is my own business, but the chances of accidental use or the escalations of innocent misunderstandings in public are far too great for me to carry, considering my own evaluation of my temper, which I can certainly otherwise control. I have had no need to even get into a fist fight since high school, but I will stand my ground and have in quite a few situations. That has been enough. FWIW after living 63 years, the last 30 in one of the roughest neighborhoods in my city I have had no need to be armed in public. Personally I will keep it that way and would prefer not to have to worry about accidentally triggering someone who is armed in public, like that kid in Florida appears to have done. Some of the tempers of those advocating carry or conceal and carry and some of the incidents that unstable individuals have perpetrated worry me. The average person's temper doesn't. Most folks are quite able to handle the responsibility, it is not most people anywhere I worry about, but those few who are always present that can't. The laws are most needed to protect against those last few, and furthermore those laws have to be written and enforced to allow guaranteed individual rights. Nobody said that was going to be easy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by canebreaker

I found an ad on armslist.com , federal 40 sw ammo $10. per box, $200 per case. The guy wanted cash sales. So I go to the TN gun owners website and ask for someone in Chattanooga to send me a PM for this sale. Since I'll be there next week, he can front the buy and I'll pay with extra when I pick up order.
I get 47 replies from members that aren't in the Chatt town area. "What is this, you're talking in circles." I got 1 reply from a Chatt member, I sent him a PM and no reply.
Well the guy is out of ammo and I missed the sale.
Those east TN boys are a different breed of yankey.

i like beer. i like hamburgers. i like fishing. i like women.

tn boys are not yankees. learn to load your own ammo and you won't never miss out.

FFL dealer prices are nice too ;)