Quote:
Originally Posted by RKP
Dang, you're certainly on one impressive roll lately bud, adding some nice pieces to your arsenal for sure, not to mention your hand built ones !!
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Making up for lost time, and bad decisions. I had always been "Pro 2A..." even since childhood, when I went to a summer day camp where one of the chief counselors and bus driver would take us shooting at a local HS range (some private schools actually did have them back then). Turns out he was also an NRA instructor. I learned to handle a .22 bolt action rifle.
That education continued, oddly enough, at University, where the P.E. dept. offered a course in "Riflery" taught by, as I discovered, the GySgt. on station at the University for the NROTC program. I learned a lot, and I even got to participate in a team competition. My team won! We even beat out the campus police team (although they did win Individual titles). One has to wonder if they still offer that course, or even the NROTC program at all...
After that, I simply went "dormant" for a long while. Not being "anti 2A," but not actively embracing it either, and not owning anything. That all changed in 2013 while still in NJ, thanks to my Cave diving buddy who was also an NRA instructor. He got me hooked again. I began to see the need for us to take action, in part, thanks to my living in the PRNJ and seeing the injustice of some states like it. I became a gun owner for the 1st time in 2013 (a P226), having acquired my NJ FPID card and a couple of P2Ps. I joined a gun forum in NJ and in 2014 I joined FCC.
2-3 pistols and a 12G in, I moved to FL in 2015. It's where I wanted to be. Not only for 2A, but for cave diving and just overall atmosphere. It's where I wanted to and had planned to retire, eventually. But I hadn't planned on it so soon. Property values in NJ shot up to where it made sense to sell my townhouse and go right away. So I did, even at the risk of my IT business not being as successful as in the NY area. Within 6 months, I had sold my townhouse in NJ for a nice profit and had enough to pay off that mortgage and also pay for my home in FL in cash (no mortgage).
Unfortunately, the success of that move was short lived. As I feared, the IT consulting business did not do very well in FL, as no one in FL likes to pay for computer repairs, etc. Why should they? They have grandchildren for that!
That, and I didn't have the networking contacts, I had up there. I ended up folding the business and getting into some financial difficulties. I had to sell a lot of property to straighten things out, including my car, most of my diving gear, and all but one of my valued "inventory items."
But, fear not. I found out last year that I was eligible to start my "retirement" and receive Social Security benefits a little early. And it was a rather nice amount (and was only $500.00/mo short of what I would have received at "full retirement age"), thanks to my days on Wall St and all the FICA taxes I paid. I may as well get something out of it before they declare Soc. Sec. "insolvent."
And I make some supplemental income teaching English to Foreign students over the Internet. I can make up to $19K in supplemental income before hitting the Soc. Sec. threshold.
That settled, it was time to "reclaim" the inventory I lost... and to do it with 2020 restrictions, and Covid, and all that. Hence, my current "spending spree." And I've managed to do that while keeping up with my real estate taxes and other expenses. I renegotiated my Home Owner's policy and make monthly payments on it, which freed up the cash flow. And this new policy doesn't have a "dangerous dog" prohibition so I can, eventually, own my family's favorite breed, a Doberman Pinscher. But that, in time. Abd the Diving gear will also take some time. But I will get it back.
At present, I've manged to replace every piece of inventory I had to sell, and then some. I even have two items I'm saving for my niece and nephew.
So that's where we're at. I have pistols, ARs and 12Gs covered. Now, it's time for a long ranger or two. Then we'll work on the NFAs.
But I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help.
Thanks all!
