I was making lobster for NYE dinner and then I got a phone call (regarding a shotgun)

I was busy making a terrific seafood dinner for my best friend, Carmelita and myself in celebration of New Years Eve. Dinner included lobster tails, potato crusted cod, crab legs, cheesy broccoli rice, garlic mashed potatoes and Caesar salad.
I poured a couple glasses of white wine (white hours with chicken and fish, red wines go with meat and red sauces, to enlighten those of you who might not be aware) and we enjoyed an appetizer tray, which included Beechers flag ship cheese from PikesPlace Market, ceviche, salsa, chips, pita chips and shrimp cocktail. A bountiful feast by any measure, and there were only two of us, we had no choice but to engorge ourselves in a food frenzy.

We had barely begun to enjoy our appetizers when the phone rang, it was Jen from Surplus Ammo and Arms, calling to let me know that my Rock Island M5 shot gun had arrived. She told me the shop would be closed the rest of the week, meaning, if I didn't go pick it up immediately, I'd have to wait another week. Well, anyone who knows how I feel about my guns knows what I did already, dinner, and my best friend would have to wait. I put my shoes on, gave Carmelita the remote control for the TV and I went on my merry way to pick up my new shot gun.

Now Carmelita and I have matching shot guns, and dinner was delicious.

Ring in the New Year with Girls with Guns Photo Gallery!

Goodbye 2012, we made it through the Mayan Apocalypse! Hello 2013. What better way to welcome in 2013 than with a Girls with Guns photo gallery?

Timing is Everything (Especially when it comes to buying "assault" rifles lately)

Generally speaking, whenever I have the slightest bit of spare money in my pocket, combined with general boredom, usually has the makings of a trip to the local gun shops and pawn shops. Most of the time I just do a little window shopping but occasionally something will catch my eye that I just can't say no to. December 14th was one of those days.

I went to work on December 14th, as usual, and also had an appointment with my chiropractor (pure bliss for my lower back). I overheard the receptionists at the chiropractors office sharing some water cooler talk about some sort of shooting that had happened recently. I wasn't really paying particular attention to their conversation, I just caught bits and pieces, my ear catching the keywords; crazy people, shooter, children, school shooting. I continued on with my day, unaware of the tragedy in Newtown, CT. that was just beginning to break on the major news networks. I finished my day at work, not having checked the news and still ignorant of the events.

I began my window / possible gun shopping trip immediately after I got off work, my first stop was a local pawn shop called Old Sarge's which I can only assume must have been founded or owned by a retired army Sergeant(?). I've dropped in there occasionally just to see if they have anything that might catch my eye, it's always hit and miss at the pawn shops, but on this particular day, I spotted a decent looking M1 carbine. Meanwhile, playing in the background, the breaking news of the Newtown, CT. school shooting. Of course, the salesman, myself and another shopper began to talk about the ramifications of such a tragic, gun-related massacre, but we had no idea of it's soon-to-be-felt impact on the firearms market, specifically the price spike on "assault" type rifles such as AR15's, AK47's and Mini-14's. The severity of the Newtown school shooting had yet to hit me, I hadn't yet absorbed the specifics of what had just transpired, later in the day and over the next several days, I felt sick, disgusted by such a senseless slaughter of innocent children. But at that particular time, I still wasn't aware of the magnitude of the event.

The M1 ended up being a post-war Ivar johnson. I've been wanting to add an M1 carbine and an M1 Garand to my collection and it was looking like today was the day that I would finally acquire my first M1 carbine. We shook hands for the carbine at $749 to put it on layaway and headed over to the cash register. The salesman wrote up my ticket, I gave him a deposit of $200. While he was running my debit card through the machine, the glare of a shiny, stainless steel Ruger Mini-14 caught the corner of my eye. It was not displayed on the wall like all the other firearms, it was just leaning up against the wall behind the cash register. My guess was that it was back there because someone had purchased it or put it on layaway, but I made my inquiry anyway.

"Excuse me sir" I asked "I'm guessing that the Ruger Mini-14 isn't available?"

The salesman turned and replied "Actually, it hasn't been sold."

"Can I have a look at it?" I continued.

And oh my, was this ever a gorgeous Mini-14. I hadn't ever seen a stainless steel Mini-14 in person and boy, is it ever a "looker". This one also had a 40 round stainless steel magazine which made the overall presentation even more impressive. I knew right away that I wanted it.

I wasn't really all that hot for that particular M1 carbine, so the decision was easy. I simply asked the salesman if he would mind that I just switch out my purchase and transfer my down payment from the M1 carbine, to the Mini-14. The Mini-14 was priced fairly at $699, I didn't even bother to haggle over the price, I just took it. As we all have witnessed, prices of Mini-14's has sky-rocketed since that aweful day, December 14th. A quick scan at GunBroker.com shows that similar Mini-14's are currently going for around $1000.

With my reassignment to Korea imminent, I decided to sell my music, DJ and music studio equipment, resulting in my pockets dangerously over-flowing with cash. This influx of cash enabled me to pick-up my stainless steel Ruger Mini-14 today. The salesman couldn't help but comment about how much more money he could have sold the Mini-14 for.

Ryan Buys a Handgun (or two) Remington R1 1911 and Taurus .44 Magnum

My good army buddy Ryan, who has been featured in several of my videos (video 1, video 2) went on a bit of a bender today. He must have been bitten overnight by the mosquito that's going around lately and caught the gun buying fever. Stricken with the fever he went (I acted as his personal driver, firearms store guide and expert) to no fewer than three local gun shops today, making return trips to at least two of them, ultimately purchasing a sick and powerful Taurus .44 Magnum revolver from The Marksman in Puyallup, Wa. but also his first ever 1911, a Remington R1 1911 in an eye-catching OD Green and black color scheme with beautiful rosewood grips from my all-time favorite local gun shop, Surplus Ammo and Arms in Lakewood, Wa.

I can't give high enough praise to the outstanding customer service that I continue to receive, visit after visit to Surplus Ammo and Arms. Chester, Aaron and Jen (who works in the back of the house and handles all of my transfers) always go out of their way to take care of their customers, specifically, me. Today for example, I escorted Ryan into the shop and the Remington R1 really jumped out at him. He has made up his mind to pruchase it but did not have a copy of his official army orders on him which assign him here to Fort Lewis. A copy of his military ID and his orders are needed to establish residency in Washington state, a requirement for handgun purchases. I politely asked if they would hold the Remington until we could make the trip back to Ryan's apartment to get said copy of his orders, sure enough, Aaron was more than happy to oblige. He threw in a "we don't normally do this, but for you Felix, you're such a good customer, awesome guy, you're the best." I'm paraphrasing and embellishing but essentially, that's what he said. So that was nice.

When we came back I spoke to Jen to let her know that my Rock Island M5 shotgun had been shipped and would be delivered around the 31st and I also notified her of another impending transfer (the Ruger SP101). She mentioned that they would temporarily be suspending transfers because the store would be moving to a new location soon, but that because it was me and I'm "such an awesome guy, the best customer ever" again I'm paraphrasing, they would be happy to take care of my transfer. Thanks again Surplus Ammo and Arms, you guys are the best. I'm taking Jen one of my Guns are Fun T-shirts tomorrow as a thank you.

Along the way, we stopped by the local pawn shop where I have a Ruger mini-14 on layaway. I had purchased it the same day as the tragedy in Newtown, CT. In fact, I was in the store as the story was breaking. Prices on all rifles such as the mini-14 rose significantly in the days and weeks since then, so I was fortunate in that I purchased it before then price spike. I'll most likely pick it up on the 2nd of January, so look for some initial photos.

Speaking of layaways, Ryan put his Taurus on layaway. In a good example of why it pays to be patient and shop around. Ryan had spotted the Taurus .44 Magnum in the third shop that we visited today, but it was used and had seen it's better days. That particular store, Bullseye in downtown Tacoma, Wa. was not offering layaways for the time being and so, Ryan passed on the purchase given that it was a used Taurus and he couldn't lay it away. So we went back to gun shop number two, low and behold, they had the same exact Taurus .44 magnum revolver but it was brand spanking new and was priced only 40 dollars more than the used one that was in the previous shop and The Marksman took layaway. Done deal, he bought it.

All in all it was a fun day of gun shopping.

Here are a few stock photos of a Remington R1 1911

And the Taurus .44 Magnum

Video - Best Friends Shoot Rifles Together (Carmelita Fears the Rifles)

It's safe to say that Carmelita isn't a fan of large caliber rifles, heck, even intermediate cartridges for that matter. After putting ten rounds down range through the SKS, she'd had enough (or at least her shoulder did) and threw in the towel. She's much more comfortable with a shotgun or handgun, and that's perfectly ok. We all have our preferences don't we? Except for me, I like 'em all.

We're planning another trip to the range on Jan. 6th, you can expect more videos!

Enjoy this third and final video from the "Best Friends Shoot..." video series.

Don't forget, T-Shirts are now available, show your support for the 2nd Amendment - Buy Your T-Shirt Now!

An Excellent Read, This Guy is a PhD! Published in Forbes.

To Protect The Innocent, We Need More Guns In The Hands Of Honest People - Forbes

Merry Christmas! My Gift to You - Girls with Guns

I hope Santa brings you everything you wished for this year. Here is my gift to you, some Girls with Guns!

Look for another post on New Years!