By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Notes and Observations on the Bundy Ranch Incident
Before anyone goes on about unpaid rent and environmentalists, US Senator Harry Reid or the Evil Chinese, the Bundy Ranch Incident was about basic human rights and American freedom. I read a number of comments about how Bundy was a rich man who was freeloading off the government, taking his demon profits as the children die: blah, blah, blah. That plays really well with the free handout crowd, but not with patriots.
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Think about it. A United State Senator calls the people, citizens all, who forced the government to back down, terrorists and terrorist supporters. A national politician said that.
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Speaking of environmentalists, they got played like a cheap fiddle in this federal endeavor. Remember Waco? How the government pressed their case that it was for the children, only weeks before immolating a fair number of them? This time it is desert turtles
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The wanton destruction of private property should be an outrage to the national media and to the political class, but it doesn't even rate a sigh. The photos of livestock destroyed by Bureau of Land Management (BLM) agents and contract cowboys, both of whom should have known better is heartbreaking. The government cared nothing for private property.
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Remember when someone says there is no law, as I have said several times, the national and governmental reaction to the destruction of private property is a stark reminder of that notion.
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To get an idea of how far south the situation went for the federales last weekend, read this. Dunno how true this is, except that even if only parts of it are true, the government was caught flat footed.
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Rumor is that the snipers the BLM deployed were deployed in two groups: the ones we saw in photos just before last weekend and a second, backup group. Apparently the backup group was the group that was ordered to leave the area. Since, it is unlikely the snipers who were told to leave were law enforcement, it stands to reason they were contractors. What in the world was the federal government doing deploying contract snipers?
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A comment I saw in one of the patriot blogs was that at least one of the BLM agents was a US Army Special Forces soldier. If that is true, then the site commander for the federal government was in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.
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Another account of the incident was that 20 armed BLM agents were surrounded by 500 armed militias, who then allowed the agents to leave peaceably. If the description in the video is true, then the armed militia that day behaved like a well trained military force against the clownish federal government.
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Immediately after the confrontation ended, I saw a video by a young man who reported to his viewers that the federal government was taking license plate numbers and using other means to identify protestors. I think the militia that went to Nevada were ready to be identified, and were okay with the risk It would have been no surprise to them that they were, nor would it be a surprise to receive a "visit" from any number of federal law enforcement agencies.
What was the most interesting was the contention by the videographer was that federal law enforcement was using real time satellite information to track what was going on. It is important to note this very technology was developed to be used against foreign enemies, and are now being deployed against citizens.
The problem for our current crop of fascists is that of their focus. They only know how to deal with their own overwhelming numbers, not the other way around. They only train to deal with a threat when the combat correlations are so large no one on their side would even risk injury. Swap those correlations around, and it is something no one signed up for. Not worth it, not for the pretty uniform nor the cool tactical toys nor the assurance that as long as your fellow comrades in arms keep their stories straight, only the enemy dies, no one goes to jail.
As one commenter observed (paraphrasing), it's one thing to expect to go home at the end of a shift, and another thing when you are staring down the barrel of a man who disagrees with that plan, and is not only willing to die for his rights, but is willing to take you with him.
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Sauce for the gander. No question information was being gathered by both sides, patriots as well as the government in this incident. Government supporters should be aware that this no longer goes just one way.
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The notion that armed militamen are a buncha redneck yahoos who wanted to play armed was forever shoehorned as a Big Lie at the Bundy Ranch Incident, in my opinion. Indeed, it was the federal government law enforcement which subsumed that role. I wouldn't be too concerned about mass media coming to the same conclusion, though. They're too content republishing printed handouts from federal law enforcement and taking stenographic notes, calling it journalism. The effort to remove the snipers was a masterful employment of available forces to deal with the most egregious actions of the federal government.
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Fortunately, law enforcement leaders and the government may take measures to prevent a recurrence, but I doubt many of them are really aware about how fast and deadly a light infantry force can move and strike. I have said it in the context of wargaming as well as in other, more related contexts: the most powerful force in the plant isn't nukeular (sic) weapons, or tanks or attack helos with Hellfire missiles. It is a man and his rifle. And a well trained light infantry force is unstoppable.
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Will the government win the next one? I say it is likely. This was the first time militia and government have encountered one another. It is impossible to think the government will not review what they did well and what they didn't do well. This is just the first of several and with many more of these are to come, especially as long as Congress listens to the yahoos who started this in the first place.
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Housekeeping note: On every class of used firearm I have listed the total number of guns available in that general type, delimited by a one to three digit numeral in parentheses.
Loads.
Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:
Prices for pistol ammunition were mixed to lower while prices for rifle ammunition were lower across the board.
Prices for used pistols were mixed, while used rifles were mostly lower.
Note: Prices for used rifles appears to be collapsing, while pistol prices are about to collapse.
Pistol Ammo
.45 Caliber, 230 grain, From Last Week: +.03 Each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Munire USA, Tulammo, steel cased, .33 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: LV Ammo, reloaded, .34 per round (+.01 Each after unchanged six of previous eight weeks)
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 grain, From Last Week: +.01 each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Freedom Munitions, Store Brand, reloaded, .29 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Freedom Munition, Store Brand, reloaded, .27 per round (Unchanged: three weeks)
9mm Parabellum, 115 grain From Last Week: +.01 each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: SWVA Arms, Brown Bear, Steel cased, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: SWVA Arms, Brown Bear, steel cased, RN, .22 per round (From Last Week: +.01 each)
.357 Magnum, 158 grain, From Last Week: -.05 Each (!)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Bangit Ammo, Store Brand, Reloaded, .43 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 Rounds: Ammo2U, PMC, JSP, .46 per round (-.13 Each from last week (!))
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 grain, From Last Week: Unchanged
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Munire USA, Wolf Polyformance, steel cased, .25 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: SG Ammo, Wolf Polyformance, steel cased, .27 per round (from Last Week: Unchanged )
.308 NATO 145 grain, From Last Week: -.15 Each (!)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Selway Armory, Wolf Military Classic, steel cased, .47 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Selway Armory, Wolf Military Classic, steel cased, .47 per round (-.07 Each From Last Week (!))
7.62x39 AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Bang It Ammo, Wolf, steel core and case, .25 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Bulk Ammo, Wolf, steel case, .21 per round (Unchanged from Last Week)
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: -.07 Each (!)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Cabelas, Federal, .07 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Ammo Fast, Eley Sport, .13 per round (+.01 Each From Last Week)
Guns for Private Sale
Rifles
.223/5.56mm (AR Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $690 Last Week Avg: $900 (-)
California (182): DPMS: $800
Texas (301): DPMS: $650
Pennsylvania (152): American Tactical Import Omni: $500 (!)
Virgina (172): Mixed Build: $850
Florida (396): Savage Arms: $650
.308 NATO (AR-10 Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $1,324 Last Week Avg: $1,384 (-)
California (47): DPMS: $1,500 (Same Gun)
Texas (63): Smith & Wesson M&P 10 3: $1,220 (Same Gun)
Pennsylvania (29): Springfield SAR-8: $1,200
Virginia (41): Armalite AR-10: $1,200 (Same Gun)
Florida (76): DPMS LR308: $1,500
7.62x39mm (AK Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $570 Last Week Avg: $650 (-)
California (44): Saiga: $700
Texas (58): Zastava: $650
Pennsylvania (61): Zastava: $500 (!)
Virginia (75): Saiga: $550
Florida (127): Zastava: $450 (!)
7.62x54mm (Dragunov Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: 1,250 Last Week Avg: Unchanged ()
California (7): Romak PSL: $1,300 (Same Gun)
Texas (7): Romak PSL: $1,200 (Same Gun)
Pennsylvania: None Available
Virginia: None Available
Florida: None Available
Pistols
.45 caliber ACP (M1911 Pattern Semiautomatic Pistol) Average Price: $524 Last Week Avg: $510 (+)
California (110): Springfield: $580
Texas (200): High Standard: $425
Pennsylvania (135): Taurus: $400
Virginia (152): American Tactical Imports: $500
Florida (342): Springfield: $715 (!)
9mm Beretta 92FS or other Semiautomatic Average Price: $455 Last Week Avg: $473 (-)
California (103): Glock 17: $500
Texas (258): Glock 17: $475
Pennsylvania (176): Glock 19: $400 (Same Gun)
Virginia (217): Sig Sauer P250C: $400
Florida (447): Glock 26: $500
.40 caliber S&W (Glock and other semiautomatic) Average Price: $442 Last Week Avg: $480(-)
California (69): Glock 23: $460
Texas (137): Glock 27: $450 (Same Gun)
Pennsylvania (117): Glock 23: $400
Virginia (95): Glock 27: $450 (Possibly Same Gun)
Florida (160): Smith and Wesson M&P40: $450
Used Gun of the Week: (From South Carolina)
Webley-Scott Mark IV 38 Chambered in .38/200
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
