Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438

Marshal: So, is it safe to assume that you don't paint your house, wash or wax your car, or do your dishes, either? I have no serfs, but I have a lawn tractor and the will to use it. And I love a lush green lawn. LL

Need sod? LL

I just realized that I haven't used an ice cube tray in 20 years; if I needed one, I'd have to go out and buy one; spoiled by the ice maker. LL

2400 lbs of margarine, 1400 lbs. of lard, 1000 boxes of cigarettes - and not a single fresh vegetable...no wonder their lifespans were so short LL

Alpo: The 10 barrels you are trying to decipher are "menhaden" - a coastal fish native to New England. Often used by the settlers as fertilizer; not an eating fish. I'm still stuck on the "6 Tierces"? Same word is used before "brown sugar". LL

A hogshead is a large cask or barrel - commonly 63 gallon. https://www.thefreedictionary.com/hogshead LL

Reference to ship manifests, using "bbl", before the petroleum use of blue barrels. http://www.natemaas.com/2011/01/correction-why-bbl-is-not-abbreviation.html LL

From Wiki, re suicide generally: The annual age-adjusted suicide rate is 13.42 per 100,000 individuals. Men die by suicide 3.53x more often than women. Women attempt suicide 1.2x more often than men. On average, there are 123 suicides per day. White males accounted for 7 of 10 suicides in 2016. A firearm is used in almost 50% of all suicides. The rate of suicide is highest in middle age—white men in particular. With 123 suicides per day, it does not shock me that 22 of them are vets (about 20%). Or that old white guys are the largest group of victims. It's a problem across the board, not just among vets. We could all use some help. LL

Hah! You should try the approach to the Bourne Bridge (one of the 2 bridges to Cape Cod) on a sunny Saturday summer morning.....steady stream of "Me Firsters" running down the break-down lane, thinking that they are so much smarter than the rest of us....until they run up on the State cop parked in an unmarked car in the same lane.....no where to go! $200 ticket! We had a radio host in Boston who used to encourage drivers to open up their passenger side door when one of these rude jerks started passing in the breakdown lane; I had too much appreciation for a intact vehicle to try it; I did tend to move to the right and narrow the lane a bit.... I just can't let it go.....there must be justice in the Universe. LL

Sailors like to tell landlubbers that there is a test for determining whether you should buy a boat: Go to the bank and withdraw all of your hard-earned cash; go home and change into your best suit; turn on your shower, as cold as possible, and step into the tub; with the cold water pouring over your head, start tearing your cash up into small pieces, and watch it go down the drain. If you are having fun, go ahead and buy that boat! I've got to imagine that plane enthusiasts have a parallel tale..... LL

Actually, J.E.B., I believe that to be an acronym, an abbreviation MUST be pronounceable; that's what separates it from being a mere abbreviation. https://data.grammarbook.com/blog/abbreviations/abbreviations-acronyms-and-initialisms-revisited/ All acronyms are abbreviations, but not all abbreviations are acronyms - I think! Your LWTS is an abbreviation, of the type referred to as an initialism; unlike an acronym, it is not pronounceable as a word. LL

Well, not quite that bad..... Since there is no doubt that you shot both victims, the focus would be on issues of justification and self-defense/defense of others. The police and the prosecutor would make a judgment regarding whether you were truly and reasonably (from their point of view) in fear of death or serious bodily harm as a result of the actions of each victim. Yelling "Allah Akbar" or "Nobody move", and brandishing what appeared to be a dangerous weapon, may be enough to get you there. Or maybe not. Or maybe as to one victim and not as to the other. Yelling "Nobody move" may have been the Captain's way of trying to stop the Arab from harming others; depending upon the reasonableness of your interpretation of his intent, you may have shot an innocent Good Samaritan who was trying to prevent a crime. There are a ton of other issues to address - from the ridiculousness of the appearance of the group, should you have understood that it was a stunt, not a criminal threat? Were their guns real, and were they loaded? Were there visual clues (like an orange tip, or a clearly plastic barrel, or some other indication that the guns were fake? Did you (and could you ) attempt to use lesser force? Given the local politics, nobody with a gun, and certainly no one who shoots two people, will walk away without a long, hard look, and you would probably be charged. In this corner of the country, the police and the prosecutors are, for the most part, not friends of gun owners (or at least their elected bosses are not). You are going to need a good criminal defense lawyer. Was there one of those in your dream? LL

You better stay in Florida, my friend........ LL

TJB is correct; however, the MA testing regulations (including the drop test requirement) apply to manufacturers and/or gun dealers - not to individuals. It is the manufacturer's obligation to pay for the testing and certify the results to the state; it is the dealer's obligation to sell only those guns that appear on the Approved List (and they don't get on the List without passing the drop test); the Regulations do not forbid subsequent owner modifications. However, any individual who sells a gun that has been modified such that it would no longer pass that test is inviting a negligence claim if the modification results in an injury - especially if he does not fully advise the buyer of the nature and scope of the modifications and the resulting safety issues. Even then, the seller may still be exposed to liability to a third party injured by the use of the modified gun. Modify away if you can accept the risk; but re-install before you sell. LL

Uh-oh....huge array of scaffolding on the roof; what do you bet they'll blame the contractor? LL

Yeah, he's still a bit slow - only 4 weeks old. We'll bring him home at 8 weeks, and I expect he'll be a bit livelier then. Puppies are almost universally cute; it's Nature's way of making sure that they all get adopted. LL

My lovely wife thanks you......and looks sideways at me. LL

Cheddar....or as they pronounce it around here, "Cheddah". He's a him. LL

Well, you could try a seahorse..... LL

Lost our beloved Yellow Lab almost a year ago. Figured it was time.... (PS - click on the video link after the last pic) 2019_04_13_CHEDDAR.MOV

Well, we have no grassy plains....but we do have expansive views... The low, dark shadow on the horizon is Martha's Vineyard, 7 miles to the East. And you can't get there by horse. LL

I hate to inject excessive legalities, but if I were counsel to Browning, and my client received a letter asking for its opinions on the safety of a fire damaged gun, I would politely suggest that they either advise against further use or take a pass on the request. In our current climate, a manufacturer who expresses such an opinion (especially without seeing or testing the gun) could be opening itself up to liability if the gun subsequently malfunctions and causes harm. Those are the cold realities of doing business; there is simply no upside. If it were my gun, I would want a rebuild and a real test by a qualified gunsmith before I would be comfortable using it again LL

Now that's great! i would pay to be able to use that as a service. LL

Could you kindly post a couple more pics of the 16? Any cracks in the stock? How is the bore? Date of mfg.? Much appreciated; not kicking tires; seriously interested. LL

For the first time in a long time, I got the chance to re-watch Rio Grande. Ben Johnson stole this film; he is at the top of my list of real cowboys. Yo! https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B07QGJLZCM/ref=atv_hm_hom_c_JssQGI_47_3 LL