For those of you who may be procrastinators, here's a little story!
I was an LAPD officer when the Rodney King riot took place. I was on-duty, on the day shift, when the "not guilty" verdicts were handed down, and just KNEW that my shift would be held over. I was wrong, for the riotting hadn't started by the time 4:00 p.m. rolled in. Even though I wouldn't have to work over-time, I high-tailed it home, so that I could catch the TV news.
On my way home, however, I happened to be close to my favorite gun store. I decided to stop in, just to see if gun sales had increased. The parking lot was FULL, so I had to park at another location.
The gun store was PACKED! Ammo was flying off of the shelves! Gun buyers took up all of the display case area as they filled out the forms for their guns. The employees were busy as heck, and I was about to walk out of the store before the manager (a friend of mine) saw me. He stepped over and asked if I would "escort" him outside, so that he could have a cigarette! "Escort" him?
We made it outside, and the manager lit up. "It's crazy!", he started, puffing away nervously. "People want their guns NOW, not in 10 days!", he exclaimed, referring to the California 10-day waiting period. "I can't tell you how many bribes I've turned down!", he added.
As we stood outside the store, a prospective gun buyer approached my friend, knowing that he was the manager of the store. "I just paid for my Ruger 10/22 rifle, but what's with the 10-day waiting period?", the customer asked. "State law!", my friend responded, politely adding, "I'd sure LIKE to give you your rifle today, but you'll have to come back in 10 days to pick it up."
The customer paused for a moment, then asked, "Well, how about an extra $100 if you overlook that law?", he asked. My friend shook his head. "Okay, $200?", the customer asked. While the 3 of us stood there, that customer increased his "bribe" all the way to $2,000!
At that point, my friend asked me to intervene, since he knew that I was a police officer. I laughed, then pulled out my badge and showed it to the customer. I didn't say a word! The customer just shook his head as he walked out to the parking lot.
The GOVERNMENT will NOT help you! In many ways, it will only "hinder" you! In this case, the 10-day waiting period was a "hindrance" to the folks that felt that they needed a firearm NOW....not 10 days later! As we saw in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the government can become even MORE of a "hindrance" than help!
"It's better to HAVE a gun and not NEED it, than to NEED a gun and not HAVE it!"
(By the way, when the National Guard troops FINALLY arrived at their designated staging areas, they had their GUNS, but....no AMMO! The NG ammo storage is "centralized", not stored at all NG armories! Their ammunition convoy was held up in the heavy traffic, due to the riotting and people "bugging out"! Sometimes, even the government is a "hindrance" to itself!)