Deputies Are Professional

My Concealed Carry Permit arrived in the mail. My picture looks like a mug shot. Captured all three chins, receding hairline, and facial blemishes.  Makes me wonder how many facial photos that deputy has taken?

Most people dislike their DMV photo.  One gets the impression the taker has long since lost interest. Adjust the camera to eye level and “click”. Most look like they could be anybody.

Not so with this officer. Hope I’m never wanted for anything and that photo is circulated. Looks to be exactly what I see in the mirror while shaving.

Gone Legit?

In much of Colorado the worst thing to say about an elected official is they have “gone Denver”. Today I went through the process of meeting the state imposed legal requirements to do what I’ve been doing most of my adult life, carrying a concealed firearm. Wonder what that makes me?

I had taken the required safety class and had the certificate. The process at the Sheriff’s office was efficient and pleasant. Cost? $100. I simply walked in and went to the window. Another 45 minutes and I was on my way.

The process would have been faster except for fingerprints. While I haven’t worked my fingers to the bone, have worn down the whorls to the point they are hard to print. It took several tries with one thumb and my right ring finger by the deputy with twenty years of experience.

Weld County, CO is about as red as it gets. Contrast this with the next county South, Adams, where a three term Sheriff allowed 25 permit applications only per day, two days a week, first come, first served. This in a county with a population North of 600,000.

So why haven’t I done this after many years? Family members will say it is because I’m too cheap. They say that like it is a bad thing!

It pisses me off I need to ask/pay for something that is my natural born right, self defense.

Age plays a part. I don’t care to deal with the hassle of fighting the legal system. More so, at age 73, I’m coming to grips with being, in fact, an “at risk” senior.

Privacy concerns played a part. In reality, with all the interconnected data bases privacy is gone. Does anyone believe the FBI purges background check reports after a certain time limit as prescribed by law? They seem to flout any law they find inconvenient, don’t they?

“So, Mr. White, where is the .22 rifle you purchased from XXX and picked up from an FFL in Brighton, CO in 2xxx? You passed a background check then. Oh, and the 20 gauge shotgun from an auction picked up from the same FFL?”

In two to three weeks will have the credit card sized permit with my picture and details. That, and a diminished scofflaw status. Oh well, life goes on.

Sister Kink

One of the hardest workers I’ve ever met has gotten herself into trouble. Lori Saine, a Colorado State Representative, was arrested for carrying a firearm through the TSA Checkpoint at Denver International Airport. My guess? She has been carrying for so long she forgot she had it.

http://www.9news.com/news/local/politics/colorado-state-representative-arrested-accused-of-bringing-gun-to-dia/497102644

Lori and I worked in car sales for the same organization. She was a ferocious competitor and hated me for being just a tad bit better. Later, I recommended her to be the manager of a used lot we opened in Windsor, CO. She didn’t like me as a boss any better than as a co-worker. Oh, well.

 Across the street was a radio station employing Dudley Brown, a controversial figure in 2^nd Amendment issues. They became acquainted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudley_Brown

With his encouragement and support she entered politics.

I called her Sister Kink. The name had to do with the way she sold cars. I know nothing, nor care, about her private life. Her husband is an exceptional RV salesman. He endorsed her nickname when he heard it.

We operated in Windsor out of a tastefully and professionally remodeled gas station. Very attractive. In the rear two drive in bays were retained. We kept high value vehicles in them at night.

 Once, after a vicious blizzard, the yokel we hired to plow the lot left an eave high mound of plowed ice and snow blocking one bay and trapping a car. Someone at another of our lots wanted the car and started raising hell. I arrived to find Lori, all 5’ of her, attacking the mound with a snow shovel. No. I put a stop to that immediately, and shut up those demanding the car in my usual gentle and tactful way.

Left to her own devices without someone (me, usually) monitoring, her ethics, those of a starving piranha, would cause a lot of heat. Such is life in the car business.

As a manager, I cared about three things. Can you do the job? Can you be relied upon to be there when the store is open? Can you be trusted with money? Lori was a solid “YES”.

I wish her luck with her current problem.