Coping With California’s Six New Gun and Magazine Ban Laws

This year’s Independence Day celebrations have been muted by news of the enactment of six tyrannical new gun, ammunition, and magazine laws in California.

California’s leftist legislature in now crowing about how they “did something” in response to the Islamic terror attack in San Bernadino last year. Six of 10 new “Gunmeggddon” laws that they passed were just signed into law by Democrat Governor Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown.

Courtesy of the NRA-ILA, here is a summary of Governor Brown’s actions:

SIGNED BOTH– Assembly Bill 1135 and Senate Bill 880 will make changes of monumental scale to California’s firearm laws by reclassifying hundreds of thousands of legally owned semi-automatic rifles as “assault weapons”. This legislation effectively outlaws magazine locking devices, more commonly known as “bullet buttons”. These are constitutionally protected firearms that have no association with crime. These changes would happen quickly with great individual costs to many gun owners and without public notice. Governor Brown vetoed similar legislation in 2013.

SIGNED Assembly Bill 1511 effectively ends the long-standing practice of temporarily loaning a firearm for lawful purposes. Under this legislation, the ability to loan a firearm to anyone other than a family member would now be prohibited unless conducted through a dealer, absent very narrow and limited exceptions. A simple loan to a trusted friend for a few days would take almost a month to complete from loan to return, requiring two background checks, two 10-day waiting periods, two fees, and multiple trips to a gun dealer. The result of the misguided legislation will turn otherwise law-abiding citizens into criminals simply for borrowing or storing a firearm with a friend.

VETOED – Assembly Bill 1673 would have expanded the definition of “firearm” to include unfinished frames and/or receivers that are “clearly identifiable as being used exclusively as part of a functional weapon”. Depending on how this vague terminology is interpreted, AB 1673 would have treated pieces of metal as firearms, subjecting them to California’s exhaustive regulations and restrictions currently applicable to firearms.

VETOED – Assembly Bill 1674 would have expanded the existing one handgun a month law to include ALL guns, including those acquired through a private party transfer. AB 1674 will have no impact on criminal access to firearms and instead significantly hamper law abiding individuals, causing increased costs, time and paperwork to purchase multiple firearms. Criminals will continue to ignore this law purchasing firearms illegally, ignoring this burdensome and ineffective restriction.

SIGNED – Assembly Bill 1695 will create a 10-year firearm prohibition for someone convicted of falsely reporting a lost or stolen firearm. The NRA does not oppose making it a misdemeanor to knowingly file a false lost or stolen report to law enforcement. Our reason for opposition is related to the restriction of a constitutional right for the conviction of a misdemeanor offense.

VETOED – Assembly Bill 2607 would have expanded the class of individuals who could seek a Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO).” The NRA opposes the current GVRO procedures because they provide a mechanism for an individual to lose the right to keep and bear arms with no due process of law. AB 2607 would compound these problems by significantly expanding the classes of individuals who could seek a GVRO. This expansion would now include employers, coworkers, mental health workers, and employees of secondary and post-secondary schools.

VETOED – Senate Bill 894 would have required a victim of a crime to report to local Law Enforcement the theft of a firearm within an arbitrary time requirement of five days and the recovery of the firearm within 48 hours. Governor Brown has twice vetoed similar legislation stating, “I was not convinced that criminalizing the failure to report a lost or stolen firearm would improve identification of gun traffickers or help law enforcement disarm people prohibited from possessing guns. I continue to believe that responsible people report the loss or theft of a firearm and irresponsible people do not.”

SIGNED – Senate Bill 1235 will place unjustified and burdensome restrictions on the purchase of ammunition and would require the attorney general to keep records of purchases. This legislation would further require any online ammunition sales to be conducted through a licensed vendor. First and foremost, the reporting of ammunition sales has already been tried – and failed – at the federal level. Throughout the 1980s, Congress considered repeal of a federal ammunition regulation package that required, among other things, reporting of ammunition sales. In 1986, the director of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms supported eliminating the reporting requirement, stating: “The Bureau and the [Treasury] Department have recognized that current record keeping requirements for ammunition have no substantial law enforcement value.” As a result, the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986 repealed the ammunition restrictions, with little opposition to the removal of that requirement. SB 1235 will similarly fail to reduce violent crime, as a law requiring the registration of ammunition purchases by honest citizens will not deter criminals. Governor Brown has twice vetoed similar legislation.

SIGNED – Senate Bill 1446 bans the simple possession of ammunition feeding devices/magazines that are capable of holding more than 10 cartridges. The federal “large-ammunition feeding device” ban of 1994-2004 was allowed to sunset due in part to its ineffectiveness. Yet, California anti-gun legislators still are persisting with this ban knowing that the congressionally-mandated study concluded that “the banned guns were never used in more than a modest fraction of all gun murders” before the ban and the bans 10-round limit on new magazines was not a factor in multiple-victim or multiple-wound crimes.

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Hundreds of thousands of guns that were previously legal will become contraband. Magazines numbering at least in the hundreds of thousands and probably in the millions will become contraband, with hefty fines for possession. (See: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/15-16/bill/sen/sb_1401-1450/sb_1446_bill_20160701_chaptered.htm) Also, ammunition sales will be sharply curtailed, with background check requirements and registration of purchases! This is clearly collective insanity, but it is becoming the law of the land in the People’s Republic of California.

The Ammo Sales/Purchase Bans

California’s new ammunition purchase restrictions (Senate Bill 1235) are complicated, and part of the new law hinges on the outcome of a November ballot initiative. See: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1235. If it goes fully into effect, then:

Variously starting either on January 1, 2018, or January 1, 2019, (under penalty of a $1,000 fine):

  • Mail order or Internet purchases from out of state will be banned unless it is delivered by an in-state dealer, with a background check.
  • Transport of ammunition bought out of state will be banned, with an exception of just 50 rounds under some circumstances.
  • Only a licensed ammunition vendor will be be able to sell ammunition.
  • Background checks and a permanent registry record will be required for in-state ammunition purchases.

The absurdity of creating a registry for an expendable commodity was apparently lost on California’s idiotic legislators.

Note: There will be huge loopholes in the law for law enforcement, for the privileged few who hold concealed carry permits in California, and for anyone who is moving into the state. But the net effect is that the cost of buying ammunition in California will probably skyrocket (since the competitive pricing of nationwide sales choices will be gone), and sales will become tracked to the buyer.

Since the database of ammo purchases is cumulative, shooters who expend large quantities of ammunition (such as competitive target shooters) will likely become increasingly suspect, making it appear that they are stockpiling ammo that they are actually expending on the range.

The new law is silent on any restrictions on components for handloaders, but presumably anyone who “manufactures” (assembles) ammunition would fall under some sections of the law.

The Dreaded Magazine Ban: Senate Bill No. 1446

California’s new magazine ban (Senate Bill 1446) goes into effect on July 1, 2017. The law quite bluntly demands:

(c)?A person who, prior to July 1, 2017, legally possesses a large-capacity magazine shall dispose of that magazine by any of the following means:

(1)?Remove the large-capacity magazine from the state.

(2)?Prior to July 1, 2017, sell the large-capacity magazine to a licensed firearms dealer.

(3)?Destroy the large-capacity magazine.

(4)?Surrender the large-capacity magazine to a law enforcement agency for destruction.

Note: There are some exceptions for law enforcement agencies, currently-serving officers, retired officers, museums, movie prop companies, and the executors of wills or trustees settling estates. But otherwise, this is a “blanket” ban with no grandfather clause. As such, this ban will likely be challenged in the courts as a “taking” without compensation.

One oddity is that the new law is silent about belted or linked ammunition for belt-fed guns, but based on existing magazine restrictions in California, it is safe to assume that belts holding 11+ rounds could no longer be possessed. (This might have to be clarified by the courts.)

The fines start at $100 for the first offense, $250 for the 2nd offense, and $500 for the 3rd or subsequent offense. So a forgotten box of magazines in the back of a closet could potentially become a very expensive thing! Thankfully, violations of this law are considered infractions.

Your Response to the New Laws: Voting With Your Feet!

If you live in California, then I recommend that you immediately make plans to relocate your family to a more firearms-friendly state, and do so before 2017. Vote with your feet, folks! Relocating will serve two purposes: 1) It will maintain your firearms freedom, and 2) It will remove you from the California tax rolls, depriving the state of your revenue. (Starve the beast!)

If for some reason you cannot leave California before the new laws go into effect, then at least make arrangements with an out-state friend, a FFL, or a storage company to get your banned guns and magazines out of the State before the various effective dates of the new laws. But regardless, do not make the mistake of turning in your magazines in to the police “for destruction”. (Odds are, since the police are exempt from the law, some officers will simply take many of the surrendered magazines home for their own use or re-sell them out of state for a profit.)

The wording of SB 880 an AB 1135 are incredibly convoluted and require careful study. But most of their terms go into effect on January 1, 2017. That is the key date to remember and plan for.

A Limited Boycott

California’s misguided legislators need to get the message: Anti-gun owner tyranny is not unacceptable! I recommend that we institute a limited boycott of California. Those of us living in other states should NOT schedule or attend any conferences or conventions in California. Also, limit your vacation travel to California as much as possible. But please don’t boycott produce from California, since California’s rural and largely conservative fruit, vegetable, and nut growers don’t deserve to be punished for something that was not their doing! Please also continue to do business with California’s gun-related companies, but encourage them to relocate to a free state.

A Helping Hand

Sadly, California is now a legislative lost cause. The voices of its rural gun-owning minority have been drowned out by the statist/leftist urban majority. The chances of Californians salvaging their liberty is slim. Writing letters to your assemblymen in Sacramento or to the editor of your local newspaper just won’t work. You will be ignored. Firearms freedom is now just about dead in California, and the six newly-enacted gun laws were simply the last nails in the coffin lid. Face it, folks: The time has come to flee the tyranny.

Those of us living in free states should now do our best to help Californians escape the anti-gun tyrants. Please first help California’s gun law refugees store their banned guns and magazines, and then help the refugees get re-settled, to find jobs, make a fresh start, and feel welcome. That is the least we can do for them. – JWR

Recipe of the Week: Beef and Potatoes

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs lean ground beef
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • ¼ cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 can condensed tomato soup
  • 5 to 6 medium potatoes
  • 1 cup light cream

Directions:

  1. In a large skillet brown the beef, breaking up large chunks with a fork.
  2. Pour off excess fat.
  3. In a small bowl, mix together salt, pepper, onion, and undiluted soup.
  4. Peel and slice potatoes.
  5. In a slow-cooking pot, arrange alternate layers of potatoes and meat (with the potatoes on the bottom).
  6. Pour the soup mixture over, then cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.
  7. Turn the control to high and pour cream over all, cooking 15 to 20 additional minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

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Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!

Two Letters Re: Toilet Wipes

HJL,

How about the eBay Bidet. It not only rhymes, it completely solves your bum washing problem. You install it on your toilet in 20 minutes. I found out about this using a process of elimination. – M.

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Hi Hugh,

This idea may have already been mentioned, but I connected a kitchen sink dish spray hose and nozzle to my toilet water supply as a homemade bidet using a pipe tee, 1/2-inch valves, and some reducing adapters. It takes a little experimenting to know how far to crack open the valve to keep from spraying water everywhere. Of course, having water pressure is a necessity for it to work and one still has to use the “dirty hand”, but you are right in that one feels much cleaner down there using water and the hand. – WLF

Economics and Investing:

Retailers are closing faster than you think (NYPost) – G.G.

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WATCH OUT If Silver Breaks Through This Threshold Next Week (SRSrocco Report)

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Fed Fails to See No Pent-Up Demand Is Left (Real Money) What is amazing is the government and the sheeple think this is a good idea. Gold is the safe haven as the article says. – R.H.

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US economy is like Botox, looks fine only on the outside (RT) – T.P.

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Video: Has The Government Put You On A Terrorist Watchlist?

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California governor signs stringent gun bills, vetoes others. The article begins: “[Democrat] Gov. Jerry Brown signed six stringent gun-control measures Friday that will require people to turn in high-capacity magazines and mandate background checks for ammunition sales, as California Democrats seek to strengthen gun laws that are already among the strictest in the nation.” The outright ban on 11+ round magazines flies in the face of American jurisprudence, because it has no grandfather clause, and even bans previously-grandfathered magazines. This represents an unconstitutional “taking” without compensation. And requiring a background check for ammunition buyers is absurd! At this point, with the passage of these unconstitutional laws, the only viable option for California’s gun owners is to vote with their feet. I strongly recommend relocating to the American Redoubt!

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A warning for readers on connecting home items for automation/monitoring. – P.S.

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Halos – A galactically bad idea: Mobile App Displays Location of Individuals with Concealed Handguns – OPSEC folks…OPSEC! – T.P.

Using Canning Jars For All Food Stores and More-Part 3, by Sarah Latimer

Managing Your Jarred Larder

Moving a single jar at a time is cumbersome when managing so many. I have kept the original Ball cardboard boxes that the jars came in because they assist in moving multiple jars and placing them on shelves easily, but we are gentle with them to help them last. Occasionally they require some reinforcement with duct tape or replacement altogether; however, so far, most have held up well for a minimum of four years.

Labels can easily be placed on the ends of the Ball boxes, identifying the contents and their dates, so that it is easy to walk down an aisle, look up onto a shelf, and see which box contains needed items. I classify the boxes by category and detail with the year. For example, the box might say “FD Vegetables- peas, corn, carrots 2015”. The “FD” is an abbreviation we use to distinguish freeze-dried items from wet canned items. Lids on jars always have the contents and year on them also. I just put some wheat in half gallon jars today and labeled the lid with “WW 2016” for Winter White 2016. That is the most extreme abbreviation we use. Most of the time we spell things out and say things like “FD Corn 6/16”. When you are looking down at a box of quart jar lids in a fairly dark space, it is nice to be able to read the lid and not have to lift a bunch of jars out of the box to see which one contains freeze-dried corn. I want to reach in and get the one I want the first time. I live a busy life after all, and you probably do too.

By keeping each type of food in the same size jars and in common areas, it is easy to stack them together in sections and locate contents. Freeze-dried meats are stacked in quart jars together. Meals in quarts are stacked together. I have a dairy section with quart jars filled with various freeze-dried items, such as cheese, milk, sour cream, and so forth. There is a section of freeze-dried raw eggs and another with already scrambled eggs. I have a section of canned vegetables and another of freeze-dried vegetables. Then, I have canned and dried fruits in a section. Of course, there is also a large spice, herb, and tea section, with a good amount of medicinal herbs, flowers, bark, and roots included. I keep a section of elderberry syrup already made and canned as well as jars of dried elderberries in stock for making future batches to provide continuous protection again viruses. (We enjoy this syrup in our smoothies, shakes, or just by itself and have noticed a significant reduction in colds, flu, and illnesses since we began taking this.)

I also have dried pastas, rice, potato flakes, and multiple types of beans and grains stored in half gallon jars. The LDS-Mormon Store is an excellent source for many of these items. I find that I can buy a bulk supply of the winter white wheat (which is what I use for my cakes, pancakes and muffins, pastries, and bread) at the Mormon Store for less than what I pay for chicken scratch at the local feed store! Still, I can’t bear the thought of feeding my wonderful, high quality wheat berries to the chickens! They have to eat that cracked mixed grain so I can keep all of the wheat berries for our family.

Within each section of the long-term pantry, I stack boxes of half gallon jars no more than three high and quart jars are stacked only four high because of the weight on the bottom jars and the need to move boxes to get to what is on the bottom. Hugh has built wonderful shelvings that are just the perfect height for this stacking system. We just stack the cardboard boxes on top of the jars below, making sure that they are squared and centered well. We’ve never had a mishap with any falling down or breaking. We do not have issues with significant earthquakes here, so if you live somewhere that does you should consider straps or shelves for every layer to hold your food securely. There is one caveat in our system though; when removing jars from the bottom box, it is necessary to fill in empty spaces to provide good, even support for the weight above. This is another reason why it is important to keep like items together. Pulling from the bottom is rare, as I usually have multiple boxes of a single item and we rotate to keep the oldest items on top. However, sometimes I have a rare item with just one or a few jars of that type of item, such as saffron spice or a purchased medicinal plant root, that may end up in a bottom box.

In rotating supplies, oldest items are on top and in the front, so that they are easy to obtain, one jar at a time. It takes periodic rotation and inventory to keep the larder in check, especially since multiple family members are sent to obtain supplies and may not always pull from the same box and location and multiple family members are sent to place items, too. It is a regular job to keep the long-term food storage well organized. A complete inventory should be done at least annually, but I do inspections more frequently.

While in college, I once thought about a career as a research librarian because I enjoy research and writing. With the Internet, the days of a library’s seemingly endless periodical, microfiche, and full reference section is over, but my cataloging skills are now useful for the pantry. What I am finding is that I occasionally have to reorganize the storage as a type of food outgrows its allocated area. When opportunities arise for extraordinary good deals on products that we use regularly, I take advantage of them. However, I am then in a quandary of where to put those items. The shuffling must begin. Fortunately, I am not required to stick with the Dewey decimal system with the food and can rearrange the storage area as I see fit. If the canned meats need a larger section, they can be traded with another category of food that will fit where the meats were and that is currently is on the periphery where there is some empty space for expansion.

Safely Transporting Jars

When we travel, we always take freeze-dried meals with us. Our health needs keep us from being able to eat exclusively at restaurants when we travel. For example, we cannot tolerate a lot of salt, and most restaurants use too much for us. We also need a lot of fiber and, frankly, are spoiled in liking to eat things “our way”. Eating out just isn’t that much of a treat for any of us, except me, because I don’t have to do the cooking. However, if I get one of my freeze-dried meals I am very happy. I get to eat what I like without any fuss!

On a recent trip that Hugh and one of our sons made, they took homemade freeze-dried meals with them, including Beef Stroganoff; Roast Beef, Sliced Potatoes, Carrots, and Peas with Brown Gravy; and Chicken Fried Rice. All they had to do was add a cup of hot water to each quart jar, gently roll the jars around occasionally over the course of five minutes, open the jars, and eat. I offered to send a thermos of hot water with them, but Hugh said his rocket stove was fine and he’d need to stop and stretch at meal times.

Several times a year, our family has taken one- to three-week long trips and taken all of our food with us, including our snacks, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. We only needed one large cooler plus our jars. For the three week trip, I believe we took about 48 jars, but we didn’t consume all of the contents. I am known for having much more than enough. The LORD is good, and His bounty is evident at our table! I thank Him daily as I work in our garden. We are preparing for a bountiful harvest again this year, thanks to our great Creator and His provisions.

Anyway, taking jars with us has been no problem. We have carried them in our SUV, pickup, and trailer without a problem. We have never had one break yet, but when we carry them, we do not let the glass jars “clink” against one another. I use pieces of cardboard or other food items to separate them. Hugh has built wooden carrying boxes with lids. Each box holds 12 quarts, and I use strips of cardboard between the jars to give some cushion as they vibrate and bounce going down bumpy roads. There isn’t much space between the jars, so that helps to minimize the amount of bouncing, too. I have not had to put anything under the jars, though someone might want to do this. The main concern has been to protect the glass from hitting against other glass. The boxes Hugh made only fit quart jars, so any products that are normally stored in half gallons are repackaged into quarts for trips.

Quick oatmeal cereal mixed with brown sugar and dried fruit is another great product to carry on a trip. Dried apples and fruit, nuts, and beverages can also help make trips more pleasant. If it is cold, mix up some cocoa mix or spiced tea to carry for hot water. If it is hot outside, mix up Kool-aid or a drink mix and sugar or stevia so that you can add the mix by the spoonful to cold water bottles out of the cooler.

The larder mentioned above can be built and arranged in your bugout location in advance of SHTF. With vacuum-sealed jars stored in the dark, especially in a cellar environment, which is cool year around, the properly canned contents should last at least a decade or so. You can have your meats/proteins, dairy, vegetables, fruits, starches, and also your herbs, teas, green coffee, herbal medicines, and whatever else you need stored in air tight jars that water, air, light, and pests cannot easily get into to destroy.

When SHTF, just dust off those jars, open, heat/add hot water, and eat. Once you have emptied some jars, they can be cleaned and used for heating and serving food. For heating food, they can go into a pan of boiling water. They can be used as drinking glasses, too, and have a lid to keep the contents clean and bug free while you are living and working in the great outdoors.

Letter Re: Washable Cloth Toilet Wipes

Hugh,

Regarding the person who wondered “Why go to all the trouble to cut and sew toilet wipes when you can simply use mass-produced bathroom washcloths”:

  1. By making them, each family member has their own as I used a different fabric pattern for me and my husband; this removes the “ick” factor
  2. Also, I plan to make and sell these both pre- and post-SHTF, and the fabric was free to me.

There are other issues that must be considered as well:

  1. Last year with a UTI, I used a full 1,000 sheet roll of Scott toilet paper in only six hours,
  2. If someone in the home becomes ill, say with the stomach flu of some other illness, you would want a large stock of washable toilet paper so they could just be placed in the pail until wash day; a person who is sick cannot “self-regulate their bowel voiding patterns”. – S.T.

HJL Comments: The question of what to do when the toilet paper runs out is always on the mind of preppers, and I have seen some very ingenious solutions to the problem. However, the easiest and most reliable method is just to use water. Americans seem to have an aversion to this method due to the fact that you have one hand that touches your nether regions, but the vast majority of the world uses this method in various forms with very satisfactory results. You might consider what would happen if you were camping and you sat down on the ground and accidentally placed your hand in a pile of poo. Would you just take a roll of toilet paper and wipe your hand until it looked clean and then call it good at this point? Most of us would not. You would spend some time with soap and water and thoroughly clean the hand. Why do we then consider wiping our bums with toilet paper as an adequate sanitation procedure?

This concept was hammered home when I had to have a colonoscopy a couple of years ago. Before the procedure, I was required to drink a gallon of solution that cleaned me out. During that time, ready access to a bathroom was mandatory and my bum became so sore that it was literally bleeding. Using toilet paper was out of the question. Thankfully, the toilet was next to the tub/shower, which had a hand wand on the shower head. Using water on low pressure provided an easy, sanitary and painless way of cleaning up. This experience prompted a search on how third world countries with no access to toilet paper deal with the situation.

In many countries, access to soap is limited and you end up with the concept of a “clean” hand (usually the right hand) and a “dirty” hand (usually the left hand). Cleaning up is relegated to the “dirty” hand, while greeting people is done with the “clean” hand. Don’t get those two mixed up or you will thoroughly insult the person by offering them the “dirty” hand. If you have access to soap, there is no need to dedicate a “dirty” hand because cleaning the hand is as simple as washing with soap and water afterwards.

The procedure is simple:

  1. Bring a cup of water (or better yet, a peri bottle) to the toilet with you.
  2. While still seated on the toilet (or crouching over the latrine), wet the fingers of the “dirty” hand so the poo doesn’t stick readily to the skin.
  3. Holding the cup of water in your “clean” hand, dribble it down into the nether region while rubbing the affected area with the fingers of the “dirty” hand. Men generally have to dribble the water down their backside; women can dribble it from the front or the rear. For women, the front is preferred, as it flushes the waste away from sensitive areas.
  4. After cleaning the nether regions, use the remaining water to rinse off your fingers from the “dirty” hand.

If done right, it takes less than a cup of water to thoroughly clean the nether regions and the fingers, and you will be surprised how much cleaner you feel afterwards compared to using just regular toilet paper. When you have completed the job, wash your hands as normal with soap and water. If TEOTWAWKI occurs and access to soap is limited, the society will simply revert back to the concept of only using the right hand for public, reserving the left hand for private. While the concept is simple, some practice is required. Cleaning the area is simple, but keeping the water from dribbling down your legs or making a mess in your bathroom can be challenging at first.

There are those among us who are totally averse to touching the nether regions with the bare skin of your fingers. Leaving aside the question of how you perform bathing or showering, this video may be for you. It contains instructions on how to build a portable bidet kit with nitrile gloves along with instructions on using it replete with a demonstration on a small stuffed animal. I think it’s overkill, but each to his own. A word of caution is in order here. Please be careful in searching YouTube for instructional videos on this procedure. Most are highly offensive.

Economics and Investing:

CNBC interview (video): The European Union is ‘doomed to fail,’ says ‘Black Swan’ author Nassim Taleb

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From the Of Two Minds blog of the always incisive Charles Hugh Smith: Brexit, the E.U. and the “Special Relationship” of the U.S./U.K.

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I missed this well-reasoned piece by Gary Christenson when it was posted back on March 21st: Silver – A Long-Term Perspective

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For those considering investing in guns, here is a good intro: Garry James’ Rules for Buying Collectible Guns

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And here is is much more detailed article, by Mike Venturino: Smart Gun Buying

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Federal regulation of Internet coming, warn FCC, FEC commissioners

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I see that our SurvivalRealty.com spin-off website now has an amazing 260 listings in the United States. Congrats on that to my #1 Son! Be sure to check out the many unusual retreat properties offered for sale. For example, see this one near Worley, Idaho with plentiful water and a 1,000 square foot NBC bunker!

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Despite some recent shortages throughout the U.S., Gun Mag Warehouse still seems to have some 20-, 30-, 40-, and even 60-round PMAGs on hand. I recommend stocking up before the DNC”s Election Convention in July!

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Human, bear conflicts on the rise in Northern Rockies

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I saw this linked over at The Drudge Report: Talk Of Moving TSA Checkpoints Outside. When will the expansion of TSA jurisdiction end?

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” – Romans 10:9 (KJV)

Making a Living in the Hinterboonies

One of the great quandaries faced by many American preppers is that their desire to move to a lightly-populated rural region is usually not consistent with the ability to earn a good living. Let’s face it: The job opportunities in the Hinterboonies are scarce. Unless you are retired, self-employed, or you are in a high-demand profession (such as medicine or dentistry), then it might be difficult to have the same standard of living that you’ve enjoyed in an urban or suburban community.

Part of the following repeats what I wrote in SurvivalBlog back in 2009 about the sorts of jobs that will likely survive an economic recession or depression, but it is still sound advice.

Even if you are currently employed somewhere in a “safe and secure” job, keep in mind that there are no absolutely secure jobs. You could have a small town civil service job, for example at a water treatment plant. But what if the city or county that you work for goes bankrupt? You could be laid off in a heartbeat. The phrase “under new management” often means firing you and hiring the nephew or an old pal of the new boss. The fictional character Sarah Conner said it best: “No one is ever safe.” So hedge your bets.

I recommend that you develop a second stream of income through self-employment. Typically, this can be found in a moonlighting service job, or a home-based Internet mail order business. To have the opportunity to pursue an online business venture or to telecommute, find a rural community that is served by high speed Internet. You probably don’t need gigabit speed (like Chattanooga), but try to find a place with at least moderate speed DSL Internet service available. Better connectivity means more options. Poor connectivity (at “dial-up” speed) means fewer options.

I’ve often encouraged my consulting clients to develop a second income stream. Why is this important? “Living off the land”-style self sufficiently is an admirable and commendable goal. But even if you are living truly “debt free”, you will still have property taxes to pay. That means that you will need at least a part-time depression-proof revenue stream in the event that you lose your primary job.

Successful home-based businesses usually center around filling otherwise unfilled needs. Find something that your neighbors buy or rent or a service that they “hire” on a regular basis that currently requires a 40+ mile drive “to town”. Those are your potential niches.

A successful recession-proof home-based business is likely to be one where the demand for your goods and services is consistent, even in a weak economy. These include septic tank pumping, home security/locksmithing, care for the very young and the very old, installing home security webcams, and escapist diversions such as Blu-Ray movie sales or rentals. (It is noteworthy that the movie industry was one of the few sectors of the U.S. economy that prospered in the 1930s.)

Another market segment that prospered all through the Great Depression of the 1930s was repair businesses. Obviously, in hard economic times, people try to make do with what they have rather that throwing things way and replacing them. So repair businesses are a natural. If it is some small appliance that you could repair that could be mailed from and back to the customer, so much the better. (That way you could have a nationwide business rather than just a local one.) This might include: DVD player repair or laptop computer repair.

It’s a Dirty Job, But Someone Has to Do It

If you want to work for someone else, yet still be employed in a recession-proof field, then consider the dirty jobs. These are some of the least likely to suffer a layoff. In Japan, these are called the “Three-K” jobs: kitsui (“hard”), kitanai (“dirty”), and kiken (“dangerous”). If you are willing to take on any of the Three K jobs, do cheerful and hard work, and have exemplary attendance, then you will likely have a job that will carry you all the way through a deep recession or even an economic depression. If times get truly Schumeresque and you get laid off, then please be willing to “think outside the box” and consider taking a Three K job. Some of these are low level city and county payroll jobs. By low level, I mean things like sanitation worker, animal control officer, sewer technician, solid waste transfer station worker, highway maintenance worker, and so forth.

Mike Rowe (of “Dirty Jobs” fame) recently made a video for new graduates, titled: Don’t Follow Your Passion. Take a few minutes to watch it. I concur with his view.

Think about it: A steady job beats no job. Don’t let your family starve or end up homeless. There is no shame in accepting good old-fashioned hard work. If you take a job that brings in only one-half of your existing income, consider that you’ll actually come out ahead of any of your contemporaries who are laid off more than half of each year. Further, you will have uninterrupted benefits, such as health insurance, that they will also lack. A menial, low-paying job is better than no job.

One other important point is that you need to be willing to work several part-time jobs. This redundancy could prove crucial, if one of your ventures fails. (And odds are, at least one of them will fail.)

Some suggested stable employment possibilities:

  1. Mining and manufacturing processes that, because of shipping expenses, cannot practicably be moved offshore.
  2. Service industry jobs that are essential and non-discretionary. Let me differentiate so that you’ll know what to avoid. “Discretionary” would be jobs like pilates instructor, hairdresser, massage therapist, and manicurist. Non-discretionary jobs would include mortician, sanitation worker, and emergency room doctor.
  3. Retail sales (face-to-face or mail order) of crucial items, such as soap, vegetable garden seeds, vitamins, spices, batteries, et cetera. The value of concentrating on items like these is that there will still be orders, even in a deep economic depression.
  4. Retail sales (face-to-face or mail order) of “comfort” items. In the midst of an economic depression, people will crave escape. Blu-Ray movies, video games, escapist books, and MP3 players are good examples. (To explain the last item: In really remote areas where there is no cell phone service available, few people own smartphones. There, dedicated MP3 players are still popular.)
  5. Repair work. (Repairing small appliances, laptop PCs, chainsaws, boat engines, guns, vacuum cleaners, and so forth.)
  6. Sales of a patentable small product that you can you manufacture at home (or a ta shop in a small town) and sell nationwide through the Internet. (A patent is important, to give you several years of production without competition from China or other foreign countries.)

Be Proactive

I have observed that the folks who find good-paying employment in a rural area are generally those who are proactive. If you sit around and read the “Help Wanted” ads, then you will probably be disappointed. Your best bets are to either bring an income with you (via telecommuting) or to launch your own businesses. If possible, get those businesses established and profitable before you make your move.

In closing, I encourage you to make the move to the hinterboonies. It can be a great place to raise a family. But beforehand, be sure that you can support your family. – JWR

Letter: Starting a Manufacturing Business on a Tight Budget, by M.B.

In case you have not kept up with the Maker movement the last couple of years, great strides have happened in the average guys ability to build advanced micro-manufacturing facilities for very little money versus even a few years ago.

I will note that this discussion is not all inclusive as this field changes on a sometimes weekly basis.

The ability to do advanced manufacturing with relatively small amounts of money is the dirty secret of China’s present economic success.  I should know, since I have been there, I have friends in the industrial automation business who have been there, and I regularly import items from China, although my capacity to produce many of the the same items that I import is growing rapidly. The parts to make these items allow are sold in nearly every small town in China.  They sell stepper motors and automation equipment at the hardware stores in China. 

First off and the easiest to learn tool is a CO2 laser cutter.  Good quality 40 watt laser  engraver/cutters are now around $425 USD, plus shipping.  They do work, and I have bought several of them. While only having a small 8×10″ inch work area, they allow me to build larger things, and to produce higher value items like rubber stamps, 3D printers, key chains, signage, logo plates and even other CNC machines.

CNC routers and milling machines  have  come down substantially in price. I have a few routers and mini mills.  A fairly decent small mill can be now had for $800 and a good large router like the Mostly Printed CNC are as little  as  $500  in kit  form. (Files are  available  on on Thingiverse or it is available as a kit for $500 from the creator of the project.) Those two machines expand your manufacturing capability to be able to make other more advanced items and other machines.

The Mostly Printed CNC mill can even be used as a CNC plasma cutter.  For basically about $1,000 you can now have a table mill that cost $10,000 in 2006.

3D printers have become ubiquitous.  I picked up a very good Delta 3D printer, delivered as a kit for just $280. Being in the business of making printers myself, I was blown away by the quality that  I got from this inexpensive kit.  This tech has advanced immensely in the last year with machine reliability becoming very good.  I should mention that when I first started 3D printing, I nearly gave up on it  because it was so difficult to get it to work right with the print heads and other issues of the older-generation equipment. But everything has changed with the latest generation 3D printers. 

Injection molding machines are also now affordable. If you have the 3D printer and/or mill, then you can builda injection molder yourself or purchase a production model from someone like Many-Maker.  Your costs are under $1,000 for this. I have built a manually operated injection molder for less than $100.  This allows you to basically take advantage of the free money that is strewn in the streets and trash. (Namely, plastic.)  I can purchase used plastic for around 12 cents a pound or collect it for free.

Next, consider the CNC Lathe.  Used EMCO brand lathes are presently available for between $300 and $2,500 USD.  I am currently retrofitting one with more modern electronics and the total cost should be somewhere around $1,000.  Open builds has a 4-axis CNC design that will give you nearly the same results for about the same costs.

Casting metal is another inexpensive option. You can now safely melt and cast metal including aluminum in small amounts by the use of special crucibles that work in a microwave oven. These special crucibles absorb the energy and transfer it to the metal.  You can also build small gas-fired or AC electric crucibles with plans found all over the Internet. [JWR Adds: Glass fusing crucibles for microwave ovens are also now available. Find a used microwave oven for your workshoop. And never use that one for cooking!]

The investment of $10,000 can now get you the capacity of a shop that would have required the investment of several hundred thousand dollars only 10 years ago. Most of these machines do not use much electricity and they can easily be set up in a one car garage work space. 

Bottom  line: Your cost barrier to making things for a living, and selling them locally or online is now extremely low.

JWR Adds: I see the profusion of new home manufacturing technologies as part of the Internet-enabled Second Industrial Revolution. The advent of these many low-cost machines is something akin to when home treadle sewing machines first became widely available in the late 1800s.  Suddenly, almost everyone could afford one, and it revolutionized cottage industry. 

One manufacturing technology that M.B. did not mention was the advent of home vacuum forming of sheet plastic. A simple-to-construct vacuum box with an electric heating element and the hose from a Shop Vac can be used to turn ABS and other styrene sheet plastic into an amazing variety of shapes. Making the wrap-around molds takes patience and skill, but this is a proven technology. May the Maker Force be with you.