In yet another “i never expected to do this” moment, today i bought a shotgun. It’s a Stevens pump-action 12 gauge. It’s actually a Savage Arms design manufactured in China so it’s cheap.

Short barrel, pistol grip, 5 cartridge capacity. It was mostly my neighbor’s idea, but i have to admit i smiled when i asked him while standing at the counter at the store, “pump action short barrel is better for zombies, right?” and without missing a beat he replied, “definitely… fewer waterfowl, but more zombies.” We’re planning waterfowl trips on the Rogue river starting next week. No zombie trips planned, but unplanned is kind of the nature of zombies.

On a related topic, have any of you actually been to a gun retailer lately? It. Is. Insane! Even the clerks laugh when asked “how many guns that shoot the same ammunition do we really need?” At this one store there were about seven that fired .22 long rifle rounds… all the way up to a five shot revolver that fired, wait for it, .50 caliber rounds. Fifty caliber rounds in a pistol! Fifty cal is what is used in belt fed machine guns. The guns on that F4U-4 Corsair from WW II fired fifty cal. That’s a hand-canon! What do you need protection from? A cape buffalo?

But in all this my favorite point is the thumb print from both hands. They place the ink on the counter and look away…..i dutifully roll the ink on my thumb and roll it on the paper, repeat the other hand, and wait for them to hand me the wipe-off rag. “I see you’ve done this before” “Yes, sir. No convictions, sir.” It’s actually great fun… everybody at the counter looks at me differently after that.