[mike_1950]

The past couple of days I have spent some time looking for a certain firearm for sale and a good deal on some bulk Standard velocity .22 ammo. .Doing this I have seen a few ...let's say suspicious websites, with gun and ammo prices way to low for this era of high prices. I have scanned the sites and found they all have these things in common.....Updated date at the top L/H corner of the home page, no phone number, no address and for the big tell....always shipping charges will be determined after order is placed...NOT when ordering and shipping INFO is completed as on most sites. Any normal person would not buy into this but in this time of buy before you think ... makes me wonder how many scams are being run by these sites.

 

[Shark1007]

The scams are legion. On Florida gun trader now most of the ads are scams. You’ll see that the person joined the group on the day of the ad and it often has the same language from an ad originating in Kissimmee as an ad originating in Sarasota. I’m betting some people get nailed with these scams.

 

[joecarry]

How does anyone place an order without knowing how much that order is to include shipping? Anyone that finalizes a purchase without the shipping charges is just begging to be taken advantage of. If I saw that, I would run, not walk away, from that website. Nope.

 

[Caleb]

You have to be careful these days. Only buy from trusted sites have been around before all this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Steve48]

So why don't these scammers just make up a reasonable shipping charge and present that, rather than creating a "tell" that shows them to be scammers??

 

[Shark1007]

Because there is no scammer vetting process to require them to demonstrate competence. We clearly need a governmental scammer oversight committee.

 

[Steve48]

Oooh, are we taking volunteers?

 

[Shark1007]

If asked, I will serve. It’s my patriotic duty.

 

[FfNJGTFO]

I had a similar issue this week, but with ammo instead of firearms.

I saw a website that seemed to offer XM855 Green tip in 10 round strips. An ammo can of 420 rounds in 10 round strips for $115.49. I'm like "WHOOOAAAA..." And then my meter kicked in. Way too good to be true. And it was.

I had been putting off this buy for almost two weeks. But still, the same price, and the same "in stock" indication, every day. "That's crazy," I thought. "How could they keep the ammo in stock like that?" Well, 2 days ago, I saw a Youtube video which highlighted the very website I was considering as a scam, proving it by pointing out the fake office location, etc, etc and the hidden domain name info,, etc. Thank God that Youtube video came through, because I was ready to go for it! Deep down, I knew it was "too good to be true..." but I was just trying to be hopeful.

The site: Federal XM855 5.56 NATO 62GR Green Tip 420Rds on Stripper Clips - RANIER GUN STORE

The YouTube Video:

 

[The Fish]

Because there is no scammer vetting process to require them to demonstrate competence. We clearly need a governmental scammer oversight committee.

Even as a Lib who is not automatically against larger government,THIS IS TOO MUCH!!!!!!

 

[Shark1007]

Fish, I was preparing my campaign brochures already.

 

[Anduril]

Maybe a little unrelated, but part of Post #9 makes me wish the government (Florida) would not force you to use a physical address on your driver license.
Hear me out....

Suppose some ne'er-do-well outfit wanted a list of gun owners.
They set up shop (scam or otherwise) and sell ammo - with the logical conclusion being that most customers of said ammo would in fact be gun owners.
Not perfect, but close enough.

Me?
I have a UPS Store box - and have had one for 25 years. (Used to be Mail Boxes, Etc.., and before that it was a mom & pop).
I have all my ammo shipped there. Amazon too. No problems with lost or stolen packages.
And I realize the expense isn't for everyone, but I have a side-business that covers the expense anyway, so for me, that's a free perk.

But here's the rub:
Even if I ship ammo to my UPS box, it's not that difficult to pin my name to my license address.
.....which BY LAW, has to be your physical address. At least in Florida.

Maybe there are workarounds I haven't explored.
But I don't like "big brother" in general. I like the fact that even the State of Florida PROHIBITS gun registration databases (etc..), but I don't know how effective that really is?

 

[The Fish]

Fish, I was preparing my campaign brochures already.

You have my vote!!!!!!

 

[Shark1007]

Anduril

I am with you. I stopped channel 9 dead in their tracks years back when they were trying to publish a list of CCW holder’s. I explained to them that they would potentially put people at risk of home invasion or theft and would be facing some pretty serious litigation.

 

[artemis]

Maybe a little unrelated, but part of Post #9 makes me wish the government (Florida) would not force you to use a physical address on your driver license.
Hear me out....

Suppose some ne'er-do-well outfit wanted a list of gun owners.
They set up shop (scam or otherwise) and sell ammo - with the logical conclusion being that most customers of said ammo would in fact be gun owners.
Not perfect, but close enough.

Me?
I have a UPS Store box - and have had one for 25 years. (Used to be Mail Boxes, Etc.., and before that it was a mom & pop).
I have all my ammo shipped there. Amazon too. No problems with lost or stolen packages.
And I realize the expense isn't for everyone, but I have a side-business that covers the expense anyway, so for me, that's a free perk.

But here's the rub:
Even if I ship ammo to my UPS box, it's not that difficult to pin my name to my license address.
.....which BY LAW, has to be your physical address. At least in Florida.

Maybe there are workarounds I haven't explored.
But I don't like "big brother" in general. I like the fact that even the State of Florida PROHIBITS gun registration databases (etc..), but I don't know how effective that really is?

Passport card doesn’t have an address on it

 

[Anduril]

Passport card doesn’t have an address on it

Agreed.
And while you could use a Passport card as photo ID for your CCW license, it won't relieve you from having to provide your RESIDENTIAL address.
See Section-1 of the application. https://www.fdacs.gov/content/download/26365/file/ConcealedWeaponLicenseApplicationInstructions.pdf

 

[Rick McC.]

Agreed.
And while you could use a Passport card as photo ID for your CCW license, it won't relieve you from having to provide your RESIDENTIAL address.
See Section-1 of the application. https://www.fdacs.gov/content/download/26365/file/ConcealedWeaponLicenseApplicationInstructions.pdf

Yep.

They have my residential and mailing addresses; neither of which is on the permit.

 

[Shark1007]

This might be a “Write your legislator” moment. Chapter 119 of the public records law makes police officers home address protected, Why not concealed carriers?

Back in my day, the address on your drivers license was the address of the police department.

 

[BeerHunter]

This might be a “Write your legislator” moment. Chapter 119 of the public records law makes police officers home address protected, Why not concealed carriers?

Back in my day, the address on your drivers license was the address of the police department.

I can just hear the elites now, "But, but, but the po-po should be able to know where a citizen resides because . . ." Awe Hell!