Several years ago, a friend was renting a room to a guy who was short on rent. But he had a storage unit in town where he had a bunch of mineral specimens he needed to sell. He'd bought them down at the big show in Tuscon with the hope of opening a rock shop that never happened. To help him, and her, out, I went to have a look. He had some nice stuff and was willing to sell for cheap. So, I bought enough to cover his rent that month, mostly a really big quartz cluster about two feet long, and some other things. Mostly I was doing the landlord a favor.

Another month turns and he calls again. I meet him at the storage place, but there's nothing I really want to buy. So, he says, "I've got two AK's in here, with ammo."

I give him a stare. "No, come, look," says he, "Go ahead, hold it."

Again, I just give him a stare. Why? I'm not only NOT going to buy a gun from a guy I barely know in a storage unit on the outskirts of town, there is no way in hell I'm putting my fingerprints on a weapon that isn't mine, not registered, not shown it is unloaded, and not cleaned in months.

I bought of couple of crystals I didn't want, got the hell out of there, and never answered his calls again.

I'm just paranoid enough to wonder if it was a sting op. But probably not. That's just how easy it is to get a gun in this country.