>>My guess would be hunting. I know that in Nevada, California and
>>Washington states there's a separate (and earlier) black powder
>>hunting season. Meaning you could, if you were really into it, get
>>three tags: Bow, Black Powder, and Modern Rifle.

We do that up here in New York as well, although black powder is more generically a "muzzleloader" season; you don't have to actually use black powder, you can load up with smokeless if you like. The state discourages doing both; it's either/or unless you pay for the super ultra special license that costs a lot of money.

>Ah, of course. And the manufacturers have cannily realized that
>there's a ready (and probably larger than the vintage-repros one)
>market of people who are inclined to ignore the spirit of that rule
>entirely and kit themselves out with hyper-advanced equipment that has
>laser sights

Interestingly, it is completely and utterly illegal to hunt here in NYS with a laser sight of any kind. Your scope can be as advanced as you like in all other ways, but it can't project a beam or light of any sort.

Really, making antique or obsolete technology using modern methods isn't particularly odd or weird. I mean, yeah, a modern muzzleloader seems stupid... but I would humbly submit that when you hear about the people making really badass swords using all the modern metallurgical tricks afforded to them, your reaction is not "that's silly, the sword is an antiquated, obsolete weapon" but rather "cooooooooool." :)

> Amazingly, it didn't occur to me for years how
>monumentally stupid that was; even more amazingly, my house was never
>broken into by someone looking to score some free guns. Mind you,
>most of my collection is junk* and at least one of the pieces in it
>would probably kill you if you tried to shoot someone with it, but
>still, that was pretty dumb.

Well, it's not like you're alone here.. People are still doing this. Literally half the pictures on my brothers wall (by which I mean facebook) are him posing with his gun cabinet. And the pictures on his hunting buddies walls. And the ones on that friend of his who never hunts but is way, way to eager to let us know how heavily armed he is at all times.

So far none of them have been ripped off for their guns, although frankly at times I've wished it would happen; one or two of them are the sort of people who will quickly and huffily correct you if you refer to a firearm as a gun or a cartridge as a bullet.

-Merc
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