I just realized I never finished the first story I posted. In the spirit of completeness, I feel I must.
Shortly after the chain of events that led me to dump my wife, including the story I'm referring to, where she called the cops and had my gun collection confiscated, I contacted the same cops in order to request the return of my collection. I assumed that since it was legally my property, i was entitled to get it back. Sure enough, it turned out that the only thing they were interested in was my registering the handguns in this state. I had acquired all of them, save the one I had inherited from my father in my 20's, during my life in Oregon. By the way, if you have an interest in owning and using guns, i can't recommend a better state, except maybe Texas. Gun ownership in Oregon is not only allowed, it is actively encouraged. I remember once during my 8 year stay there, the police in downtown - *downtown* - Portland stopped a gentleman who was carrying a large caliber loaded rifle along the streets of the city. Turns out, he was passing thru on his way to a deer hunting expedition, and there is in fact no law prohibiting his behavior. He was not shooting the gun inside city limits, nor was he concealing it. Just walking along the streets carrying it. So the cops chatted him up briefly, and then he went on his merry way, ostensibly looking to shoot Bambi. Anyway, when I contacted the Ventura sheriffs department, they told me I needed to fill out an application listing all the handguns (none of the long guns, including 9MM and 12 gauge shotgun) and submit it to the calif dept. of justice to make sure I wasn't a convicted criminal or other person not entitled to own a handgun. So i filled out the paperwork, serial numbers and such, my SSN, hair color and blood type, etc., and sent it in with a check for the fee for each weapon. Sure enough, they determined that I was not a criminal, or mentally unstable, and whatever else they check for, and they sent me a permit for all my guns. So I toddled down to the sheriff's office, showed them my permit, and sure enough, they had me all my guns, nicely packaged. I had been a little worried, because I thought one of the guns may have been considered an "assault rifle" under california law - a Tek 9, or "drive by special". Turns out I worried for naught, it was in fact the a model that was designed specifically to get around the assault rifle ban we have in Calif. God, I love the NRA. Anyway, the cop goes back to get all my guns, brings them out and says, in all seriousness as only a firearms aficionado could, "You must be glad to get all your babies back!" I replied "Yes, I dumped the crazy wife, and kept the guns!" We both had a hearty laugh, and off I went, collection in hand. And there they remain, as God intended. Note that I did NOT bring them back into the home where my soon to be ex was still living, because I did not trust her crazy ass not to shoot me. I kept them in a storage locker. But as soon as I could get her out of my house, home came my babies. I suppose, in retrospect, I should not have been surprised that they were returned with very little hassle, since I DID NOT BREAK ANY LAWS, AND I HAD DONE NOTHING WRONG. But you know, living with a crazy chick long enough, and you start to doubt yourself. In fact, chicks tend to encourage this as much as they can, since it gives them the advantage. So watch for that too.
And that was "the rest of the story".
BTW, sorry for the delay since my last post, I've had a nasty bout of bronchitis, which slowed me down a tad. I'm fine now, thanks.
BF
