TTAG’s first Austin area reader meet-up last night drew 20 or so Armed Intelligentsia members who came from as far afield as Ft. Worth. Gathering at Casa De Montecristo, we schmoozed, smoked cigars, ogled an array of guns and gave away a metric crap-ton of swag from companies like Otis Technology, Colt Gun Lights, Vista Outdoor, CapArms, FN, SureFeed Magazines, CZ, Streamlight, Faxon, Lucky Gunner and many more.

You can watch RF and Nick administer the trivia quiz and hand out the loot — no one went home empty-handed — here. It was such a success that we’ll be making this a regular event. Thanks to everyone who was there. We hope you had as good time as we did.

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40 COMMENTS

    • I saw that too and my only exception I could muster was he was talking about the trigger and squeezing it for some kind of demonstration purpose. Having chamber checked it prior of course. But who knows.

      • This is exactly what was going on. He was showing me the way a “Squeeze Cocker” HK worked. IIRC, the trigger was pulled with the gun pointed as safely as possible.

    • All firearms safety checked by two people. And then safety checked again by various participants. There were some issues with muzzle discipline, and some participants were corrected, but it was a safe, fun event with more than adequate ventilation. Wait, that’s probably not the best word to use . . .

      • I was a smoker. I don’t get into the second hand smoke debate cause I never studied the issue. I quit smoking and that was the end of it.

        All I will say about second hand smoke was that my first wife claimed I killed all her house plants with it. I always said it was the evil aura she packed that did it. One of many arguments.

        I like the smell of pipe and cigar tobacco but i avoid these stores. 3 decades after giving up smokes and I still want one ever so often.

        I think it would have been easier to kick crack.

        • I don’t mind being a second-hand smoker, if I can pick the brand, and I always go menthol because, like .40 S&W, it’s ‘snappy’.

          No, it looks fun, but I personally would rather the smoke be from smokeless powder.

      • I have no doubt that, had some miscreant showed up to rob the place or something, that he too would have had “proper ventilation”.

      • Oh, so if two people check to see if a gun is unloaded, then rules can be violated. Wrong answer. Don’t be a Springfield!

        • Few things are more annoying than someone who says something vapid with the righteousness of someone saying something profound.

          The 4 rules, as written, are not workable in all aspects of life, though they are useful at the range and in general. But you WILL have to pull the trigger of a gun that you don’t intend to fire… when you’re disassembling a Glock or practicing dry fire. So you unload it. You WILL be unable to always know what is beyond ‘your target’ because you don’t have X-ray vision. You WILL probably ‘muzzle’ someone or something you don’t want to destroy if you carry a gun regularly (shoulder holster and appendix carry in particular). And guns do not magically load themselves, as much as you might think they do. Once you check that the gun is unloaded, it will remain unloaded, unless something intercedes. And if that gun remains in your sight, nothing can intercede to load it.

          So, no, a gun is not actually always loaded. That’s a parable to remind people of the dangers of a loaded gun and remind them why they should treat any ‘unknown’ state gun as loaded.

        • There’s nothing wrong with verifying a gun is empty, pointing it in a safe direction, and dry firing. If you take issue with dry fire you should probably switch hobbies. May I suggest still life photography? Napping, perhaps?

  2. I’m glad I could make it for just a bit — still high from the second hand smoke. The highlight of the showcase had to be Robert’s EDC X9… it’s a beauty and really got me thinking about quality vs quantity.

      • That was a very poor choice of words. It was _really_ good cigar smoke. Now I have to go back to look over the store selection better.

  3. So it went off without a hitch and no one went out with a bang?

    In some mountain lair Bloomberg is angrily stroking a Persian cat and yelling at a minion.

        • I spent the 80s working two full time jobs. Work, eat, sleep. Rinse. Repeat.

          I have no memory of M.A.D. Cat.

        • It’s from a 1980’s cartoon called Inspector Gadget. The antagonist is Dr. Claw, his pet, like Blofeld or Dr. Evil is a cat. That cat is M.A.D. cat.

          People who were real young in the late 1980’s or early 1990’s might have seen the cartoon.

  4. It was great time. Meeting the writers, Dan, Nick, Jeremy, Chris and of course Robert, Talking about guns and all that goes with them… Plus it didn’t hurt that I walked out w/new Okay (Surefeed) magazines and a Faxon barrel. (I guess I have to build an AR for the sake of the barrel). I encourage all TTAG readers that if you can make one of these meet ups, to do so.

  5. If you don’t tie the next event to cigars, you might get better attendance (women included). But that’s just a hypothesis.

  8. Omg! That’s more people than the last Moms Demand protest! RF, maybe you could give Shannon some pointers on building crowd size.

    • That’s not even an exaggeration.

      Our side has one thing the other side will never, ever match: the fun factor. Guns are FUN. That’s what got me started with guns, and it’s why most people can’t just stop at one. Leave all the serious stuff aside, and I’d still be defending my right to have fun (with guns) tooth and nail.

  9. I’m assuming that Farago deleted a previous comment which claimed “still high from the second hand smoke” because the suggestion that any substance other than tobacco was smoked at the Austin gathering is a lie. FYI Robert, its highly unlikely any smoke other than tobacco could have gone unnoticed by unidentified members of LE who may or may not have been in attendance.

  10. I drove over from the Houston area. Very pleasant meeting with a plethora of OFWGs as well as a few with potential. Anyone up to carpooling from Houston for the next event? I neglected to contribute a story or two–too busy soaking up tales that likely won’t make it onto the web.

  11. I drove down from Fort Worth with a buddy. (Six hours in a SmartCar next to another dude gave me some appreciation for the Gemini astronauts… although we probably experienced “slightly” less acceleration!) I had a good time, but was disappointed that Liberte Austin never showed up. I’m beginning to formulate a conspiracy theory that she doesn’t really exist, but is a fabrication of the TTAG writing crew’s imagination! To quote Seymore Skinner, “Prove me wrong, kids! Prove me wrong.”

    • Better MPG than I managed for sure. But zipping along highway 71 at 80 MPH past a cow on the pavement, I appreciated the mass of my Expedition as I contemplated the laws of physics.

  12. Great time. I appreciate the effort to put this together. I was a dedicated reader and now I’m even more dedicated. Great guys. Great time. Met some great dudes and got a line on Grobman’s low light course which I’m about to sign up for. I’ll definitely be at the next one. On another note. Muzzle nazi. Get a hydraulic press and pull the panties out of your ass. Safety checked. Guns don’t self manufacture rounds.

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