The collapsible stock is neat, but a feature I could do without. A flash hider is a useful feature, but I’m not sure it’s worth the cost difference between a pre-ban and a post-ban.
I was once (yea, like only a few months ago) of the opinion that the AWB would be extended. Gun control is a losing issue for a politician, no matter which side they take. Making the AWB more restrictive is a bad, bad move for nearly all politicians. However, I tend to think if politicians quietly (meaning without a lot of debate or media coverage) vote to extend the current ban, they won’t lose many votes. Many gun-nuts like us are going to be upset about the extension, but not to the point where most of us will change our voting habits.
If politicians vote for a more restrictive ban, then they risk losing a great portion of the “gun people’s” vote. If there is a lot of heated debate, it creates a lot of attention that the politicians don’t really want.
So, maintaining the status quo is their best bet.
That’s what I did think. Now it has dawned on me that all the politicians need to do is let the current AWB sunset without being able to come to an agreement on a new AWB. That might actually be easier than voting to extended the current ban. A politician can always take the middle road and say they support some type of “common sense” AWB, but they’ve yet to see the right solution be proposed. This makes the “soccer moms” feel okay about the politician and also does the least amount of damage to the politician from the gun-rights folks.
So, I’m starting to think maybe, just maybe the AWB will sunset and will NOT be replaced by anything. Even if the AWB sunsets just long enough for me to throw a pre-ban upper on what we now consider a post-ban lower, I’ll have my flash hider for no more cost than a current post-ban.
Hey, it’s all a gamble. I know that. I’ve also been watching LOTS of people selling their pre-bans.
One thing is for sure. The next 16 months will be interesting.