Does BATF check on black powder purchasers ?

[pwbsmokey]

Yes, and you forgot the most recent one and more scary, DNA collection! For all of what you mentioned and all people in LE custody, whether guilty or not! But I have bought hundreds of pounds, 25 lbs at a time, mostly from Grafs , Back Creek and Jacks and never had to provide an ID! Why? Because if you provide a credit card number the government can get EVERYTHING they need.

 

[HighUintas]

Me being 35, I'm screwed.

 

[SamTex1949]

dont forget what they cant see , maybe they can hear ! Every smart device in your home is listening.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

I worked in IT for years. both private & govt. When you turn something off, it can be turned back on remotely and you do not even know it. So, tape the camera & mike hole! It helps but is not fool proof. Your phones all have tracking that YOU can not turn off. If you think you can you are kidding yourself. If you do not want to be tracked, do not use one or by several burners each month rotate usage, do not make more than two calls to the same number on each one and toss the old ones after removing the chip and destroying it someplace not near your home etc. Like a previous reader stated, once you r are "printed" for what ever reason, military, work, permits etc. YOU are in the system forever. The govt DOES NOT destroy the data even though current laws say they are suppose to. Who audits the DIA/NSA/and other groups you do not even know exist? NO One!

 

[Pilgrim]

Do you think the DNA gathered from the COVID nose swabs was thrown in the trash by the CDC and state agencies?

 

[doubleset]

I worked in IT for years. both private & govt. When you turn something off, it can be turned back on remotely and you do not even know it.

Yes, if someone specifically targets you and can get through the security on your router, and on your home network, and then on your system. That scenario is highly unrealistic. And if they can do that, they're not in it to see how you look on your camera or what you do in front of your computer when you think no one is looking. But it's good to hear an experienced IT expert recommending the tape approach instead of talking about the ways in which you really could take steps to protect your privacy on the net. A safer recommendation (and in fact the only truly safe one if you're in fear of government monitoring or serious criminal attacks) is to just not use the internet at all. Doesn't anyone catch the irony of so many people going on social media sites and complaining about potential "tracking" and security breaches?

People really need to try to get a grip on what's possible here, what's likely, what's reasonable and what's unreasonable. And then actually adopt whatever security measures meet your fears and needs. Hey, if it's tape that makes you feel good, then go ahead and use it. At least you'll feel good. And it's cheap! And doesn't require any thought!

How many of the security whiners are willing to pay for a VPN and take what care is necessary to genuinely protect themselves as much as possible from "monitoring" or intrusion? How many people who are reading this on this forum even know what a VPN is? How many of these people just don't realize that they're basically whining about burglars stealing stuff from their homes because they don't have locks on their doors (but they've taped paper over all the windows! )? Never mind. Just keep voicing the vague fears and complaining about the government and the big corporations -- and don't think about doing anything useful about it to actually protect yourself.

Me? I know the scope and limits of my home router and network security, and I know what not to do in order to avoid making access to my systems vulnerable. And yeah, I can drop the "I worked in IT" credential as well. And so did two of my children (IBM, Red Hat, and HP), one of whom actually acted as a security expert at two of those companies for both Windows and UNIX/AIX/Linux for several years. But that doesn't mean you should listen to me. What you should do -- if any of this matters to you -- is to learn about it. Social media sites are not the best environments to do that. But they're excellent environments for complaining about it. And -- like the tape -- that makes people feel better.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Yes, if someone specifically targets you and can get through the security on your router, and on your home network, and then on your system. That scenario is highly unrealistic. And if they can do that, they're not in it to see how you look on your camera or what you do in front of your computer when you think no one is looking. But it's good to hear an experienced IT expert recommending the tape approach instead of talking about the ways in which you really could take steps to protect your privacy on the net. A safer recommendation (and in fact the only truly safe one if you're in fear of government monitoring or serious criminal attacks) is to just not use the internet at all. Doesn't anyone catch the irony of so many people going on social media sites and complaining about potential "tracking" and security breaches?

People really need to try to get a grip on what's possible here, what's likely, what's reasonable and what's unreasonable. And then actually adopt whatever security measures meet your fears and needs. Hey, if it's tape that makes you feel good, then go ahead and use it. At least you'll feel good. And it's cheap! And doesn't require any thought!

How many of the security whiners are willing to pay for a VPN and take what care is necessary to genuinely protect themselves as much as possible from "monitoring" or intrusion? How many people who are reading this on this forum even know what a VPN is? How many of these people just don't realize that they're basically whining about burglars stealing stuff from their homes because they don't have locks on their doors (but they've taped paper over all the windows! )? Never mind. Just keep voicing the vague fears and complaining about the government and the big corporations -- and don't think about doing anything useful about it to actually protect yourself.

Me? I know the scope and limits of my home router and network security, and I know what not to do in order to avoid making access to my systems vulnerable. And yeah, I can drop the "I worked in IT" credential as well. And so did two of my children (IBM, Red Hat, and HP), one of whom actually acted as a security expert at two of those companies for both Windows and UNIX/AIX/Linux for several years. But that doesn't mean you should listen to me. What you should do -- if any of this matters to you -- is to learn about it. Social media sites are not the best environments to do that. But they're excellent environments for complaining about it. And -- like the tape -- that makes people feel better.

Yes, if someone specifically targets you and can get through the security on your router, and on your home network, and then on your system. That scenario is highly unrealistic.. I guess your systems can defeat the NSA.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Yes, if someone specifically targets you and can get through the security on your router, and on your home network, and then on your system. That scenario is highly unrealistic. And if they can do that, they're not in it to see how you look on your camera or what you do in front of your computer when you think no one is looking. But it's good to hear an experienced IT expert recommending the tape approach instead of talking about the ways in which you really could take steps to protect your privacy on the net. A safer recommendation (and in fact the only truly safe one if you're in fear of government monitoring or serious criminal attacks) is to just not use the internet at all. Doesn't anyone catch the irony of so many people going on social media sites and complaining about potential "tracking" and security breaches?

People really need to try to get a grip on what's possible here, what's likely, what's reasonable and what's unreasonable. And then actually adopt whatever security measures meet your fears and needs. Hey, if it's tape that makes you feel good, then go ahead and use it. At least you'll feel good. And it's cheap! And doesn't require any thought!

How many of the security whiners are willing to pay for a VPN and take what care is necessary to genuinely protect themselves as much as possible from "monitoring" or intrusion? How many people who are reading this on this forum even know what a VPN is? How many of these people just don't realize that they're basically whining about burglars stealing stuff from their homes because they don't have locks on their doors (but they've taped paper over all the windows! )? Never mind. Just keep voicing the vague fears and complaining about the government and the big corporations -- and don't think about doing anything useful about it to actually protect yourself.

Me? I know the scope and limits of my home router and network security, and I know what not to do in order to avoid making access to my systems vulnerable. And yeah, I can drop the "I worked in IT" credential as well. And so did two of my children (IBM, Red Hat, and HP), one of whom actually acted as a security expert at two of those companies for both Windows and UNIX/AIX/Linux for several years. But that doesn't mean you should listen to me. What you should do -- if any of this matters to you -- is to learn about it. Social media sites are not the best environments to do that. But they're excellent environments for complaining about it. And -- like the tape -- that makes people feel better.

If you worked IT then you know if there is a way out of your system, there is a way in. If you use the net in any way, you are compromised. I know that since I went through OCS in the Marines and worked for DOD/DIA etc. I have been on a hundred lists since then Once you are printed for anything, you're privacy is gone. There is no real privacy only the illusions of it. I do not make security recommendations because real security is elusive and $$$expensive and people are not willing to do what is necessary to have it. Best to move off the grid somewhere and never tell anyone, but that wont happen and few people really want to do it. Even then, if one person knows where you are, you're compromised. IMHO

 

[doubleset]

If you worked IT then you know if there is a way out of your system, there is a way in.

But things like this are so general and vague that they're not helpful to anyone. For example, it takes me microseconds to get "out" of my system, but given even reasonable safeguards it should take at least days of concentrated effort and huge computing power to get "into" it (and I suspect it would take much longer). Getting in/out of a computer system isn't a symmetric relation -- even for largely unprotected systems. All the news stories you see about these things involve the exploitation of very specific weaknesses in a variety of systems that aren't comparable to the ones normal people have. Most people get compromised because they invite it -- either through simple laziness and carelessness, or through some explicit act of responding to a bad actor.

Sure, there are people in national security agencies or various large companies, or even some kids in their dorm rooms who could possibly hack into my home systems -- if they somehow stumbled across them or somehow picked me out of millions of people to track down and target. Maybe. But maybe not. The layered encryption is now exceedingly strong -- even in the absence of a VPN. It's like when you get in your car and drive to a store. Sure some crazy nut may crash into you and kill you. How much do you worry about that?

So a lot of the hair-on-fire worry about your home system is just alarmist nonsense -- IF you just follow the normal security procedures, keep things updated (a lot of people are just lazy about this), don't use totally stupid passwords, and run even a decent router firewall and virus and threat protection product. Of course a lot of people (especially the elderly and poorly educated) don't. So they're causing the source of their own fears.

people are not willing to do what is necessary to have it.

A lot of people aren't willing to do the minimum that's necessary to have quite reasonable security which, for the most part, now comes as part of your router and operating system -- and to follow well known and simple practices in using their systems. And most people never get hacked. Very very very few individuals do. What's the point to hacking Joe Bob in his shack in the Ozarks? But people (at least on forums like this) confuse that personal security issue with what they think of as "big government data collection" -- which are two very different issues. The government and corporate data collection have nothing to do with your puny little PC or iPhone or who can see you through your tablet camera. That's not how it's done. And really, sorry to break it to you, nobody cares about you -- at least for the purpose of hacking you or getting all the fascinating details of your life, which you're perfectly happy to throw out there on social media anyway.

Best to move off the grid somewhere and never tell anyone, but that wont happen and few people really want to do it.

Yes. If you don't want the benefits of our technologically advanced society, then opt out. You can REALLY reduce your "footprint" if you REALLY want to. And (I disagree here a bit with Snake) you CAN do it and at least retain a friend or two. Anyone who relishes the thought of living in a primitive society COULD still accomplish that in this country (or areas of Canada). How long you'd live is another question. Life in the "state of nature" was indeed, as Hobbes remarked, "solitary, poor, brutish, and short". But you won't have to worry about people digitally tracking you or watching you on your own video cam. Just pick your own values and go for it.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

But things like this are so general and vague that they're not helpful to anyone. For example, it takes me microseconds to get "out" of my system, but given even reasonable safeguards it should take at least days of concentrated effort and huge computing power to get "into" it (and I suspect it would take much longer). Getting in/out of a computer system isn't a symmetric relation -- even for largely unprotected systems. All the news stories you see about these things involve the exploitation of very specific weaknesses in a variety of systems that aren't comparable to the ones normal people have. Most people get compromised because they invite it -- either through simple laziness and carelessness, or through some explicit act of responding to a bad actor.

Sure, there are people in national security agencies or various large companies, or even some kids in their dorm rooms who could possibly hack into my home systems -- if they somehow stumbled across them or somehow picked me out of millions of people to track down and target. Maybe. But maybe not. The layered encryption is now exceedingly strong -- even in the absence of a VPN. It's like when you get in your car and drive to a store. Sure some crazy nut may crash into you and kill you. How much do you worry about that?

So a lot of the hair-on-fire worry about your home system is just alarmist nonsense -- IF you just follow the normal security procedures, keep things updated (a lot of people are just lazy about this), don't use totally stupid passwords, and run even a decent router firewall and virus and threat protection product. Of course a lot of people (especially the elderly and poorly educated) don't. So they're causing the source of their own fears.


A lot of people aren't willing to do the minimum that's necessary to have quite reasonable security which, for the most part, now comes as part of your router and operating system -- and to follow well known and simple practices in using their systems. And most people never get hacked. Very very very few individuals do. What's the point to hacking Joe Bob in his shack in the Ozarks? But people (at least on forums like this) confuse that personal security issue with what they think of as "big government data collection" -- which are two very different issues. The government and corporate data collection have nothing to do with your puny little PC or iPhone or who can see you through your tablet camera. That's not how it's done. And really, sorry to break it to you, nobody cares about you -- at least for the purpose of hacking you or getting all the fascinating details of your life, which you're perfectly happy to throw out there on social media anyway.


Yes. If you don't want the benefits of our technologically advanced society, then opt out. You can REALLY reduce your "footprint" if you REALLY want to. And (I disagree here a bit with Snake) you CAN do it and at least retain a friend or two. Anyone who relishes the thought of living in a primitive society COULD still accomplish that in this country (or areas of Canada). How long you'd live is another question. Life in the "state of nature" was indeed, as Hobbes remarked, "solitary, poor, brutish, and short". But you won't have to worry about people digitally tracking you or watching you on your own video cam. Just pick your own values and go for it.

The govt or whomever can watch me all they want. I figure its only a matter of time before they die from boredom!!

 

[#blackpowderbill]

Decades ago, some blasting supplies had very small coded chips in them that could be traced to point of sale. Don't know if that's still done nor exactly what they went into. Irrelevant to this discussion about sporting black powder but might be for black blasting powder.

Graf's used to sell dynamite & blasting supplies many years ago, so I know they go strictly by the rules. Next time I'm there, I'll ask about the driver's license thing. A guy can't have too much black powder - well, maybe that's true.

I recall explosive manufactures especially sporting powder manufactures argued against using taggants in powder. There argument was it was not a part of the power process and may cause improper ignition and combustion.

 

[Okie Hog]

i've been tracked since being granted a Top Secret (CNWDI) security clearance in 1960. So track me some more, i give a big rats butt less.

 

[springfield art]

The BATF has lately been getting a little screwy. They've been doing things like raiding manufacturers of items that they had previously determined were legal because they suddenly decided to change their interpretation of the law. While they haven't done any significant raids on consumers, they have definitely been changing their definition of what is legal or not. Muzzleloaders are probably safe for now, but they could screw around with BP definitions and rules to make things difficult. It might be possible to counter some of that in a friendly federal jurisdiction with a well crafted lawsuit, as it would be pretty difficult to argue that the same type of flintlocks and necessary powder that the founding fathers used are not protected by the second amendment.

Lately?? Remember them acting as combat soldiers and attacking a civilian house in Texas?

 

[springfield art]

dont forget what they cant see , maybe they can hear ! Every smart device in your home is listening.

Ain't got any, and you can turn them off.

 

[springfield art]

The govt or whomever can watch me all they want. I figure its only a matter of time before they die from boredom!!

Well stated.

 

[Robby]

Anyone paying attention to the news in the last fifteen years knows that everything you do is monitored, legally, illegally, the 'G' don't care. When was the last time you heard of any of them being prosecuted? Never!
I don't like it, I have nothing to hide but that isn't the point! Not what this country is supposed to be all about.
Robby

 

[springfield art]

I don't think they much care about people buying thousand round cases of modern ammo. Or reloading supplies, etc. There's enough REAL crime and criminals running amok. There's not enough agents in existence to peruse every little item that can be used for shady purposes. That can of acetone at the hardware? Maybe some criminal could use it for making illicit drugs, but you can't have a spy network like the East Germans or commie countries nitpicking at every purchase of something.

 

[CookedOff]

Seriously, yes they are making a database.

If you mean by "they" the U. S. government then they are a bunch of bumbling amateurs compaired with what Goggle knows about you right now.

 

[Whughett]

Any one recall the fable: Chicken Little.
or the Boy Who Cried Wolf.
This thread brings those to mind.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

What ones gut tells them usually turns out to be true.