Derek, you have a CCW and you don't want "them" to know you have guns? What do you think they think you are carrying?
I'm not hiding from "them." I just prefer to keep my firearms purchases private, thanks.
Ain't no-one's business what I've got, when I bought it, who I bought it from, or who I sold it to. Hell, I don't keep records so I generally can't tell you who I bought/sold from either.
I buy from dealers as well, when it's something I want that I can't find used locally or need a warranty on (I needed the warranty on the Carbon 15 for instance -- went back 3 times, but Bushmaster finally got it running nicely).
I guess my take on it is this: I'm overregulated and overmonitored. We're building a society where
everything is monitored, especially purchases. It seems kind of orwellian when my credit card issuer sends me a statement at the end of the year that conveniently categorizes all of my purchases over the last year, the vendors, the amounts, and so on. And I wonder why I get so much junk mail.
It's the same at the grocery store. At the local Walmrt alternative, I was buying meat one day, found the only decent looking cuts (a set of T-bones for $23), and noticed that the price would be an additional
fifteen dollars more for those of use who didn't want to use a "please track my buying habits" card. I don't shop there any more.
eBay? They record anything you've ever bid on, anything you've ever viewed, any IP address you've ever used, and they hand it over to anyone that cares to send a faxed request on letterhead. Radioshack doesn't want to sell me anything without a phone number -- for years they tried to refuse to do so (the "I don't have a phone -- why don't you list your number there instead?" response sometimes worked, or I could make something up). I'm going to have to give the FCC my SSN when I apply for my amateur radio license. It goes on.
I guess I just feel a little constricted by the level of monitoring in society these days. So, I do little things like buy as much as possible in cash, buy from private sellers, and purchase firearms (and other "eyebrow raising" items) from private sellers, off-paper.
Call it my way of ineffectively fighting the system.