Having worked in the disk mines of IBM many years ago, the SCSI disk controller is somewhat your pixie dust but the real reason is the disks, heads and other parts for the SCSI drives came from IBM's best manufacturing facilities. The deathstar ATA drive's parts came from the lesser manufacturing facilities. In theory a SCSI disk should not be much better than ATA but the reality is the best made, more reliable parts go to the high end more profitable products.

There are places in the bay area that would be entirely unfazed by your rifle and NRA tee-shirt but you have to seek them out. But, considering the fact housing is dense enough that to safely and legally hunt deer you would have to drive 2 to 3 hours away, it's not too surprising you got the response you did. Drive that 2 or 3 hours and you will get the reception you want without looking for it. California is a big and diverse state. Generalizations about it usually usually indicate a lack of experience with it.

Do you really want to go there?