On Concerns Over Gun Control, Gun Sales Are Up

[groovedaddy]

DENVER — Sales of handguns, rifles and ammunition have surged in the last week, according to gun store owners around the nation who describe a wave of buyers concerned that an Obama administration will curtail their right to bear arms.

“He’s a gun-snatcher,” said Jim Pruett, owner of Jim Pruett’s Guns and Ammo in northwest Houston, which was packed with shoppers on Thursday.

“He wants to take our guns from us and create a socialist society policed by his own police force,” added Mr. Pruett, a former radio personality, of President-elect Barack Obama.

Mr. Pruett said that sales last Saturday, just before Election Day, ran about seven times higher than a typical good Saturday.

A spot check by reporters in four other states easily found Mr. Pruett’s comments echoed from both sides of the counter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/us/07guns.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

[YOY]

1. Crazy mother fuckers...

n.t.

[X_Digger]

2. I'll admit it..

I bought a new lower receiver last week. Not because I think they'll be banned, but because I expected the prices to skyrocket (which they have.)

[spin]

5. Welcome to DU (n/t)

[X_Digger]

6. Thanks! (eom)

[SteveM]

25. Noticed an "unusual Bulgarian AK" going for $850 in the paper. Yikes. (nt)

[FLyellowdog]

3. Paleeze...Obama has more important issues to deal with than taking away anyone's guns.

Apparently the state of the economy hasn't hit these people yet or they wouldn't have the money to purchase their all-important weapons. Obama has real problems to solve...stopping the loss of jobs and putting people back to work is going to take up most of his time.

[X_Digger]

8. Sad thing is

I know nutobs who are cashing in their 401ks to pay for more guns, on the irrational fear that Obama will somehow seize / privatize their retirement funds. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[Tejas]

10. You have a better suggestion?

And purchasing a firearm is in what way comparable to "cutting off your nose to spite your face"?

[X_Digger]

17. If you're under 50..

It still makes sense to leave it in the market. But I know guys in their 20s and 30s who are panicked.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

12. Based on the fact that guns prices are skyrocketing and 401k are dropping like a rock....

It may not be a bad investment.

David

[benEzra]

15. My 401(k) is running at a NEGATIVE 30% rate of return...

so cashing it out and sticking it in a mattress would put me to the good. Unfortunately, my employer doesn't allow cashouts for any reason (including medical emergencies) until you're 59 1/2, so I'm stuck watching it vanish.

I am, however, buying a few gun parts that I might not be able to get if a new idiotic AWB passes. I don't think one will (I don't think the party leadership wants another 1994 in 2010), but my wife and I were burned badly by the 1994 Feinstein law, and I will not make that mistake again.

[friendly_iconoclast]

14. I agree. Obama is not going to do anything like they fear

However, if I owned a gun shop I would be promoting this idea for all it is worth.

Gotta put oil in the Dodge, and it is immoral to let a fool retain their
disposable income if you can convince them to freely (or FReeperly) part
with it. Have not the prophets Barnum and Mencken taught us this?

[Citizen Number 9]

24. Then, why, pray tell....

Can't they take the AWB talk out of the damn platform?

DOES ANYONE KNOW??

[SteveM]

27. I tried to raise objections...

but there was no comment capability on the Democratic Party web site wherein I saw the platform ban. Further, DNC rules prohibited any objection to the platform (presumably in-person at the convention) which mentioned porno, drugs, guns, racism, etc.

You can get a whiff of the DNC's attitude about gun control and those who would raise objections.

[benEzra]

16. I tend to agree...

but the DLC has a history of obsessing over "assault weapons" (aka small-caliber civilian rifles with handgrips that stick out), and many are hedging their bets. Tens of millions of us were burned badly by the 1994 Feinstein law, and are playing it safe this time.

[rl6214]

18. I have seen you reference

a number of times being "burned badly" by the 1994 Feinstien ban. Would you mind sharing how you were burned. Do you live in California and lost your weapons?

[Tejas]

20. the '94 AWB was not Kali-specific, try again - nt

[Testament]

21. Quality magazines that are 10x the price...

Have to use a louder gun because of the comp that was added instead of a flash hider, can't get cheaper foreign parts kits for Russian guns, some guns were never made with reduced capacity mags so they didn't make it here during the ban (ex. Tanfoglio Witness), a person could have a stripped lower but not have bought a parts kit for it yet on 9-13 making it a post-ban receiver.

Loss of the house from 1994-2006
Gore defeat, Kerry defeat

Do you need anymore!? Do you believe that this ban did nothing to hurt gun owners!? That ban was worthless at stopping criminals, and made things hell for gun owners just like the other ones before it. No machine gun crime before? Well...gotta ban the transfer of newly manufactured machine guns to civilians in 86! Gotta ban importation of these evil guns in 89, gotta have waiting periods, forced inoperable/storage stuff, etc. Gun control is only good at stopping good people from owning effective guns. It emboldens criminals and protects despotic governments.

[benEzra]

28. I was naive enough to believe the 1994 law wouldn't pass...

and so I put off the purchase of a new stock for my Ruger mini-14 Ranch Rifle. I wanted a Butler Creek ergonomic stock that folded for storage. Stock was $75 at the time, but I was newly married, we had bills, and like my father said, "That won't pass; this is America."

Well, he and I were wrong. And although it was still perfectly legal to sell folding stocks, it was suddenly a FEDERAL FELONY for me to put one on my rifle. Yes, a felony to change the stock. Damn.

I could have easily put one on anyway and said I did it a month before the law passed, but I'm a stickler for obeying the law, so I didn't. So, I waited TEN FUCKING YEARS to buy the stock I wanted, until the idiotic Feinstein law expired and I could do it without secretly becoming a felon simply for swapping a rifle stock.

My wife also got burned, because she wanted a Glock handgun. She suggested we stock up on magazines before buying the gun, just in case the Feinstein proposal passed; I naively said no, let's not, we need to pay other bills first. So, when she later bought a Glock in '96 or '97, we ended up paying in excess of $100 for a $19.95 magazine, and we could only afford one instead of the 1 + spare(s) she wanted.

I don't believe the party leadership is stupid enough to pass another AWB, but I am no longer so naive as to fail to hedge my bets. I want a brake or flash suppressor on my SAR-1 someday, so you can better believe that that barrel will be threaded and a flash suppressor installed the moment a new AWB looks like it might go anywhere.

[Citizen Number 9]

22. Besides, you can pawn them

Apparently, you don't subscribe to the philosophy that there's always enough money for one more gun.....

[SteveM]

26. I hope you are right...

There are some very important issues out there. I have always believe that guns are not the issue, but gun control is. In that light, how committed are you to ending this issue?

Do you favor reinstatement of the assault weapons ban?

Your answer can go a long way in ending this phase of the culture war.

[krispos42]

29. Yeah, OBAMA does

However several Congresscritters apparantly don't. Democrats couldn't break the Republican filibusters, enforce subpoenas, pass SCHIP, or cut funding for Iraq, but they did get HR1022 out and about in the House.

[spin]

4. Gun Control is an economic stimulus for the firearms industry...

This always happens when people fear more gun control laws. Instead of reducing the number of guns on the street, laws such as the Assault Weapons Ban have the opposite effect. People who had no reason to own a weapon suddenly decide they have to buy one.

[jeepnstein]

7. You don't miss your civil rights until they're gone.

[spin]

9. Unfortunately true, which is why...

as Democrats we have a daunting task to convince our party leaders to avoid draconian gun laws.

[Citizen Number 9]

23. So, why aren't the gun shops thanking the Dems?

[iiibbb]

11. I wonder how many more guns are on the street because of gun control laws...

...it could be possible that more guns have been bought because of "sensible gun control" than they actually prevented from going on the street.

I wonder.

There are 2 guns in my collection that have more to do with trying to get something the law limits, than an actual need.

[spin]

13. Before the first Assault Weapons Ban

very few shooters had any interest in owning a weapon that cosmetically resembled a true military assault weapon.

After the ban, it seemed that everybody just had to have at least one.

[Hangingon]

19. I have noticed that too.

Everyone has one. They were cheap when the Eastern bloc started dumping them on the market. Now a $90 SKS starts at $290. Another reason is milsurp ammo is very cheap. You can spend more time at the range.

[rl6214]

30. That used to be

But now milsurp can no longer be imported or has risen to the price that factory ammunition used to be at. Factory ammo has doubled or tripled.