What is REALLY going on?

[Liberty's Teeth]

More assault weapons have been sold over the last six months than the last six years combined. Visit your local gun shop and be prepared to wait two hours to buy a cricket because the ATF cannot handle the volume of background checks. Try to buy an AR part, lower receiver, or magazine online...you can't.

Now, all of the sudden, something "must be done" about assault weapons and "high capacity" magazines (or "clips" as the media erroneously call them). Step back from the little picture, look at the big. Don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain. What is REALLY going on?

 

[IndyDave1776]

My guess is that either there are a lot of people with some cash set back who are speculating or else a lot of new-to-guns people and Fudd gun people are waking up to the fact that trouble is forming up in paradise, and acting accordingly. You have to figure that the horsesh*t argument that gun laws are about crime would eventually wear too thin to work with any but the most obtuse of people. Perhaps we have seen (albeit belatedly) the time that this epiphany has struck a significant number of those around us. Then again, maybe about a hundred of us have a full basement stuffed top to bottom with 'evil black rifles'. My bets are on new buyers representing a significant portion of the recent sales.

 

[mbills2223]

I'm probably missing something, but it's late, so help me out. What are you getting at?

 

[IndyDave1776]

I'm probably missing something, but it's late, so help me out. What are you getting at?

His point is that with most things diminishing returns generally sets in at some point, and also, before that happens, the flow of commerce is generally reasonably steady, at least more so than there being more volume traded in a few months than over the last several years before that combined. The only two explanations are that either a lot of first time buyers are scooping up ARs all of a sudden or else, never mind the sorry economic conditions, a few of us must have rooms full of ARs. It is indeed a strange market trend but is at the same time understandable in my reckoning. Still, the OP raised a good question.

 

[Liberty's Teeth]

We've all known that the .gov was waiting for the "right" time to act on assault weapons. Far more people are killed by knives than assault weapons. Logic would tell you that assault weapons are NOT the problem. Is it just that assault weapons are just the boogey man or is the .gov making a conscious effort to quell the people's right to defend themselves against tyranny?

 

[justjoe]

as Rahm said, "Never let a good crisis go to waste." The libs think they have a good chance to start disarming the people, an important step in their march to total control.

 

[Liberty's Teeth]

My OP question is concentrated on the psychology of why the last six months have such a high concentration of firearms purchases. Is it all panic buying or something else?

 

[jamil]

More assault weapons have been sold over the last six months than the last six years combined. Visit your local gun shop and be prepared to wait two hours to buy a cricket because the ATF cannot handle the volume of background checks. Try to buy an AR part, lower receiver, or magazine online...you can't.

Now, all of the sudden, something "must be done" about assault weapons and "high capacity" magazines (or "clips" as the media erroneously call them). Step back from the little picture, look at the big. Don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain. What is REALLY going on?

I just bought an AR last weekend. Panic buy? Not really. I had planned to buy a Ruger 22/45 next, and then a Colt 6920 in a few months. But because of all the rabid calls for AWB I started to doubt the Colt's availability when I'm ready to buy, due to panic buying. So I switched my preferance. I'm sure I'm more likely to find the Ruger in a few months than the colt.

I think the brisk sales in the last 6 months, and especially after the election has much to do with people believing that Obama will sign some kind of gun control legislation into law. But after this shooting a lot of people who just hadn't pulled the trigger on the purchase are deciding that it's now or never.

 

[T.Lex]

I think you may be on to something - the re-awakening of America to "guns as tools." (Warning, I'm kinda a big-picture kinda guy.)

The economy has sucked for most people for 5+ years. But, it looks like it is starting to rebound. After penny-pinching and saving "for something" for years, they may have some disposable income. At a certain level, we may have won the culture wars, and people who have that "rainy day" money set aside are willing to purchase firearms.

Look at the resurgence of motorcycle sales as baby boomers got old enough to afford them. Something similar might be happening with guns. People may remember their grandparents talking about them, maybe even using them to hunt or target shoot, and with the sudden focus on violence, they see it as a fight fire-with-fire idea.

Another thing is that we've had 12 years of (open) war. (We were at war before that, but more low-key.) Kids that were 10 on 9/11 are now 21+ and have grown up seeing rifles used to fight "the bad guys." They can buy nice rifles (particularly since they're living at home with their parents to save money).

Plus, there is still a bit of herd mentality. People are worried. The neighbor got one (or has had one for awhile), so maybe I should get one, too.

Finally, I know this forum is rightfully wary of the "insurrection" theme, so I will be careful. We received a lovely Christmas card a couple weeks ago from a family we are pretty close to, but not really close enough that we talk politics or anything. Included in the card was the usual "here's what we've done in the last year" kind of letter, only it wasn't usual. It was FANTASTICALLY well written, by a 30-something, mostly stay-at-home mom. One thing it mentioned, though was a prayer for our country. This suburban mom was concerned that the country was close to civil war. I found that very poignant.

It is one thing for me, a politics and history junkie to wonder about it. It is another thing for a "normal" person to have that feeling. That tells me that there are probably alot of "normal" people out there wondering the same thing. All of a sudden, $1k worth of AR/AK goodness and some ammo doesn't seem like too much to spend.

Just some of my thoughts, because you asked.

 

[ghuns]

A year ago, I had never touched an AR. Today I have, well, more than 1.
I have assembled each one myself, from parts, and done several for less mechanically inclined friends. I have had many friends, with no prior firearms experience, ask me for advice with selecting both a rifle and handgun. The political climate played a large role for me and most people I know. The better git now fore they ban it syndrome is at an all time high. TV shows like Top Shot got a lot of people interested in firearms. We have a HUGE number of veterans returning from the middle east who have spent several years with a black rifle and seem to like the idea of having one around. I also think guns are about the best investment one can make in the current economic climate. When was the last time the value of any gun in your personal collections went down? Least that's what I tell the wifey

 

[VeteranUSN]

I think the powers that be are pushing the media on these hype up everything. Everytime there is a crisis gun sales yet again reach another peak

 

[Captain Morgan]

Please stop using the terminology created by anti-gun folks. Say "rifle" or "shotgun" or "handgun/pistol" or when referring to all, simply say "firearms" or "guns." We must do all we can to eliminate their sensationalist terms that were created solely to instill fear.

 

[T.Lex]

We have a HUGE number of veterans returning from the middle east who have spent several years with a black rifle and seem to like the idea of having one around.

Oh yeah - I left out this aspect! I think this is HUGE. Not just that they are buying, but they are an example for their friends and relatives to buy.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I concur with what others, above have written. Since the election and especially this last week, it's been panic buying...like somebody said, many fear its gotta be now or never. Personally, I'm torn. I don't think they'll pass an outright ban--I wouldn't want to bet a paycheck on it though. But I can easily see them pass a "high capacity clip" ban.

Before the election my theory is the brisk sales are due to a couple things: the benign-simply, more people becoming interested in the sport; the cynical-people becoming increasingly concerned with the "way the things are going". (Whatever that may mean to those folks). For whatever the reason, I'm pretty sure it's a good thing.

 

[T.Lex]

Another thought came to me as I was watching "The Hunger Games" movie. (BTW, good that it stayed true to the book as well as any book-made-movie, but I found the story only above average. Not great, but not bad, and not nearly as good as so many other people thought it was - people who generally hadn't read the really good dystopian fiction from the 80s and 90s.)

This actually picks up on the idea, though, that this is a media-fed issue. I think Hollywood has (ironically) cultivated a sense of distrust of strong central government. Look at HG, or even the new Les Mis - both include strong anti-gov't sentiment.

Then, look at the media coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings and, in conjunction with that, the coverage of the Muslim Brotherhood. The media planted seeds of fear in Islamist extremists trying to take over many nations (perhaps with the "caliphate" goal). It has also heralded as heroes those who stood against the governments (some of which were/are our allies).

I think these have come together in a most unexpected way. People are more ready to accept that they may have to defend themselves against... something. Enemies - perhaps foreign, perhaps domestic. Maybe criminals or gangs, or deranged homicidal/suicidal maniacs. I suspect potential terrorists/sleeper cells have watched the attacks on soft targets, and the response, and are calculating the odds. More guns, means less likelihood of success. (Part of me is still dreading for the time that suicide-vest attacks start here, but that's probably for a different thread.)

I am reminded of the quote mis-attributed to Yamamoto about rifles behind every blade of grass. We probably aren't back to that level, but it sure seems like there are more people armed now that a year ago (if you believe the media). Regardless of the veracity of the reporting, I think it is clear that more people are comfortable with gun ownership.

 

[Kmcinnes]

I am one of those "Normal People" or so I like to think , I'm not one that thinks oh... so and so was elected as president so I am going to buy guns because I am affraid he has been hiding his true agenda until a second term, however I have read the phrase "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" an awful lot in recent days and I to fear that we need to pray for our country and our leaders to make the right decisions concerning the oath they swore to protect because things just do not feel right anymore!