I Want One Too

Maybe I want two....

In an article "In Our Opinion" titled "Buying Guns Just in Time?" posted at Center for Individual Freedom , the offers the opinion that gun sales have increased since the election of Barack Obama.

Pick up the morning newspaper or turn on the evening newscast and the story that you’re bound to see is that America is facing an economic recession of historic proportions. Consumer spending is down and unemployment is up, but there is one item that Americans are rushing to buy -- guns.

That would include me, the bride an I both came an agreement that a handgun purchase might be in order. An opportunity presented itself and I purchased a Smith & Wesson MPP40. Already the proud owner of a pair of 12 gauge shotguns, the purchase was not a great departure from my beliefs. I have always been wary of handguns, but faced with almost certain increased restrictions that the new Dimocratic juggernaut will attempt to impose, the timing seems appropriate. The handgun will remain in the box with no ammunition till take some time to use at a firing range. For the government, I will continue my limited NRA membership.

The opinion article goes on to identify the reasoning behind the source of increased sales.

Why? Well, as NRA-certified instructor Joel Rosenberg told the Minneapolis
Star Tribune, “It’s the Obama effect.” Gun sales have skyrocketed ever since it became clear that Barack was going to win the White House and be able to govern with Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. The FBI reported that, during election week, background checks used to approve gun purchases soared 49 percent compared to the same week in the previous year. And ever since the election, both empirical data and anecdotal accounts show that Americans’ interest in buying firearms has continued.

A 49% increase,it seems a significant segments of the constituency believes that the only constitutional right the ACLU does not defend, will be under attack.

As Stephen Lyons, who attended the Florida State Fairgrounds gun show, told the Tampa Tribune: “People are hedging their bets against the possibility that law-abiding citizens won’t be able to buy guns or ammunition to protect themselves.” These concerns are not without some historic basis. Americans remember what happened the last time the Democrats controlled both the White House and the Congress -- namely, the enactment of major gun-control legislation, including both the so-called federalassault weapons ban and the Brady Bill. The same could happen again because Obama’s words and actions haven’t instilled confidence that he respects gun rights.

The dimocrats live for this stuff, take away the ability to forcibly defend, take away the imposition of strict adherence to law, undermine punishment and then bemoan the chaos which it fosters .....

While the President-elect has continued to insist that he believes in the Second Amendment, he tellingly made infamous off-the-cuff remarks during his campaign that denigrated “small towns” as being filled with “bitter” Americans who “cling to their guns.” That slip in saying what he apparently really believes combined with Obama’s one-sided voting record against gun rights -- not to mention his now-disowned answer to a 1996 candidate questionnaire stating his support for a handgun ban -- has Americans wondering how long it will be before the new administration goes after guns. What’s worse, the gun- control lobby is just waiting for January 20 so that they can push restrictions, if not outright bans, on firearms.

The remarks that the President Elect made reflect an attitude the public believes is an element at the core of this Chicago politician's psyche. This is a opinion that parallels divisions between red and blue states. Urban centers are generally blue in nature, and have higher concentrations of poverty, poverty breeds crime, crime breeds gangs and violence. The reaction from these citified citizens is predictable, take away the guns and less people will die. Probably right, but you could make the same argument about the drug trade, take away the drugs, less people will die from drugs, and less people will die because of violent crime. Supporters of the second amendment should stand strong and join the NRA to consolidate resistance.

On the other side of the coin....

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence, talked up the President-elect in The Hill this week, stating “we’ve been very impressed with Obama’s record in the past on the gun issue.” The story went on to report that “Helmke told The Hill that Obama has been ‘consistent’ in his beliefs on gun control, specifically in approval of an assault weapons ban and improved background checks, including closing the so-called gun show loophole.”

Not much doubt were Mr. Helmke stands. If opponents to gun ownership are hopeful, supporters should be doubly wary.

Indeed, news reports like the one in The Hill have made it clear that the gun-control lobby thinks it is not whether, but when the new administration will attempt to enact gun restrictions. All of this has, and should, worry Americans, especially since their future ability to fully and freely exercise their constitutional right “to keep and bear Arms” faces greater uncertainty than it has for more than a decade. Luckily, Americans aren’t stupid, and they have realized that, regardless of the impending political changes in the weeks ahead, they can still go out and buy a gun now -- before inauguration day. The fact that they are doing so in droves should inform our new President and Congress just how important it is not to use their new political power to impose an old anti-gun agenda. Only time will tell whether many Americans bought their guns just in time.

Good article, I need to get some ammo and train with the pistol, no sense in it collecting dust. And don't worry anything these folks impose can be undone, the Constitution says what it says.