Posted on 11/13/2008 12:20:22 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
The votes were barely counted and Barack Obama’s supporters were still dancing in the streets, buoyed by hope for a better tomorrow, when the news reports began to hit the wires. Obama’s victory brought a huge sigh of relief to those weary of the direction in which the country has been led for the last eight years. But on the other side of that coin, intense anger, fear and paranoia has sparked a flood of people nationwide to buy assault weapons and large amounts of ammunition.
Reports on the numbers of people buying guns and ammo over the last year has filtered out in blogs and tiny newspaper articles for some time. But as the election grew near, and especially after the outcome became known, a tidal wave of frantic buying has captured mainstream, front-page news from coast to coast and border to border, including a prominent Sunday spread in Missoula’s daily.
The most interesting thing is that the weapons and ammo most in demand are not the kind of rifles and bullets normally used for hunting, but the so-called “black guns” that are primarily for military and personal protection. These include, but are not limited to, the AK-47, undoubtedly the most widely used assault rifle in the world, and U.S. military counterparts such as the M-16 and AR15.
These guns all have one thing in common besides their military roots—they were outlawed for sale under the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The law banned all assault rifle semi-automatics with folding stocks, high-capacity clips, threaded barrels, pistol grips and grenade launcher attachments as well as certain types of pistols and shotguns.
The Assault Weapons Ban expired exactly 10 years later, on September 13, 2004, and neither President Bush nor Congress has attempted to re-instate it. More than a few political observers claim the ban was in large part responsible for the Democrats losing control of Congress for the ensuing decade.
But now, there’s fear sweeping the nation that the new and larger Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate will pass a new weapons ban and that President-elect Obama will sign it into law. If you don’t believe it, just go to a local sporting goods store that carries assault-style rifles and take a look around. Last week, following the election, the lines were three deep in front of every salesperson in my neighborhood gun shops. And late last week a front-page article in the Helena Independent Record interviewed the owner of a local sporting goods and gun shop who said he had just ordered 120,000 rounds of ammo, half of which was already pre-sold.
Or stop into the next gun show in your area. The gun show in Helena last weekend, for instance, set new attendance records and sold out of AK-47 ammo well before it ran out of customers. When I talked with one vendor about what was going on, he told me that the New York Times had called his Missoula shop last week and the reporter tried to get him to admit that it was just the National Rifle Association (NRA) spreading fear and driving the citizenry into purchasing assault rifles while they still could. Besides the gun ban, he added that there was great concern that Congress and Obama would approve a ban on any ammunition that could penetrate law enforcement body armor, which he said would include virtually all high-powered rifles. When I asked how the federal government would deal with those who reloaded their own bullets, he said that those kinds of questions remained unanswered at this time. The result is that the fear and apprehension continue to rise as the intentions of the new Congress and president remain uncertain.
While it would be one thing to say that right-wingers are up in arms (so to speak) over a potential future weapons ban, it would be incorrect to limit concerns only to them. There is considerable evidence that many from the progressive side of the political aisle are equally concerned—but for a different reason.
In their case, they fear that President Obama is literally walking around with a target on his chest. Given the assassinations of President Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr.—as well as the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan—those fears are not unfounded. Pundits may proclaim that Obama’s victory has shown the nation is leaving racism behind, but it would be naïve to think that an almost evenly divided populace would somehow be purged of violent racists through the mere outcome of an election.
The supposition is that if President Obama is assassinated, the nation would be thrown into a violent and uncontrollable cataclysm that would pit citizens against each other in a way we haven’t seen since the race riots of the ’60s ravaged Watts, Detroit, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., leaving hundreds of dead and injured in their wake and millions of dollars in damages. Given the extreme polarization of the populace during the Bush administration, such fears are certainly within the realm of possibility.
Finally, the vast uncertainty over the nation’s economic future must be factored into the equation. It’s well known that, in times of economic downturn, people buy guns and ammo. We here in Montana like to believe it’s for hunting, so we can put meat in our freezers. But you don’t buy AK-47s for hunting in our mega-cities, where big game is non-existent. The only things to shoot there are fellow human beings—in this case, those who would theoretically threaten to harm or loot individuals or families.
No one knows what the future holds, but we do know what’s happening right now. All we can do is hope for cool heads—and cooler trigger fingers—in the coming months, and for the health and safety of our president-elect.
I had someone ask me yesterday if it would be
“safe”
to sign an internet petition against 0bama’s agenda.
Think about that -
IS IT “SAFE” TO SEEK REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA’S GOVERNMENT.
Never should this be even considered an issue.
whatever. you’re what, a whole 9 years older than me?
happy bday btw. couple weekes late, but i hardly see you anymore.
No one is buying a gun to use against BO.
Everyone is buying a gun to protect themselves from the dumb masses that elected him and seek to take our pie by force.
Yes, you are so right. What we have to do in response, aside from taking them deadly seriously and prepare accordingly, is to keep bringing those words to as many people as possible. I’ve found that most people are stunned when they see them. How far the stunning goes I cannot answer, but I know they’re stunned.
Attachments are fine, but where to get the M203 and ammuntion?
Parenthetically, weren't both Kennedys and Reagen all shot with weapons that continuted to be legal even with the AWB?
A novice reader can also buy any book/newspaper that is on the market as well - 1st amendment. Now, since the 2nd IS AN INDIVIDUAL RIGHT just like the 1st, well, you get the picture.
I had an awful time last weekend finding .45 ACP in JHP. Ended up picking up some FMJ instead.
Same deal with .38+P and .357 Mag in JHP. I was able to get some SJHP though.
EXACTLY.
Where is most of the ammo manufactured?
I’m specifically referring to .308, .223, and 7.62X39.
I’m wondering if they’ll be able to ramp up to meet demand before the market gets “regulated”.
I sincerely hope and pray that no President is ever assassinated - because regardless of anyone's political preferences, the President is duly elected by a majority of the population; besides, he is a human being like all the rest of us, and simple morality would presume that he has a right to live his life out like the rest of us.
However, if the writer had any sense (kind of like "if your grandmother had balls, she'd be your grandfather - "if" is a BIG word) he'd know that the bigger threat to the life of a specific person comes from a very accurate bolt-action rifle at a fairly long range (vs. traditional assassination attempts). One need not "spray & pray" with a full auto or semi-auto to harm or fatally wound someone and, in fact, such a method is inherently more likely to fail. First, there's the lack of proper aiming; second, that's not particularly smart (from the standpoint of either accomplishing the deed or getting away) when those types of incidents tend to be short-range, where a President's Secret Service protection is the greatest. A single bullet fired from a couple hundred (or more) yards away from a scoped, accurate boltie would concern me more. The shooter will have less likelihood of being detected prior to the shot, and will thus be more relaxed and be able to get off a better shot with a better round (i.e. a .30 or larger battle rifle round, vs. an intermediate .30 or .22 round).
That all being said, I also hope that Obama and his fellow hoplophobic tyrant-wannabees stay away from any further restrictions on firearms, ammunition, accessories or reloading components. Enough is enough - only criminals or the insane commit crimes with guns, and punishing the 99+% of the population that fits neither description is a great injustice, impractical (in a continent-sized nation of 300 million with 90 million owners of 250 million or more guns) and almost asks for some nut to attempt an assassination. Concentrate on the economy, Barry, and all will be fine. Announce that you intend to submit or sign NO legislation regarding guns, and that you'll actually veto whatever comes to your desk, and you'll do wonders in calming the fears of tens of millions of Americans.
A novice? no.
...but it doesn’t take all that much training and equipment to reach something at 1000 meters. A .308 with 10x scope (common hunting rifle), and about 500 rounds for practice over 5 days, will get you there.
Especially in Missoula, Montana - where the university is referred to as Berkely in the Mountains. Very lib town and home of the northern Rockies' PETA, ALF, Earth Liberation, and a bunch of other wack-job nuts. Montana is a strong union state and becoming more and more left-leaning.
I live about a 3-hour drive from Missoula.
They are all “on the books
(not all)
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In effect, he wants to negate posse comitatus. Does he think nobody notices?
Somebody once told me that if you open a can of worms, the only way you can re-can them is to get a bigger can. Where was 0bama when that memo was distributed?
Sarah Jane Moore who tried to kill President Ford was a radical leftist.
Squeaky Fromme who once appeared on the Lawrence Welk show tried to kill President Ford too, over the plight of California redwoods. She was also way left of center but then she could also be classed in the barking mad category.
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thx, I spent the whole day cooking on the grill and drinking cold beer and watching football.
Typical day.
I didn’t even know it was my birthday if HG hadn’t shown me the new air compressor she got for me. The biggest 110 portable she could find.
oohhh aauuugh auuggh aaugghh!!!!!
ugh.. i’m still working on getting a staionary compressor. of course now that i have the money for it, its too cold now to dig deep enough to run the electric.
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