Posted on 10/15/2009 10:16:37 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
John Lennon’s observation that happiness is a warm gun may be more true now than ever if membership at the Tri-County Gun Club is any indication.
The club has picked up an average of 70 new members a month through most of this year, according to George Pitts, Tri-County’s public information officer. The credit for that spike in membership falls on the Barack Obama administration, Pitts says.
“We took in 77 new members this month,” Pitts said on a sunny afternoon last April, as sporadic gunfire echoed through the hills of the 230-acre club nestled in the hills between Tualatin and Sherwood. “Since Obama’s become president, membership has just grown like crazy.”
Earlier this month, Pitts said the inflow of new members hasn’t slowed down throughout the year. Membership is right around 4,000.
“I think this last month we took in 55 or 60 new members, but that’s probably the lowest this year,” he said. Typically, before the 2008 presidential election, the club would gain about 30 new members a month.
So, the Obama administration worries gun owners?
“I think there’s an aspect to that,” Pitts said. “I think the political concerns are pretty fresh in everybody’s minds. They don’t know where this administration is going.”
Many gun owners are “hunkering down,” according to Pitts.
“I think there’s a real concern there. People are doing two things: One – they’re personally stockpiling. The other is, a little hoarding – thinking that they can make a buck.”
Gun sales up
The local reaction to the Obama administration’s perceived attitude about gun control mirrors the national trend.
Smith & Wesson, one of the largest manufacturers of firearms in the United States, announced recently that its sales were up more than 30 percent from the previous year.
That was reflected in local firearm sales which have also been up, according to local gun and gun accessory dealers.
Sales of assault rifles and other types of firearms skyrocketed after Obama’s election – and despite slowing down somewhat in the last few months – business is still going strong at The Gun Broker in Tigard.
Chalk it up to fear of gun rights being taken away, but also an influx of new products on the market and concerns about home invasions in the current economy, said Gun Broker salesman Greg Apple.
“People kind of freaked out,” Apple said about the post-election rush to buy guns and ammunition. “That’s kind of mellowed down a bit.”
It’s nearly impossible to find certain types of ammunition, particularly for handguns, these days, according to Mark Wiprud, who runs the online gun dealership Jack the Dog from Beaverton.
He said he saw gun sales drastically rise after the election, but also drop now that people have realized that Obama has not yet broached the topic.
“I think the Obama administration has enough other stuff on their minds right now,” Wiprud said.
That doesn’t mean that fears have subsided, however.
“I continue to get e-mails from all kinds of customers with misinformation,” Wiprud said. “It’s amazing how much propaganda is out there.”
Obama’s stance
Dane Baumann owns Aloha Surplus, which specializes in military, camping and hunting gear. He thinks the suspicions about Obama are justified, based on the president’s record as a politician from Chicago and public statements on gun control issues.
Aloha Surplus does not sell guns, but its sales of ammunition and holsters have been very high.
“Where does (the president) stand on it? Sounds like he’s anti-gun to me,” Baumann said.
Obama has said in the past that he supports “common-sense enforcement” for guns, while believing that the Second Amendment – the right to bear arms – should be respected.
“We essentially have two realities, when it comes to guns, in this country. You’ve got the tradition of lawful gun ownership …. And then you’ve got the reality of 34 Chicago public school students who get shot down on the streets of Chicago,” said Obama, according to an MSNBC transcript of the Jan. 15, 2008, Democratic primary debate in Las Vegas. “We can reconcile those two realities by making sure the Second Amendment is respected and that people are able to lawfully own guns, but that we also start cracking down on the kinds of abuses of firearms that we see on the streets.”
However, since elected, Obama has remained virtually silent on the issues of gun control and gun laws.
‘A pack of lies’
Some don’t think Obama is spending enough – or any – attention on strengthening gun laws.
Peter Hamm, communications director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said that people who are worried about their guns being taken away should pay attention to facts, not opinionated rhetoric.
The Obama administration is, unfortunately, avoiding discussing gun laws “like the plague,” he said.
“I think that people who believe that there is some threat to their gun rights are either paranoid or they’ve just fallen for a pack of lies that have been said to them by the National Rifle Association and other groups,” Hamm said.
Conservative estimates put the number of guns in this country at more than 200 million, Hamm said, but it could be as many as 400 million.
The fact that more and more guns are being sold doesn’t necessarily mean that gun violence will increase in the short term, he said, but more guns in the country does mean that there is more potential for them to get into the wrong hands.
“I think that anybody that thinks they need to stockpile weapons right now is making a bizarre choice,” he said. “But I’m not going to call them names or criticize them. I don’t think that they are necessarily irrational, although some of them are. Some of them have just been brutally lied to for many, many years.”
Holster sales up
Ted Blocker Holsters, a Tigard company that produces hand-made holsters, has had a tough time keeping up with the flood of orders for its concealment holsters. A normal day might see three orders come in, but lately the shop has been seeing days with almost four times as many orders.
This isn’t the first time that Shelley Brown, who owns the shop along with her husband Don, has seen sales be so strong.
“We saw it go up once before when Bill Clinton was elected,” she said.
She appreciates the business, but wishes that more solid facts were out there for people to rationally look at the current situation. Blame “the darn Internet” for that, she said.
“There’s a lot of things pushing buttons – fear buttons,” she said.
Nearly half her customers have not only spoken of a concern over the Obama administration’s stance on guns, but also express an “over-my-dead-body attitude,” Brown said.
“At my age now, if they want me to hand over my guns, go ahead and arrest me,” she said.
****
Know your gun rights:
The Tri-County Gun Club Web site — www.tcgc.org — has a link to the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action and urges members to “stay involved to keep your rights.”
“If you want to keep your right of self-defense, you must be politically active,” the site says. “Politicians pay attention to loud voters in large numbers. If you do nothing, the gun control people win. This includes reminding the NRA and other pro-gun organizations that gun registration is a non-negotiable item.”
I don’t know if this is a bellweather or not, but...
It seems that .22 LR “sniper” subsonic 60 gr ammo was one of the first to be “indefinitely out of stock”. I have my own conjectures of why a subsonic, “silent” round would be first to be out of stock.
I saw some at Cabela’s. Expensive, I thought. $50 for 500 rds. Anyone else have a benchmark for that price?
We've got Blombirg's mentally ill criminals prowling gunshows looking to stop the private sales of firearms and have a record of ownership of all guns.
And you have CA starting a database on gun owners through ammo sales.
And you have moronic statements by Odumbo’s minions about guns going to Mexico and other such lies.
Sounds like the ultimate suppression of our second amendment rights has begun.
"And then you’ve got the reality of 34 Chicago public school students who get shot down on the streets of Chicago,” said Obama
How can that be????
Aren't guns BANNED in Chicago?
Doesn't that readily indicate that those bans DON'T WORK?
The fact that more and more guns are being sold doesn’t necessarily mean that gun violence will increase in the short term, he said, but more guns in the country does mean that there is more potential for them to get into the wrong hands.
Once the communists, once known as Democrats,get control of the food supply it won’t do any good. Besides, obama is still moving rentlessly toward accomplishing the communist [Democrat] agenda of total control over the people and the total destruction of the United States.
In this they are one step from and that step will be accomplished once obama care is passed and signed into law.
So, the Obama administration worries gun owners?
“I think there’s an aspect to that,” Pitts said. “I think the political concerns are pretty fresh in everybody’s minds. They don’t know where this administration is going.”
Here are a few clues:
U.S. reverses stance on treaty to regulate arms trade
US-Mexico groups urges new US assault weapons ban
United Nations Still After Your Guns
Lautenberg Proposes "Extraordinary Powers" Given To the U.S. AG To Limit Gun Sales
The situation with .22 LR is apparently better there than here. I can sometimes find the small (expensive) boxes of 50, but no bricks or 500 or 550. Haven't seen a solitary one since last year sometime.
I'm considering ordering some, but have no idea where to start, honestly. I've bought bags & stuff (but not ammo) from Cheaper Than Dirt, so maybe there
Since you mention Manteca & Fresno, I'm assuming you're in California. Will the new ammo ID law prevent Californians from ordering online?
I already have the reloading equipment thing covered (Dillon RL550B) but I need to get some brass to reload with it.
Bullets for most handguns are not a problem for me, as there’s a company that makes them (Bear Creek Supply) just a little over an hour away. They have PILES of boxes of bullets at their plant. Powder is a consideration, but I have a couple different avenues for getting that, as well.
“Since you mention Manteca & Fresno, I’m assuming you’re in California. Will the new ammo ID law prevent Californians from ordering online?”
That is one of the key features of this new law. It bans mail and Internet-order sales. They did take out the 50-round-a-month restriction on private party ammunition sales. I think there’s going to be a big opportunity in commerce to Nevada, Oregon and Arizona coming soon (Takes effect 2/11/2011).
The .22 situation is ridiculous. The only stuff that is getting through in quantity right now is CCI Mini-Mag, and they’re charging $6.50 for a 100-round box. Occasionally the Federal 550-packs are coming in at Wally. Got 3 of those last weekend. The clerk there told me that he sold 80 boxes of 9mm in a half hour that morning.
the indoor range here in Fresno just got 300,000 rounds of .22 in yesterday. Unfortunately, they’ll probably be charging a buck a round for it, knowing how they price things there.
45 LC is easy to reload for..cowboy shooters should try it..
The issue isn’t the actual reloading, it’s just being able to get components.
And you’re right, .45 Colt is easy to reload, as long as you don’t tear the rim off while resizing.
43.49 on Midway for Aguila 60 grain subsonic. It is out of stock, backorder ok. You must have a 1:9 twist in order for these to shoot decently.
Winchester 40 grain subsonic on Cheaper than dirt, $3.31 per 50 round box. Several other brands cheaper that are still in stock also. A lot of their ammo is out of stock but still some good prices on the ones remaining.
Remington has an ammo rebate promotion. I brought Remington .30-30 (150 and 170gr) with the rebate at $12.99 at Dick's Sporting Goods. Dick's also had a sale on all Remington shotgun shells (including 12g 00): Buy one, 50% off on the next. .357 were in short supply; but .38sp were plentiful.,
I havent seen a box of 38 special ammo on the shelves in my area for less than 45-60 bucks since January.
Im lucky Ive got about 400 rounds of it.
I refuse to pay $45 bucks for 100 rounds of 158 gr RN 38 special. I love my 642 J frame snubby but if this lasts much longer Ill swap it for a glock 26 or a Kahr PM-9
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