I’m starting to wonder if the gun sales were never really so much panic, but actually representative of a greater cultural shift on the issue. Dave Hardy has been saying that for a while. If we don’t see a significant drop in gun sales with the new Administration, there’s a good chance this is a broader cultural shift.
That would be a good thing, even if it’s people on the left stocking up in panic over Trump. This is a very American thing. It would also be good if that shift is the people who are becoming gun owners are doing more shooting, getting more training, and buying more guns. There are way more opportunities for this than when I first bought a gun 16 years ago. A lot more. My only regret for new shooters is that it’s a lot more expensive now than it was back then. I remember buying my first case of 1000 7.62x39mm non-corrosive for 89 bucks.
If the economy improves, people have more disposable income and buy new toys aka guns. The Trump rally in stocks makes people feel like spending.
A shift in Demographics to panic stricken Democrats helps too.
Also, concealed/carry is coming to the other 25% of ‘murica in the next 4 years. Carry is coming soon to the Sanctuary cities once they finally fire the police in the name of social justice (but also in the name of structural deficits). See also: panic stricken Democrats. Police are not invited in the bubble. lol.
The increased economic confidence should be particularly pronounced among the gun-buying demographic. Still, I find it surprising.
Well, I only bought 3 on Friday so don’t blame it all on me!
That would be almost literally inconceivable to a large number of opinion-makers. I’ve often wondered about the breakdown of the guns, particularly the handguns, sold in the past 8 years. The “supercollector” theory wouldn’t hold water if the “pocket .380” market is what’s booming. And, for that matter, if the “cheap AR” market is as busy as it seems, those aren’t being bought by “supercollectors” either.
I don’t believe panicked lefties are buying guns, at least not in numbers to make a significant impact. The bloviating we’ve heard from the left about doing this is as serious as all the idiots claiming they were going to move to Canada. They won’t just walk into a gun shop and say, “I want that one.” Too cowardly.
I believe it is a shift in the culture. I hope it’s long lasting.
Actually I hope they do. Who cares about their motivation? It may be overinflated misplaced fear about Trump but I would love for them to do it in places like CA, MA, MD, NJ, NY and IL. Just for them to learn what “reasonable gun control” looks like. Nothing turns your opponent into an ally faster than subjecting them to the laws they thought weren’t going to apply to them.
I’ve seen a lot of it leading up to the election with first-time gun buyers coming into my local shop and leaving with a flyer on the process to buy a handgun rather than the gun itself. They are stunned that “THAT” is actually the law they supported, not what they thought it was. And MD is a lightweight in the rights denial department. More inconvenience than teeth but still very irritating.
Even if we get 1 left leaning person in 50 coming in and buying a gun, seeing the effects of the laws they’ve championed for so long and being subjected to them has a way of making them shift on the issue. That’s a win. That is a path to a rational conversation for the first time in their lives on this issue.
I think it is a shift in culture. Heller made an impact and now people are believing that they can get guns Other demographic are believing that also Including urban blacks and Hispanics. Now if ammo prices go down we can increase the number of shooters
I am hoping that in the next 4 years that we get carry in MD. I thought that might happen earlier but the 4th circuit screwed that hope.
Maybe a lot of folks figured it was a great way to celebrate after the election. Praise the Lord and pass the 4473’s.
Even if it is people on the left buying out of fear some are likely to seek training and will then discover the people of the gun aren’t the racist, sexist, homophobic etc. we have been portrayed to be.
My concern is that some of those gun buyers are from the group of leftists that have little in the way of impulse control. The ones that are always spouting: “If I had a gun, I’d kill his ass”. I hear that sort of thing way too much from leftists.
It’s a mantra for too many of them.
At my local Rod and Gun Club They hosted a “women on Target” program. It was such a success they are going to double the sessions next year. Women even in this more or less rural area are “arming up”.
Yes, the national election results are reason to believe the pressure of panic buying would subside. But that ignores the other factor of State elections.
California has a lot of population and a lot of them have plenty of money to spend. Not for nothing has the last year been referred to as Gunmageddon in California. Panic buying is still a factor.
It would not surprise me if the market in California is having a distorting effect on total national sales.
I think a lot of people stocked up on standard-capacity mags and AR’s in advance of what they believed to be the oncoming Clinton hegemony, and we’ll see fire sales prices on those in the coming months.
However, gun sales are being driven by people like my relatives, who want a gun to help them “feel safe”. The trick for us inside gun culture is going to be taking them from wanting to “feel safe” to actually making them safer through training, practice and the integration of their new gun into their lifestyle.