Sorry, but if this doesn't scare the Hell out of you, Democrat or Republican, there's something mentally wrong with you.

Fears of a Dem crackdown lead to boom in gun sales

MIDLOTHIAN, Va. – When 10-year-old Austin Smith heard Barack Obama had been elected president, he had one question: Does this mean I won't get a new gun for Christmas?

That brought his mother, the camouflage-clad Rachel Smith, to Bob Moates Sports Shop on Thursday, where she was picking out that special 20-gauge shotgun — one of at least five weapons she plans to buy before Obama takes office in January.

Like Smith, gun enthusiasts nationwide are stocking up on firearms out of fears that the combination of an Obama administration and a Democrat-dominated Congress will result in tough new gun laws.

"I think they're going to really try to crack down on guns and make it harder for people to try to purchase them," said Smith, 32, who taught all five of her children — ages 4 to 10 —to shoot because the family relies on game for food.

Last month, as an Obama win looked increasingly inevitable, there were more than 108,000 more background checks for gun purchases than in October 2007, a 15 percent increase. And they were up about 8 percent for the year as of Oct. 26, according to the FBI.

No data was available for gun purchases this week, but gun shops from suburban Virginia to the Rockies report record sales since Tuesday's election.

"They're scared to death of losing their rights," said David Hancock, manager of Bob Moates, where sales have nearly doubled in the past week and are up 15 percent for the year. On Election Day, salespeople were called in on their day off because of the crowd.

Obama has said he respects Americans' Second Amendment right to bear arms, but that he favors "common sense" gun laws. Gun rights advocates interpret that as meaning he'll at least enact curbs on ownership of assault and concealed weapons.

As a U.S. Senator, Obama voted to leave gun-makers and dealers open to lawsuits; and as an Illinois state legislator, he supported a ban on semiautomatic weapons and tighter restrictions on all firearms.

Gun advocates take some solace in the current makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled 5-4 this summer to strike down the District of Columbia's 32-year ban on handguns. For now, gun rights supporters hold a narrow edge on the court, but Obama could appoint justices who would swing it the other way.

Franklin Gun Shop outside Nashville, Tenn., sold more than 70 guns on Tuesday, making it the biggest sales day since the shop opened eight years ago. Guns & Gear in Cheyenne, Wyo., also set a one-day sales record on Tuesday, only to break that mark on Wednesday.

Stewart Wallin, owner of Get Some Guns in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray, Utah, said he sold nine assault weapons the day after Obama was elected. That same day, the gun store Cheaper Than Dirt! in Fort Worth, Texas, sold $101,000 worth of merchandise, shattering its single-day sales record, store owner DeWayne Irwin said.

One Georgia gun shop advertised an "Obama sale" on an outdoor sign, but the owner took it down after people complained that the shop appeared to be issuing a call to violence against the country's first black leader.

The president of a Montana gun manufacturer stepped down last month after word that he supported Obama led to calls for a boycott of the company.

While Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, attributes some of the sales boom to the tanking economy, he thinks the Democratic sweep is the top reason why guns are suddenly a hot commodity.

"I don't think he'll be able to stand up to that anti-Second Amendment wing of the Democratic party that's just been spoiling for chance to ban America's guns," LaPierre said of Obama.

During the campaign, the NRA warned that Obama would be the "most antigun president in American history." And while Vice President-elect Joe Biden owns shotguns, he has supported a ban on assault weapons and has said private sellers at gun shows should be required to perform background checks.

But Mark Tushnet, a Harvard Law School professor who has written a book about the gun debate, said new firearms regulations will be a low priority for an Obama administration and Democratic Congress facing a global economic crisis and two wars.

"Maybe the gun-show loophole will be closed, but not much else," he said in an e-mail. "I'd be surprised, for example, if Congress enacted a new assault gun ban."

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said his organization will continue to press for what he calls "sensible" restrictions — background checks at gun shows, a ban on military-style assault weapons and cracking down on illegal gun trade. He believes he has the backing of the new administration on those issues, but any fears of a broader crackdown are unfounded.

"The one thing that they agree strongly with us on is that it's too easy for dangerous people to get guns in this country," Helmke said. "I guess if you're a dangerous person you might want to run out there and buy some more, but otherwise you should be OK."

___

Associated Press writers Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington, Angela K. Brown in Fort Worth, Texas, Kate Brumback in Marietta, Ga., Joe Edwards in Nashville, Tenn., Don Mitchell in Denver, Matt Joyce in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Paul Foy in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.

I fucking hate people.

Between the current state of the economy, the war, unemployment and all the other shit going on in the world right now, I'm sure guns are the last of their worries.

No Guns! Hmmmmmm? Not a bad idea. The bad part is that it would put a lot of people out of work.

I heard that Obama has no intention of messin' with the 2nd amendment and like Requiem says.....all the other shit. BTW, welcome Req.

Cool avatar Requiem

Hi, requiem.

I feel much safer without a gun in the house than with one.

But you have your briefcase with you

And my briefs.

Off topic, but thanks for the welcomes, much appreciated.

I am not a hunter or gun owner and never have been, nor is my immediate family. However, I was raised (in Michigan) around relatives/friends who were hunters. It doesn't bother me that they hunt, but not my cup of tea.

However, I have to ask, when did any President and which one, ever change and/or alter any changes in this amendement and/or gun laws??? It seems like I hear this every election as ammo "against" the Democrat, saying he's gonna take away rights. As much as I thought I've been following this campaign, I can't remember Obama saying anything about taking these rights away.

I have brother-in-law and 2 nephews who are avid hunters and still hunt and don't ever remember any law being passed or change being made to affect them.? Did I miss something? Is this just a reason to not vote Democrat?


TIS



Oh, and welcome Requiem!!! And I agree. A very cool avator. I miss good ol' Tony Soprano.

If you looked at gun deaths per 100,000 people in the 36 richest countries in the world, you would have to add the number of deaths in New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, Kuwait, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Scotland, England and Wales, Taiwan, Singapore, Mauritius, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan to exceed those in the US. The study, conducted by the CDC, found that gun-related deaths were five to six times higher in the Americas than in Europe or Australia and New Zealand and 95 times higher than in Asia. Of the 88,649 gun deaths reported by all the countries, the United States accounted for 45 percent.

Is it that Americans are more violent or do the other countries have tighter gun laws?

Ha ha ha You make me laugh. You are reminding me more and more of SC. (a compliment of course)


TIS

Ha ha ha....."He's baaaaack" Not many words, but to the point.



TIS

You must watch Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. It is a documentary that deals with this question in the wake of Columbine school shooting. The conclusions of the documentary are really disputable, but it does analyze it to great extent.

I've heard so many negative things about how Michael Moore manipulates "facts" that I've avoided seeing any of his films.

And for those that want to tell me that any restrictions on guns won't apply to criminals who obtain their guns illegally, I believe that the Columbine shooters and the Virginia Tech gunman had guns obtained legally.

They were criminals too

Ah, but not until they actually shot someone.

The facts and conclusions are certainly manipulated, but it's worth seeing. He approached the executive offices at K-Mart with students, who were shot at Columbine, one of whom is forever in a wheelchair, and wanted them to know that the ammunition used at Columbine was purchased at one of their stores. K-Mart decided to stop selling it.

He also had an interesting , but brief, interview with Marilyn Manson, who was blamed by many for the atrocities. Moore also followed the story of a first grade girl, who was accidentally shot to death in school by a classmate, who brought a gun from home to school.

But the highlight is his interview with Charlton Heston, which is a gotcha moment.

There are a lot of hunters in PA, and I don't begrudge them their sport, and I admire their responsibility, safety and respect for firearms. They also provide a needed service.

But the easy availability of handguns has resulted in countless, needless deaths.

Last week I read a story from Massachusetts where an 8 year old was taken to a gun exhibition, and was given an Uzi to fire at a pumpkin. An instructor was present, but the weapon was too much for the boy to handle, and he ended up killing himself while his dad was snapping pictures. What is an 8 year old doing with an automatic weapon, designed for spraying bullets rapidly in combat. That is the mentality I never understood.

Personally I've been stocking up on rubber bands so I can defend my house with this:

What is it? Does it launch bullets? Arrows?

Thank you Santino_Brasi... some people just don't know a good nuclear missile launcher when they see one.

I shot an Uzi for the first time ever a few weeks ago. I loved it, But I don't see the big deal.

It's a big deal when you're at the other end of it.

I'll bet

Hahaha.. I'm sure it would be.

Well, I think that tree stump will think twice before giving me the evil eye again.

I think the extent of Obama regarding guns is perhaps try to re-implement the Assault Weapons Ban through Congress that was passed during the Clinton Administration, which was repealed by the GOP Congress despite public support in favor of keeping the ban.

And where did you hear this, please don't say from him or his website.

His voting record when it comes to firearms says otherwise. And to the original poster no PB it does not bother me with all these people buying those firearms, hell if I didn't have more important things to do with my money, I'd be buying all the firearms that I could.

Well I would ask what you would do with all those guns, but whatever.

Tell me Iceman, go read up on President Chester A. Arthur sometime. He was probably the biggest corrupt cronie-hack of the Gilded Age in American History, defined by kickbacks and patronage.

He got fired from being the Customs Collector for New York City for his outright corruption by President Hayes, but by 1880 Arthur was named Vice-President in James Garfield's successful election simply because of his connections to the GOP Party machinery....6 months later, Garfield is killed and ARthur is President.

People were scared and frightened, and what did President Arthur do? He signed into law the Pendleton Act, the most comprehensive civil service reform act of that time in American History.

That's right, a walking definition of Patronage oversaw our civil service changing from Patronage to Merit-Based.

So Iceman, before you go panic and whine, also look at President Eisenhower. You know, war hero general of WW2, and he comes into office with the Korean War a fucking mess we were stuck with in 1953. So what did he do?

He ended it, with a ceasefire.