There won't be much left by the time Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Frank, Schumer, and Hillary get done with it. There may be another Boston Tea Party yet if the Dems raise the taxes much higher.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Bernie Conatser has never seen business this good.
The owner of a gun shop in the Washington suburb of Manassas, Virginia, Conatser said sales have doubled or tripled the numbers he racked up in late October. Saturday, he said, he did as much business as he would normally do in a week.
"I have been in business for 12 years, and I was here for Y2K, September 11, Katrina," Conatser said, as a steady stream of customers browsed what remained of his stock. "And all of those were big events, and we did notice a spike in business, but nothing on the order of what we are seeing right now."
Weapons dealers in much of the United States are reporting sharply higher sales since Barack Obama won the presidency a week ago. Buyers and sellers attribute the surge to worries that Obama and a Democratic-controlled Congress will move to restrict firearm ownership, despite the insistence of campaign aides that the president-elect supports gun rights and considers the issue a low priority. Watch shoppers snap up guns of all types »
According to FBI figures for the week of November 3 to 9, the bureau received more than 374,000 requests for background checks on gun purchasers -- a nearly 49 percent increase over the same period in 2007. Conatser said his store, Virginia Arms Company, has run out of some models -- such as the AR-15 rifle, the civilian version of the military's M-16 -- and is running low on others.
Such assault weapons are among the firearms that gun dealers and customers say they fear Obama will hit with new restrictions, or even take off the market.
Virginia gun owner Kyle Lewandowski said he was buying a .45-caliber pistol to "hedge my bets."
"Every election year, you have to worry about your rights being eroded a little bit at a time," he said. "I also knew, because of the Democrat majority and because of the election, everybody would have the same reaction I did," he added.
Dealers in Colorado, Ohio, Connecticut and New Hampshire also reported seeing major increases.
"It's a fact that the liberal Democrats that now control all three branches of our government do not like guns. They want us out of business," Connecticut resident Scott Hoffman said. "They don't want the average American to have a right to defend themselves."
And New Hampshire gun owner Lloyd Clement said, "I think there's going to be an attack to some degree on the gun owners."
The Clinton administration imposed a ban on several types of military-style semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines in 1994, but that ban was allowed to lapse in 2004. Obama has proposed restoring the ban, requiring background checks for buyers at gun shows, and other "common-sense measures."
He has said he supports the rights of local governments to set their own gun laws, but believes the Second Amendment to the Constitution protects individual gun rights.
"I believe the Second Amendment means something. I do think it speaks to an individual right," Obama said in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in February.
With the U.S. economy in a tailspin, however, the president-elect's advisers say gun legislation is not a high priority.
"What people do is their own business, and if they decide to go out and buy guns they'll go out and buy guns, assuming that they are eligible to buy guns," John Podesta, the co-chairman of Obama's transition team, told reporters Sunday. "But I think that President-elect Obama has been clear in his campaign that what he wants to focus on is the economy, trying to get jobs growing again, dealing with the health care crisis, and dealing with our dependence on foreign oil."
Some customers are stocking up specifically on ammunition and point to concerns raised by the National Rifle Association, which ran anti-Obama ads during the campaign.
The NRA said Obama would support a "huge new tax on my guns and ammo," referencing a 1999 article in a Chicago newspaper saying the then-Illinois state senator promoted a plan to increase federal taxes by 500 percent on the sales of firearms and ammunition.
But as a state legislator, Obama would not have had any control over federal taxes. And as a U.S. senator and presidential candidate, he has not introduced or promoted such a proposal.
"I don't really believe it is fear. It is more there is just uncertainty," said Virginia customer David Reynolds, who was buying ammunition in the store as well as ordering more online. "You know, we don't really know what is going on. There really hasn't been a lot of clear direction on where he supports it, although he says he supports the Second Amendment. But it just remains to be seen. I think some people are just uncomfortable with what his policy may be."
personaly I dont own them but I think Obama is right to be for the amendment to keep and bear the guns. I am for it and am glad we are not tipping that apple cart now like mcain wanted to do
Ive been shopping for a gun so I got my email from Budsgunshop.com - how they are "struggling" to keep up with inventory but the AK 47 s are on sale-
The article by this CNN producer is stupid- If you want a gun GET ONE and shut up already- Im tired of listening to people talking about the theory of the possibility of owning a gun- if they might someday want one-
I personally think that everyone should own a gun. Not just the 'bad guys'.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Well, amazingly enough, the latest Bush administration wasn’t in sympathy with that point. In fact, according to 60 minutes, just the opposite. For the last several years, gun dealers have been under assault, both under the Patriot Act, and the Columbine HS reactive drives. Few conservatives have done so much below the radar to curtail second amendment rights as has Dubya. This isn’t a fiction. He’s put forth some of the most stringent constraints on gun-shops in the nation’s history, and the number of such places has been cut in half.
No, I don’t like it that some states have unlimited purchasing power of firearms. That creates a huge marketing opportunity for bad guys. I also don’t like it that only cop’s lives are important. Only cops can carry a whole menu of defensive weapons that I don’t have legal right to, like ammunition clips of greater than ten rounds. How come I can’t protect myself as well as a cop can? There’s no real answer. Get back to me when you have one, okay?
Well, actually, as a 'weapon of choice,' the Taser would be near the bottom, even though I'll agree that they sound like fun. For home protection, my first choice is a stage-coach gun; 12 gauge double-short-barrel open hammer shotgun loaded with #7 shot. It'll ruin an intruder's day, and not kill off your kindred in the next room.
Out on the street, my priorities are modified considerably. There I have a prioritized list of things. Number one is a cell phone with 911 as a 'fast dial' number. Of course, number two is Glock 22, 10mm. It's just above the ballistics that a 'standard' bullet resistant vest will withstand. Next comes a stun-gun rated at 200k volts or higher (illegal in NYS, of course, though 'why' eludes me - if I can nail them with a stun-gun, they're damned close to me). Next comes pepper, but 15% or higher, which is also illegal in NYS (go figure) disguised as a pager, or pen, or whatever. Follow this up with a big clunky watch with a metal strap, a Gerber Guardian with a wrist strap, then metal tipped pens, and finally a camera. I actually do feel reasonably safe with those. A taser would be great fun though.
Many people buying guns right now are assault weapons such as the ak 47, ar 15, and m 16 semi auto rifles which can be bought legally right now that the assault weapons ban has expired.
Many people buying guns right now are assault weapons such as the ak 47, ar 15, and m 16 semi auto rifles which can be bought legally right now that the assault weapons ban has expired.
So get this....CNBC that money channel next to headline news,,,,,,the folks there said the companies that make safes and guns had big profits.......they didn't talk about the assault weapon ban being expired(not sure I read this either),,,,but, they made it sound like everyone was buying guns to protect their money they put in their safes.....
I see it as folks buying safes to put their new guns in.....and who is buying this stuff.....sounds like mafia too?????
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
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