gun shortage

Christian Science Monitor gun story

Runcible — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:40:30 +0000

In a story about the huge increase in firearm and ammunition purchases since November, for whatever reason the Christian Science Monitor chooses to use an AP stock photo of a woman looking at long guns at a store here in Richmond.

Surprising tidbit from the article: Texas now has a "Liberal Gun Club", which just goes to show that so-called "progressives" try to politicize just about everything. (As if you have to flash your Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy membership card to go to a range.) Here's their site.

[Armed America: Behind a broadening run on guns - Christian Science Monitor]

Gun Shortages

Runcible — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:08:52 +0000

An article in the Press of Atlantic City (NJ) does a better job of covering the surge in firearms purchases than anything I've seen in a national (or local Virginia) media outlet. The reporter, Daniel Walsh, doesn't descend to the level of depicting gun buyers as fevered paranoiacs, like so many other press accounts I've read in the last few months. An example:

Across the nation, sales of guns and ammunition have skyrocketed since November, while their availability has sharply decreased. The sales spike has been focused largely on assault rifles, handguns, shotguns and other weapons used for personal defense. Many attribute it to fears that President Barack Obama's administration could ban some semiautomatic weapons. Some also attribute the tanking economy and corresponding fears of increased crime that could accompany the newfound poverty some may experience.

That's the reason in a nutshell, and not overstated as fear of post-apocalyptic social disintegration.

[Guns in short supply as sales shoot higher - Press of Atlantic City]

Preppers

Runcible — Sat, 09 May 2009 18:01:36 +0000

I missed this story in the Times-Dispatch early in the week. The title is a bit inflammatory - ‘Modern survivalists’ dig in for disaster - but the text is pretty good and explains why a lot of people are building up their margins and buying guns.

A Texas gun store owner is quoted as saying:

You have the everyday good ol' boy Texas gun owner. You have the folks that are coming in and saying, 'I've lost my job and my neighbor lost their job' and they really believe they might have to fight over a bucket of carrots or something. And you have the guys who are first-time gun buyers and they don't really know why. It is Main Street. It is crazy.

I'd put myself about 80% of the way along toward three, from two. I like the term "preppers" that the writer uses to describe those who are preparing for the worst.