More Obama Gun Fun
No sooner had I pulled the trigger on my last post then I realized that there was a veritable full magazine of online articles discussing everyone’s fears about gun rights under an Obama presidency.
Gun sales surge after Obama’s election
“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.
“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.
The October ’08 issue of Field and Stream had extensive interviews with both Obama and McCain detailing their opinions on hunting and fishing, gun rights, and conservation. The message from Obama was pretty clear,
“I’m more interested in enforcing the laws that we do have – for example tracing guns that are used in crimes back to people who have been using them. I don’t anticipate that there’s going to be a whole slew of efforts at the federal level when it comes to gun control. “
However this still hasn’t dissuaded anyone from considering him an anti-gun politician, and his record of past votes lies in stark contrast to his election promises.
Apparently, no one is convinced that “common-sense measures” aren’t a thinly-disguised metaphor for yet another round of new legislation on “ugly guns.”
The good news is that none of this legislation ever happens quickly – and the national economy is a far more pressing issue at this time – but one thing that is apparent is shooters generally aren’t getting the warm and fuzzy from Obama on gun rights – despite everything he has said to the contrary.
I understand the reason why everyone is running out and arming up – there are more cool innovations in modern weapons technology available now then ever before:
- Civilian legal FN P90s
- Mad amounts of AR upgrades (Go LaRue!)
- USCM-inspired HK G36-clones
- 37mm flare launchers – oh, my!
But it is important to also realize that the focus must remain on preserving our rights – not just so we can go to gun shows and exercise the right our Constitution guarantees, but to fight to preserve these rights so that those who haven’t yet gone to gunshows or been to a shooting range – will get the same opportunities that we did.
Get involved!
Gun Owners of America
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
The National Rifle Association