Panic of 1965.

[SaxonPig]

What with panic of 2012-13 in full swing following the panic of 2008 I thought I would share a story told to me by the owner of a gun shop where I did business. In 1965 he was a clerk working in a gun shop in the Los Angeles area of California.

When the Watts Riots broke out, he said every white, upper class liberal in the county was lined up at the counter wanting to buy a gun. None of these people had ever even held a gun before. Most were staunch supporters of disarmament. But when the fecal matter hit the circulating cooling device there they were, demanding a firearm for self protection.

At that time CA had a 3 day waiting period on handgun transfers. These folks wanted a gun NOW so they passed on the pistols and bought whatever rifle or shotgun the clerk handed them. They each wanted one box of ammo for the gun they were buying.

The store owner cleared out every new gun on the shelf... every used gun, too. All the dogs that nobody wanted were passed over the counter to grasping hands, anxious to hold a weapon. These buyers didn't ask for a particular gun nor did they ask what they were being handed. They took whatever firearm was offered and paid the bill. Within a couple hours the racks were empty with nothing left to sell.

Of course, we know the story. The rioting never did spill into the upscale neighborhoods as the maniacs confined their burning and looting mayhem to their own business areas, thus ensuring that nobody would ever want to open a shop or store there, again.

About six months after the riots ended, the guns started coming back to the shop. Within a year or so nearly all had been returned and sold back to the shop owner for 25% of the initial purchase price. I'm sure that once the evil guns were out of their homes they went back to donating money to the gun control groups and advocating for an end to the Second Amendment as unnecessary in today's world.

Elitist cretins.

 

[HoosierQ]

That is a great story. We here in Indianapolis had a rather nasty spell of such violence too. Small riots and a lot of sniping at cops was what we had here...nothing on the scale of Watts or Detroit.

Local "firebrands" were exhorting the masses to attack the "man's" infrastructure rather than small businesses...the phone company, the water company, the banks, etc. My father, working for the gas company was not well pleased. He went out and did the same thing, purchasing a Rossi double barrel coach gun and a box of ammo which he broke in two, stuffed in a bag, and stashed in his locker. Here there were no attacks on any businesses that I can think of...nothing large scale, not much looting, and they never came after the gas company.

Unlike Saxon's folks, my dad kept that thing, and kept it in that locker until 1995 or whenever it was when he retired. That thing sat right there in his locker from 1965 to 1995 without ever being fired. During that time, we moved out to the farm and he bought several more guns, including one for me. But I never knew about that gun until he came home from work for the last time.

Doesn't quite speak to the current events like Saxon's story but I was reminded of the old man...RIP.

 

[huntsman]

Of course, we know the story. The rioting never did spill into the upscale neighborhoods as the maniacs confined their burning and looting mayhem to their own business areas

maybe word got out in the hood that the rich white folk were armed

 

[nathan]

That was funny. They needed guns like wanting to have a generator in times of blackout and then sell it back after thing s get back to normal.