Driven By Fear

[Phydeaux642]

I hate to own up to this, but I have recently come to realize that I have been buying guns at a faster rate than what I would like due to a nagging fear. I have purchased nineteen firearms, seven thousand rounds of ammo and roughly thirty high capacity magazines in fifteen months. That is more than I ever intended to buy in that short time, but I have fallen prey to the hysteria surrounding the upcoming election.

I don't think that the first item on anyone's agenda would be to start in on a weapons ban, but the other side will always be looking for opportunity.

I would much rather have been able to take my time searching out guns that I really wanted and picking them up as they presented themselves to me at the local shops and gun shows. I'm not unhappy with what I have picked up at all, but I have spent about twenty percent of my income recently on these related items and that is quite a hit.

Have any of you been doing the same thing that I have been doing?

 

[W.E.G.]

Nothing wrong with buying firearms stuff it unless you are damaging your financial position.

Rest assured, much of what you bought recently, you soon will NOT be able to get at the price you paid, or in some cases, will not be able to get at all.

Protect yourself at all times - this includes protecting yourself financially.

 

[Atla]

I recommend not worrying to much about bolt guns or pistols, but those 'evil semi-autos' and the chow to feed them.

Handguns and bolt-guns will be the last to be banned if things go south.

Besides, guns are a good investment!

 

[Phydeaux642]

Nothing wrong with buying firearms stuff it unless you are damaging your financial position.

No, I actually fully fund my IRA every year and put a little more on top of that in bonds.

 

[Tommygunn]

When Clinton was in office all I had was an inherited M-1 Carbine, so I stocked up on .30 Carbine ammo and high cap magazines.
In 2006 when the demorats took over kongress I bought a Bushmaster M4orgery and have been stocking up on 5.56mm. and AR mags.
I might by more guns ... maybe an AK if I should find one I like ... but for now I guess I'm over with disaster gun purchases for the most part.

...Except I still need more ammo ...

 

[RP88]

I know that it seems that optimism to a gun owner is like pyrite to a miner, but I think we need to realize that we have our heads way out of the water compared to the 90's. The AWB passed by one vote in a time where people were afraid of guns like they were the walking dead. Now, the only thing antis ride on is using the VTech massacre as a scare tool, and it isnt even working.

Your main concern will be the costs for just about every imported gun and just about all the ammo available. That stuff if getting as bad as gasoline.

 

[jrfoxx]

nope.I buy what I want, when it's available, a reasonable deal, and I can afford it.I personally (YMMV) have no need for multiple AR's/M4's, or AK clones (I have 1 M4 and 1 WASR already), so I havent bought more (or any ever, actually) simply because they may get banned in the future, and/or may go up in value.
I buy everything because it fills some need for me.Granted, 95% of the time that "need" is just because I think the gun is a neat collectable, caliber, looks nice, etc. same goes for magazines.I bought what I felt was enough for my needs, as they were available, and I could afford them. I have had all my "tool/utilty" gun needs covered well for quite some time, and everything I have bought since has been C&R stuff that I like for the history, cheap price, intersting features/calibers, etc, and those items are a LOT less likely to get banned than EBR's, MG's, etc, so I personally have relatively little to worry about in regards to not being abale to buy what I want.

That certainly doesnt mean I like, support, or would tolerate ANY kind of ban, and would HAPPILY fight against one, even if it had no direct bearing on what I have, like, or want to buy.I support all guns, of all types, and will glady support the rights of fellow gun owners to own, use, hunt with, etc, whatever guns they please.

that's just me though, I see NOTHING wrong with buying something just because it may get banned, and/or go up in value/price, or buying sooner rather than later because of it.I could care less what anyone buys, why they buy it, etc, as it's thier money, and thier business, not mine, and what others choose to own and why has no effect on me.Also, for EBR and/or "hi-cap" lovers, I ceratinly understand why they often do things like the OP is talking about.If I thought they were going to kill off all C&R guns, I'd be buying like mad myself.I also dont think those who are doing extra buying to hedge against a ban are in ANY way being even slightly paranoid, they are just being smart, IMHO. We have PROOF from the last ban that people will try, and sometimes succeed, in passing bans, so if you like stuff thats in a "likely to be banned" catagory, I cant blame you for stocking up and getting stuff while you can.

 

[Atla]

An AWBII would have a harder time passing.

Because we are more united now than in the '90s and our numbers are constantly growing.(I was only 12 when the first ban was passed).

Also, we have the internet. Which has really helped us to band together instead of having our own small gun clubs and groups.

And, finally, 'Assault Weapons' are mainstream now. An Unintended Consequence of Klinton's ban. He banned them back when very few folks owned an SKS/AK/AR.

Now, everyone has one.

 

[Happiness Is A Warm Gun]

1) If [god help us] Obama get elected in Nov he doesn't take office until Jan 20th.

2)Once sworn in he won't be signing AWB II into law on Jan 21st.

3)Bills travel extremely slowly. If there is enough support it likely will be harrassed and delayed by pro-rights congressmen.

4)The first AWB was signed into law about 4 months after it was originally proposed on the floor.

So likely the earliest we would see any federal ban with any chance of passing would be late 2009. Plenty of time to stock up.

The honest truth is there is very little support for a new ban.
The AWB was part of larger anti crime bill, many reps voted for it simply to be "tough on crime".
The same year as the AWB there was a bill with 67 co sponsors to repeal it. It almost got out of committe 4-5.
In 2002 there was a bill to extend to AWB. It died 8-90. Only 8 senators voted for it (that is 30-40 dems breaking ranks to vote and allow the bill to die).

Since the ban expired there have been 5 attempts to revive it in whole or part or to create a new similar ban. None have made it out of committee.

The latest attempt has a whopping 5 co-sponsors. 5 co-sponsors is a guaranteed dead bill. With a democratic controlled house (170+ dems) they could only find 6 people willing to put their name on it.

Lastly and complete ban on a class of weapons would get an automatic shot at SCOTUS. Scalias wording indicates a ban on a complete class of weapons is not constitutional.

Buy guns to buy guns not because of the AWB boogey man. Likely we will see attempts at smaller erosions like:
a federal one gun a month ban
banning private sales w/o background check
banning internet sales (legal cross state FFL sales)
federal registration
pushes for micro-stamping, ballistic databases, and smart guns (and other nuisance laws).

So we need to be aware & alert but outright bans there simply is no political capital for it.

 

[wideym]

"I don't think that the first item on anyone's agenda would be to start in on a weapons ban but, other side will always looking for opportunity."

No truer words have been written. Opportunity is the key word, all it takes is a grand incident to start the ball rolling. Just because the anti's are not shouting "AWB II" from every corner of Washington does not mean they won't take advantage of a tragidy to do so. I never thought something like the Patriot Act would become law, but 9/11 provided the fear to ensure it's passage.

Americans have lived through one AWB, so it's not some boogyman, it is a fact of life and the antis have been harping on the fact that it wasn't tough enough or left "loopholes".

It's like being afraid of dogs and never have seen one in person, that is irrational. But being afraid of dogs after one mauls you is caution. The AWB dog bit us once. So buy everything you can afford now.

 

[dmazur]

I believe it's been said before, anyway -

There is no guarantee that the 2nd dog will be the same as the first one that mauled you.

The "antis" are an adaptive species, and they are already attacking ammunition through registration of sales, microstamping of bullets, etc. Unless some court rules that this is 2nd Amendment infringement, it just may continue.

An "AWB II" may not have "grandfather" provisions, making previously owned weapons possibly illegal.

If we don't control our elected officials, we could wind up like Canada or Australia, or (!) England.

So, there's probably nothing wrong with stocking up, within reason. I would remember, however, that this is not solving the problem.