Even more new gun owners

[AlexanderA]

All the reasons for new people buying guns boil down to one: lack of faith in the government. This really bodes ill for the future of this country.

 

[Riomouse911]

Both images from March, 2020. If that wasn't panic buying, I don't know what is.The first is in Culver City (L.A.), California. My son lived there from June, 2019 to September, 2021, when he moved to South Carolina. He said he passed this shop every day and the lines were similar for several weeks. A month ago I went to visit him and my daughter-in-law to bring him a shotgun and several rifles, among which was an AR-15 which would have been illegal in California as also would be every mag owned for the rifle (20's & 30's).

While there are no doubt many new gun owners, way above an average 2 year period at least 5 years ago, including during panic periods under Clinton & Obama. However, these new owners aren't the problem, IMHO, of the shortages of ammo, powder, primers and cases. These new owners aren't suddenly also reloading at the bench. There are a great many existing owners hoarding ammo and components. With the end of the Global War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, there should ne truck loads of surplus ammo. I haven't yet seen it.

View attachment 1046877 View attachment 1046878

I stood in one of those very long lines at an inland Turners Outdoorsman in April of 2020… but I wasn’t panic buying ammo or a polymer framed gun, I was waiting in line (twice!) buying this consigned Colt Officers Model Heavy Barrel. The panic buyers were passing right by the consignment shelves, they didn’t know what they were missing out on. ( I passed on a nice S&W .32-20 that was next to it strictly because I didn’t want to reload another caliber. Dumb move, I shoulda bought it and had a .32 H&R cylinder made.)



The windows were all boarded up (To protect the store from mostly peaceful protesters, naturally). When I came back to get it after the 10- day wait the store had started taking appointments just to go inside to look around.

In fact, I was in a Big 5 yesterday in a less than stellar area and the storefront is STILL boarded up after it was looted in the name of social justice.



For the first time in ages the store did have a bit of ammo on the shelves, but you needed a pretty high credit limit if you wanted to buy more than a box of two.

Stay safe.

 

[Basura Blanca]

All the reasons for new people buying guns boil down to one: lack of faith in the government.

Maybe. More likely it's just the effects of the pandemic at work. Lot's of retirements, stacked on top of lot's of disposable income diverted from vacation funds to other interests and just a general sense of panic when it comes to consumer spending habits all makes for a weird situation. We had people tearing rolls of TP out of each others hands for awhile for no actual reason, so it's really not surprising that something more tangible like guns fell into a similar category of sought after consumer products.

A lot of gun owners want to read way more into the trend than there actually is.

 

[Ignition Override]

"...guns...purchased them".

Does the primary number mean only the group of people who bought from an FFL?

 

[Hokkmike]

I have seen some different faces at some of the LGS's. One was an older lady, I mean really old, who spent quite a bit of time with the salesman learning how to hold a pistol. Another was a lady with a turban type hat that was very bubbly and outgoing who was so excited about learning how to rack the slide on a semi auto pistol. I have seen a lot of older people filling out forms and leaving with mostly handguns. At the larger stores people are not just looking; they are buying.

 

[AlexanderA]

Maybe. More likely it's just the effects of the pandemic at work. Lot's of retirements, stacked on top of lot's of disposable income diverted from vacation funds to other interests and just a general sense of panic when it comes to consumer spending habits all makes for a weird situation. We had people tearing rolls of TP out of each others hands for awhile for no actual reason, so it's really not surprising that something more tangible like guns fell into a similar category of sought after consumer products.

True, but your comment addresses the means but not the ends. The availability of disposable funds allows the purchase, but the final decision to buy a gun (as opposed to buying something else) comes down to fear of crime, fear of unrest, etc. Those fears, in turn, come from the belief that the government cannot, or will not, protect people -- which, after all, is its core function. The broader implication is that we are on the cusp of anarchy.

 

[Master Blaster]

Fellow gun owners and the RKBA.

Back in 2005 after the assault weapon ban of 1994 had expired, Schumer Biden Ted Kennedy etc. Were pushing a new assault weapon ban. This time it had a ballistic energy component ( most centerfire rifle rounds banned), and a list of specific firearms to be banned.

I hung a copy of the proposed law on the bulletin board at my gun club, and on the Rimfire rifle range board.

A fellow member approached me on a target change and loudly proclaimed that he was a hunter and sportsman who agreed with banning assault weapons. At the time he had two custom Ruger 10/22 rifles out.

I had to show him that the Ruger 10/22 would be banned as it was specifically named in the Bill as an assault weapon.

He didn't believe it!

He got mad packed up his rifles and left.

 

[Ks5shooter]

If they are one and done buyers that could be an issue. I got mine ,now Ill vote my other agendas. Just like the toilet paper hoarding,get mine then who cares. My humble opinion.....

 

[Reloadron]

If there's a downside to this, it's that many of these new owners lack the responsibility that's required to insure safe handling, use, possession, and storage. This increases the frequency of "newsworthy incidents", and we all know the politicians' responses to those..

Thinking about this I have far greater concerns about the 13 to 17 year olds carrying guns than the few new untrained gun owners out there. Carjackings at gunpoint have become commonplace around here (Cleveland, Ohio). We have kids armed to the maximum with stolen guns and liberal courts returning them to the streets. Yeah, I am far more concerned with that than a new untrained gun owner. It's becoming more and more ugly out there. I see an armed citizen as less of a threat than the hood rats with guns.

Ron

 

[AlexanderA]

If they are one and done buyers that could be an issue. I got mine ,now Ill vote my other agendas. Just like the toilet paper hoarding,get mine then who cares. My humble opinion.....

That applies not only to a new owner with "one" gun. It also applies to anyone, new owner or old owner, who thinks he has enough guns, whether that number is one or 100. This is how we compartmentalize our issues when we vote. Hardly anyone is a true "one issue" gun voter. There are a lot of liberal gun owners who consistently vote for liberal candidates, deliberately overlooking their antigun stances. This is even easier to do knowing that gun control isn't going anywhere, on a nationwide basis or even in most states.

 

[MedWheeler]

Reloadron writes:

Thinking about this I have far greater concerns about the 13 to 17 year olds carrying guns than the few new untrained gun owners out there. Carjackings at gunpoint have become commonplace around here (Cleveland, Ohio). We have kids armed to the maximum with stolen guns and liberal courts returning them to the streets. Yeah, I am far more concerned with that than a new untrained gun owner. It's becoming more and more ugly out there. I see an armed citizen as less of a threat than the hood rats with guns.

In my case, I agree. My point, though, was on the typical political response to "more, untrained, unprepared" gun owners. When these new owners have, or contribute to, accidents, especially when their kids find the guns and shoot each other up, the politicians respond with attempts to further regulate ownership, possession, and storage, since these incidents are what make the news.

 

[Reloadron]

Reloadron writes:

In my case, I agree. My point, though, was on the typical political response to "more, untrained, unprepared" gun owners. When these new owners have, or contribute to, accidents, especially when their kids find the guns and shoot each other up, the politicians respond with attempts to further regulate ownership, possession, and storage, since these incidents are what make the news.

Yeah, sadly those who oppose gun rights will never let a good tragedy go to waste to push their agenda.


Ron