Fear Mongering and Marketing Strategy

[greenlion]

I don't know how many threads I have read lately that have at least a few comments that revolve around buying guns/ammo/accessories for end of the world scenarios.

I don't remember this kind of paranoid, survivalist thinking when I was growing up, and it is not to be found in the magazines of that time. I don't remember the gun "scene" much before the 1980's, but I do remember the panic caused by the "assault" weapons ban, and the anti-gun frenzy during the Clinton era. I remember the NRA becoming ever increasingly alarmist and using what became scare-tactic advertising to the point that I called them and told them to stop sending me their publications, and stop calling me or I would cancel my membership. I don't mind being informed of bills that have a REAL chance of diminishing my gun rights, but for every one real threat there were 10 published for the fear factor alone. It became a "Crying wolf too often" situation. If you actually looked into the facts surrounding many of these supposed threats, they had been misrepresented, or at least blown out of proportion.

Add to this the popularity of End-Of-The-World movies, tv-shows, books, and Discovery channel specials, and you have created enough paranoia to produce a buying frenzy in the consumer market driven purely by fear.

I overhear gun owners talking at every gun show/shop/range I visit, talking about how many guns they have bought as strictly SHTF weapons, and how much ammo they have stockpiled, only to shoot one box of 25 rounds and go home complaining that they can't afford to shoot anymore. Some of my friends have 25 guns, 15 of which are for apocalypse scenarios, but have to borrow one of mine when we target shoot because they don't own a "fun gun".

We have been fooled into spending thousands of dollars to purchase guns for imagined realities that do not exist, at the expense of enjoying the guns we could be shooting today.

I love Zombie films as much as anyone, but the Zombies are not really coming. An economic collapse does not turn everyone into murderous bastards overnight. Riots can be survived with the simple defensive weapons you use to protect your home, and for daily carry. You are never going to be called upon as a 1000 yard sniper in suburbia. The Cubans are not parachuting into your child's school playground. At the end of 2011, the Mayans simply bought a new calendar from Barnes and Noble (50% off after Christmas).

Watching Hicock45's youtube videos reminds me of what shooting should be. We should shoot the guns that we enjoy today, and we should shoot them A LOT. Too soon we will all have grown too old, and that SHTF gun will still be sitting in the back of the safe eating the money you could have spent buying a few steel targets, or taking a few friends who have never shot to an IDPA match.

 

[Carl Levitian]

Thank you greenlion for a breath of much needed fresh air on a gun forum. You've put into words how I've felt for quite a while now.

I grew up in the late 1940's and 50's, and nobody ever heard of gun collections like they have now, outside of a museum. People owned a few guns for the fun of shooting or hunting, and that was it. The end of the world stuff didn't exist even though most people back then had lived through the great depression and a world war. That people made it through the most catastrophic economic downturn in this countries history without wholesale shooting in the streets says something. This little blip were going through right now is just that, a bump in the road. We don't have soup lines going down the street. But the gun companies and magazines are reaping your dollars because most gun nuts are not able to tell when they are being herded into more unneeded spending on stuff they will never use. The gun companies are laughing up a storm how, now that you all have bought the gun, they hike the price of all the ammo. Get ya coming and going both ways.

Gun nuts have become the patsies of both the gun companies and the gun magazines that cater to them. Their business is getting as much of your money out of your pocket, and into theirs. And you all co-operate very well.

If worse did come to worse, a plain old shotgun will stop an intruder as well as a tactical wonder gun with all the rails and junk screwing up the balance. But it's a lot easier to carry when out after quail or dove without that stuff on it.

Carl.

 

[Sam1911]

You may be preaching to a portion of the choir here, so to speak -- this being about the only gun forum which does not allow SHTF or TEOTWAWKI type threads, and which tends to close "civil unrest" discussions with various suggestions that water, non-perishable food, required medications, sources of heat, etc. are much more important than firearms in the event of the breakdown of social order. And, which emphasizes that the "shooting solution" to any problem is the very, very LAST thing on the list, far behind situational awareness, passive home securing strategies and a good plan.

Still, there is something positive to be said for any movement or phenomenon which gets millions of folks out to the gun store, keeps the manufacturers humming in a terrible economy, and produces lots and lots of RKBA-aware voters!

And, finally, anyone who has to borrow a gun to go have fun at the range -- because all he has is an AR or AK -- is dumber than a 40-lb. box of rubber-coated hammers.

 

[Hypnogator]

...dumber than a 40-lb. box of rubber-coated hammers.

Ooooh! Good One! I'm adding it to my toolbox of brilliant ripartes! And I can even use it in mixed company!

 

[vito]

Ditto from here. I am old enough to well remember growing up in the 50's and 60's, and not only did we not think about the end of the world as we know it, we were convinced that the future held nothing but more and better for all of us. Even with the threat of the USSR and their nuclear weapons hanging over us, we were optimistic for the future. I think that the general gloom and doom of the last few years in particular has led to people thinking we are spiraling down to the bottom of the well and we better be prepared to take care of our own in a chaotic world. I do not want to bring in politics, but having a President who seems to be accepting and almost encouraging the end of American exceptionalism certainly is not helping. But all that being said, I will admit that I keep a bit more ammo on hand than I really need for either self defense or my occasional trips to the range. Its like having a full pantry of food, and some extra toilet paper and paper towels on the shelf, it just makes me a bit more comfortable. Now what caliber is it again that I need to use when the zombies attack?

 

[Loosedhorse]

One man's fear-mongering...

Is another man's preparedness. As to a SHTF stockpile of guns...

Well, a stockpile totaling two should do it. That leaves a lot of room in the gun safe for fun guns.

(And, why can't SHTF guns be fun guns?)

At the end of 2011, the Mayans simply bought a new calendar

The Mayan "end of the world" (so called) is scheduled for December 21, 2012. If you're going to make fun of folks, use the right date!

Not clear to me that, if the world ends, any of my guns will be much help.

 

[Mauser lover]

An AR isn't a "fun gun"? I always thought that that was pretty much the definition of a "fun gun". Well, maybe a 10/22 with a drum mag; I could see that being pretty fun. Of course I wouldn't know anything about that, living in CA all of my life.

 

[mrmeangenes]

I think Vito hit the nail on the head -but, then again, we're similar in age.
(might wish otherwise ...)

I've asked people why they are hoarding ammo - and have been told-rather primly-they are "stockpiling" it. ( Oh.)

I've wondered if much of this "Armageddon-ite" crap is being subsidized by manufacturers, distributors, and dealers in guns and ammo ----but not TOO loudly.

I've been seeing dealers (or their cats' paws) screaming like ravished anthropoids about the Holder ( "Guns-across-the Border" ) investigation - and have wondered : Are they all worked up because the operation got exposed and failed ---or because it was somewhat successful, and scared hell out of a few people.

Then again, I'm just a Geezer - so what do I know ?

 

[dev_null]

I would have to say this has spread into the marketing of "Tactical" as well. guns in bilious green and monkey-poo brown, Picatinny rails on everything, "Military and Police" that aren't (and owned by people who aren't), the list goes on.

Now, I don't care what others spend their money on, and I believe at least one corollary of the Golden Rule is MYOB, so if those products make people happy, then more power to them. But I do have to wonder, like the OP, what this says about the manipulation of buyers' paranoia by cynical manufacturers and advertising agencies.

 

[303tom]

Sorry but I don`t subscribe to it..........

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

No doubt there are kooks in the gun crowd, just as there are kooks in any collection of people (like the end of the world global warming crowd) but how does that have an impact on you as an individual? I am always entertained by people who seem to believe they have a duty to dictate their own behaviors and beliefs to those around them but do not recognize that behavior as equally loony. I don't consider myself as an end of the world type (and I don't even know what the other acronyms mean) but I have increased the amount of ammunition I possess and the number and variety of fireams (mostly rare, collector, and historic) although I have also increased the number of concealable handguns in my collection also. I do this for two reasons: 1. I believe with the rate the Fed is printing money we are due for a lot of inflation in the near future. I have invested in precious metals but I also believe firearms are somewhat inflation resistant so I am diversified.
2. I also believe that our government is as near to bankruptcy as it can get without actually collapsing and when the checks and other perks stop coming in the mail those who are dependent on those perks are going to come after anyone they perceive as "having more than their fair share". I own a rather prosperous service business so I am (as well as my employees, we shoot together on a regular basis) pretty sure it will be a target of the mobs should social order break down. I intend to keep my business and personal assets so I am prepared. While you are scoffing look back to the Rodney King riots in LA, those business owners who stood in their doorways with a firearm did not get looted and burned but those shops without a means of defense (they figured the police would protect them I guess) we totally destroyed. Maybe some people are astute and learn from history and human nature......

 

[2ifbyC]

Now what caliber is it again that I need to use when the zombies attack?

It’s not the caliber but the bullet that is designed for zombie elimination; try Hornady’s Zombie Max. It’s kind of like using a silver bullet on a Werewolf. I haven’t seen any in my neck of the woods so it appears the Lone Ranger did a good job of eliminating them.

 

[mrmeangenes]

Steel Horse Rider, you sound pretty typical of the OMG crowd.

 

[2ifbyC]

Steel Horse Rider, you sound pretty typical of the OMG crowd.

Obama Must Go?

Sorry, I’m not into texting and acronyms; I must be a different kind of Geezer.

 

[greenlion]

Steel Horse: I am always entertained by people who seem to believe they have a duty to dictate their own behaviors and beliefs to those around them but do not recognize that behavior as equally loony.

So you are saying that NOT stockpiling guns for a Zombie apocalypse is equally loony ?

Also, if you re-read my initial post, I said nothing about NOT defending yourself during a riot or disaster. As a matter of fact, I said the rifles/pistols you already have for realistic home/carry defense situations will do fine during those times as well.

 

[Telekinesis]

Of course there are those who take things to extremes, but I do think there is a legitimate side to being prepared for "SHTF" events, even though they are few and far between. Events like the LA Riots, Katrina, and the tornadoes in Alabama are things that do happen and people should be prepared for. For example after the tornadoes last year, a town about an hour north of me was put under a sundown to sunrise curfew with the National Guard in combat gear on the streets to try and deal with looting.

Now things like this don't require 500 different guns and sniper rifles with 25,000 rounds of ammo for each, but I don't think that one or two ARs, AKs, or FALs (depending on your preference) is a bad thing. A few concealable pistols here or there is also a good idea as well. Hell, how many people here espouse the merits of the 5.56/.223 round for home defense? Most guns chambered for that round fall in the AR category.

Ammo wise, I agree, don't hoard ammo that you won't use. Then again, if I'm routinely taking shooting classes where it is expected to shoot 1,000-1,500 rounds throughout the course of the multi day class, having say, 5,000 rounds at home means you don't have to go out and buy ammo right before the class adding $200-300 to the total price of the class. Or if you're a competitive shooter who goes through 250 rounds per range trip and go to the range 3 or more times a week, having a good stock of ammo at home means you don't have to go out and buy ammo every week (and lets you take advantage of volume discounts).

I think its pretty stupid for someone to buy a gun for "strictly SHTF" and never take it out to use and play/train with. If you don't practice using it and know how to use it effectively, its going to be useless. The knock off aimpoint might fail after 3 days, or some other part of your gear may fail. An emergency is not the time to be realizing "I have no clue how to do this". (I'm a firm believer in training with your weapons every chance you can get if you can't tell )

I agree with the OP on the marketing with the NRA and gun manufacturers. If the NRA can't give me a list of actual things they are doing to protect RKBA like court cases they've won or legislation they've successfully introduced or blocked (through congress members obviously), they won't get my money. Their incessant "the sky is falling/the end of 2A as we know it" without any credible threat has caused me to let my membership lapse with no intention of renewing it.

 

[The Sarge]

I lived through the Cuban missile crisis...JFK getting shot.....Atom Bomb drills at school...cover your head and tuck etc. ....I remember distinctly Sputnik flying over us and all of us outside looking at the moving star and knowing it was the Red Evil Empire and we were helpless....not once during all those events do I recall my Dad talking about stockpiling anything....I do remember a fella down the road from us built a bomb shelter and used it to store canned food and stuff.....

I stockpile things because they are on sale or I get a deal....I just bought 6 big cans of CLP at WalMart this morning because they were on the clearance for $1.50 a can. I took all of them. I guess they are replacing the CLP brand with the Winchester brand.

I did not buy all that CLP because of who is Prez nor EOTWAWKI. Bought all of it cuz it was $1.50

 

[Fremmer]

When the zombies come, all you "sensible" guys are gonna get eaten pretty quickly, which might be poetic justice (albeit unfortunate).

 

[Robert]

Nothing wrong with being ready for the unseen. Heck IF something does happen at least you are ready and not begging your neighbor to share some of his stuff. If nothing happens, well then nothing happens and you can eat MREs all you want.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I don't remember this kind of paranoid, survivalist thinking when I was growing up, and it is not to be found in the magazines of that time.

Really? The first survivalist training I received was in Cub Scouts and intensified in the Boy Scout program. Boy Scout motto, "Always Be Prepared" or "Be Prepared." Boys Life magazine from the scouts always ran at least one hero story about a scout who did well in a crisis situation where his scout training came into play. While the teachings were not end of the world type teachings, the lessons certainly fit. Usually the scenarios were something like you and your friends are out camping and get caught in a freak blizzard after a bear has torn apart your camp and you are faced with utilizing what gear you have left to fabricate shelter from resources in the environment, secure food and water, treat injuries, preparing a defense in case the bear returns, and develop a signalling system to summon help that may not reach you for days. Those were always some of the best stories and supposedly all very true.

Add to this the popularity of End-Of-The-World movies, tv-shows, books, and Discovery channel specials, and you have created enough paranoia to produce a buying frenzy in the consumer market driven purely by fear.

There are many types of end of the world or SHTF scenarios. Generally speaking, none of the ones that we can deal with are global, but they can be local. If you were amonst the folks the police, rangers, etc. did not managed to locate and contact and were in the debris field of Mt. St. Helens, you were involved in a SHTF end of the world as you now know it scenario.

Society does break down occasionally. It is usually localized and of limited duration here in the states, but it does happen. When it does, most people are not prepared for it in any way. At lot of these fear movies and documentaries actually put people into a position of considering what they might do if they were in that situation themselves. So act on the information. Others don't.

Such movies have been popular since at least the 1950s. You may see more now, but you also have many more companies making movies, many more ways that movies and information are shared. We have 50+ channels of TV where I live. For the first 12 years of my life, we had 5. That increased to 8 for the next 10 years.

Plus, there were lots of gun movies where SHTF was staged in another time period, maybe, but still depicted. Lots of movies showed the Indians raiding settlers, for example. Lucas McCain hardly had a week go by that he didn't have to shoot somebody or threaten to shoot them repeatedly with the muzzle of his gun. So there is a lot more programming on now than there was.

I overhear gun owners talking at every gun show/shop/range I visit, talking about how many guns they have bought as strictly SHTF weapons, and how much ammo they have stockpiled, only to shoot one box of 25 rounds and go home complaining that they can't afford to shoot anymore. Some of my friends have 25 guns, 15 of which are for apocalypse scenarios, but have to borrow one of mine when we target shoot because they don't own a "fun gun".

SHTF has different meanings to different people. Your friends are mooches.

We have been fooled into spending thousands of dollars to purchase guns for imagined realities that do not exist, at the expense of enjoying the guns we could be shooting today.

I shoot my SHTF guns. Having guns for a crisis and not having proper competency to use them when the time comes is pretty stupid.

I love Zombie films as much as anyone, but the Zombies are not really coming.

No, the Democrats already move amongst us.

An economic collapse does not turn everyone into murderous bastards overnight.

Right, it can take a few days.

Riots can be survived with the simple defensive weapons you use to protect your home, and for daily carry.

Like the Koreans on the rooves of their buildings in Watts, I would definitely want rifles and shotguns for defense.


You are never going to be called upon as a 1000 yard sniper in suburbia.

The Cubans are not parachuting into your child's school playground. At the end of 2011,

Are you sure? I have seen Red Dawn many times and it looks real to me.

the Mayans simply bought a new calendar from Barnes and Noble (50% off after Christmas).

There is not B&N in the Yucatan or Maya lowlands. However, mentioning the Maya does bring up an interesting consideration. Societies do collapse. Sometimes it is from internal forces, sometimes from external forces. When can you recall having personally been threatened by groups from the Ottoman, Incan, British, Portuguese, Spanish, Incan, Aztec, Roman, Egyptian, Dutch, German, countless Chinese, Japanese, or Mexican empires? Sooner or later, every society collapses.

Too soon we will all have grown too old, and that SHTF gun will still be sitting in the back of the safe eating the money you could have spent buying a few steel targets, or taking a few friends who have never shot to an IDPA match.

So you are okay with staged localized SHTF scenario training, but not okay with considering a bigger possible picture? I actually agree with this for the most part. In the grand scheme, the cases of SHTF I am likely to encounter will not be society and likely won't even involve 100s or 10s of people. It will be the crackhead mugger on the street or maybe a home invasion individual or team. While I may not be called upon to make that 1000 yard sniper shot during a crisis, I see no problem with being more proficient in long range shooting than just self defense distances.

 

[JFrame]

I don't know how many threads I have read lately that have at least a few comments that revolve around buying guns/ammo/accessories for end of the world scenarios.

I don't remember this kind of paranoid, survivalist thinking when I was growing up, and it is not to be found in the magazines of that time. I don't remember the gun "scene" much before the 1980's

Hey, Greenlion -- to some extent, I think you may have slipped through a gap in a cyclical world-view that swings back and forth toward the apocalyptic.

I certainly remember a period of the 70's and 80's, perhaps fueled by Jimmuh Carter pessimism, long gas lines, and his post-administration malaise, that propagated a huge trend toward survivalism and apocalyptic thinking. Mel Tappan came out with his bellwether publication, Survival Guns, in 1977. Tappan also served as a monthly contributor to a leading gun magazine (can't recall if it was Guns & Ammo or Guns) till his death in 1980.

Jerry Ahern had his successful Adam Roark/The Survivalist series of pulp novels. They were clearly popular, because there were numerous competitors and copycats. Gun magazines of the time routinely featured covers portraying businessmen with Uzis strapped over their shoulders, in preparation of some anticipated disaster; or a guy in a HAZMAT suit crawling out of a manhole cover with his tactical-ized Mini-14, while people sprawled around him as presumable victims of some WMD (that term didn't exist back then, at least not in the popular vernacular) attack.

In some ways, the thinking nowadays may actually be more toned-down and mainstreamed!


.

 

[beatledog7]

Fear sells. If fuels entire industries.

We all at least kind of think about worst case scenarios. If not Zombies then other things more mainstream. That's why we buy insurance -- we're afraid something bad and maybe financially devastating will happen, so we buy a hedge against that event wrecking our lives.

Fear does indeed sell. And as we discussed in another thread a few days ago, sex sells.

That's why they invented Valentine's Day. Guys get sold all sorts of candy, flowers, stuffed animals, etc. because they're afraid that if they don 't come up with this stuff for their lady then she won't -- well, you know. And on a day when it's kind of supposed to be expected!

Too bad neither a gun nor a piece of paper can keep that one sorted out.

 

[Fishslayer]

don't remember this kind of paranoid, survivalist thinking when I was growing up, and it is not to be found in the magazines of that time.

Back in the day some ol' boys were busy burying "stuff" for those durn Rooooskies when they invaded or a noo-klee-uhr EOTWAWKI scenario.

I always thought they were kinda whacky.

Now THEIR kids are still burying stuff, but in fear of a different government. I'm not sure I think they're all that whacky anymore.

 

[guyfromohio]

Ask Reginald Denny if the S ever HTF.

 

[jcwit]

You all don't remember the "OLD" Mother Earth News and the return to the land back in the 60/70's and early 80's. And all their articles on how to get along on just about nothing. Remember articles on how to convert a V-8 to a 4 cylinder back when folks actually wanted to conserve gas.

Ho, How soon we forget.