Paranoia or preparation?

[Yo Mama]

Doesn't make sense

If you look at it, Bush said he would sign a AWB, and I doubt he would have gone to bat for 2nd ammendement rights.

So what, now we have a few more dems in congress, doesn't change that it would have been signed.

The President is only able to sign what they get, so I'd focus more on your local districts, and ensure now, RIGHT NOW, that they will fight for your rights.

 

[The Janitor]

Fact of the matter is people don't really know what the hell BO is going to do. Not sure if I'd call it paranoia, as thats a bit extreme. Preparation makes it sound like you're expecting trouble.

I think for the most part, it's simply a motive of 'just-in-case-ism', and a bit of people having another 'reason' to get something they wanted in the first place.

 

[harmonic]

People are panicking because of misinformation. My mother in law came to visit and announced, "If you want a handgun you better buy it now because you're not going to be able to buy guns after the new president gets in."

Lemme tell you something. This guy was a senator from Illinois. That's not the same thing as a president of the United States. There are a fair number of 2nd Amendment Democrats in Congress. There are still a fair number of Republicans in Congress.

There are also 100 million guns/gun owning households in America. That's a lot of people to tick off. Politicians know this.

I was living in Tennessee when Al Gore was running for president. You would have to have been living there to know what a "golden boy" he was to Tennesseeans. But then he made the statement that no American home has any business owning a 9mm. He lost his home state, and no president has ever been elected who didn't carry his home state. My observation was that his antigun position was about 60% of the reason he lost Tennessee. Politicians are very aware of this. (Actually, we need to remind them, all of them, of this. Write letters, people.)

The mighty 'O' can't arbitrarily eliminate firearms. The people of the United States are not like the sheeple of Chicago. Don't forget, we also have the Heller decision on our side.

Will he try to pass some more restrictive laws? Probably. But they've been trying to do that since forever. That's just a fact of political life in America and it's certainly not worth panicking over.

 

[rbernie]

Panic implies that there is no thought process driving the purchasing; preparation implies some modicum of thought.

I've been in three separate gun shops in the last three days, chatting with the owners and customers. All told, I probably spent about five (5) hours browsing and listening. People are buying because they're preparing, not because they're in a blind lather.

They may have misconstrued the timing or the likelihood of a ban, but they clearly expect some action and are willing to prepare for it. I see no harm in that, despite all the foaming at the mouth that this spike in interest seems to be generating.

 

[GeezerwithGuns]

Am I paranoid? No, I don't think so, but I am buying firearms and ammunition at a faster rate than I normally do purely from an availability and economic perspective. An anti might call this "paranoid" behavior, but I don't give a hoot what they think.

Guns are a much better "investment" right now than anything the stock market has to offer.

 

[krs]

Is it true that he's appointed Angela Davis to be Attorney General?

 

[crushbup]

Paranoid preparation.

 

[XD-40 Shooter]

I'm not paranoid, but I am glad that I have plenty of powder, primers, and bullets for loading my 40 S&W rounds. I'm also well stocked on ammo for 7.62x39, 22 LR, 22 mag, 38 spl, and 357 mag. All it takes to ban the importation of Wolf ammo is an executive order, I won't be surprised if that happens.

It took Clinton 18 months to get around to an AWB when he was president, Obama will be dealing far more pressing issues when he takes office. I think we will have a year of breathing room here, when Obama does bring up an AWB, it will be a tough political fight that will probably take months. I'm hoping there are enough Democrats like Jim Webb, that will tell Reid/Pelosi to pound sand.

I have a feeling that primers will be very scarce over the next 6 months or so, same goes for hi-cap mags.

 

[Dave Workman]

rbernie wrote:

I've been in three separate gun shops in the last three days, chatting with the owners and customers. All told, I probably spent about five (5) hours browsing and listening. People are buying because they're preparing, not because they're in a blind lather.

Okay, I guess this is the one I've been waiting for. Not that I want to put YOU on the spot, but the question arises:

"preparing" for what?

==============
I think what generated the original query is that part of my job is to sort of monitor what's being said on some of the other forums and chat lists.

I've seen no small amount of chest-thumping rhetoric regarding what a lot of these folks will do [yeah, right, seeing is believing here ] if the "Obamunists" come after the guns.

We have a different group here. Your feedback and observations are valuable to me.

Keep this thread going. Don't let this stop anything.


Again: "preparing" for what?

 

[Dave Workman]

It took Clinton 18 months to get around to an AWB when he was president,

That's not quite accurate. It took that long to get it passed, but they were working on it almost right out of the gate, even before any legislation was crafted and submitted.

And trust me on this, Obama's new Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, was point man on that effort.

This isn't meant to sound any alarm or carry this discussion off track, but those are the facts.

Please return to the original discussion: Paranoia or Preparation?

 

[wyocarp]

I do think that many folks on this forum are greatly overestimating the threat posed to gun ownership by the Obama administration.

Anyone who thinks that probably voted for the sob.

I think it is both, but I wish that all those who are buying now would have been buying all along instead of racing out the day and week after the election. He won't even be in a position to do anything for months and I doubt he is going to start his first day in office with a total ban on imported guns. I'm sure he values his future job and life a little more than that. It could happen early in his term, but early in his first day?

 

[22-rimfire]

Dave, you writing a piece on this? Sure you want to?

My guess.... "Both and a few things you didn't list". Just like a SHTF kit, you need the tools and equipment. Can't shoot if you don't have a firearm.

 

[rbernie]

"preparing" for what?

Like most preparations, it's preparing for the unknown.

I buy car insurance. I do not know HOW my car will be damaged, or WHEN. But, living in the DFW metroplex as I do, it's a fair bet that at some time in the life of my car it will be damaged and require repairs. It may be hail. It may be a parking lot mistake. It may be smacked broadside by a red light runner. I don't know.

But I do know that it is prudent to have insurance.

That's pretty much what I'm hearing. Nobody has a clearly articulate vision of WHEN and HOW. But they dang sure smell smoke in the wind, and want to be IBTL.

BHO scares gun people. Biden scares them even more.

 

[Dave Workman]

Dave, you writing a piece on this? Sure you want to?

Hmmmm. Don't know that I am, not sure why I wouldn't want to. It's an interesting subject, you know.

 

[lloydkristmas]

I bought a semi automatic rifle because its something Ive always wanted (and owned before, but sold off). I figure that, one, prices are gonna go up no matter what, so I should buy sooner than later. Two, if some piece of legislation does come through, Id like to already own the guns I've always had my heart set on. Id hate to look back and say if only I'd acted a couple years earlier, I could own the cool stuff Ive always wanted. I knew I was going to drop the $$ on a rifle some time in the near future, so why not now?

As far as 'preparation' or 'paranoia'? I think gun laws are inevitably going to get tighter. I dont think that it will necessarily happen right away. But, like I said, I'd rather have my ideal collection now, than bank on the fact that I can build it later on.

Nothing I have purchased in the recent 'frenzy' has been based on that "oh man if something heavy goes down, maybe I'll need to be armed" mentality that seems to be fueling gun purchases recently, especially among new gun owners. Up until now, I've had enough firearms to accomplish most any purpose, and even if I wasnt able to buy the semiautomatic rifle that I recently did, I wouldnt feel any less "prepared" than I do now.

 

[esmith]

I doubt it really goes as far as paranoia but it's certainly insecurity.
It's not unusual for folks to be afraid of what they don't understand however it can be extremely dangerous.

CRITGIT

So i shouldn't fear an Obama led nation that wants to limit my ability to own guns? The 2nd Amendment is what ensures all the others, when people want to refute it, i raise my head. I don't fear for things i do not understand, i fear for what i do understand, and that is Obama.

 

[inSight-NEO]

Id say, cautiously, it basically boils down to paranoia. I myself have fallen prey to this. However, as stated before, I dont believe anybody can truly predict the way things will go. But, lets face it...most have been here before. Hopefully, as before, things will smooth over and end on a relatively positive note. I am hoping that the very notion of stiff weapon regulations concerning law abiding citizens, mixed with the fantasy of taking weapons out of the hands of criminals, will prove futile at best. Who really knows?
Either way, and boy I hope Im right here, I liken this stuff to the 2000 switch. Everyone was sure that disaster would strike because of the possibility of computer controlled devices failing due to being "unprepared" for the year 2000. Anarchy, chaos, confusion and fear were the buzzwords of the day back then. Everything turned out ok. Hopefully this is another such occasion. A rather blunt comparison maybe, but you get the point.

 

[22-rimfire]

Dave, if you do put together an article on this subject, I know many here would love to have a link to it and have it posted after it is published. You do live up in Obama land.

It IS an interesting subject, ya know!

 

[scotjute]

Avoidance!

Avoidance is the proper term to use for me. Believe taxes are going to go up on everything, particularly on things Obama frowns on. I can estimate how much shooting I will be doing the next 8 yrs. and am buying the ammo now before taxes send the prices skyrocketing.

 

[Mike2]

I lean more toward hedging against inflation and also for my children who may not have the opportunity to purchase a weapon in the future.

 

[HoosierQ]

Some people are making accelerated purchases just because others are. I mean, I'd hate to set off for the range and find my caliber sold out at the local retailer...end of range day. People waited for hours in line to buy gas on 09/11/2001 just...because. I got in line, not because I was afraid but because I was on "E".

I too am concerned about "preparation" as a choice. Prepare for a shortage of rounds on range day because of a lot of purchasing draining inventory? Sure. The end of the world or Libery or whatever...I really don't think so.

ABC news did a spot on all this purchasing going on. For the MSM, they showed a bit of restraint by saying the rush was on because people feared a future ban. However, we all know the anti's are scared to death of that kind of stuff. They think we are all gearing up for some sort of revolution or something.

So, I have made a few discretionary purchases because I wish to beat the rush. I think we are going to be OK.

 

[Elgin47]

There are far too many verifiable instances of Obama clearly stating his feelings about firearms and the right - or absence thereof - to own same. Again provably, prior to the campaign there was no ambivalence or equivocation in any statement or comment he made about guns, concealed carry, or the 2nd Amendment. Except for the campaign period, he has been unswervingly consistent in his opposition to gun ownership.

Why, then, would one expect him to abandon his anti-gun position when he's finally in a position to craft, encourage Congress to enact and the Attorney General to enforce laws that would accomplish something he has always claimed to be a worthy goal?

Biden has voted to ban "armor piercing" ammunition, which, based on the velocity and energy criteria used to define such ammunition would include 95% of all hunting ammo currently in use. Should we also gamble that he will somehow have a change of heart now that he can impose those beliefs on us?

Granted, there are a number of Dems who are believe in 2nd Amendment rights, but again to task and/or entrust them with the sole responsibility of protecting our rights to own firearms is a little risky, it seems to me - if for no other reason that the likelihood of 2-3 Supreme Court resignations during Obama's term of office is extremely high, if not certain. Hillary and Chuck Schumer come to mind - does that mix sound like the same gun friendly court that handed down the Heller decision?

So, buying more guns and ammo might well be neither paranoia nor preparation, but rather a reasonable response to a perceived threat. Whether or not that perception morphs into reality remains to be seen, but I'm erring on the side of caution. If at the end of the day I've overreacted, then so be it - as long as I'm not screaming "fire" in the theater I don't see the downside.

JMHO

 

[Logan5]

Fair enough, but Obama and Biden aren't in office yet. Right at this moment, retailers are in a position to be pretty merciless to sellers and buyers, in the sense that if what you have are custom double guns or Weatherbys, and what you want are AR's and PS90's, you are going to get nailed coming and going.
I've seen $1000 price differentials on the same model Colt AR between shops in the same state. Nothing has happened to make a $1500 AR into a $2500 AR overnight. This suggests to me that customers are buying regardless. I'm not going to call that "panic", but it's not smart. It's buying and selling based on what is probably mostly emotionally colored speculation as to what might happen next with markets and legislation. Producers who are selling product like hotcakes are going to ramp up production, and may well flood the market, at which point we'll see an ugly black rifle crash. My plan is to sock money away for that point.

 

[CRITGIT]

So i shouldn't fear an Obama led nation that wants to limit my ability to own guns? The 2nd Amendment is what ensures all the others, when people want to refute it, i raise my head. I don't fear for things i do not understand, i fear for what i do understand, and that is Obama.
__________________

You just condemned a guy who hasn't as much as taken the oath yet.
This while you most likely supported a guy who has effectively destroyed just about everything he touched!
Anyone who claims they know what the Pres Elect will do and never were outraged by the misdeeds of the existing crew probably has little credibility.
Your weapons can be taken right now under GWB's Military Comm Act 2006 and probably under the Pat Act as well.... yet, no concern. Hmmm! Kinda leads one to think it's about party and not guns.
Besides have a little faith in your fellow Americans and the Constitution.
Too much hate can only shorten one's lifespan.

Good Shooting!

CRITGIT

 

[Elgin47]

Good points and probably a good plan, Logan5 - I'm not buying tacticool or "black" stuff (which I have absolutely nothing against, I'm just putting my money elsewhere for the moment) so I'm not seeing the price gouging that's undoubtedly taking place on that type of equipment.

On the other hand it's their money, it's none of my business, and who knows?