Why is the Obama scare so much worse?

[rcmodel]

I've lived through, and seen firsthand:

The cold war survivalist movement panic. (People buying guns & building bomb shelters in the back yard)

The JFK, Bobby, and MLK assassinations panic. (Dem push for gun ban.)

The 1968 Gun Control Act panic. (Banning mail order gun sales among other things)

Reagen & Brady assassination attempt gun ban push. (Sarah Brady's anti-gun campaign)

Bill Clinton's two terms. (as the anti-gun poster boy)

The 91 Primer shelf-life panic. (Primer hording rampant)

The 94 The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act panic. (Hi-cap mags and Evil feature Assault rifle ban)

But none of those even came close to the panic buying and scarcity of ammo, guns, reloading equipment, and components going on right now.

The only thing I can see much different now is the way me get our information.

Prior to the Internet use of today, rumors couldn't be spread worldwide in seconds. And repeated forever ever after.

Can we blame the Internet for this latest craziness & panic buying?
Or Obama?

What do you think?

rc

 

[Husker_Fan]

Maybe because we are competing with a government purchasing ammo for two wars.

 

[rcmodel]

I think we might have actually been shooting a lot more ammo in Vietnam, and that didn't even make a dent in the commercial ammo supply.

rc

 

[BhmBill]

Was there a massive ammo shortage during WWII? even with the rationing?

He wants to disarm everyone who isn't wealthy, his friend, or a criminal. I don't think the objective of the previous bans was to completely disarm the populace like Obamas & Friends bans are aimed towards.

 

[Tommygunn]

I know this is primarily a gun forum, and in that regard I AM scared of another AWB. I think it would be worse than the 94 ban because it will include more firearms.
In 94 the ban defined the affected weapons as having three or more of certain features, and they could remove a feature or two and still sell the gun.
That won't happen again.
It will be a stepping stone for more antigun laws.
They registered machineguns in 1934, then a Gun Control Act in 1938 and again in '68, and 20,000 other gun laws on various levels ....

I am also somewhat concerned that a future ban might not grandfather guns already in possession. This has already happened in California & New York City, and I see no reason why it can't happen on a federal level.

ON another level I fear Obama because he is very left-wing and is spending like no one's business, and this will indenture future generations with a HUGE debt. He is basically IMHO a Chicago Machine political thug who does not have the experience to be president.

And for those who will claim that Bush started this spending; yes, you're right, he did. But you don't justify one person's bad behaviour by pointing out others' bad behaviour. Bush is out of office, he's history, gone, kaput, fini' Hasta la vista and sayonara.
One all levels, whatever the issue ... I fear Obamarx.

 

[SquirrelNuts]

I think it is the sum of those fears in addition to the idea that anything made law in the future will not have a sunset.

I am renting a bobcat this weekend to bury the school bus in the back yard.

 

[LibShooter]

Let's be honest, has the government DONE even one thing that suggests a gun or ammo ban is coming? Not that I've heard.

I have heard the DOD recently let a huge small arms ammo contact that caught the primer makers flat-footed. I don't know if its true, but I read here.

 

[rcmodel]

don't think the objective of the previous bans was to completely disarm the populace like Obamas & Friends bans

President LBJ, Sen Tomas Dodd, Ted Kennedy, and a lot of their former congressional henchmen were way more voracious toward a total gun ban then, then anything we are seeing now.

But the only people who knew it at the time were NRA members, reading about it in the American Rifleman.

So there was no widespread panic buying.

I just wish we could get 1/10 of 1 percent of the panic buyers now to join the NRA and help the fight to keep our guns.

rc

 

[Tommygunn]

Let's be honest, has the government DONE even one thing that suggests a gun or ammo ban is coming? Not that I've heard.

Does AG Holder suggesting the AWB be renewed count?
Does McCarthy reintroducing the AWB next week count?

I mean, some people say that Obama has too much on his plate to worry about passing an AWB now. Maybe they're right.
But what does "has the government DONE even one thing that suggests a gun or ammo ban is coming" mean?
Do the things I brought up count ... or do you have some other criteria?

 

[bunnielab]

Before computers dumb people could only talk to people who were willing to put up with them face to face.

The internet lets the dumb have access to a wider audience.

If abortion rights survived 8 years of GOP dominance then I am supremely confident that gun rights will be fine for the next 8. Barring any "true patriots" doing something dumb and turning public sentiment against gun owners as a whole.

EDIT: Also, think of all the "classic" anti-gun politicians, most of them are pretty long in the tooth. I dont see a lot of young Dems taking up the cause.

 

[SquirrelNuts]

rc,

You are probably on to something with the fact that people are much more informed these days. It is like murders and rapes and such on the news. They have always happened throughout history, we are just much more aware of it now. We also tend to misplace blame. Instead of blaming the perp in a crime, the blame is put elsewhere now.

 

[ants]

Mass Communication

Before computers dumb people could only talk to people who were willing to put up with them face to face.
The internet lets the dumb have access to a wider audience.

Extraordinary observation, bunnielab.

All those events the OP listed up to 1994, we only had magazines and word of mouth.

 

[SaMx]

Does McCarthy reintroducing the AWB next week count?

to be fair she introduces the same bill every year, and it never even gets out of committee.

 

[Gryffydd]

Before computers dumb people could only talk to people who were willing to put up with them face to face.

HAHAHA I like that enough to make it my sig line for a while.

I think it's a number of things coming together at once. There's the global recession, an extremely left-wing president with a majority in both houses, there's the Internet allowing faster and broader communication (as well as ordering of supplies), then there's the war(s). Another thing that is related but adds another layer is the number new gun owners. Bush scared a lot of moderates and liberals into remembering what the 2nd Amendment is actually about, and things like Katrina have reminded people why they might need to protect themselves. Many people have decided they'd better get a gun while they still can, due to any combination of the above.
We've had 1 or 2 or maybe even 3 of the above at the same time before, it's just all coming to a head and the same time this time.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

All those events the OP listed up to 1994, we only had magazines and word of mouth.

And gun show sellers I heard polymer is about to be illegal on rifles, better stock up!

That many people freaking out at your fingertips probably leads to a greater sense of urgency. Although I do remember the prices of AKs and ARs going ballistic (moreso than this time) when the 94 ban went into effect. Would probably be worse with a new AWB and no sunset, if we let them pass such rubbish.

 

[LibShooter]

If abortion rights survived 8 years of GOP dominance then I am supremely confident that gun rights will be fine for the next

Amen Bunnielab. The Republicans had pictures of cute babies on their side and couldn't overturn a supreme court decision based on the wishy-washy principle of "The Right to Privacy."

Heller is a grounded in the simple English of the Second Amendment. I read it for the first time this weekend. It's clear, no class of gun in common usage today can be banned. Laws rendering guns unusable are also not allowed.

Will they try? Probably. Will they succeed? I don't think so.

 

[mm1ut1]

"Just in time" inventory proceedures.

 

[Ned Kelly]

Homeland security has priority contract with ammo companies. It's been continually expanding as well as many other law enforcement agencies.

Some of these agencies are requiring their agents to fire thousands of rounds a month for training.

Military has their own dedicated mil spec ammo producers. Like Lake City.

The government may be buying up a lot of ammunition so it will have a surplus as well in case a situation erupts where a police state must be declared.

Some of the expected hoard buying from the election added to enormous consumption and stockpiling by government agencies caused some shortages. When these shortages were observed by people who otherwise did not know of anything that could be going wrong they in turn panicked. Then a domino effect took place.

 

[Kwanger]

I think its probably a combination of concern about banning type legislation because of the Democrats being in office (rightly or wrongly) and the fact that we are in very uncertain economic times and the fear of what may happen.

I'd agree that todays communication methods fan the flames.

 

[rcmodel]

Got to wonder too if the market crash / recession / depression / bank credit crunch hasn't caused some manufactures & wholesalers & dealers a cash flow problem.

Running a business inventory on borrowed money is hard to do when you can't borrow money.

rc

 

[jeff-10]

There are 2 different panics going on at once, new and unknown gun Federal gun control laws panic and a the Great Depression II/socio-economic collapse panic. They then feed off each other creating more of a panic. To top it all off you get people buying ammo at retail prices and reselling it at gun shows and isntantly making a 50% profit. It will all calm down soon. Either suppliers will import more ammo from foreign manufacturers or producers increase capacity. Also, eventually everyone will be so stocked up they won't care about it anymore.

 

[DAdams]

My Tag Line

By Dunderhead Joe.

He doesn't have anything to do. Put Joe on it.

 

[alde]

One of the Range Safety Officers at my club is a member of the US Navy Pistol Team. He said they have all the ammo they want and then some. He said the Govt is buying very large quantities.

 

[Hawk]

I'm old enough to remember that other stuff and the current affair does seem to have far greater panic with far less cause.

Note I did not say no cause, so don't start the lectures on vigilance.

RC is right: the crap being introduced back when included full boat handgun bans and all sorts of spiffy stuff not on the table now. GCA '68 included some onerous stuff concerning ammo purchases before rolled back by FOPA '86 - 'course nobody remembers anything other than Hughes anymore.

In fact, if GCA '68 hadn't been mildly diluted by FOPA we wouldn't have the ammo panic buying - because you couldn't buy big bunches from another state. The chicken littles would be reduced to clearing out their local Wally Worlds and the rest of us would just drive a little further - and produce ID and sign for any handgun ammo.

So now we get gun store counter dudes counseling about buying black rifles and wide-body autoloaders while we still can and in 1970 their fathers were telling us we better buy any handgun now 'cause they'd be outlawed in the next several years - I think a lot of us, if shown the growth of "shall issue" back then, would have stroked out.

And people tend to shoot more nowadays.

Back when Carter was selling a SNS ban, there was no internet and no Gunbroker, hence no incentive to buy up multiple cases to flip for a profit.

Gun owners have historically always been suckers for hyperbole and doomsday predictions with a distinct preference for hoarding over political activism.

I just wish we could get 1/10 of 1 percent of the panic buyers now to join the NRA and help the fight to keep our guns.

Exactly.
If 30% of the amount spent on stripped lowers, magazines and ammo was dumped into NRA-ILA and SAF there'd be no worries over any legislation. The gov't would be more worried of us than AARP fer cryin' out loud.

 

[Walkalong]

All of the above.

Information is spread in seconds instead of days and months. The buying of guns and ammo is unprecedented and the shortages are almost surreal.

This pres is the worst yet. He has no qualms about enslaving the populace. He is not American. He does not hold our freedom dear. He has surrounded himself with people who want to disarm us because they think they need to run our lives. He is a spoiled little rich boy has never done anything on his own, and who can't fix anything he can't write a check for.

People recognize that.