Gun Sales at Record High: Sales Soar Over Fear of the Black President

Why have gun sales increased since Obama won reelection? Does the gun lobby fear that Obama will follow through on his 2008 campaign to reinstate the expired ban on the purchase of assault weapons? Do they believe Obama will support the UN treaty to regulate the global conventional arms trade? Or is it just a bunch of knee-jerk reactionaries who believe the black liberal president is coming for their guns and they are preparing to defend themselves, by force if necessary, against some fantasy assault on their Second Amendment rights.

WND reported “on Black Friday last week, a record-high 154,873 background check requests were made, a 20% increase over last year’s record of 129,166.” 

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune, the FBI reported that "1.6 million background checks were done through its National Instant Criminal Background Check System in October. That’s up from 1.3 million background checks in October of last year.”

Carrying permits and background checks are two leading indicators of future firearm sales and, according to the FBI and gun dealers, both numbers are way up.

On the day after the presidential election, stock prices for firearms makers Smith & Wesson Holding Corp and Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. rose 10.8% and 6.4% respectively, noted the Los Angeles Times. Sales of assault weapons like AK-47s and AR-15s have doubled since 2008, when Obama stated that he would reinstate the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. During the 2012 campaign, Obama said “weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don’t belong on our streets.” That is such an obvious statement that even strict constitutional originalist Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said, “there are some limitations that can be imposed.” Scalia also pointed out that weapons law existed at the time the Second Amendment was written and ratified by the Founding Fathers, indicating the constitutionality of gun control legislation.

National Rifle Association spokeswoman Jacqueline Otto explained to WND “...Obama wants to make guns and ammunition more expensive through increased taxes and regulation, and at worst he wants to make them totally illegal.”

The gun lobby need not fear the black liberal president. Any attempt by Obama to introduce gun control legislation will more than likely not pass in the House, so why the surge in assault weapon and handgun purchases? Some gun rights lobbyists point to the UN small arms treaty proposal. The treaty, which seeks to regulate the multi-billion dollar global conventional arms trade, would have no bearing on domestic sales. Reuters explained that the “treaty under discussion would have no effect on domestic gun sales and ownership because it would apply only to exports.” Therefore, there should be no reason to stockpile weapons in fear of UN peacekeeping troops forcibly disarming the U.S. citizenry. Yet people are purchasing guns and stockpiling weapons at an alarming rate. Hilton Head resident Loren Power is a typical gun owner over-reacting to Obama’s reelection. Power told the Island Packet that “he fears Obama will make it more difficult to own an AR-15.” Power said his friend “bought three [AR-15s] and 5,000 rounds of ammunition ...one is for him, and the others are to sell on the black market when Obama bans them.”

Some gun merchants believe it is the economy that is driving up gun sales. Palmetto State Armory manager Bill Turcotte told the Island Packet that his sales were up “30% since the election. Many of the purchases are handguns for home protection. People fear, with the economy still in a rut, that robberies, burglaries and home break-ins will continue to rise.” Debbie Schultz, the owner of Schultz’s Sportsmen’s Stop told the Pittsburgh Tribune her customers are nervous and worried "about the direction of the countryand want to be able to protect themselves if something would happen.”

Under this scenario the “makers” must be living in fear of the legion of Obama “takers.” I guess they believe that the slow pace of the so-called massive government redistribution of their wealth will prompt the black liberal president’s legion of “takers” to take matters into their own hands and expedite the transfer.

People are in such fear of the black liberal president that Obama has literally become the poster child for gun sales. Larry Pratt, executive director of the firearms lobbying group Gun Owners of America, told WND “Nobody is taking down the picture of the president from their gun-store walls, the one with the caption ‘Salesman of the Year’.... It’s the one government stimulus that has worked.”

The increase in gun sales is not the only indication of the fear of a black liberal president. Hundreds of thousands of signatures have been gathered on secession petitions posted on the white house web site, with the highest amount of signatures coming from the former confederate states. Now I’m not suggesting that the increase in gun sales, the fear of decay in society and civility caused by the economy, and the number of Americans wishing to secede all have to do with the fear of a black liberal president, but it does seem to be quite coincidental.

The Fort-Worth Telegram stated that industry analyst Benchmark Co. reviewed the rise in the stock price of the gun manufacturers and advised its clients that "firearm sales have grown about 10% each year since Obama was first elected," and expects them to continue well into his second term."