How many liberals make up the current gun-purchasing surge?

[SteveM]

Most folks assume that the current boom in firearms/ammunition sales is caused by right-wingers afraid of Obama and anti-gun politicians, and speculators. Has anyone profiled the buyer during this time? Is he/she the "usual suspect," or does the buyer represent a growing constituency of liberal or at least non-conservative gun-owners? If the latter, will this increase the percentage of Americans owning guns?

[MineralMan]

1. Pretty hard to profile the buyers.

You're not asked for your political party when you purchase a firearm or ammo.

[proteus_lives]

30. Thank goodness for that.

[benEzra]

2. Word on the gun boards in November and December

was that there were a LOT of Obama stickers on cars in the gun store parking lots. I think it was people all across the political spectrum hedging against the possibility of a new AWB. A fair number were first time buyers, but a lot were people who already owned other guns but wanted to get something modern-looking just in case they couldn't later.

[TheWraith]

14. Not to mention some people might well have been worried about the reaction to an Obama victory

By the far right. Particularly black people, who'd be at the highest risk of being targeted. Granted, as yet nothing organized has happened, but we are seeing right-wingers going nuts. Speaking for myself, I bought a rifle earlier this year for similar reasons. I'm a fairly prominent member of the party in an extremely right-wing part of New York State.

[baldguy]

3. How many liberals are idiot enough to be taken in by the "Obama is gonna take your guns!" lie?

[safeinOhio]

4. Massive police lay offs and right wing crazies along with

the economy makes gun buyers across the spectrum increase purchases.

[SteveM]

5. Is that the only explanation for liberals buying guns? (nt)

[baldguy]

7. See #2

[SteveM]

8. My question stands.

[baldguy]

11. Well, you must be quite proud of it then.

Pretty soon it'll be walking & talking. Maybe even potty trained.

[SteveM]

13. The question is open to anyone to answer...

Of course, you would rather engage in the usual hackneyed insults. Try trolling elsewhere.

[rl6214]

33. What a dick

He asked a simple question of you and you can't take the time to answer?

[iverglas]

34. oh no!

It's the mandatory gun-grabber penis insult!

Oh, wait ...

[Deadric Damodred]

9. Banning sales and manufacture IS taking guns.

Just because you let (I use that term loosely, it's not like you have a choice in the matter; once people have already bought them there's nothing you can do about it) keep what they have already purchased, but you ban the future sales & manufacture of certain guns, you are in fact "taking" those guns, because future generations are now being denied the choice to purchase the banned firearms. It seems that the antis really like playing word games, trying to pretend that banning something but grandfathering in what's out there, is somehow not taking. It is taking; plain and simple.

[aikoaiko]

10. Do you think Obama was lying when he wrote that he supported reauthorizing the AWB?

Are are you simply being disingenuous?

[benEzra]

17. Haven't you been all over this forum arguing for the very bans people are hedging against?

Obama has indeed distanced himself from the "assault weapon" fraud since taking office, as a lot of us hoped he would, but it was not certain in November (or even January) that the DLC'ers wouldn't pull another 1994.

[Deadric Damodred]

23. That's how they all do it.

They scream for congress to pass another "assualt weapon ban" while in the same breath labeling people who buy thoses guns before a ban happens as "paranoid". That's because of two reasons: 1) because they know they can't do anything about the assault weapons people already have purchased, so they hope they can get some people to stop buying them by calling them "paranoid" and 2) because they have rationalized it in their minds that as long as they grandfather in all existing weapons, and only ban future sales, that that is somehow not "taking guns away".

[friendly_iconoclast]

39. The ones who read his previous public utterances?

[friendly_iconoclast]

40. My previous post was incorrect. The answer is: none

All those people are NRA/GOP agents, sent to infiltrate the Democratic Party.
To make the plot even more diabolically clever, some of them even *voted* for Obama, in order to
perfect their cover.

That's not paranoia, that's 'common sense'. Or is it 'reasonable'?

[Tim01]

42. Obama said he wants to ban guns.

[rrneck]

6. How many liberals are worried they may have to

shoot back at some right wing nutjob?

[X_Digger]

12. All of the new owners in my circle of acquaintances..

.. are liberal / Dem / Independent. Some are purchasing because of the crime rate here in Dallas, others are hedging their bets against a new AWB. One guy is supplementing his portfolio, figures it's better than stuffing money in his mattress. (He's 50-ish, and just watched his 401k tank.)

[SteveM]

15. Last year, a Caldwell County range owner said...

he saw an increase in folks buying guns and using his range, but Obama's impending election was not a major factor. He also saw crime increase as a cause of the spike.

[damntexdem]

16. Where does one fill in "political preference" on the form to buy a firearm?

Or to attend a gun show?

[X_Digger]

18. No, but if someone wanted to know..

.. a survey could be crafted, or poll the customers at a gun shop or gun show.

[Xela]

19. Indicator?

We found this interesting note earlier in the year:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=118&topic_id=217029&mesg_id=217029

Xela

[cslinger59]

20. As always one person's anecdotal evidence is just that but.....

here is what I have seen personally.

I am friends with folks from all sides of the political spectrum, with gun owners and with folks who wouldn't know which end the bullet came out of (being facetious but you get the point).

I have had a great deal of friends and acquaintances who are not current gun owners ask me for training/buying advice etc. Most of them are likely democratic voters in general.

Also as has been said I have seen a great deal more cars at the range with various Obama bumper stickers.

Based on what I have seen I would say folks are just kinda tired of being told what they can and cannot do by the government and I think the previous Bush administration (Patriot act etc.) is as much or more so to blame then the Obama administration calls for an AWB.

I do think there are a great deal of new gun owners out there and that may or may not change their voting ideology because of it.

I also think the MASSIVE purchase of guns and ammunition, especially in a time of economic problems, sent a pretty loud and clear message to the powers that be that they may not be worth screwing with, as they are likely a larger voting block then first thought.

[Statistical]

21. +1 Ban doesn't need to mean complete ban to cause increased buying

Based on what I have seen I would say folks are just kinda tired of being told what they can and cannot do by the government and I think the previous Bush administration (Patriot act etc.) is as much or more so to blame then the Obama administration calls for an AWB.

People are tired of Bush years where govt is right and you are wrong.

Obama supporting AWB didn't help.

Coming off Bush years + Dem Pres + Dem party plank has AWB + early statements by Obama admin official supporting AWB = a perfect storm.

When people say "ban guns" most people don't think Obama is going to ban all guns in all forms and all places and use military to go door to door in violaiton of the 4th to forcibly seize firearms.

Or at least only 0.0001% believe that.

Most people especially in Nov-Jan time frame saw it as a distinct possibility that some bans on future sales would happen. AWB + magazine caps would be possible. Given that prices rose 500% on standard capacity pistol magazines during the AWB it simply made sense to get it now.

Lots of people thinking of getting a gun for a variety of reasons got a push to go ahead and get it.

[cslinger59]

22. Another thing I am seeing

Is these folks who want to buy one gun because of whatever reason (Crime, bans, just cuz, etc.) are finding that it is actually pretty fun and a good number of them are buying another most often a .22LR of some kind.

I envision a great deal of folks who might have bought because of a perceived need/threat/fear will find themselves enjoying a new hobby and becoming "real" gun owners. Not throw a revolver in the drawer and forget about it folks.

I think this is GREAT and welcome all the new shooters and will do my part to make them responsible shooters...........I do, however, wish they would stop buying all MY ammo. :D

[Xela]

24. "I do, however, wish they would stop buying all MY ammo."

LOL. Love it.

I just about crapped my pants when I saw some .45 ACP about to hit 40.00-60.00 a box (25 round/50 round).

My wife and I used to go to the range about once a month. Now it's not even that.

Xela

[X_Digger]

25. Xela, I know you're near DFW, right?

Wal-mart in lewisville is your friend.. $13.47 / 50 box of blazer brass FMJ. They're getting it on a regular basis, and it stays for days now (instead of minutes.)

[Xela]

32. Sweeeet!!!

Thanks for the tip X_Digger.

Blazer is a little dirty for my tastes, but I don't really care at this point. That sounds like a great deal.

Xela

[DonP]

26. .45 LC is already at $49.95 a box!

That was motivating!

I dusted off the reloading bench a couple of months ago.

.30 carbine and a lot of handgun calibers, like .380 and .32ACP/Browning are impossible to get as well.

It seems that .223 and .308 are starting to find their way back on the shelves and into the online stores.

Most places have unprimed brass on backorder.

[DonP]

27. Trick question !!!!

We all know that no "real" liberal would ever own a gun or stock up on ammunition.

So the correct answer, according to the "Liberal Police" down here in the Gungeon, is none!

They are all a bunch of NRA Reich wingers using the official NRA talking Points in every post.

[Euromutt]

28. I can only speak for myself

And I do consider myself a liberal. I wrote in Richardson, but only after I was fairly certain Obama was going to take this state.

Now, as it happens, I've been responsible for four of those NICS background checks that have taken place since November. However, not one of those checks has involved a firearm that was at risk of being banned anytime soon: a 1911, a pump-action shotgun, and two .22-cal "youth model" rifles.

That said, I did buy an AR, last July, though frankly, that was less because of Obama specifically and more because HR1022 was being bruited and I did figure that the Democrats were going to do well in Congress in November. And if HR1022 did make it through Congress, even if McCain had won, I didn't exactly trust him not to sign it.

[Deadric Damodred]

29. Can that pump-action shotgun hold more than 5 shells?

Because if it can, Carolyn McCarthy considers it an "assault weapon" under H.R. 1022.

[Euromutt]

31. Not originally, but it does now

It's a Benelli Supernova; apparently, the ATF thinks that it serves no sporting purpose if it's equipped with an Italian-made magazine extension, but if I stick one on that was made in Minnesota (which I have), everything's hunky-dory. That whole "sporting purpose" rule is such horseshit. Besides, without an extended magazine tube, where the Sam Hill am I going to mount the flashlight?

So that makes it an "assault weapon" as far as CMcC is concerned, eh? Fancy that. I should be surprised, but really I'm not.

[Statistical]

37. You "assaultified" that weapon. How evil of you. n/t

Kinda strange that a shotgun with 5 shells can't be used in an assault but one with 6 magically can.

That is why they call them "assault weapons" right? They are more like to go around assaulting people.

[Euromutt]

41. What if I replace the magazine plug?

I still have it in a Ziploc bag with the original magazine spring and cap. Frak knows why the plug even came with the gun; it's not like you're going to be doing any hunting with a shotgun with a smoothbore 18.5" barrel and ghost ring sights. Oh, right: "sporting purpose."

Alternatively, I could promise to only load it with 3.5" shells; that'll limit the ammo capacity. I just need to get the bones in my shoulder replaced with titanium prosthetics.

"Assault weapons," yeah, right. Any item used to assault another person is an "assault weapon" by definition, from a hatpin through a ball-peen hammer to a parlor grand dropped from the 14th floor. Admittedly, I'd like to say I got the SuperNova purely as an HD gun, but the fact is, I picked the SuperNova because it has a reputation for accuracy with rifled slugs, and I wanted the option of engaging targets past 50 meters without having to run and get the AR (especially since my wife will probably be using it).

[burrfoot]

35. Also, just

speaking for myself; I did in fact buy an AR-15 just after Jan 1st - so I guess it makes me part of the "surge" in sales. Although I'd been part of the gun world for a while with a few shotty's, a 10-22; a .22 pistol and a Glock 17 (ah, my first purchase ever); I thought that there was a decent chance a ban would come back in some form. I managed to get my hands on 2 stripped lowers, one of which I've build up into a full working rifle and one which is on "pause" as a complete lower, waiting until I have the $$ for another nice upper (and until I make up my mind what it should be).

Although it looks, now, like there won't be a ban; I still think that it was the right decision for me. It wasn't paranoia or anger, it was more like "huh. I haven't built up an interest in that gun yet but I know that I will...so I might as well pick one up while I can."

And it took about 6 months to get all the parts together. I was pissed off at the very buying spree that I was trying as hard as I could to be a part of :)

FD: I didn't build the uppers myself, just the complete lowers. I'm still learning about the gun and didn't want to mess with things like head space that might make it go kaboom in my hands.

So, this liberal did have a hand in the massive de-stocking of the shelves and yes; it was because I thought there may be a ban on the guns.

[slackmaster]

36. The only firearm I've bought in the last two years is a muzzle-loading flintlock

You should always plan ahead. Remember that for future reference.

[Euromutt]

38. Don't underestimate those

I've read an opinion from one woman in Portland, OR that if you're looking for a real "EOTWAWKI" firearm, you're better off having a muzzle-loading flintlock, because you'll be able to keep it operational indefinitely with materials you can find/make with minimal technology, not just until you run out of brass and primers for your 7.62x39mm reloads.

Now, I don't consider that overly likely so a flintlock's not high on my list of priorities, though as a Sharpe fan, I wouldn't mind having a replica Baker rifle.

[Tim01]

43. Lots of new liberal gun owners,

Or previous gun owners who are getting back into it. They saw the last AWB, and they heard Obama promise a new AWB. So they are trying to get in before it is too late, just in case.

[jeepnstein]

44. I'd say it's pretty even.

Lots of folks are stocking up right now, for a variety of good and not so good reasons.

I bought my most recent AR15 early last year.

I had been summoned to a meeting of elected officials, power brokers, heavy donors, and activists in the Ohio Democrat Party. The subject of discussion was the financial reports recently filed by the Presidential candidates. I spent about an hour going over them and declared Obama our eventual winner. This was not a popular notion at the time but the numbers don't lie. My recommendation was to prepare for a change in the political landscape and to position everyone accordingly. Some listened, some didn't.

On my way home from the meeting I stopped by my local shop and bought an AR15. President Bush would have signed an AWB if Congress would have sent him one. There was no reason for me to believe that a President Obama would be any less willing to do so. Hey, at least I beat the price increase. I think mine ran about $725 or so with my LEO discount.