This Week in the Mercury
Friday, November 7, 2008
Politics "Obama is a Gun Snatcher"
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Fri, Nov 7, 2008 at 11:38 AM
While jobs are down and luxury clothing sales have crashed, the Obama election boosted another part of the economy: gun sales! Handgun and rifle sales have increased 30 percent over the last year, according to an alarming article in the New York Times today.
A lot of people are apparently stockpiling firearms believing that Obama's administration will push lefty gun laws nationwide:
Chris Casella, general manager of Federal Firearms Company in Oakdale, Pa., a suburb of Pittsburgh, said he had been fielding about 30 calls a day from people interested in buying assault-type rifles, especially semiautomatic weapons, often with magazines that could hold lots of ammunition."A lot of people are buying them as an investment," Mr. Casella said. "Better than gold."
I was holding my breath during Obama's big speech on Tuesday night, waiting for the horrible second when some sniper somewhere would let off a shot heard round the world. And now, great, gun rights nuts are assembling arsenals of semiautomatic weapons that can hold lots of ammunition? I'm imagining a WTO style riot ending with kids being cut down by skittish conservative citizens' bullets.
2
'I'm imagining a WTO style riot ending with kids being cut down by skittish conservative citizens' bullets.'
Like the skittish conservatives did during the actual WTO riots? Oh wait ...
Like the skittish conservatives did during the actual WTO riots? Oh wait ...
3
I noticed that they increased his Secret Service detail right after the election. Hopefully the Secret Service is smarter than idiots with guns.
4
Let's not lose focus - the story is about people buying guns because stricter regulations are feared.
5
"I noticed that they increased his Secret Service detail right after the election. "
uuummm, maybe because he'd gone from "could be president" to "gonna be president"? you think?
uuummm, maybe because he'd gone from "could be president" to "gonna be president"? you think?
6
Now we can look forward to more news stories about people (probably mostly kids) being accidentally shot.
7
Sarah,
I worried about the same thing watching his speech (that a shot would ring out at any moment). Scared the piss out of me.
Then I realized that that kind of reaction is the direct result of the last 8 years. The outgoing administration had the Fear thing down to an exact science, and I still feel twinges of it every now and then.
That's one of the intangible parts of Obama's victory that gets me all excited: the idea that our nation will be moving from the fear end of the spectrum to the hope side.
I worried about the same thing watching his speech (that a shot would ring out at any moment). Scared the piss out of me.
Then I realized that that kind of reaction is the direct result of the last 8 years. The outgoing administration had the Fear thing down to an exact science, and I still feel twinges of it every now and then.
That's one of the intangible parts of Obama's victory that gets me all excited: the idea that our nation will be moving from the fear end of the spectrum to the hope side.
8
Perhaps they're using the guns for decoration.
Let's imagine for a moment that the U.S. government decided to take away your rights to free speech and free press, rights which I assume you hold dear. What, at its core, is stopping them from doing that? How would you protest? Hold a sign up? Make a poster from print-outs of the Constitution?
Gun factories do not have a magic ingredient for gun-making. You can make a gun yourself in your basement with the right instructions, so even if the government made them illegal across the board, that's not going to stop criminals from being able to have an unlimited supply. Similarly, many regular civilians are much better shots than police officers, who rarely have cause to shoot their weapons and therefore aren't really very experienced at using them.
Your article is sensationalist. Did any of the people buying those guns say they were intending to kill people with them? No. If you feared the government was going to make it illegal to own raw almonds (which, incidentally, they did), you'd probably go out and buy a whole lot of raw almonds.
I don't need any justification at all to own 100 guns, no more than someone else would have to justify owning 100 pairs of shoes or 100 steak knives. Owning guns doesn't mean you're going to kill anyone - killing is wrong, and illegal, and every law-abiding person would agree with me on that. If you don't want your rights infringed, don't infringe upon mine.
Let's imagine for a moment that the U.S. government decided to take away your rights to free speech and free press, rights which I assume you hold dear. What, at its core, is stopping them from doing that? How would you protest? Hold a sign up? Make a poster from print-outs of the Constitution?
Gun factories do not have a magic ingredient for gun-making. You can make a gun yourself in your basement with the right instructions, so even if the government made them illegal across the board, that's not going to stop criminals from being able to have an unlimited supply. Similarly, many regular civilians are much better shots than police officers, who rarely have cause to shoot their weapons and therefore aren't really very experienced at using them.
Your article is sensationalist. Did any of the people buying those guns say they were intending to kill people with them? No. If you feared the government was going to make it illegal to own raw almonds (which, incidentally, they did), you'd probably go out and buy a whole lot of raw almonds.
I don't need any justification at all to own 100 guns, no more than someone else would have to justify owning 100 pairs of shoes or 100 steak knives. Owning guns doesn't mean you're going to kill anyone - killing is wrong, and illegal, and every law-abiding person would agree with me on that. If you don't want your rights infringed, don't infringe upon mine.
9
Having lived through the killings of John and Robert Kennedy and Marting Luther King, I find that Obama's election restored much of my hope for our country.
My biggest fear is that some nut will try to kill him. Well, actually, there have already been plots to kill him, but both were broken up before they got too far. The hardest thing to do is keep a conspiracy quiet.
My real fear is a lone gun-person with a 30.06 hunting rifle a la Lee Harvey Oswald. Doesn't say a word to any one, just does it. What a nightmare.
An assault weapon is useless in this type of operation. Not that accurate, relatively short range and not much stopping power. A 30.06, however. Very frightening.
My biggest fear is that some nut will try to kill him. Well, actually, there have already been plots to kill him, but both were broken up before they got too far. The hardest thing to do is keep a conspiracy quiet.
My real fear is a lone gun-person with a 30.06 hunting rifle a la Lee Harvey Oswald. Doesn't say a word to any one, just does it. What a nightmare.
An assault weapon is useless in this type of operation. Not that accurate, relatively short range and not much stopping power. A 30.06, however. Very frightening.
10
so, you're going to use your guns to protect your right to free speech, Marina Martin?
please tell me that's not what you're saying.
please tell me that's not what you're saying.
11
@ben The Second Amendment is the only one capable of protecting any of the others. If you read up on the history of the amendment, many of the Founding Fathers considered an armed populace to be key to keeping the state's powers in check. It's a defensive, not offensive, position - a state is far less likely to try anything with an armed populace than an unarmed one.
12
Jacomus, define assault weapon. That's right, you can't because it is as redundant as a jumbo shrimp.
And if f you mean a military type rifle like an AK or AR you are quite mistaken.
And if f you mean a military type rifle like an AK or AR you are quite mistaken.
14
"The Second Amendment is the only one capable of protecting any of the others. "
Really? A bunch of gun nuts are defending our rights through armed civilian uprising? This happened when?
Really? A bunch of gun nuts are defending our rights through armed civilian uprising? This happened when?
15
"Really? A bunch of gun nuts are defending our rights through armed civilian uprising? This happened when?"
The Whiskey Rebellion of the 1790s would be a good start...
The Whiskey Rebellion of the 1790s would be a good start...
16
How about a reference from the last century or two. I know rights issues come up every day. Do you overthrow the government or just put a bullet in the person you think is guilty?
I had always thought our rights were defended by our legal system. If you say that civilians with guns are the only way to enforce our laws then I'll go right out and get a gun.
I had always thought our rights were defended by our legal system. If you say that civilians with guns are the only way to enforce our laws then I'll go right out and get a gun.
17
Not enforcing laws, protecting our rights from the possibility of a tyrannical government.
A Japanese admiral remarked why they did not invade the US mainland in WWII: 'a rifle barrel behind every blade of grass.'
A Japanese admiral remarked why they did not invade the US mainland in WWII: 'a rifle barrel behind every blade of grass.'
19
I know quite a few people that aren't nuts, have arsenals of guns that hold lots of ammunition, and they don't intend to kill children. I have a Buddhist friend that is still drunk on the Obama win that owns more guns than most gun shops. For some people, it's just a hobby. For some it's a lifestyle.
I was talking to friend one night having a debate about this very topic and I jokingly said, I wish everyone would just use lightsabers or swords instead. They're so much cooler. And he quoted me this, and it shed a little light on the subject.
I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. (J.R.R.Tolkien, The Two Towers)
That kind of helped me put things in perspective from where he's coming from.
I was talking to friend one night having a debate about this very topic and I jokingly said, I wish everyone would just use lightsabers or swords instead. They're so much cooler. And he quoted me this, and it shed a little light on the subject.
I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. (J.R.R.Tolkien, The Two Towers)
That kind of helped me put things in perspective from where he's coming from.
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