COMMENTARY: Four Reasons Why Gun Sales Are Up
NOTE: Below are Deputy Sheriff and Police Academy Commander Scott Wagner’s thoughts on why some police officers are afraid of what the future may hold. This is circulating around the web with the title “Note from a Cop” but the actual title is as above, and it was written for Tactical-life.com
Below is an excerpt, but please go to Tactical-life.com to read the whole thing and the comments there. – OK
What is odd about this new fear is that it is not coming from the average citizen gun owner out there, but it is coming from what to me is an almost shocking source: street cops. Street cops and SWAT cops that I know from various agencies – rural, suburban and metro – in my area are scared.
COMMENTARY: Four Reasons Why Gun Sales Are Up
Written by Scott Wagner
The fear on the street is palpable. Ever since the election of Barack Obama as President of these United States in November 2008, coupled with the election of a democrat party majority in both the U.S. House and Senate, concern for the United States and personal safety has ignited like a fire in dry grass. Sales of guns – black guns, rifles, shotguns and handguns (particularly 9mm) everywhere, have gone through the roof. AR15s have literally flown off of dealer shelves, and only now in the spring of 2009, have I seen the display samples of ARs begin to reappear on the wall of my favorite shooting emporium after the initial post election rush.
Manufacturers of ARs are still working to catch up and some of the major suppliers are as much as 150,000 guns behind. Not only that, ammo is in the shortest supply I have ever seen in the 43 years of my shooting life. Have you recently tried to get 5.56mm, 9mm or even .380 ammo? Supplies of 5.56mm and 9mm ammo are in short supply due to the black gun buying craze; .380ACP because of the rise in people getting concealed carry permits and the resurgence of interest in convenient.380 handguns like the fine Ruger LCP. In fact, in doing a review of the Ruger LCP, my gun store only had a small supply of ONE .380 round on hand, the Winchesters 95-grain SXT, which they had just gotten in.
Unfortunately, I had to do a 30-round review of that pistol. There was none other to be found. The 5.56mm was the first caliber to noticeably be in short supply. This was first due to the war effort, the headlong adoption of 5.56mm rifles by law enforcement agencies ever since the great LAPD bank robbery and shootout, the general shooting public interest in and acceptance of the AR15 weapons system along with a realization that yes, the AR does have sporting purpose, and of course now, this new fear that is on the street. Sales of ARs also went up following 9/11.
What is odd about this new fear is that it is not coming from the average citizen gun owner out there, but it is coming from what to me is an almost shocking source: street cops. Street cops and SWAT cops that I know from various agencies – rural, suburban and metro – in my area are scared. Cops that before November 2008 never gave much thought (that I knew of anyway) to politics or more importantly to gun rights. For the most part, these are the guys that didn’t generally have any interest in shooting or gun ownership beyond keeping track of where their duty gun is, and a few of them didn’t even do that so well.
The guys I am talking about are some of the same guys who used to not even carry off duty on a regular basis- but not anymore. They don’t scare easily, defenders of the Constitution of this State and the United States (as our oath of office reads), have been buying ARs, survival gear, and all the ammo they can lay their hands on. All of them (or I should say “us”) have been discussing and have been acquiring guns to provide a layered perimeter defense.
We want something in .308 (or in my case a superb M1 Garand in .30-06) for covering the outer perimeters, 5.56mm weapons for mid-range use (for some with more limited funds, the AK-47 and 7.62×39 cartridge will suffice), and for the close up stuff shotguns and handguns (love my Benelli M4 Tactical and Beretta 92 9mm).
What are we suddenly so afraid of? Well in our discussions it seems to boil down to four areas. First, fear of federal government intrusion into our lives. Every time I look at or listen to the news, there is something new and intrusive coming out of the Obama administration and this Congress. New tax schemes, government-run Canadian-style healthcare, a volunteer citizen defense force (whatever that is, what happened to the National Guard?) equipped with funding similar to our military, forced voluntary “service” after retirement, a lack of a southern border with hordes of illegal and criminal aliens pouring over our border, the swine flu scare as well as government forced closing of thousands of privately held Chrysler and GM dealerships, which will be the final nail in the coffin for these companies and the list goes on and on.
But these items in the news are just the tip of the iceberg. We can’t see the full impact of these actions yet, but we don’t know what was added into the thousand of pages of stimulus package bills in the dead of night yet. I predict however that when the plans contained in the stimulus packages go into effect, a lot of us are going to be surprised if not shocked by what has suddenly and sweepingly changed.
What also scares us is the second, well-founded fear that there is an assault weapons ban looming, one that would make the Clinton Ban appear like a look of disdain in comparison. I remember well the 1990s and the Clinton years: the rise of militia groups, the “black helicopter” rumors and paranoia, all of which was motivated by the Brady Law and the Assault Weapon’s ban. What if a new ban comes requiring registration or confiscation and turn-in of banned weapons as what happened in Australia?
I watched cops and citizens alike purchase these guns at $900 dollars and more, with custom or tricked out guns easily running into the $2,000 range. Then add on all the accessories, red dots, lights, slings and anything else you can name and you may have up to $3,000 wrapped up in your rig. I saw the looks in their eyes. These purchasers weren’t spending this kind of money just to turn in the guns for no compensation when a government tells them to. I foresee much civil disobedience coming down the road.
Americans are citizens, and not subjects like the British, Canadians or Australians. They just don’t always obey the law blindly and not one officer or citizen that I spoke to said anything like “I hope I get to keep this gun for awhile before they are banned; They are fun to shoot, so I would hate to give it up.” It isn’t going to happen, so the cop on the street and the soldier on the base needs to think now what he will do if the orders come down. I think you all get what I am saying here.
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July 4th, 2009 at 12:32 am
Every Nation thats Goverment has enacted a Mass Gun Control Act thru-out History Bar None has with-in 50 Years enacted a Mass Genocide against a Portion of Its Populace!
Don’t Take my word for it! Go research,think and form your own oppions.
Unless we as Americans start standing Up for our Constitution as it was written and Demand our Elected Officals do the same, our future is a grim one!
July 7th, 2009 at 11:34 am
The problem is that the constitution was written by and for people who first of all loved the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus Christ. Some even stated that the constitution was for a moral godly people. The police and military and veterans must be born again. I am veteran and an oath keeper. However before being born again all I cared about was a pay check and would have killed anyone if given the order. Praise God for the gospel if the politicians, police and civilians alike would meet Jesus Christ then we could solve this problem peacefully. However I say lock and load if they try and take our guns!!!
July 28th, 2009 at 10:18 am
[...] Because the Americans fear what is to come from this government- guns sales are up since beginning of the year- and especially the street cops are buying assault rifles before they are banned- and they dont intend to use them against the American people either- http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2009/06/24/commentary-four-reasons-why-gun-sales-are-up/ [...]
July 28th, 2009 at 11:22 am
[...] Because the Americans fear what is to come from this government- guns sales are up since beginning of the year- and especially the street cops are buying assault rifles before they are banned- and they dont intend to use them against the American people either- http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2009/06/24/commentary-four-reasons-why-gun-sales-are-up/ [...]
July 28th, 2009 at 11:47 am
[...] Because the Americans fear what is to come from this government- guns sales are up since beginning of the year- and especially the street cops are buying assault rifles before they are banned- and they dont intend to use them against the American people either- http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2009/06/24/commentary-four-reasons-why-gun-sales-are-up/ [...]
July 29th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
[...] Because the Americans fear what is to come from this government- guns sales are up since beginning of the year- and especially the street cops are buying assault rifles before they are banned- and they dont intend to use them against the American people either- http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2009/06/24/commentary-four-reasons-why-gun-sales-are-up/ [...]
July 30th, 2009 at 6:59 am
We regular citizens are very grateful for the fact that some of our police and military are on board for the Constitution and this country. The politicians are the ones that should be getting prepared. We also needto be aware that foreign countries are watching us, and will be happy to take advantage of the divisions within our ranks.
August 2nd, 2009 at 1:22 pm
[...] Because the Americans fear what is to come from this government- guns sales are up since beginning of the year- and especially the street cops are buying assault rifles before they are banned- and they dont intend to use them against the American people either- http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2009/06/24/commentary-four-reasons-why-gun-sales-are-up/ [...]
August 17th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
it is very hard to stand alone. if they decide to take the guns from the people it will be one at a time and their are more police and military that will obey their orders to strip the people of their guns then their are oath keepers. a strong organized militia is needed to respond to patriots that will be besieged by police or military rounding up arms from the people. look at Wako, well armed people pinned in their complex, they didn’t have a chance. how many will watch gov. control TV news? reporting extremist hold up in a home and all the time it be a patriot defending his rights and family against the gov.. all my life i have worked hard, paid my tax’s raised my kids and tried to do the right things. but if they came for my guns and i choose to make a stand, the gov. controlled news reports would show me as a nut, a extremist and people would go on with their life after it was all over. who would come to a nuts cry of injustice?
you have to belong to a militia have to be with people that know you and what you stand for. it be much different if they came for your guns and the whole town came out to stand with you,doctors,bankers store clerks ext. and every minute more people showed up armed to make whatever agency is their to take your guns back off. that’s what is needed to protect your rights.( 1 twig is easily broken but a dozen becomes quit hard to brake). i am an oath keeper and a patriot.
August 23rd, 2009 at 1:15 pm
I had to answer this: “the constitution was written by and for people who first of all loved the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus Christ.”
Preacher, read your history, read the writings of the Founders. Yes, Jefferson and a couple of others said it was for a moral people, and some mentioned God. Then, as now. there were some who wanted to legislate the Bible into secular law – and it was voted down by a large majority! Saying “godly” means Christian to you because you are Christian. I am NOT, and I resent and challenge your statement that people must be Christians in order to be moral or ethical! The people who are causing all of this evil and destruction also claim to be Christians, and more sheer evil has been done in the name of God than anything else! Your idea that all military must become Christian in order to make a moral decision (and I believe you mean ethical) is exactly the same kind of dangerous, anti-American cant the Neocons are preaching. The Founders were, for the most part Deists, not Christians. Jefferson himself believed that A religion was a good thing, but he fiercely believed in the separation of church and state because he’d seen what happens when the church IS the state.
You God Squaders need to understand that people don’t have to be Christians in order to have morals or to behave ethically, and if you push that viewpoint, you’re already halfway on the other side because it immediately becomes a question of whose version of Christianity you’re going to use. The one Bush uses, or Hagee, Pat Buchanan or Michael Ledeen? They have millions of followers, and they are the ones pushing for the destruction of a secular United States and the extermination of those who disagree. Think again please, and read some more. Be a good Christian, I have no problem with that. I have no argument with anything Jesus had to say, but I have some real serious issues with some of His fan club!
Most Sincerely,
Ian MacLeod
Activist PRN, Nonprofit, Nonpartisan, 501(C)(3) Corporation.
Progressive Political Activist.
Veteran, Disabled, Chronic Intractable Pain Patient, 25 years
Primum, non nocere!
Illegitimis non carborundum!