New laws are leading to surge in gun sales

[Johnny Rico]

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/23/10797851-new-laws-are-leading-to-surge-in-gun-sales



“Stand Your Ground” laws, which have come under fire as a possible factor in the Florida shooting death of an unarmed black teenager, may be having another impact, too — helping fuel a surge in gun sales. Gun buyers swamped retailers nationwide last year, prompting a record 16.4 million instant criminal background checks of potential owners, up 14.2 percent from 2010, according to FBI figures. While some buyers may not have followed through with gun purchases or may have been denied, others bought more than one, so background checks are considered a good proxy for sales in the industry.

On Wednesday, gun maker Sturm, Ruger & Co. announced the company was forced to temporarily suspend its acceptance of any new firearms orders due to a barrage of wholesale orders — more than 1 million in 2012 alone. Last year the company shipped a total of 1.1 million firearms. This massive push "exceeds our capacity to rapidly fulfill these orders," the Connecticut company said in a news release, adding that it expects to resume normal operations by the end of May.

While "no true stats" exist reflecting actual U.S. gun purchases, Ginger Colbrun, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms pointed to a report the agency published last year citing a significant spike in gun manufacturing. According to the report, 5.5 million firearms were manufactured in 2009 (the most recent year for which such figures are available) — 1 million more than in 2008, and the highest number since at least 1986. A rise was seen in all four primary categories: pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns.

(more at link)

While normally I would post such a story in Gun Control and RKBA, I thought it appropriate to post it in GD given the connection to current events.

[liberal N proud]

1. I had a right winger tell me it was because Obama was going to get reelected

And in his second term he would take all the guns away.

[Mariana]

12. So they run out and spend a bunch of money

to buy something they believe is going to be confiscated? How stupid is that? Guns are expensive.

[liberal N proud]

13. They guy was a PHD

Who am I to question.

[SomethingFishy]

14. Well it took them 3 years to save up enough

to buy more guns after spending all their money because Obama was going to take all their guns away 3 years ago.

"This time though he's really going to do it". (that is an exact quote from a conservative I know who spent 10 grand on guns when Obama won in 08' because "we won't be able to get them next year&quot

[Johnny Rico]

17. It's not as if he'll lose money on them.

Guns are an excellent investment.

[SomethingFishy]

23. LMAO.. this guy maxed out his credit cards

because Obama was going to be banging on his door to take his guns. Well Obama never came. Now Obama is going to come again because this time he's really going to do it.

There are lots of things that are "good investments" many have a higher return than guns. This had nothing to do with investing, it has to do with racist ideological idiots...

I have nothing against guns, I personally don't own any, I don't hunt so I don't see the need. If I wanted to spend money investing like that I would buy guitars, higher return, and way fucking cooler.

[Johnny Rico]

24. That's isn't the best investment strategy...I'll have to give you that!

That 17.9% interest rate is a killer...

[rfranklin]

2. Which was the purpose of the laws in the first place...

There was a florida legislator on MSNBC who said that he asked for justification for the law. The proponents could not name one proseuction in which the law would have applied.

Remember the surge in sales when the NRA and others were promoting the "Obama will take your guns" bullshit? These are carefully constructed sales promotion campaigns.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. Just about every FFL I know is swamped

Have a class coming up and was checking today to see which ones I could send students to...

[Johnny Rico]

4. I have a C&R FFL, myself.

The guns I find most interesting are almost all over 50 years old, so that works out nicely. I love being able to purchase older guns without the middleman of a dealer and have them sent directly to my house!

[guitar man]

19. I love the antique stuff too

Ive got a couple 1st gen SAA Colts and a 1873 Winchester among others

[Johnny Rico]

20. Cool! I mostly collect military handguns from the first half of the 20th Century.

I've thought about getting a Colt SAA, but they're so durned expensive!

[guitar man]

21. Indeed they are gettiing really high in price

I bought mine in the early '80s for pennies on the dollar of what they are worth now.

I've also got an original straight grip 1911, I think it was made around 1918 IIRC, I'd have to go back and look the numbers up. It needs a little work though, it's had a lot of rounds put through it over its life span

[Johnny Rico]

22. I also have a 1911, made in 1918 as well.

Unfortunately, it was arsenal-parkerized at some point (probably WW2). It's still worth at least a grand, but if it had the original finish it would be worth a lot more!

[gratuitous]

5. What a coincidence!

It's uncanny. If I hadn't been reliably scolded over the course of this week for thinking that gun manufacturers in concert with NRA might have an interest in promoting laws that would be seen to give citizens legal permission to shoot at one another more readily, I might think there was some connection. But it's clearly not the case, and anyone who says otherwise is just a gun-grabbing, pony-loving hippie. Capisce?

[ellisonz]

6. Gungeon present!

Statistics also show a decrease in the percentage of households owning guns, what you're seeing is more gun owners buying more guns.

[Johnny Rico]

7. Gallup shows gun ownership steady for the last 15 years, and increasing in the last 2 years.

Moreover:

[ellisonz]

8. GSS shows a clear downward trend

...but yeah we know, who tells the GSS surveyor that they're a gun owner, that GSS surveyor could be trying to rob you, like ACORN.



Think Progress Column

[Johnny Rico]

9. That doesn't contradict the Gallup info.

Gallup also show a downward trend from the early '90s to the mid-90s...but the GSS data doesn't include 2011-2012, which is where Gallup shows a distinct uptick.

[ellisonz]

11. I think GSS is generally more reliable...

...and that such a blip might not be statistically significant. But the trend over the last few decades is clear IMHO. Fewer people owning more and more guns.

Waiting for this response from a Gungeon member:

Sat Mar 3, 2012, 11:47 AM
Dr_Scholl
16. I don't trust the General Social Survey.
Why? Because it's administered by the University of Chicago. Why don't I trust the University of Chicago with any gun statistics? Because it's funded by the Joyce Foundation.

[Johnny Rico]

15. Over the last few decades, there does appear to be a drop in ownership by household

from about 50% to about 40%...but GSS shows it pretty steady for the last 15 years, as does Gallup.

And we do know that record amounts of firearms are being sold, which corresponds with the Gallup data of the last 2 years. Given that support for gun control is going nowhere but down, it's reasonable to conclude that overall gun ownership by household has gone up a bit (certainly not a lot, though) in the last couple of years.

[slackmaster]

10. I don't buy the conclusion that SYG laws and/or objective criteria for CCW permits explains it

Gun sales have been steadily increasing in California since about 2003, according to the California Department of Justice.

California is one of the few remaining states where concealed-weapons permits are controlled by government bureaucrats (typically sheriffs and local police chiefs,) and our Castle Doctrine law has been unchanged for more than 40 years.

You also can't attribute the increase to fear that Obama is going to take everyone's guns.

http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/pdfs/firearms/forms/AWregstats.pdf

[DisgustipatedinCA]

16. Wow, there sure are lots of people being ruled by fear, it appears

[Ichingcarpenter]

18. Yippie Yo Ki Yay- Mutha fucker

The wild west lives again.

Remember when guns were taken to make Dodge City more peaceful?

You could pick them up when you left.

The fear thing is strong with you guys.