Gun Sales Surge: An Obama Bounce?

[Lurks Often]

4. I think a number of things are contributing to the increase in firearm sales:

1. That, rightly or wrongly, people fear increased restrictions on firearms in the President's second term.
2. Katrina and other natural disasters. Those of in other parts of the country viewed Katrina and realized that in a disaster of that magnitude, that maybe the police WON'T be there if needed. The Northeast saw a small glimpse of that with the 2011 Halloween snowstorm and the Cat 1 hurricane/tropical storm that came through last summer, where power was out for extended periods of time, gas was not available due to no power and food supplies were impacted as well.
3. You have people, where the kids are out of the house and through college, the mortgage is either paid off or almost paid off and they suddenly have extra money every month and they decide they are going to buy guns and compete. I see this a lot in the cowboy shooting sports.
4. A general sense that maybe, just maybe, it would be prudent to have the means to protect oneself
5. A realization that no matter how good the police are and how hard they may try, they may not be there for you when you need them the most. Connecticut saw that with the Cheshire murders in 2007.
6. Newcomers to shooting and the shooting sports find out that it can be a lot of fun, which results in them buying more guns, perhaps for different shooting sport or perhaps just a different gun for the shotting sport they are already involved in.