Posted by
John Caile on Wednesday, August 05, 2009 4:59:43 PM
No, not car dealers - we're talking about GUN dealers. And they don't need a bogus "Cash for Clunkers" program to "stimulate" sales, either. That's because the one area of the economy that has continued to go gang-busters is the market for guns and ammunition.
As we've reported before, since the '08 election, millions of Americans, many of whom never owned guns before, have been flocking to local dealers to buy handguns, shotguns, rifles - you name it. Certain firearms, such as AR-15s and other military style rifles, are flying off the shelves so fast that dealers often have to put people on a waiting list. And the boom has continued.
Contrary to the media portrayal of gun owners as "rural" types, gun owners come in all ages, sexes and colors - and these new gun buyers are no different. There appear to be several reasons for the uptick in sales. Naturally, part of the demand, especially when it comes to ammunition, is from existing gun owners, many of whom keep close tabs on the political situation, and were quick to see the threat that a Democratic majority would pose. So they're stocking up on ammo.
Then there are the new gun owners, people who didn't have anything against guns, but never actually got around to buying one - they, too, looked at the anti-gun bias of the incoming administration, and realized that if they were going to buy a gun, now would be the time.
One segment of the market that has seen especially strong growth is younger women - they are buying handguns, signing up for training, and often getting permits to carry handguns for self-defense. It is no longer unusual to find women in gun stores, perusing the merchandise and asking about the comparative merits of a 9MM Glock versus a 357 Smith and Wesson.
Another thing that may be driving some of the demand is fear - gun dealers tell us that as the economy worsens, some folks have expressed a genuine concern about social unrest, or even riots, should things get as bad as they were during the Great Depression.
Regardless of the reasons, the fact is that in the middle of some of the worst economic times in more than thirty years, one industry is booming. Now, this should be quite a story - and were such dynamic growth taking place in any other segment of the economy, it would be.
But don't expect MSNBC or any of the other Obamamedia outlets to give it any serious coverage of this rather interesting phenomenon. They can't - for to do so would require them to also report the primary reason for the dramatic surge in gun and ammunition sales: Obama himself.