The media has been noting, with some distaste at the paranoia of backwoods Americans, that the Obama win has triggered an uptick in gun sales:
But whatever the reason, gun dealers in red and blue states alike say they’ve never seen anything like the run on weaponry they’ve been experiencing since Election Day- surpassing even the panic buying in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. “People are terrified of losing their right to protect themselves,” said DeWayne Irwin, owner of Cheaper Than Dirt, a large gun store in Ft. Worth. “The volume is 10 times what we ever expected. It started with assault rifles, but at this point people are buying ammunition, high-capacity magazines, Glocks-it’s all flying off the shelf. With the economy the way it is, people are worried about instability. They are scared of civil unrest.”
But with the unprecedented scrutiny of lawful firearms for applicants to the Obama administration, who could blame them for thinking the guy may be a bit unfair to gun owners?
Tucked in at the end of the questionnaire and listed under “Miscellaneous,” it reads: “Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage.” Paul Light, professor of public service at New York University, said there was no such question for potential appointees when President George W. Bush took office in 2000. “It kind of sticks out there like a sore thumb,” Light said. He expressed uncertainty over why it was included but surmised it was out of an abundance of caution, a desire to avoid the spectacle of a Cabinet-level or other high-ranking appointee who is discovered to have an unregistered handgun at home.
Now, it appears Obama’s AG pick, Eric Holder, held plenty of unfriendly ideas about gun ownership during his time as Deputy AG, and filed a brief in support of the D.C. handgun ban in the Heller case:
As Deputy Attorney General, Holder was a strong supporter of restrictive gun control. He advocated federal licensing of handgun owners, a three day waiting period on handgun sales, rationing handgun sales to no more than one per month, banning possession of handguns and so-called “assault weapons” (cosmetically incorrect guns) by anyone under age of 21, a gun show restriction bill that would have given the federal government the power to shut down all gun shows, national gun registration, and mandatory prison sentences for trivial offenses (e.g., giving your son an heirloom handgun for Christmas, if he were two weeks shy of his 21st birthday). He also promoted the factoid that “Every day that goes by, about 12, 13 more children in this country die from gun violence”–a statistic is true only if one counts 18-year-old gangsters who shoot each other as “children.”(Sources: Holder testimony before House Judiciary Committee, Subcommitee on Crime, May 27,1999; Holder Weekly Briefing, May 20, 2000. One of the bills that Holder endorsed is detailed in my 1999 Issue Paper “Unfair and Unconstitutional.”) After 9/11, he penned a Washington Post op-ed, “Keeping Guns Away From Terrorists” arguing that a new law should give “the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms a record of every firearm sale.” He also stated that prospective gun buyers should be checked against the secret “watch lists” compiled by various government entities. (In an Issue Paper on the watch list proposal, I quote a FBI spokesman stating that there is no cause to deny gun ownership to someone simply because she is on the FBI list.)
Happy gun shopping, folks, just in time to catch all the Black Thursday sales on ammo. Nothin’ says lovin’ like a stocking full of Winchester.
