Inevitable Obama election hits firearms retailers

Just curious if anyone has tried to buy any guns lately that are prime targets for another Assault Weapons Ban. I am hearing lots of anecdotal evidence that those parts and guns are flying off the shelves. On the other hand, I picked up an AR-15 lower receiver (the only part that actually has to be transferred) at a gun show recently for pretty cheap, with plenty available.

I special-ordered the upper assembly a few weeks ago for 3-gun competition. I noticed just the upper was a hundred bucks more than typical prices a year ago. Unfortunately they are backordered in the barrel I need because of demand. Apparently the chromers that handle this are even busier than they are! Hard to ramp up work in that field due to environmental regulations and because it is such nasty work.

I still think most of it is just the madness of crowds. The Democrats aren’t dumb enough to push this first-term like with Clinton, and Obama is smart enough to shift focus to pressing issues the first few years. I’m level-headed enough to realize that a sea change in D.C. isn’t going to ruin my life, but I want my rifle for Christmas, darn it! In any case, I’m stuck in the middle of the crowd, whether I like it or not.

Anyone heard of other industries that are directly feeling the heat from the election of our new centralized government fathers?

I’m just going to be optimistic and agree with you that the reason people are stocking up on guns is that they think their buying options will be restricted.

I have some friends who are ordering certain types of guns and certain type of gun accessories because they are worried that they will not be able to purchase them if Obama wins the election and gets into office.

I just tell them to thank the viral marketers on their message boards for doing such a great job.

I don’t think anyone is stocking up for a revolution, just enthusiasts and sport shooters that knew how annoying it was to work around the arbitrary restrictions from the last AWB. It was only 4 years ago, after all. I wasn’t a hobbyist at that point, so maybe I’d have more of a fire under my ass if I had lived through it.

And I doubt the industry is sophisticated enough for viral marketers. :) They are probably running at 110% capacity anyway.

Change that to “significant numbers” rather than “anyone” and I agree. I do think we will see a resurgence of the militia wackos that have been mostly quiet for the last eight years though. But skyrocketing firearms sales are not an encouraging metric for someone hoping for a minimum of paramilitary activity.

You’ll be fine. If something does happen, we moderate enthusiasts will shoot the wackos for you.

Though we might hear more about them just because the blogs will have to dig deeper to find something to be upset about! :)

I may have mentioned this, but one thing I do think will go down in price is ammunition. Hopefully Obama will reduce active troop levels quickly and there will be more supply for consumers. The struggling global economy should mean lower prices on raw materials like copper, brass, and lead.

I have always depended on the kindness of moderate enthusiasts.

Prices have gone up on most things, magazines in particular. I bought 10 mags about six months ago for $16, the cheapest now is $23. Ammunition and bullets have skyrocketed due to metal rates and the war, however.

H.

What kind of magazines? I was surprised to see AR-15 P-MAGs and USGI mags still hovering around $15, though supply is low. That may have gone up, but it’s cheap enough for me to buy a bunch.

What exactly do people want these for? Shooting at the range? I’m genuinely curious – seems like a lot of firepower for your average citizen.

Out of interest what’s the limit on what sort of guns you can own? Could you own a SAW or similar?

Some people find it fun to shoot powerful guns, and I can appreciate the sentiment even if I’m not among them. I used to be more in favor of gun restrictions, but I’ve moderated my position to the point where I’d just like them to be well regulated and registered. A lot of pro-gun people still view that as an untenable situation, of course.

Sure, I can see that. Although I can’t help feeling there’s more to it than that – theoretically you could allow people to shoot powerful guns without allowing them free ownership. I’m not arguing either way, mind ;)

The primary reason for the existence of the 2nd Amendment is, should the government forget that it exists to serve them, that the people will have the means of absolute last resort available to them to deal with the problem.

That’s what it’s about.

That may have made sense in the 1780s. Now it’s a joke.

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well, that’s just, like, your opinion, man[/center]

You have to admit though, it is a joke.

Also could someone answer this?

Out of interest what’s the limit on what sort of guns you can own? Could you own a SAW or similar?

it’s only a joke because i can’t afford an abrams m1a2 and they won’t sell me one

Seems like, but isn’t. This point gets made ad infinitum, but those are just military styled weapons that are at the bottom of the power curve. It’s not a question of power, the dinkiest firearm is plenty to kill people, which is what we’re concerned about.

I honestly believe that if you remove the slippery slope, then 99% of people are going to have a cutoff in a similar area on the “deadliness” line. That point will fall south of fully automatic weapons, but far north of “hunting” (the most powerful and plentiful rifles by orders of magnitude) weapons.

Further, any of you tick turds* could have a friggin’ SAW at fifty yards and I’d still burn your ass down with a lousy revolver before you scratched me. Ain’t the arrow, it’s the Indian.

H.

p.s. For non-ironic (really!) non-chest-thumping anecdotal evidence, check out the FBI massacre in Florida. Those bad guys practiced with their handguns, all the time, and killed the most FBI agents in history. Versus the full-auto robbers that everyone has seen in the video from California, who managed to kill zero police officers despite having immense firepower.

p.p.s. *Except Lizard King.

Nah, it’s really a pretty wimpy gun. People are only scared of them because they look evil and can carry a lot of rounds.

Some use them for target shooting or killing varmints. Other people brag about them to piss off the ignorant, just like any social group does in the political sphere. A few are just wannabes that think they are tough and the gun will sit in a safe for the rest of its life. Mostly, though, guys get addicted to them like they do with any male hobby – high-end stereo, performance cars, sports. There’s an enormous industry that specializes in accessories and gear and there’s a huge community that help trip the same neurons as videogames or politics or anything else that has exploded since around the time the Internet became popular.

I want one because it’s light and easy to shoot – both for new shooters and myself when I’m out doing something like this, only a lot slower. :)

Out of interest what’s the limit on what sort of guns you can own? Could you own a SAW or similar?
Yes, but don’t look for urban youth to be shooting up your neighborhood with them anytime soon. The supply has been arbitrarily limited and they probably run about 50 grand, if any are even available to consumers.

I voted Obama and I really dislike guns on at personal level (they just seem dangerous to me), but if Obama wastes his time on gun control I’ll be pretty dissapointed. I admit to being pretty liberal, but I hate things like censorship and gun control, this is a free country after all.