Hatewatch Tweets
Hatewatch is managed by the staff of the Intelligence Report, an investigative magazine published by the Alabama-based civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center.
Gun, Ammo Sales Skyrocketing in Anticipation of Obama Win
A hard-hitting propaganda campaign unleashed this year by Wayne LaPierre, executive director of the National Rifle Association, may be convincing Americans that President Obama will crack down on gun ownership if he’s re-elected and becomes a lame duck.
Skyrocketing sales of guns and ammunition, along with some shortages due to stockpiling, are reported by many U.S. shops.
“People are worried about a second Obama presidency,” Simon Wallace, sales manager at Merchant Firearms in Phoenix told Hatewatch. Merchant is one of many gun shops that started seeing demand increase around the first of the year. There are shortages of all types of weapons and ammunition, Wallace said.
One sign of the current panic is the number of FBI background checks for prospective gun owners. The background checks hit an all-time high in 2011 – about 16.5 million. In the first four months of this year, according to the FBI, there were about 6.3 million checks – on track to shatter last year’s record.
The background checks don’t reflect the exact number of firearms purchased, but in most cases the individuals who submit to the checks will buy guns, said Mike Molchan, a spokesman for the Professional Gun Retailers Association, a trade group for gun shop owners.
“There’s a lot of free-floating fear,” Molchan said in an interview with Hatewatch. “At one end of the spectrum, you have the survivalists and the stockpiling.”
Molchan has heard customers talk about a fear that the Obama administration could hike the excise tax on new firearms and ammunition from 10% to as high as 50%. “As an association, we’re very concerned. I think there’s a high probability he’ll do that, so people are getting their guns now.”
David Schrank of Smoke ‘N Gun in Waukegan, Ill., told Hatewatch that a lot of guns are now difficult to find. “We’re not meeting the current demand,” he said.
“We’re selling more ammunition and more of everything since around February.”
And it’s not just the older gun “regulars” leaping on board. More new, first-time customers in their 20s and 30s are buying weapons, said Daniel R. (he declined to give his last name), sales manager at Dave’s Guns in Spokane. “It was like a light switch turned on in January,” he told Hatewatch.
It could be no coincidence that the surge started early this year. That was about when LaPierre – at times accused even by supporters of going off the deep end with his anti-Obama, fear-fanning rhetoric – began a relentless drumbeat of messages, warning online and in personal appearances that the Second Amendment would become history if Obama wins re-election.
In a widely viewed YouTube interview, LaPierre calls the fall election “probably the most dangerous election in our lifetime for the Second Amendment. It could break the back of the Second Amendment. We need to be out there defending freedom.”
In another speech widely circulated by the NRA media operation, he referred to “the Obama administration’s clear intent, once freed from the political restriction of a first term, to assault the Second Amendment.” In a recent NRA report, LaPierre called the media’s alleged softness on Obama’s purported plan to demolish gun rights “the biggest cover-up since Watergate.” And in a February speech he hit hard on “a massive Obama conspiracy to deceive voters and hide his true intention to destroy the Second Amendment during his second term.”
On the NRA website, in a February message headlined “All or Nothing Election for the Second Amendment,” LaPierre warned that an Obama victory would mean the right to bear arms “could well perish in a Supreme Court heartbeat.”
This isn’t the first time LaPierre has ginned up his own brand of terror in trying to recruit members for the NRA and his political agenda. In the run-up to the 2008 election, he joined in a similar campaign dubbed “Prepare for the Storm in 2008” that also jacked up gun sales and was mentioned by some current shop managers.
Of course, Obama has done nothing to restrict gun rights and has not mentioned any plans to do so.
on May 9th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
No, President Obama has neither restricted gun rights nor threatened to do so, and the Supreme Court has actually expanded them. This makes me wonder if this rush on firearms at the prospect of a second Obama term is really defensive.
on May 9th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
A “massive Obama conspiracy”? Idiotic in light of the facts.
on May 9th, 2012 at 7:24 pm
my dad is freaking out over this.
I’m trying to console him and pop the bubble he’s living in
on May 9th, 2012 at 7:27 pm
he’s in no way a threat
just to clarify that, only to civil discourse. I know this country has had trouble with that
on May 9th, 2012 at 9:41 pm
LaPierre? Sounds a bit foreign to me. Where is his birth certificate? Where are all the Francophobes now? LMAO.
on May 9th, 2012 at 9:49 pm
As a gun owner, the NRA, and especially ‘Jackboots’ LaPierre DO NOT speak for me.
on May 10th, 2012 at 1:30 am
I wonder if the NRA gets some sort of commission for increasing sales with their paranoid nonsense?
on May 10th, 2012 at 3:08 am
Obama could fix this if he would vow to not do the things listed and not harm the second amendment. Some people would distrust him anyway, but his silence is only feeding the credibility of these claims.
on May 10th, 2012 at 4:58 am
If you ever needed more proof that we’ve got some seriously irrational people on the right, here it is. We have a president who hasn’t introduced a single bill increasing gun-control, and has signed a couple bils actually advancing the right to carry(in National Parks, on trains), and yet these people are still convinced that he’s about to take their guns away completely. I would not at all be surprised if they have never even heard of those bills, or don’t realize that Obama had to approve them as president.
on May 10th, 2012 at 7:31 am
You know what’s really silly is this desire to own all these guns like they could actually protect you against our government….we got drones that can come to your door and shoot you down and all sorts of other crazy technology that guns could never beat. I have noticed that some men love to buy more guns the older they get as if guns would protect them against their imminent death. Guns are EVERYWHERE in Tennessee and they make me dang nervous. I have even heard comments about how everyone in their church is packing guns and just a few months ago a little girl got killed because of a gun discharge in her church where the men were showing them off.
on May 10th, 2012 at 7:37 am
Well, in MA Romney was the one to attack the second amendment, expand the assault weapons ban even after it expired and then added more restrictions to it. Even Colt (CT) and the Springfield Armory (in MA) will not sell it’s handguns in MA because of the extra restrictions.
This whole thing is backwards.
on May 10th, 2012 at 8:07 am
Well, Dave, that leads me to Premise 1: This rush on weaponry is not defensive.
on May 10th, 2012 at 8:18 am
Sam Molloy- You are delusional. This isn’t about gun rights. It should be perfectly clear by now that Obama isn’t interested in taking them away- although I wish that he and all other responsible people would do something to take guns away from the dangerous nuts who should not have them. No, this has nothing to do with guns. It has to do with the hatred that some people have for the first African American president. If Obama proposed expanding gun rights, the nuts would still be saying these things.
on May 10th, 2012 at 8:44 am
America is kindling the wrath of God; thus saith God.
on May 10th, 2012 at 9:08 am
Here is an interesting parallel.
This is advertised on the web page of the MI Militia.
http://michiganmilitia.com/militiapocalypse.html
Nov. 6 is Election day.
K is the 11th letter of the alphabet.
11, 11, 11 or 33, or 3-11s, or 311 = KKK.
Gee, I wonder what they’re trying to say?
Nooooo… were just “Patriots”! We LOVE people!
Draw your own conclusions.
on May 10th, 2012 at 10:51 am
P you bet the NRA makes out by promoting gun ownership take a look http://www.vpc.org/studies/bloodmoney.pdf at how much they get from the arms industry and other “corporate partners.”
on May 10th, 2012 at 11:08 am
Fact check: Obama signed legislation allowing people to carry guns in National parks. The NRA has never mentioned that.
on May 10th, 2012 at 11:12 am
Mr. Waller: Thus saith God to whom and where? You?
on May 10th, 2012 at 11:15 am
MRJ: My Android won’t open that, and probably I’m not alone. If it’s what I think it is, we’ve got a sedition problem.
on May 10th, 2012 at 11:24 am
For all of their membership, I wonder how many more people are like me: owning dozens of firearms, including multiple evil black rifles, being an active shooter for over 35 years, and I am actually ashamed to be associated by participating in the shooting sports with 99% of what the NRA says and stands for. I’ve never joined, as as long as they spew this baseless vile, I never will.
In actuality, Obama, besides doing absolutely nothing to infringe on any aspect of the 2nd Amendment, has been the best friend the NRA and gun industry has ever had. With the income and donations they are raking in over this irrational fear, they should beg him to try and overturn Presidential term limits. But it doesn’t seem like the rank and file NRA membership does a lot of critical thinking.
on May 10th, 2012 at 11:26 am
I think we may have a new mental illness on the rise here. But the psychological manifestation is only limited to the right:
Obamaphobia–extreme fear of the black man in the White House.
on May 10th, 2012 at 11:28 am
To all the people who say Obama hasn’t done anything to restrict gun rights, I say look at his voting record when he held office in Illinois. Besides that, taking an anti-gun position during an election cycle is political suicide! That’s documented fact. The NRA is the most powerful civil rights organization in America.
on May 10th, 2012 at 11:42 am
John are you against “states rights”?
on May 10th, 2012 at 11:52 am
John, that rifle cleaning rod is supposed to be put up the barrel of your rifle, not your….
on May 10th, 2012 at 11:54 am
If only it was true, what they’re thinking! Personally I think the NRA is evil and guns are dangerous and nobody except the police or true hunters should be allowed to own one.
That old saying “Guns Don’t Kill People, People Kill People” is hogwash. That’s like saying “Nuclear Bombs Don’t Kill People, People Kill People”. What a JOKE.
on May 10th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
The trouble with our culture in general is that too many people believe that the accuracy of information depends more upon the source than whether or not that information is based on facts. I have been doing my part to counter falsehoods by presenting people with verifiable facts, but I keep forgetting that many people aren’t programmed to be influenced in this way. But sometimes, I have found that giving them the floor and asking them to elaborate on why they believe things like this, and allowing them to see their own inability to provide specifics, can be a more effective way to engage people. It doesn’t always work, but I have to try.
on May 10th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
I’m an endowment member of the NRA, a lifetime member of the GOA and a firearm owner since the age of twelve. Having said that, Wayne La Pierre certainly does not speak for me nor does he represent the beliefs of most gun owners I know. I tried to convince my more reactionary friends, in the wake of the 2008 election, that our president had more pressing matters on his plate, such as two wars and the worst economy since 1930. Both the Heller and the McDonald cases have greatly extended gun rights in our country. The current whipping boy for La Pierre and his ilk is the U. N. Programme of Action on Small Arms & Light Weapons. In the opinion of folks like La Pierre, this treaty will supercede U. S. sovereignty and negate the Second Anendment. The argument is perposterous on its face, but it continues as a canon of holy writ in that culture. I believe that these rumors of a 50% excise tax on firearms and ammunition were ginned up as a sales tool by the firearms and ammunition vendors.
on May 10th, 2012 at 1:07 pm
Is it not truly sad that so many Americans lack even a rudimentary education when it comes to exactly what a President can actually do in office. Even, if in their wildest dreams, they could foresee the Supreme Court getting involved with gun restriction issues, these people are unaware that legislation of that kind would NEVER be allowed with the current sitting Supreme Court.
And they are defunding education to our public schools….
on May 10th, 2012 at 1:19 pm
…and when you tell someone to go and vet a topic like gun controls, they think you are talking about a CAR!
Sigh….
on May 10th, 2012 at 1:50 pm
IMO, it is all about Americans who simply cannot stand the fact that the highest office in our land is held by a black man and pure greed by the NRA. They’re taking our guns!!!
on May 10th, 2012 at 1:52 pm
“o all the people who say Obama hasn’t done anything to restrict gun rights, I say look at his voting record when he held office in Illinois. Besides that, taking an anti-gun position during an election cycle is political suicide! That’s documented fact. The NRA is the most powerful civil rights organization in America.”
His voting record in Illinois is irrelevant; he is the president now. Let’s look at the numbers.
Number of gun control bills proposed(or even talked about) by Obama since the start of his administration: 0
Number of gun control bills approved by Obama: 0
Number of bills increasing gun rights approved by Obama: 2
And you’re right, gun control is a suicidal issue on the national level, which is why Democratic candidates no longer talk about it anymore.
on May 10th, 2012 at 2:08 pm
The real problem with propaganda like that of La Pierre and the more irrational elements of the so called gun culture is that it is accepted as true, without question or investigation. I teach economics, finance and investment management part time ara local community college. In the last class period before the Christmas break my class was discussing the meltdown of the financial and housing markets in 2007-2008. One chap stood and avered that, “We are waiting to see if the banks and other mortgage lenders are held accountable for their crimes. If they are not, then we will create our own accountability.” We are ripe for thinking of this type to take hold and grow. People like this are well armed and incensed at what they believe to be a system of governance that has turned against them. I fear for our nation’s survival.
on May 10th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
Lapierre and those who agree with him don’t seem to have actually read the second amendment in its entirety:
“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
A perfectly reasonable reading would be that the people can keep and bear arms if and only if they join a state-recognized militia and agree to all the things that would make it “well regulated,” such as participating in drill and firing practice on a regular basis (say, one weekend a month) and agreeing to allow militia officers or state officials to inspect their weapons for proper maintenance and storage at any time. And needless to add, anyone whose keeping and bearing of arms represents a threat to “the security of a free state” would necessarily forfeit that right.
on May 10th, 2012 at 2:52 pm
Just why is that whenever these antigovernment gun-toters, go on a crime spree, or commit [a] murder[s]. They always end up killing themselves in the end….
By their own gun, of course.
on May 10th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Watched a documentary on NetFix about Mussolini. The Tea Party Republicans taking their plays right out of his book. Instill fear, the people will follow anyone. Plain fascism taking over.
on May 10th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
I think that everyone is missing the big picture – the NRA does not care about the 2nd Amendment or guns or anything but controlling the government and wealth of the country. They use scare tactics to get people to spend $ buying guns & ammo, yes, but what they really do is get a large block of people to vote for who the corporations want them to vote for, which would be the politician that they can most control – in this case I would say Romney. If they wanted us to have guns to protect ourselves and the constitution, they would be in Michigan right now creating a militia to fight against the take over of elected local officials by “Emergency Managers” who close schools, overrun the police and fire departments, and in Benton Harbor, closed down the local radio station. They would try to protect that pesky democracy that they say they care about.
I am a long time gun owner, have a permit to carry in AZ (although we no longer need that “regulation” or training thanks to our current finger waiving governor) and I once made the decision to use my weapon to protect myself from a known rapist (I am female), but lucky for both of us, he turned and ran out of my home. But to use my gun against the government? I don’t think my guns could stand up against a trained military with tanks and drones.
on May 10th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
People become so pathetic with their choices of how to handle these rumors. I for one think that gun ownership has been carried too far and also grossly mis-interpreted from the Constitution. But over the hundreds of years , we have let this amendment become an excuse for owning guns. In the original amendment, I believe it meant that a WELL REGULATED MILITIA—trained in gun use and gun control—that guns be kept out of the hands of incompetents or the general public. No one receives or even acquires strict training in the use and firing of guns—-much less even of our young children. What about our young ones using guns? They aren’t even mentally equipped to kill people if they had to. Also, what about major accidents which even happens with trained soldiers in questionable situations? Accidents like shooting your child accidentally or your wife or parents in a quickly changing crisis situation instead of the perp.
on May 10th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Who is this yahoo that wrote this article??? Is he for real? 1st, it’s not such a bad idea having background checks for people purchasing guns, what?, just have a felon be able to go into a local gun store and be able to purchase one? 2nd,, since when did the NRA become affiliated with a political party? I have many friends that are Democrats, Independents, Green and Republicans that own guns!! 3rd, I do believe strict gun control started when there was an assassination attempt of a Republican President, remember that? How about the “Brady Bill”?
I am female and have a vault full of guns and ammo and I don’t feel restricted. I have concealed permits in 3 different states, just so I’ll have reciprocity to travel in most states. That being said, I do believe most gun laws are regulated on the State level not the Federal level.
I totally concur with Bob Glover’s comment and he is an NRA.
member. I truly think they have the wrong person running this Association! I wouldn’t be surprised if President Obama does not have a piece of iron in his bed table!
Sorry for the rant but I get so frustrated at the ignorance of some of my fellow Americans.
on May 10th, 2012 at 5:03 pm
This is quite the marketing scheme they have here. I wonder what the increase in demand is doung to prices? Have they increased more than by this supposed excise tax increase?
on May 10th, 2012 at 5:04 pm
Make the people fearful ,they will then believe anything.
on May 10th, 2012 at 5:13 pm
Linda,
The FBI background were not mention in the article as way of saying that we shouldn’t have them. Ms Elias is using the number of background checks to show how much of an increase in gun purchases there has been in the past year or two.
Although gun owners are all over the political spectrum, the NRA as an organization is heavily right wing. They’re more interested in using scare tactics to goad people into voting for Republicans than they are in supporting sensible legislation that protects both gun owners and potential victims of foul play or neglect.
on May 10th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
Linda,
You might want to re-read the article. Marilyn NEVER came out against background checks. I don’t know what would have given you that idea…
on May 10th, 2012 at 9:46 pm
CIA Jon, my brother and especially his wife as well as their children are living in this fear driven bubble too. I remember when I was visiting them the last time, members of his family as well as himself were stating this conspiracy theory. I hope you can break him out of this bubble created by right wing extremist rhetoric; don’t give up your dad is too important to be manipulated by the right wing propagandists!
on May 10th, 2012 at 11:52 pm
Back in the day I could hit the bottom of a can, propel it in the air and hit it again. My quick draw skills were impressive. Now, when the bad guys come, I’m lucky if I can remember where I left my glasses. Or the keys to the gun lock. Or the locker with the ammo. Still love the guns. I would own and play with dozens of them if I could afford it. Where I grew up we had mountains nearby and hunting galore. It’s a lifestyle. I see these gangs in the big city and I understand why people want guns controlled. I watch the cartel on the television. Nasty stuff. Nasty people. Even in my prime I don’t think I stood a chance against what those guys are packing.
Ever hear the saying “A gun in the hand is worth more than a cop on the phone?” I also remember Miyagi saying “best defense for punch……. no be there.” Miyagi also said “If you must fight… win.” I have called the police where I live and I’m sad to say the response time was appauling.
My wife and I witnessed a hit and run accident and the driver and passengers got out and ran. The elderly couple who were hit were dazed. I helped track down the bad guys and surround them till the police arrived (three hours later). I have quite a few more stories. I wont bore you.
I am your neighbor and you are mine. In the absence of law enforcement we have to help each other till they arrive. Do you get where I’m going here? Does that involve guns? Unfortunately, sometimes it does.
Take care folks.
on May 11th, 2012 at 3:03 am
Colleen Brown. Obama has people around him who are indeed delusional, and want us to be more like England, as in, no weapons of any kind, and you have to cower in your house if it’s invaded because if you hurt an intruder you will go to jail. It would seem to me that he would be smart to reassure blue collar working people who should be voting Democratic if it were not for this issue.
on May 11th, 2012 at 7:58 am
“Colleen Brown. Obama has people around him who are indeed delusional, and want us to be more like England,”
Well they are doing a bad job then because…
Number of gun control bills proposed by Obama since the beginning of his administration: 0
Number of gun control bills passed by his administration: 0
Number of bills approved which increase gun carry rights: 2
Is this really so hard to understand?
on May 11th, 2012 at 9:11 am
http://michiganmilitia.com/militiapocalypse.html
The best bit,
“8) Copy of the US Constitution (the document, not the boat) and Declaration of Independence.”
on May 11th, 2012 at 9:13 am
Hard to understand?
“This is my rifle
This is my gun
This one’s for fighting
This one’s for fun”.
What they understand is that the black man in the White House has bigger guns at his command, and that has them in a panic.
on May 11th, 2012 at 9:47 am
Guns aren’t the problem. People with guns are the problem. I do not agree with a total ban of ownewrship of guns. The ATF and agencies has gooten too big for their britches. I am concerned about the possibility of our gun rights being taken away. I also believe than ex felons who hasn’t committed a crime in the five years since leaving prison, should have the right to legally own a firearm for self defense.
on May 11th, 2012 at 10:59 am
Dear Concerned Citizen,
It is easier to buy a gun than it is to register to vote in many states. In addition to now owning firearms felons can’t vote in many states either. Maybe they should be allowed to vote after 5 years if they have not committed a crime.
on May 11th, 2012 at 11:07 am
Obama is destroying this once great country.
on May 11th, 2012 at 11:17 am
Besides, Concerned Citizen, by your own admission, guns should be prevented from establishing contact with problem people.
on May 11th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Roger,
Nice projection right there. Come back with some original research, troll.
on May 11th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Roger…yourself.
on May 11th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
`Ruslan, the parks bill was already passed and O knew enough not to veto it. The train bill requires listing it and putting it in checked baggage like on an airplane, not carry on your person. He unmistakeably comes from a background of opposition to gun ownership, and has been quoted, many years ago, as wanting to outlaw all handguns. I am not in favor of untrained people carrying guns willy nilly, which is what happens in “gun free” zones like Chicago and DC. My only point here is, he should clarify a current position if he wants to win the election.
on May 11th, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Leslie:
I agree with you that ex felons should be allow to vote after five years, if they haven’t commit a felonious crime.
my question to you all is. Would you rather have an ex felon buy a gun legally or off the black market? The choice is yours.
on May 11th, 2012 at 1:40 pm
Roger: “Obama is destroying this once great country.”
Please explain, show sources.
on May 11th, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Oh, he done rogered something, and it doesn’t sound like he’s over and out just yet.
on May 12th, 2012 at 12:57 am
Reynardine,
In case you have not yet seen the post/link:
http://michiganmilitia.com/militiapocalypse.html
“The Day America Will Change Forever!” Nov. 7th, 2012
Day No. 311 of the calendar year.
The choice of using that numeric as a rallying cry/image is almost certainly chosen: I think they have no hope to change through rational political process and are actually going to try something by force presuming “Tree of Liberty” and how it is “supposed” to be “watered”.
“Nooooooo… we’re not Racists! We love People! We Defend America From Tyranny! We’re Patriotic Americans!”
Here is part of their disclaimer for their page/group:
“Everyone is welcome, Regardless of race, creed, color, religion or political affiliation, provided you do not wish to bring harm to our country or people.”
Fairly broad generalization there for “harm” and “our people”.
No defining characteristics: open for all kinds of interpretation by obfuscation and reiteration of “facts” like the above by LaPierre.
I know some of them: wife abusers, severe drug abuse/dealing, Klan/Militia hats (see Glenn Spencer pic in Intelligence Files) and T-shirts with the “Peckerwood” logo, W.A.R (White Aryan Resistance) and O.R.I.O.N. (Our Race Is Our Nation) and “Fear This” with Confederate Battle flags bumper stickers, passing out ZOG-JOG and anti-NWO pages/propaganda and Mark Koernke’s (founder MI Militia: Mark From Michigan) manifestoes, ‘The Turner Diaries’ as their Bible, stockpiling weapons, walled compounds in several local towns complete with Rottweiler dogs and flags, terrorizing people with automatic weapons at night, destroying peoples property, shooting dogs in local Hispanic people’s yards, targeting LGBT in their towns/schools/churches, setting up “sniper” schools, stalking and harassing minorities, Confederate Battle flags on their vehicles, cross burnings as “graduation parties” by graduating seniors from local High Schools, “Odinists” setting up “grow shops”, etc….
A new gun store in the County Seat, across the street from the City Hall that has primarily “black” weapons and grenades on the picture for their web page….
Michigan: a Northern State.
“Patriots”
on May 12th, 2012 at 9:00 am
If violent rebellion is confined just to them, it’s nothing three drones couldn’t handle. Stochastic crazy all over the place is another thing.
on May 12th, 2012 at 6:33 pm
These people, including the NRA, seem to be missing a bit of common sense along with their irrational arguments. Regardless of gun laws and the 2nd Amendment, it really doesn’t matter how many guns and bullets a person or group owns. The government has bigger guns, better guns, and many more bullets. The Army has drones that can pull off a killshot from 10,000 feet, which is the cruising altitude of an international jetliner. Your little rifle and pistols aren’t going to be of any use against a robot that can kill you before you can even see it coming.
on May 13th, 2012 at 7:44 pm
People so easily forget that Obama was a Constitutional Law professor. The Supreme Court has already handed down a decision that the right to bear arms is an individual right. Obama respects that. Now there is no reason that we couldn’t add the requirement that people actually take and pass a handgun course along with passing a mental evaluation so we don’t have idiots or the mentally ill running around with conceal/carry licenses. That is actually common sense and doesn’t destroy the right to bear arms because clumsy rifles out where we can see them aren’t affected. It’s really just better for everybody all the way around and a ban on armor piercing bullets is just fine with the courts too.
on May 13th, 2012 at 10:36 pm
I don’t have a problem with felons regaining all Constitutional rights somehow. I do have a problem with some members of one badly educated generation giving everyones Constitutional rights up for all time
on May 14th, 2012 at 9:21 am
It appears some Florida National Guard units have been receiving training on how to implement martial law. Whether this relates either to the substance of this article or to the kind of thing MRJ was alluding to, I don’t know.
on May 14th, 2012 at 10:38 am
Josh…you said “The Army has drones that can pull off a killshot from 10,000 feet, which is the cruising altitude of an international jetliner. ”
Actually, an international jetliner typically cruises about 3 times that altidue. 10k ft is actually quite low. It is the altitude an AC-130 gunship is bore-sighted for on its 105mm and 40mm weapons. It is the max altitude an unpressurized aircraft can travel without everyone wearing oxygen masks.
The advantage of the drones is they fly low and quietly, and have a long dwell time in place compared to manned aircraft. But I would personnally be more concerned with a military trained sniper reaching out with a .50 barrett a mile away. You can’t hear the shot that is headed your way..
Just my nickle’s worth (inflation ya know!) from 22+years of active military service and being a gun owner for longer than that.
on May 14th, 2012 at 11:26 am
It appears that Hiller Arms Company (and if you read that as Hitler,so did I) has been selling Trayvon Martin targets, complete with hoodie, tea, and skittles. Some people who go to the local rifle ranges even report seeing Obama targets.
on May 16th, 2012 at 4:49 pm
All of yall are a bunch of sisses! Guns are not made for scare tactitics. Guns are for protection and for killing… I will protect my home and I will kill you for breaking in it. I don’t care if you are scared of guns or believe that they should only be for military or police use only. Reaching for my gun to protect my family is always faster then the long wait for the police to arrive. You would be dead by the time the cops arrived if you have nothing to defend yourself. Sisses! And who cares what collor the president is, I keep hearing people saying “People are just affraid of him because he is the first black man.. blah.. blah.. jargon..blah dee blah…” You dumb people are always going to play that card, I don’t like him just because he refuses to salute the flag, or because he apologizes to other countries for conflicts we had in the past; just so you know that is spitting on every soldier who has died for our country so you can kick back and enjoy your freedom that you didn’t lift a finger to earn. It’s sad that all our soldiers died in vain when Obama goes and apologizes making all of America look like a bunch of punks. Thats why I don’t like him. How dare him. Either way, there will always be haters on both sides of the coin. I quote another saying, “It better to have guns and not need them, then to need them and not have them”, and weather or not an army can drop a bomb on my house to take me out, at least I know I’ll die happy holding onto my big @$$ gun. Last quote, “They can have my guns when they pry it from my cold dead fingers!” HAHAHA Florida is great!
on May 16th, 2012 at 5:37 pm
Mike,
Have you ever heard of paragraph breaks? Because that’s how ADULTS write!
I sure hope you’re still in junior high, because unless you’re younger than fourteen, you have NO right to write so poorly.
And if you’re so gung-ho for our country’s wars, what’s your military serial number and MOS? Because unless you’ve actually served, STFU and STFD. You and Ted Chicken-Nuggets-For-Brains, both.
on May 17th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
Aron, you sound like a prick. So every single person living in America would’ve had to serve in the military in order to have a say wheather or not they like a president because they don’t appreciate a president who goes and speak with forein leaders and humbles himself down on behalf of America and appologize for conflicts that we sent American troops over to fight and die for?
Who are you to bash Mike, because he has an opinion against your beloved President. Like what you said on your very first post about LaPierre, President Obama DOES NOT speak for me. At least I’m proud to be an American and I respect people who practice their rights and have no respect for people like you who doesn’t respect others who do. That is why the first two Amendments of our Constitution is my favorite.
Freedom of Speech and the Freedom to Bare Arms.
Get over it Aron.
on May 18th, 2012 at 8:52 am
Ashley, you’d better learn the difference between a chicken hawk and a…rooster.
on May 18th, 2012 at 8:55 am
Mike, I hope to Hell your first name is Edgar Allen, because it’d be a bad lookout for the country’s future if someone like you wasn’t a put-on.
on May 18th, 2012 at 11:31 am
Ashley,
I’m exercising the freedom to bare arms right now: I’m wearing a short-sleeved tee shirt.
And trust me, compared to some of the hate-mail I’ve been receiving lately, your attempts at insulting me are simply weak. And I don’t love our current president; in fact I’m quite disappointed in him.
Now why don’t you go back to your trailer and learn how to spell before you attempt to put me down in the future. Blockhead.
on May 19th, 2012 at 5:45 am
“It’s sad that all our soldiers died in vain when Obama goes and apologizes making all of America look like a bunch of punks. ”
Actually in the case of Iraq and Afghanistan(the most recent wars), our soldiers started dying in vain the second the first KIA occurred. Your prison mentality doesn’t really work so well in international relations.
Also, what are “sisses”?
on May 20th, 2012 at 10:13 am
Furethermore, every functioning human being must occasionally exercise their right to bare*.
on May 21st, 2012 at 6:45 am
Ruslan, “sisses” are among the sounds made by cats getting a bath, except when coupled with “rah, rah,” and “boom, bah”, they are among the sounds made by frat boys getting drunk.
on May 21st, 2012 at 10:05 am
Odd that the gun nuts think Obama is anti-gun. He hasn’t expressed the least interest in gun control since taking office, following the lead of the other gutless Democrats who have ceded the gun issue to NRA without a fight.
on May 21st, 2012 at 11:03 am
Jim,
It is precisely that fact which has shown the NRA’s hand…
They have no issue in real legislation or politics. It’s all about corporate money.
(Pink Floyd was rather on point, if you ask me)
on May 28th, 2012 at 10:47 pm
I just wish the Republicans would stop concentrating on Gun Rights and start concentrating on Gay Rights…
My partner and I can’t wait until the make gay marriages legal in my state.
on May 29th, 2012 at 7:27 am
To this new Aron,
Please don’t use that name. I’ve been here much longer than you, so I would appreciate it if you would differentiate yourself somehow.
on September 21st, 2012 at 8:28 am
To shut LaPierre up, Obama has to dispell the hard evidence that he is a full-bore communist.
Your last sentence…Of course, Obama has done nothing to restrict gun rights and has not mentioned any plans to do so.” Lenin did nothing to indicate that he considered mass famine a beautiful weapon of communism and he did not mention any plans to murder millions…until AFTER he had done it. Obama, as a student of Quintus Fabius, is a much more sophisticated communist than Lenin. Fabian communism is easily clever enough to fool the American people. Very sad, very dangerous.
Greetings to all you Comrades in the Southern Poverty Law Center.