Sputnik News contacted me and asked me to provide a comment about the reported surge in gun sales across the US:
Lock, Stock, & Barrel: Why are Americans Hoarding Guns & Ammo Amid COVID-19 Pandemic?
by Ekaterina Blinova Sputnik, March 20, 2020:
The coronavirus outbreak has not only led to empty shelves in US grocery stores but has also boosted gun and ammo sales across the country. American observers have given explanations about the possible roots of the trend and its potential consequences.
On 17 March, an online ammunition store Ammo.com reported an unprecedented increase in bullet sales starting in February 2020 saying that it “directly correlates” with the rise of COVID-19 and its spread across the country.
Ammo is not the only store spotting a massive spike in firearms demand: Adventure Outdoors has signalled that its sales are up 400% so far this year with shotguns, AR-15 semi-automatic rifles, and 9mm handguns being hot sellers. Tactical gear retailer Bulletproof Zone has said its sales had leaped 100%, while an arms shop owner in Petaluma, California, revealed in an interview with KTVU FOX 2 that many buyers are acquiring guns for the first time.
Just Panic Buying or Security Concerns?
One might wonder as to why US citizens are stockpiling weapons. On the other hand, the trend falls into the pattern of the global panic buying amid the pandemic which is driven by what Jay L. Zagorsky, a senior lecturer at the Questrom School of Business, calls “zero risk bias”.
“When faced with an uncertain situation people feel better if they can eliminate one risk”, the academic says explaining why people are storming grocery stores. “People might not be able to eliminate the risk of catching coronavirus but they can eliminate the risk of running out of common items”.
However, when it comes to guns the situation appears to be more complicated.
According to Ethan Ralph, founder of a conservative website, The Ralph Retort, deems that “the big concern” of the virus-driven gun buyers “is possible lawlessness breaking out and society breaking down”. He notes that there’s nothing “nonsensical” in the trend and though he is not stocking up guns and bullets a lot of his friends are.
“When you see some of the headlines about food shortages and major disruptions that could possibly last into next year, I think this is the natural response from some people”, he says. “I think the concerns are certainly justified, although I am not stockpiling weapons myself. But the worry is that when people run out of food and money, they might try to take someone else’s, so I see the other side of it”.
The conservative blogger does not think that “a huge run on guns and ammo is going to calm things down”, however what’s going on is “a natural reaction to the things you see coming from our media and politicians”.
“I do think that we should be asking ourselves how do we calm down tensions in general”, he says. “You can definitely feel the uneasiness in the air”.
Simmering Partisan Divisions
Pamela Geller, an American political activist, blogger and editor-in-chief of the Geller Report, suggests the surge in gun sales “is a perfectly reasonable response in a time of global uncertainty and open calls by Leftists for violence against their political opponents”.
“Those same Leftists may try to take advantage of the prevailing confusion to brutalize patriotic Americans”, she says. “There is no cause for concern in law-abiding patriots being able to defend themselves, and may even have a deterrent effect among Leftists who are less unhinged than most”.
Last month, independent American journalist Andy Ngo drew attention to violent attacks against US civilians, police, and even other left-wing groups by radical left antifa groups in his Twitter posts.
.@PortlandPolice tell the antifa mob to stop throwing projectiles at them. Antifa respond by doing more of it. pic.twitter.com/POj4CNLK6x
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) February 8, 2020
There has been repeated reports about clashes between right-wing and anti-right-wing groups in Portland, which prompted Donald Trump to tweet in August that he was giving “major consideration” to naming antifa an “organisation of terror”.
Major consideration is being given to naming ANTIFA an “ORGANIZATION OF TERROR.” Portland is being watched very closely. Hopefully the Mayor will be able to properly do his job!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2019
Meanwhile, in July 2019, Willem Van Spronsen, a 69-year old self-described “antifa”, attacked a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in Tacoma, Washington while armed with an AR-15 assault weapon. Four Tacoma police officers shot and killed Van Spronsen, who earlier encouraged his followers to arm and bring about a revolution in the US in his manifesto. The assailant was reportedly up in arms about the federal government’s immigration policies and deportation practices.
However, there is no statistic saying to which side of the political spectrum weapons buyers belong.
Fear That Gov’t May Impose Martial Law
Independent political journalist Max Parry believes it’s not the country’s simmering political divisions that are forcing people to stockpile guns but is “a tremendous underlying fear that the government will impose martial law which could potentially threaten the safety and civil liberties than any health threat from the virus”.
“It’s natural reaction considering Congress is already trying to use the pandemic to ram through an extension of the USA Patriot Act and they are enacting completely unnecessary measures such as calling in the National Guard to impose ‘containment areas’ like we saw in New Rochelle, New York. They are also establishing FEMA ‘quarantine’ camps in US military facilities such as Fort Hamilton in New York”, the journalist points out.
Adding to the confusion, CNN’s Jim Sciutto tweeted on 16 March that “there are active discussions within the Trump administration to encourage a possible ‘curfew’ across the nation”.
New: There are active discussions within the Trump administration to encourage a possible “curfew” across the nation in which non-essential businesses would have to close by a certain time each night. – @CNN reporting
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) March 16, 2020
The claim was immediately busted by the White House, who stated that “rumours of a national lockdown or national quarantine recently shared via text message are fake”.
✅Official, up-to-date guidance on #COVID19 is available from @CDCgov and at https://t.co/XnPrVeij1D.
❌Rumors of a national lockdown or national quarantine recently shared via text message are FAKE.
— The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) March 16, 2020
According to Parry, “people have been given little guarantee that the state is going to step in and provide a social safety net to help them through the crisis”, while, on the other hand, the government “has already provided trillions to bailout shareholders and various impacted industries”.
“With such a message being set that the working class is not a priority for the US government, of course such trepidation is going to lead to a surge in weapons and ammunition sales”, he says. “There is a tendency to demonise people and US gun culture, which in many respects is a product of the Cold War, while little has been discussed by either the political establishment or mainstream media about the underpinning to such a reaction, which of course is social inequality and the complete militarisation of American society”.
He warns that the consequences of stocking up firearms could be dire amid the unprecedented economic recession “unless the federal government is properly utilised to provide social services, not expanding the police state with drills and deploying militarised police and using it as an excuse to spy on communications, emails, and phone calls of citizens”.
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“On 17 March, an online ammunition store Ammo.com reported an unprecedented increase in bullet sales starting …”
Wow! There must be a considerable number of reloaders out there, what with “an unprecedented increase in bullet sales”.
I wonder how the sales of brass, primers, and powder have done. Could those sales be unprecedented as well?
They must protect their Toilet Paper inventory…
That’s something for which you have no use. A moslem, such as you, is COMMANDED to wipe, following defecation, with a BARE left hand. No mask will protect the moslems from moslem excrement.
Every time I read one of your posts, I wonder …….. how does someone as dumb as you even manage to turn a computer on …. or does mommy do it for you?
Some staff member at the asylum left their computer unattended and he decided to play “Keyboard Kommando”.
Hey, buddy, it shows how clueless they are, but keep it on the downlow. It’s a great advantage to all patriots to keep them ignorant and afraid of firearms.
Fake news. AOC cannot “think”. Try again.
Well now – let’s see what what Missy AOC has personally donated to help illegals here or those “suffering” in Mexico etc…..?
Oh just as WE suspected ~ 0 ~ !
The generous childlike socialist tyrants figure WE should be robbed by law to do what they refuses to do…!
Why???
Because Americans really don’t trust that the massive lying idiot Trumpo has… “Everything under control”…
They worship the idiot Trumpo as a god… but yet… down deep… they don’t trust him.
Can you easily see how the Antichrist will come to power??? <<< I can...
Yeah, ‘cuz Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, AOC, Maxine Waters, Chuck Schumer, Ralph “Black face” Northam, Bill DeBlasio, wittle Beto and many, many assorted and sundry Democrats never lie.
You don’t trust your government!?!?!?!?
One thing is for certain, I do NOT trust moslems, such as you, little sumsrent the moslem
Not these wingnut out of touch unAmerican parasites…!
especially Maxine. She’s a fucking saint.
Only ignorant’s would be so daft to vote for absolute morons like these people….again + again…!
Wouldn’t trust them with a pet let alone children= certainly not in office as the ignorant tyrants they are….!
Don’t give me that garbage…
You don’t know who God uses for good or evil… just like Hitler & Himmler… and the satanic catholic fake church alongside satanic islam…
Now get this… there are many antichrists… but there is only one Antichrist…
If you worship the massive lying idiot Trumpo… you’ll easily fall for the Antichrist…
Wrong!
Little sumsrent is a moslem. What else would you expect a moslem (the vilest of ALL creatures) to type?
Last time –
if not for Trump We’d have a lying criminal Witch wrecking what’s left of America after Obama’s 2 terms…!
Either you grasp that or are no longer worth acknowledging here + crooked Joe would be a mere pawn of the Globalist UN + unelected unConstitutional Deep-State to finish America off…!
Silly you… Killary was worse for America…
I support the idiot Trumpo… as the best idiot of all the idiots…
Thing #1 or Thing #2… <<< Dr Suess <<< Pick your idiot...
Wake up, dufus, you are the anti-christ. There it is in writing. Right here on the Internet in front of God and all the angels. No excuse now! I heard it on the radio. Too late.
You’re way out in left field…
All you speak is nonsense…
Yeah? And you think Hillary, or Biden, or Obama would have done better? Please have the psych nurse on your ward re-evaluate your meds.
Little sumsrent, it being a moslem, wants to have the covid-19 dealt with, just as the Obiden-bama administration dealt with the Mexican Swine Flu. 1) Before doing ANYTHING, wait for at least One Thousand Americans to die.
2) Take another Sixty days before even sending out testing kits to the states.
3) Have all of the major news media rave about how wonderful the job that Obiden-bama are doing.
4) Don’t do anything to curtail illegal aliens, coming from Mexico, from entering and spreading that deadly virus (Mexican Swine Flu)
5) Put most of the illegal alien virus carriers on full-blown taxpayer provided support.
6) Have approximately Sixty Thousand Americans DIE from the Mexican Swine Flu.
7) Obiden-bama … Mission Accomplished.
~ EXACT FACTS on BHO+JB ~
I had a conversation (term used loosely) with some obiden-bama worshipper. They went on to say that only 12,000 Americans died from H1N1 … and to PLEASE stop calling it the “Mexican Swine Flu”. Moreover, that 12,000 figure was the entire year, flu-season wise, 2009-2010. And, they had just checked the CDC .. and that’s the FACTS.
So, I used one of those new-fangled search engines and showed them a Reuter’s report/article, dated February 10, 2010, showing the death count, figures from the CDC, at over 17,000 (American deaths). Found another article, giving CDC stats in mid March of 33,000 and change.
I asked this person, did they need to see more?
Reminds me of the obiden-bama line, “We believe in truth, NOT FACTS.”
WE are dealing with childish unsecured minds with no conceptual grasp of what truly is beyond what they easily take for granted…!
With some notable commonsense you’re so politically out of touch it negates everything else.
If not Trump in office- crooked Witch Hilliary’d be reigning unchecked with the Deep-State unelected parasites + Democ-rat Commie Party.
The other side of the coin is ~ all attacks on Trump are really attacks on WE the “deplorables” who are the backbone of America.
Not grasping that- yet coming here talking at – Conservative Constitutionalist’s reveals how out of touch you are-!
It’s like a cat jumping the fence into a yard full of dogs = WOOF…lol-!
The massive lying idiot Trumpo does NOT reflect on what I think… or… who I am…
I support the idiot Trumpo… he was the best idiot over Killary…
I DO NOT worship him… and… I DO NOT support his lying ways that have hurt Americans…
Agreed. The Second Amendment protects all the others.
Remember the Boy Scouts’ motto, “Be prepared”. I think Sumrent’s just upset because many of us are.
I’ve prepped for years and years… I have no mortgage…
However; I’m trying to help waken those who need truthful information…
The massive lying idiot Trumpo and his lousy CV19 Task Force are liars… if anything… they wanted to spread CV19 to Flatten the Curve… and it got out of control…
America is in DEEP TROUBLE… 3,000 new cases just yesterday… no doubt that will double today…
WAKE UP!!!
[edit] My main message… don’t trust the idiot Trumpo… and WEAR MASKS!!!
Hey idiot, masks only do something if you’re already infected. They don’t protect people from getting that way. So all you’re doing if you’ve bought masks is keeping people that actually need them from buying them. Yeah, that increases the odds that somebody else dies, derp.
So much for your “truthful information”. Go pay your property taxes or watch CNN.
You’ve been duped my the massive idiot Trumpo Task Force lies…
If masks didn’t work… then why do Hospital Staff need them!?!?!?!?!? There’s no open wounds with CV19 patients…
These are called PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)…
Even OSHA require them… to protect the WORKERS!!!
If workers need them… then every American needs them…
Common sense eludes you… aye?
No commonsense is not well in you.
Hosp. staff are handling and in close sick people all day long.
Wearing a mask while walking down the road or around your home + property for most people who live in urban, small towns, or rural.
Going into public places a time or two a week might be the time + place for a mask for some folks but not most – unless they work there during the temporary shut downs.
Silly YOU…
WEAR A MASK in public… ALWAYS!!! And Goggles too…
Why? CV19 can get in the eyes, nose and mouth… it is an aerosol… which floats in the air for hours after someone sneezes… which can travel over 200 feet…
Social distancing helps… but hardly compared to PPE…
Fine for city folks…
I do Forestry/drainage-systems+road bldg and landscape work + like farmers or other outdoor contractors – sometimes never see or talk with anyone.
Go to a store only 2 – 4 times a month.
This Kungflu is mild compared to the Asian flu of 1957.
Haven’t had the flu in 28 yrs when the children brought it home from school…!
Hey idiot, masks only keep any virus inside of you. You can catch the virus in your eye, your ear, and even on your hair. Masks are designed to keep bacteria and/or virus from escaping an infected person into the air.
So all you’re doing if you’ve bought masks is keeping people that actually need them from buying them. Yeah, that increases the odds that somebody else dies, derp.
So much for your “truthful information”. Go pay your property taxes or watch CNN.
Wrong… wrong… wrong…
They are called PPE… Personal Protective Equipment… required by OSHA in many circumstances… to protect the WORKERS from getting contaminated…
That’s why the Hospital Staff are complaining about shortages and worried about getting CV19 themselves…
The masks I own… I purchased years ago. I wished I has bought more… because right now we’re rotating them out every 10 days…
Hey where you been hidin?
Hi Tazzy,
Staying off the Zipper during Lent. Cant take all the cuss words that begin with “C”. Its been so peaceful I probably won’t go back. Tied up keeping my mom safe from Covid19. Nice to hear from you, though. : )
Thanks for responding! I understand! I find you to be pleseant in your writings! Would you consider coming to janes site? Most of the old zippers are there anyways! Cursing isnt too bad!
Hi Mr. T! Happy Easter! Yes, I’ll come over there. Directions, please?
Folks… I will confess… I didn’t prepare enough masks in my inventory…
However; understand that YOU can make masks… use Bandanas…
But NEVER go out in public without a mask… if you can… also wear goggles…
CV19 is an aerosol… it floats in the air for hours… just walking trough a space where an infected person once sneezed… can get you infected…
Which you can carry home and infect the rest of your family…
it can live for 9 days on a surface, so whatever you do, after you go outside with your bandanna, DONT EVER TAKE IT OFF! if you touch it, you can get infected. In fact, the only safe place for your bandanna is up your ass.
Wrong… you take them off by the straps… not handling or touching the front…
When you wash you car… do you find bugs squished on the rear end? <<< Nope…
After taking the mask off… You immediately wash your hands… or sanitize them…
You ain't real bright… aye?
[edit] And that's 9 days on most "METAL" surfaces… plastics are a little less… cardboard even lesser…
My advice… learn a few things before spewing your nonsense…
CV19 is a respiratory virus… the goal is to prevent the virus from getting in your nose or mouth or eyes…
That's why you're taught to wash your hands… which can transfer the virus to other areas…
What, little foolish moslem sumsrent, bandanas have straps? NOTHING besides a moslem could be THAT stupid.
You are SO much fun to laugh AT, as you HUMILIATE yourself.
Yeah, L.A. never riots, police are always around when they do, terrorists only mow people down in churches during off season, and the criminals being let out of L.A. prisons are only the “good guy” criminals, so it must be about the gun grab. Yeah, there’d never be a civil war with the National guard pushing a battalion of tanks into L.A., right? I mean, they’re only coming to help distribute the food, right? What would be the best time to invade a country? right after a biological attack? Nahhh… that’d be crazy, right? I swear it’s simply amazing how dumbed down this country has become over the years.
“When seconds count the police are minutes away” Clint Smith
The difference now is if this China virus is as virulent as the media and leftists (but I repeat myself) say it is the police probably won’t show up at all. THAT’S why folks are stocking up on ammunition and firearms plus most know deep in their hearts their precious government really isn’t there to help. Mrs. MAS calls these toilet paper and gun buyers ‘Instant Preppers’ and most of them are the folks who were calling us weirdoes and gun nuts until a few weeks ago. Now it seems we’re visionaries…
The explanation for this is simple….It’s better to have a gun and not need it, than to need a gun and not have it.
In the Philadelphia, PA area, gun shops have sold out their entire inventory of guns and ammo. Why? The Soros chosen and paid for DA of Philly, by the name of Krasner, has ordered the police to NOT arrest perps who commit several types of crimes, including robbery, burglary, assault, etc., etc., as, Philly jails could be breeding grounds for the Covid-19. Krasner is also in favor of releasing many of those already in jail. My thought is to arrest Krasner and his minions, so they can enjoy the company of those already there.
There is absolutely no substitute for self defense!
……..ABSOLUTELY…….
This’s not perpetuating violence- mere defence of –
“God given Natural unalienable Rights” of self or others from criminals or tyrannical Gubment…!
Neither likes victims to be armed….so sad + too bad.
It’s an American phenomena = usurpers can like it or lump it…!
Agreed. When I last saw Da Nang in ’71, I thought my bullet dodging days were over. Little did I know. My first kid was born in ’78 so I got rid of my only handgun for safety’s sake.
After the VA Tech slaughter in ’03, I rearmed and got licensed for the same reason. If a citizen cannot be in a college classroom and feel safe, society has something dreadfully wrong with it .
……EXACTLY…….
As a legal and licensed gun owner, I have nothing in my home worth dying for. If you would like to test my theory, bring it on.
“legal licensing” ~ is in the 2nd-Amendment = as “SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED”
“It is one of many God given Natural unalienable Rights” or *there is no Right to Life, Liberty nor pursuit of Happiness without the natural ability to defend oneself.
Even cats + dogs have a right of selfdefense = try grabbing a strange ally cat or feral dog…!
Hoarding guns makes a hell of a lot more sense than hoarding toilet paper.
Agreed. Any woman who has bought more toilet paper than she can easily carry doesn’t realize it is a reflection on her cooking, it gives the entire family a case of “Montezuma’s revenge”.
lol…don’t giv’em any ideas as to what WE can do with our guns…!
ACADEMY IN TEXAS ABOUT OUT OF AMMO LAST WEEK
Why are some people “arming-up”?
Why are some “governors” and “mayors” giving themselves the “authority” to disarm the populace?
Thanks to our leader Justy “pussy ” Turdeau the hoarding of ammo and firearms has spread to Canada. Nice to be a reloader at times like this. Hope all the good people in the USA stay as safe as possible.