What are people scared of? (Guest column)

This was the question a friend asked a correspondent of ours, a few days ago: ‘Why are people scared to the point where they are buying up all the guns and ammo in the USA?

Marty Bugg’s reply is worth sharing…

As someone who sells guns for a living I get to ask them why they’re buying, what the gun will be used for and a lot more as part of the selling process. With very rare exception, everyone says, for self defense. Most follow with something to the effect “things keep getting worse”, “I never expected things to get this bad” or “have you seen all the crazy things happening?” I can tell you that a major proportion of them say they’re buying a gun for the first time. Many say “I never thought I’d ever buy a gun”.

Not many go into specifics on any single thing but we’ve all seen the deterioration of respect for law enforcement. We’ve all seen the political divide deepen and become heated and tribal. We’ve all seen a deterioration in civility, first online, then spill into the public square. We watched riots as cities burned. Blocks of major cities have been taken over and named while they are declared no go zones fore police. We’ve seen businesses shut down, jobs evaporate, the economy crushed.

At the same time militant groups like Antifa and BLM have risen. While our media declares violence “mostly peaceful” as buildings burn and looters scurry about behind the reporters, visible to the cameras. Then we see a rise of militants on the other side with names like Proud Boys and QAnon. We even have politicians fanning the flames with vitriolic language. Who ever thought we’d hear a congresswoman say things like this?

Did anyone doubt gun and ammo sales would explode when there are calls for defunding and disbanding police across the nation as we watched nightly arson, looting and riots? We can’t even agree on the right of folks to defend themselves. As the McCloskey’s watched a large mob destroy the gate to their neighborhood and enter their yard threatening their safety, they armed themselves and they were charged with crimes, the public divided over the issue.

The same happened when Kyle Rittenhouse went to Kenosha during the riots with his med kit and rifle to help local business owners protect their property and to render aid if needed. As he was chased down he did defend himself. It turns out all three men shot had criminal records and at least one was armed and pointing a handgun at him as he fired. Another assaulted him, striking him in the head with a skateboard but only Kyle was charged. Not the man with the gun in hand or anyone in the crowd chasing him.

After nearly a year of the violence being heavily one sided and the media covering it as cheerleaders for those committing the violence, a few on the other side decided to to step up their anger to the next level as well. We saw on Jan 6th the first example of what we all knew would happen, eventually. Some protestors on the other side erupted into violence of their own. No shots were fired on the side of those who breeched the Capitol but a shot did ring out and took the life of one of those engaged in what was a riot of their own.

The media silent on arson, looting and riots finally found their voices. The police were now heroes and the mob was now the villains. Fences and National Guard were now needed although we were told both were oppressive and tools of fascists from mid March until Jan 5th. The script was flipped. January was the highest month fo gun sales ever in US history as a result. The entire year of 2020 was already unprecedented but now it went off the charts. Over 4.3 million background checks in a single month. The record had been over 3 million prior to 2020 and only one month ever hit that number. During 2020, eight months exceed 3M.

Its obvious COVID wasn’t the only thing very different and alarming about the past year. It was and is a tragic pandemic. But it was also an opportunity. An opportunity for those who wanted more power and control over a population by government. It was an opportunity for an agenda to finally succeed. We’ve heard the words “never let a crisis go to waste” before many times. This time they didn’t. They escalated the rhetoric of of identity politics. They used the crisis to change election laws and processes. They demonized anyone opposed to their message. They unified a party with media, radical groups and even tech giants and corporate sponsors. 2021 promises to be another chapter in the fight. We’ll see if they have gone too far and we’ll see pushback or if they succeed in delivering on their stated goal of “fundamentally changing America”.

Those now in power promise to bring gun control. That means the gun and ammo sales will likely remain very high for a very long time. Will they succeed in disarming Americans? That remains to be seen but Americans are pushing back with their purchases despite economic conditions. There is open chatter about civil war and secession brewing. On the other side there is chatter about changing the Supreme Court, the electoral College and more. Border security rules and immigration policy is already changed with the stroke of a pen. A record number of Executive Orders have already been issued. An agenda is under way and there are very few impediments to it now. America is a very different nation than it was a year ago today. What will it look like over the next 2–4 years? We’ll see.