GULF COAST CRISIS: GUN PURCHASES Fearful Southerners buy firearms at torrid pace

Chicago Tribune ^ | September 8, 2005 | Lisa Anderson, Michael Martinez and Ray Quintanilla

[ConservativeStatement]

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Gun sales across the South boomed after the first reports surfaced of armed looters roaming the streets of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. And images of shots being fired at relief workers only elevated fears in some communities.

Now, as hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes are being resettled, gun store owners say they're being flooded by a demand for guns--particularly in Southern states and others where many of the hurricane victims are being relocated.

Mostly, they say, the demand is being fueled by "good people" wanting to protect their families and property. That includes some who might not otherwise purchase such weapons, they add.

[Cobra64]

May the purchase and use of guns for protection be a lesson to us all.

Hopefully they will get proper instruction from a seasoned gun owner, and go to the range and PRACTICE.

What scares me is someone who just bought a weapon, shows it off without first opening the breech and not waving it around like a fly swatter. *shudder*

[taxed2death]

"Maybe they're just talking about gun sales in Atlanta and other such yankee bastions in the South."

"Yankee bastions"

Nice try.....another uneducated Neoconfederate.

Try poking your nose where it doesn't belong in my "Yankee bastion" neighborhood here in CT at night and you're likely to get some "flow through ventilation".


I'd be hard pressed to think of one neighbor who is not a gun owner.

[Cobra64]

We have a lot of pistols, revolvers, and shotguns. My wife's absolute favorite pistol is her Sig Sauer P232 .380 in stainless. She loves it! And she's a better shot than I am with my 9mm Sig P226.

BTW, we both carry when we think we need to.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

MY wife has always owned more personal weapons than I. Her favorite carry is a little 13 shot .380 Bersa auto with all steel frame & slide. It is a Walther clone, but better made and more dependable than any of the new Walthers I see today.

[hiredhand]

Ruger has the 10/22 now available in .22 Magnum.

No kidding? What about .17HMR? I heard a rumor they were chambering one for that too, but I didn't look into it. My brothers all bought bolt rifles chambered for the .17HMR. It's fun, but ammo is (IMHO) pricey, and non-reloadable. :-)

[LexBaird]

I need to find instructions on treating and keeping it treated. I know that untreated water becomes a lovely growing medium for all kinds of nasties, but if it's treated and sealed, does it remain sterile?

Use a plastic container. Wash with a strong chlorine bleach solution and rinse out thoroughly. Fill with water, and add a couple of oz of bleach per 20 gal. or water purifier tablets and seal tightly. Cycle at least yearly. Store water purifier tablets and filter with your supply.

[Cobra64]

I had never felt a need to own anything bigger than the 9mm - until Katrina.

Up until recently, the 9 was the caliber of choice by most LEOs and NATO. Now I'm told it's a .40. My 9mm Sig P226 is loaded with Remington Sabre +P JHP.

[LearnsFromMistakes]

Volvo-owning, home-schooling, gun-owning conservative bump. Shotgun/rifle/semi-auto handgun - no revolver yet. I have spent about 1k in repairs on the volvo in the 4 years since I bought it 'used' with 110k+ miles on it, pushing 200k right now - still in the 'break-in' phase. Leaves more money to buy guns n stuff...

[Cobra64]

I sure hope your neighbors know to run for the hills if they see smoke coming from your house! :-)

And they'll know when to come home when they smell the Hoppe's Number 9.

[mbynack]

The 5 gallons will work. Put a teaspoon of household bleach in each bottle and seal it tight. You can also boil and can it.

We take gallon milk bottles, fill them with water and freeze them. They'll keep your freezer cold for several days if the power fails and then you can drink the water when it thaws.

[SevenDaysInMay]

If you will not buy a weapon for yourself, then buy ammunition to contribute only to good guys. Never become dependent on others because you may not find help. Today buy the long-standing primer Ayoob's (author) In the Gravest Extreme, a soul search how to small book; their also other books. Buy a top quality 3/16" thick 5" serrated blade combat knife, such as Gerber's LMF II, as knives are always loaded - be discrete when carrying a defensive knife.

Start with a "brick" of .22LR HP (10 boxes of 50 in their own small boxes); these rounds could become better than gold for barter and are great for rats, pack dogs, and can be enough to discourage human predators. So why not get a 4" .22LR such as a S&W J-frame or larger K-frame revolver or a Ruger Single Six.

Also buy 2 boxes each of the "standard cartridges: 9mm, .38 Spec. +p, .357, .40S&W, .45ACP, and 2 3/4" 12 Gauge "turkey loads" also for later use or barter as a last resort because you alone failed to prepare to defend yourself.

Surviving is a dirty business - YOUR responsibility alone. Plan on surviving for > 3 months with no outside help. Protect the weak around you. Get a handgun with a quality holster, hip, ankel, or shoulder, to always have your pistol/revolver with you and a shotgun with sling AND with the FReeper Rule of 1,000 rounds for each weapon even if in same caliber because one day these survival tools may well be "SOLD OUT" or outlawed.

Every household must buy non-hybrid seed for "survival vegi-gardens" which may become turf over which close quarter combat may become necessary. FYI: corpes make bad compost; don't use your own.

[ArrogantBustard]

The Mohammed/Malvo terrorist shooting spree occurred in the Fall of 2002.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

So, do you have a adequate supply of Nike running shoes? :)

[hiredhand]

Oh yes! The A-Bolt! A NICE rifle! I'm a Rem M-700 "bigot", but my next choice would be the A-Bolt! I'm not a particularly big person, so my main bolt gun is the Rem M-700, chambered for the .243 Win.

That "beast" on my about page with my kitty is a M-98 though...all custom. I keep a 300 rd can in "reserve" for it... Just...in...case... :-)

[deport]

Damn..... those southerners disappoint me. I'd thought any true southerner would have a least one weapon of some sort on their premises.

[TC Rider]

I did go buy some more ammo yesterday. My .45 ACP supply had dipped to 900 rounds so I bought 2 boxes of 50 230 grain FMJ. Have 1100 9mm, 300 3 inch 12 gauge 00 buck, 150 270 Winchester, 400 38 spec/357 mag, and several thousand 22 LR.

That's about what I keep..

..in my truck!

[hiredhand]

Dillon presses, dozens of reloading die sets, dozens of bullet molds, 100's of pounds of wheel weights, casting pots, kegs of powder, M's of caps, M's of brass cases, M's of gas checks. Running out of ammo for me, not bloody well likely.

Hey Squantos! Check it out! I FOUND your long lost twin! HA! HA! HA! :-)

[Cobra64]

Don’t have a gun yet, but thinking about it. Especially since Katrina

Shoulda been thinking waaaaaay long before the hurricane when Columbine Shooting happened in '99 and John Lee Malvo in '01 9or was it '02)

I did as a college student in CO in 1968.

[ArrogantBustard]

Love that last picture!! I'm a huge fan of Simonov's "Sport-Utility Rifle".

[Cobra64]

By the way, you left out the "If you're not gonna practice RELIGIOUSLY with it, don't buy one" advice which was part of my litany.

I agree. But that leaves out the Volvo drivers because they still haven't figured out how to drive.