Posted on 11/24/2008 12:14:11 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
DAYTONA BEACH -- The owners of Buck's Gun Rack say they didn't vote for Barack Obama, but the president-elect sure has been good for business.
Assault-style rifles, personal protection handguns, shotguns and ammunition -- business was up by as much as 400 percent after the election, exceeding records that followed Sept. 11 and preceded the Y2K scare of 2000.
"Sales have gone through the roof," Forrest Buckwald said, attributing the boost to a belief that Obama would support gun control measures.
"People were talking about Obama before the election," said Buckwald's brother and co-owner, Scott. "The Saturday after the election we could not help people fast enough. It was the biggest day we ever had" since the store opened in 1954.
"People have expressed a desire to get (their guns) while the getting is good," Forrest Buckwald added.
During the campaign, Obama called for a permanent reinstatement of the assault weapons ban that lapsed in 2004. It prohibits the sale of such semiautomatic rifles as AK-47s and AR-15s, military-style weapons that critics say are designed solely to kill people.
But while the National Rifle Association has characterized Obama as a threat to the Second Amendment, a spokesman for the Obama transition team in Chicago said those beliefs are unfounded.
"Barack Obama recognizes that firearm ownership is a rich tradition in American life," spokesman Reid Cherlin said in a telephone interview this week. "Obama believes the Second Amendment creates an individual right, and he respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms. He will protect the rights of hunters and other law-abiding Americans to purchase, own, and transport, and use guns, and he will support the right of communities to enact common-sense gun safety laws."
Gun advocates, though, point to his record as an Illinois state legislator when Obama supported a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons and tighter restrictions on all firearms.
"Obama's record is absolutely abysmal when it comes to the Second Amendment," said Ted Novin, director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade organization for gun dealers and manufacturers.
Plenty of others seem to agree.
Representatives of Love's Gun and Pawn in DeLand and Florida Gun Exchange in Port Orange said their sales have tripled since the election.
"It has been unprecedented," said John Kieser, owner of the Gun Exchange.
Heather Lavornia of Love's said rumors of a tax on guns and ammunition from a Democratic-controlled Congress also have fueled customers' fears.
"They are buying and stocking up," she said.
At Buck's, Mike Murphy of Ormond Beach said he wanted to purchase a tactical version of a pump action shotgun before it could get caught up in restrictions.
"They should enforce the laws they have now," the 61-year-old said. "They make sense, but we are not enforcing them."
Justin Perkins, 28, of Kissimmee agreed, but he doesn't expect any changes anytime soon.
"I think the restrictions will happen sometime in the next two or three years," he said while looking at a hunting rifle during his lunch break.
Harry Miller admitted Obama was in the back of his mind as he looked over used pistols with his wife, Joan, but they had their own reasons for shopping that day.
"We want one for protection because we travel a lot in our motor home," said Harry Miller of Edgewater. "I already have a semi-automatic (pistol)."
"But I can't pull the slide back," his 71-year-old wife said.
I listened to "Gun Talk" on XM 166 last night, and the discussions were focused on America's innate fear of what Obama and the other communists have in store for our Republic.
I just bought my wife a nice pre-owned Taurus .38 Special with a 4” barrel.
She is a beginner with guns, but after just a couple of hours on the range yesterday, she was shooting great with .22 rifle, .38 revolver, and a little .25 ACP semi-auto.
Her preference? The revolver. “It’s less complicated”.
Where in Iowa are you? I lived in Slater, Kelley and Des Moines for many years.
Been there, done that and in fact still doing that.
We live in Davenport.
Our nearest range is up the river north of Princeton, Iowa. It’s a DNR public use area. Since the election, the weekend crowds at the range have more than tripled.
Neck shot would also work well.
The founders as I understood made sure we would be an armed citizenry to keep govt. from becoming too omnipotent and oppressive.
But I assure you if you go after or against the federal govt. armed you will be incarcerated or killed.
Ya gotta believe so.
And if I shoot someone and they don’t get at least a little excited, i’m outta here.
What's a "semiautomaic assault rifle"?
Is it like a fully automatic revolver? Or is it closer to a Saturday Night black powder musket?
Consider what such liberal heroes as JFK and Hubert Humphrey had to say about the matter:
Hubert Humphrey:
“Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used and that definite rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of the citizen to bear arms is just one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.”
John F. Kennedy:
“By calling attention to a well-regulated militia for the security of the Nation, and the right of each citizen to keep and bear arms, our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy. Although it is extremely unlikely that the fear of governmental tyranny, which gave rise to the 2nd amendment, will ever be a major danger to our Nation, the amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic military-civilian relationship, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason I believe the 2nd Amendment will always be important.”
Thank you, I had never seen those quotes before, I will be using them in future debates.
Not to mention my Black 9MM and my Black 44 Mag.
I love being Patriotic. 80% of my guns are American made. Only 50% of their President is (maybe). LOL
It's fairly easy to parse this one. It's simply a shame that everything coming out of the mouths of gun control advocates has to be parsed, but I can think of no public arena where the activists are quite as much inveterate liars as gun control.
It means simply this: "We lost the federal fight in Heller so we're going to legislate at the local level." And so they will. Bambi's home town of Chicago is notorious for using this approach to achieve oppression while giving lip service to liberty. And I have yet to see a single story on the topic remind anyone of Joe Biden's record in the Senate on this issue.
The MSM are doing their part to belittle firearms purchasers as acting out of "fear and paranoia." In fact, they're acting out of common sense. They believe, and I believe, that Obama is a liar on the issue. And voting with one's pocketbook is much more revealing and sincere than marking an X on a ballot.
bump?
I already have a Stag Arms Model 2 5.56 on order. I’m going to order the 6.8 upper as well. Found one for under $475, although it will take a month or two to get it.
Gee I wonder why they’re back ordered? LOL - Actually it isn’t funny is it? What Country are we living in again?
Anyway, that should complete my arsenal. Selling my AK-47 to cover some of the cost. I’m in CA, so the AK is a scary Registered Assault Weapon. Have to sell it to an out of State buyer, since I can’t legally sell it here.
I like the feel and functionality of the AR better, although I have to give up the 30 round Magazines I have with the AK and I have to use a Bullet Button with a 10 round “fixed” Magazine on the New AR. That should make me a law abiding Citizen again, at least for now
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