NICS Checks Show Gun Purchases Strong in 2014

New numbers reported by the FBI suggest that Americans may be buying firearms at a slightly higher rate in 2014 than they did in 2012, following a record number of checks during the “surge” brought on by President Barack Obama’s re-election in November 2012 and his subsequent campaign for gun control.

Because Americans bought guns at an unusually high rate in 2013, some commentators have compared the 2013 numbers to those in 2014 and on that basis claimed that gun purchases are in serious decline. However, that’s like saying that a professional football team’s offense is waning, because after racking up 30 points in the first quarter and 40 points in the second quarter, it has scored only 24 points in the first eleven minutes of the third quarter.

I know that folks love the AR/AK style rifles. I had one ‘to play with’ in the wild and wooly Southeast Asia. I had the opportunity ‘to play with’ an AK and SKS rifle, as well.

Once I came back to the Continental 48, I washed my hands of them. Why? The M16-not-A1 was a squirrel rifle to me. The AK is a .308 with a short case with ballistics near a .30-30 Winchester.

Sooooo, I went .32-20 in a lever action. I didn’t need a ‘military round’, and I didn’t desire owning a semi-automatic rifle, BTDT.

Yes, yes, yes, there will be those who would scream at me for eschewing what has become today’s answer to the iconic lever action, the semi-automatic rifle, for all the thousands of reasons that would exist. Remember, readers, I shot all three ‘frames’ for 3 years straight, and was not impressed to rush out and purchase any of the three.

Now, in these times, my lever actions are either .357 Magnums, or if I really need something, a nice guide gun, in .45-70 Government. When I see what is transpiring in the streets, I flip the coin between a .357 Magnum Remington factory load favored by Bill Jordan, that does well on coyotes to over 85 yards, or a Winchester factory load of a 405 grain flat point bullet, originally designed for trap-door muskets. If either one is ever employed in such a fashion, I am sure that either one would be “ a streetsweeper”.

Dear red,

I did NOT write what I wrote, for your ‘conversion’!

I did NOT write what I wrote, as a sales piece!

First, you started your reply with the word, ‘sorry’. That makes it obvious that you reply with apologetics. I suggest you change that. A man does not apologize for what he says, thinks, or holds true, no matter wha the thought police wish you to think, period.

Second, you interjected the idea of a ‘bolt action’ gun. whether it be by lever, a pull-back, or a spring, a rifle has a ‘bolt’ as part of it’s functioning. I spoke about lever-action rifles, only, if you re-read my posting.

FYI, the Henry lever action rifle WAS used for ‘self-defense’, in the American Civil War. The Winchester lever-action rifle Model 1866, also called Yellow Boy, did the duties of vittles gathering and defense. That was the first of many designs to follow, but still performing the same duties. So, the lever action has been well-proven in the field, for over 140 years. The M16/AR/M4 design has only been around for 1/3 of that time.

The first generation ‘M16-no-a1’, that I used in Southeast Asia, was a piece of crap. It was ammnition-sensitive, and poorly designed for the muck and mud, never mind the darn thing was made with ‘plastic’, as has the design continued till today.

You can keep your semi-auto toys, with your multi-round detachable magazines, which I am sure you entertain yourself with.

I prefer the economy of rounds fired. I believe that either a .357 Magnum, 125 grain/158 grain. or a .45 caliber, 405 grain projectile, will do whatever duty I assign to it, well.

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