Do you feel badly, Mr. and Mrs. America, knowing how much you’ve let down the leaders of nation’s gun control industry in the last few weeks? Because you really should.
All of you who are buying firearms, particularly you first-timers, have really disappointed our moral and intellectual betters in the anti-gun community.
Sure, police departments are stretched so thin that they’re letting it be known they’ll only respond to the most serious situations. That’s exactly what millions of people were concerned about when the President declared a national emergency.
But that’s also what has the Shannon Watts and Peter Amblers of the world so terrified. All of those people lining up at their local gun stores, sometimes for hours, have shown in the clearest possible terms, that Americans want to own the tools to protect themselves and their families if need be.
The fact that a huge percentage of those gun buyers have never bought a gun before — people who had previously bought into the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex’s arguments about why they shouldn’t have a firearm in their homes — absolutely horrifies the Brady Campaign, Giffords, Moms Demand Action and all the rest of them.
As a result, Brady’s panicked chief counsel and VP has had to reach back to an obscure Georgia Supreme court ruling to try to bolster his desperately pathetic argument that the Founders intended you to call the police when you’re attacked, rather than having the means to defend yourself and those you love.
As one court put it in 1874 — near the Constitutionally-relevant time of the 14th Amendment — it would be “absurd” to suppose that the framers “took it for granted that their whole scheme of law and order, and government and protection, would be a failure and that the people, instead [of] depending upon the laws and the public authorities for protection, were each man to take care of himself, and to be always ready to resist to the death, then and there, all opposers.” On the contrary, the Court went on, the Framers envisioned “a well ordered and civilized community.”
That should be our vision still, perhaps now more than ever.
We don’t know when, but we will come out of these strange, unsettling days. Coronavirus will go away. There will be a vaccine. But there is no vaccine to eliminate the very real dangers of bringing an unsecured gun in your home, and the impact on every member of that household, from unintentional injuries to domestic violence to suicide.
The heightened risk of all of those injuries that claim lives every day will be permanently increased by the actions people take today.
And when we come out of this coronavirus, we must recommit to repairing the breaches of our society and establishing a caring community in which Americans recognize we are in this together, as a nation and, indeed, a world. Stockpiling firearms is not the answer and is contradictory to the very notions of government and society upon which our nation was founded.
– Jonathan Lowy in Guns in the coronavirus age
I hope every one of the new owners gets training, and their new gun owning friends take them to the range, and maybe to a competition to enjoy!
I suspect the majority of them won’t shoot so much as a single round from their new acquisition, and when things return to normal (however long that takes), they’ll sell it back to a gun or pawn shop at a loss. Some small fraction of them will, however, take in interest in firearms.
And in the meantime, I expect a glut of near-new firearms on the market by this time next year, so prices should drop substantially.
Maybe they will sell at a loss when the current emergency passes. Or maybe they will just put it away until the next one. Training is good but lots of people, with little to no training, haul out a gun that has been untouched for decades and use it successfully to defend themselves.
^^^ This ^^^
I’ve known a few people who would never purchase a weapon. But, they have Dad’s old M-1 in the closet, or a deer rifle, or some ancient pistol, passed down to them. One guy took his pistol and his rifle out to the gravel pit every couple of years, shot up some ammo, cleaned the weapon, purchased new ammo, and stored the weapons away again. It would be extremely hard to estimate how many people in the US own a weapon, but don’t advertise the fact. They mostly just don’t care about weapons, so long as they have something to fall back on in an emergency. I don’t think any of those people are rabid Democrats, but, I can’t even know that for sure.
Either way, they’ve learned that politicians talking about how easy it is to get a gun are full of politicians.
I disagree. I think we’ll see a LOT of fresh activity at ranges across the country soon. Even if many don’t fire their guns more than once per year, they’ll nevertheless be very interested in trying out their new purchases at first opportunity once all these “social restrictions” are lifted. Prepare to see crowds at your local range.
Advocates for tactically equipped LEO’s guarding every intersection and demanding “Your papers, please” of every citizen, must be distinctly uneasy as thousands of citizens become new gun owners.
In addition to the gun rights debate, cops are now suffering Coronavirus infections in growing numbers, which removes them from policing duties. How else are citizens to defend themselves?
But sooner or later, some stupid mayor or governor is going to initiate Katrina-style home invasions. Then things will get truly interesting.
Herb, first word I get of that, the .308 and the 12-guage come out of the safe and lean up against a corner, ready for use. That may happen again, but not to me.
You are abslotely correct!
No one is going to sell their newly acquired defensive firearms.
They are going to put it in a drawer, or closet until the next scare.
Now that these people know that it is hard to get an AR or a pistol, they will know to keep it.
Take those first timers to a range when they finally open. Even to a BLM for long range practice. Show them just how much fun and exciting the world of firearms can be. We beat gun control by showing new gun owners that it’s about freedom, security and most of all, hella fun.
Too bad they don’t mandate Constitution training to go with it.
The Constitution is against mandating Constitution training.
True, but for the first 200+ years of our country’s history, it was not only taught at home, it was required reading (Civics) even in public skrewls.
So much has changed.
Precisely. “… shall not be infringed.”
One should be responsible by their own individual sense of duty and citizenship, as one should be responsible to be an informed voter, but neither near absolute inalienable right should be infringed upon.
Who fkn cares about their training….????
They can buy a weapon and they don’t need to do a dam thing….. this is America you bafoon….
No, No, NO! It is absolute proven FACT that it is literally, not virtually, IMPOSSIBLE to load a gun, point it in the direction of that person or persons who has/have made it imperative that he/she/they be shot, pull the trigger, and have a bullet/bullets proceed in the direction that the gun has been pointed without EONS of intense professional training (including a written test) conducted by brawny, steely-eyed NRA/Military/LEO instructors replete with neck-beards, baseball caps, Oakley sunglasses, and a lot of tattoos.
That, and a government permission slip.
Good one John. I recall a crime story of a guy who had a revolver in his nightstand for 30+ years probably with the same ammo he originally loaded into it. Early one morning he heard an intruder bashing his way into his home. That gave the resident time to get into his wheelchair and grab his gun. The intruder came straight at him and the resident fired twice at a distance of one or two yards. Threat neutralized.
Right here on TTASG we’ve seen multiple stories of folks with virtually no training defend themselves successfully against the bad guys. At least one was a man that had never fired a gun before his event. Another was a 91 yo with a .22.
If a new gun owner wants to take training, it is their business as to where and by whom. Plenty of training available online, at local ranges and POTG willing to help. Any training is better than none. Take the time to be of assistance to the new gun owner without appearing to force a bunch of training on them. Allow them to decide what they want after the pitch for training is presented.
when people are afraid they acquire a gun….and, right now….there’s a lot of fear out there
i am not afraid…. though i already have long arms. however i am wanting to put an application to acquire my first handgun which i have been eligible to do for a while now but not had the funds to do so till recently. Yes the system here rubs me the wrong way in a big way but the only reason i follow the rules is because i want to train and become the best i can be. If they tried to stop me altogether very different matter
So the Australian government banning everything but break action guns in .22 short would still be acceptable in your book? Not saying you should break any laws here, you understand. Just that “stop you completely” is probably further than you want to draw the line.
Also not saying you shouldn’t break any laws either though; for many gun owning Americans, Australia’s gun laws would be motive enough for armed insurrection. But knowing nothing about your situation I can’t necessarily advocate civil disobedience for you personally. I just advocate it under your political circumstances, generally.
Ah definitely not. In My book it has gone way too far already and that was a long time ago. I was a strong advocate for insurrection back when it first went down and did not comply… but could not get more ammo etc and through several things that happened the guns i had had had to be left with family who sold them on me. At that point i did not have any semi autos and would not have handed them in if i did either. I also have the skills to survive completely off grid. I am still an advocate for insurection however a one woman army wont achieve much
But but but, muh safety
Think of the CHILDREN!
Gun are very dangerous and only cops and soldiers should have them!
Also, guns are scary and icky
What to YOU need a gun for?
Ad nauseam etc
Jonathan LowLy – Brady’s panicked chief counsel clearly grasping for straws.
The heads of the anti-gun movement are now clutching their pearls so tight they will crush them into powder.
the old parable about pearls and swine comes to mind
The anti-gunners are the swine, so exactly how do they cast their pearls before themselves? Just sayin…
lol who sold the pearls to the swine 😛
Lowy is desperate to retain his cash cow of ignorance.
Great column, Dan.
Thanks, much obliged.
LOL, I nominate the photo above as a candidate for the Most Used Photo In Multiple TTAG Articles.
But agreed, another good article.
not even bigstock.
With all the power held by various gun lobby orgs, the real answer to all this rests with the American population. Too many people think that we have to have the National Rifle Association to preserve our 2nd Amendment rights. Well, the 2A is constitutional with or without the NRA. What need to be done is something that happens within the hearts of American citizens recognizing what defending yourself means. Strength that comes from rugged individualism is what stamps out socialist/communist policies and ideas. Take advantage of your rights buy owning guns and learning how to use them. We are never going to get anywhere by giving our responsibilities to someone else.
Guns aren’t going anywhere in this country. Not ever.
I don’t like the way I wrote that. Let me clarify: “Guns aren’t going away in this country. Not ever.”
Nice clarification…. the first way you wrote that seemed to indicate you didn’t want guns anywhere in the country… 🙂
Well, according to the demotaters guns kill people. Since they kill people, they must be alive and have feelings. As such, they can go anywhere in this country that they want – just like the illegal immigrants.
To HP: It was a lot better than the author’s first sentence. We learned that in journalism 101, and 5th grade grammar. Example: You feel badly because your fingers are numb and you feel bad about that.
You seem to have a lot of self-confidence in yourself.
Happy to see all the new gun owners. Fully agree with Bill Knight’s comments, above, about training and taking friends to the range.
However, I am not as optimistic as the above essay, in concluding we, the 2A crowd, have won the argument. Just because we have oodles of new gun owners, it does not mean gaggles of them will not be Fudds.
So, we stay vigilant, we hone our skills, we invite friends and neighbors to the range, and we support the 2A groups of our choice with our letters, phone calls, and treasure.
I have an organic lawn; well as much as I can when the neighbors insist on Chemlawn. Natural weed control is like fighting for the 2A; you can never declare victory, but you are never defeated, either.
We lose only when we stop fighting.
so very true mate
LifeSavor, great analogy!
i neither comdone nor dismiss a permanent solution.
mmm… comdones…
Love that analogy. Same here. I have three immaculate lawns that have been free of weeds since I installed them years ago. Why?…because my habitual routine after work each day (to balance out the sterile environment of the office cubicles) is to casually walk around my property, enjoying the scenery and keeping on top of things. Whenever I spot the sprouting of even a single weed, I stop right there, bend down, and pull it out. Always have, and have never used any chemical weedkillers as a substitute.
Defending our rights should have always been our constant vigilance. Unfortunately, despite a few voices calling us (collectively, as POTG) to action on “this” or “that” encroachment, we’ve accepted a certain quantity of weeds in our “lawn” as normal. Now we’re starting to realize the front yard is looking more like a public park’s grassy area than our original manicured lawn.
We had invasive species sweep through the neighborhood. Breathtaking how quickly it consumed our lawns. Last year, I purchased a Troy- Bilt roto tiller and began open warfare on the invaders. This year, more ‘shred and uproot the alien species’. If only we could do the same to protect our gun rights!
The real answer to all this rests with the American population. Too many people think that we have to have the National Rifle Association to preserve our 2nd Amendment rights.
The 2A is constitutional with or without the NRA. What need to be done is something that happens within the hearts of American citizens recognizing what defending yourself means.
Strength that comes from rugged individualism is what stamps out socialist/communist policies and ideas. Take advantage of your rights buy owning guns and learning how to use them. We are never going to get anywhere by giving our responsibilities to someone else.
The NRA: because fat pasty cowards who cannot get laid without paying for it need lobbyists, too!
Go fk yourself….knobgobbler lol
Really need to talk to your supervisor about getting new lines to copy and paste. This one was getting old before USA Corona panic.
NRA is simply a canary for the vicious idiots to go after. When the NRA finally gets killed, 5-million NRA members will quickly become 5-million pissed off armed citizens who will join GOA or a militia or something. In the absence of the “old NRA”, they’ll just invest more money, time, and breath in to strengthening the new version of whatever the “new NRA” becomes.
Mr. Lowy is quite mistaken when he writes: “Stockpiling firearms is not the answer and is contradictory to the very notions of government and society upon which our nation was founded.”
This nation’s war for independence began when the British tried to confiscate the “stockpile of firearms”, shot and powder from the citizens.
^^THIS^^
April 19, 1775
Note that the Battle of Lexington occurred only four weeks after Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” address to the Virginia House of Burgesses on March 23. He gave that impassioned speech because most of the delegates in the room were not initially in favor of defending their rights and reproaching the Crown. They did not believe at the time that any violence or revolution would come.
While the Brady bunch and the Moms may be back up against the fence for now, the fight for the 2A needs to be more vigorous than ever. If you haven’t already, don’t just think about sending some bucks to organization like FPC – do it now! They are the ones on the front line in the courts suing to oppose the edicts, the so-called “emergency measures” to close gun shops, as well as continuing fights on new legislation – especially at the federal level, to nullify or neuter the 2A rights. That and what LifeSavor said; take your friends and neighbors to the range (be safe while doing so) and be supportive of new gun owners – especially emphasizing training and 2A awareness.
Just joined FPC for the 1st time and bought a t-shirt for my daughter. I also gave her some self defense tips specific to her apartment and she blew through 100 rounds or so practicing shooting from a doorway or behind a kitchen counter. She’s actually quite good at it but needs more practice to pick up some speed. We’ll probably work on that next weekend but I didn’t have enough ammo for her gun to shoot anymore today got to find some more .380 somewhere!
It’s nice to be ahead of the curve for a change…
This guy (Lowery) is a complete bafoon…. and should be brought up on charges of treason…. and i’m not EVEN playing around…. these idiots want to set laws that expose americans to danger from the illegal ALIENS and ghetto criminals….
When will Americans stand up to these “people”?…… the eternal question….
“But there is no vaccine to eliminate the very real dangers of bringing a long sharp knife in your home, and the impact on every member of that household, from unintentional injuries to domestic violence to suicide.”
FIFY . This is what the British overlords used to justify dulling the ends of kitchen knives. Quit treating us like children you really can’t protect.
HA! You beat me to it. Darned British magistrates…
Dulling of kitchen knives, indeed. How else then, good sir, shall I provide for my defence of my person, should a rapscallion bent on depriving me of my property – nay, my very Breath! – enter the confines of my residence? Shall I rely on the ferocity of my wife’s Corgis to relay our displeasure at the intrusion? Shall I yell harsh vulgarities in the hopes of injuring his delicate nature and sensitivities? What then, shall you leave for me? Fisticuffs? And how, good sir, will this avail me when that intruder brings his own weapon you have removed from my employ?
A conundrum, that.
narwhal tusk.
Somebody needs to develop one that will fit in a pocket. Something like a Case narwhal tusk.
Even better, a *Colt* narwhal tusk!
All that talk about you can’t rely on the police has finally sunk in for a whole lot of folks all of a sudden. Good. Because Its always been true. Its just now coming to the “other” areas of the country that still believe the flying spaghetti monster will be there to save them.
the real benefit of all this is that people will see…in some places, at least….how hard they’ve made it to acquire a firearm…and hopefully remember…..this probably means…once they get one…they’ll be reluctant to part with it…….
We are all touched by His noodly appendage.
We must always remember, and make family, friends and acquaintances cognizant of, the fact that it is settled case law that the police have no “duty to protect” citizens. This has been addressed by SCOTUS more than once, each time with the same result; LEOs are empowered to investigate crimes, not provide protection to any particular individual.
Keep your weapons loaded and close to hand. YOU are responsible for the protection of you and yours, not some ambivalent government agency!
“…the very real dangers of bringing an unsecured gun in your home, and the impact on every member of that household, from unintentional injuries to domestic violence to suicide.”
My wife and I were happy for decades, then I bought a gun a week and half ago and brought it home today. I opened the box and my hand grasped the gun without any conscious thought.
I immediately began beating my wife with it and pointing it at her bruised face threatening to commit a murder suicide. Having never experienced these urges before, I had a moment of lucidity and secured the gun with a cable lock, in a CA DOJ approved safe, and placed the ammo in a separate locked container in the garage. The murder/suicide urges slowly faded…. Those urges are still there so long as the gun is in the house, but they are easier to control. Thank God for that 10 day waiting period. Who knows what could have happened? /sarc/
Lol….. that sounds SO UNREALISTIC AND STUPID. …
I need to keep my guns chained up lest they walk out the door of their own accord and shoot someone.
/sarc
Mr. Lowy deserves a medal for this article. He’s the Mary Lou Retton of mental gymnastics.
nadia bad at all.
The presence of firearms preserves law and order. If there arent rugged individuals willing to fight their own battles to the death then all you have is a cowardly nation of slaves ripe for the picking.
Most liberals are very gullible and I’m quite sure when things go back to normal the media will convince them to surrender their firearms and as usual the democrats will entice them with buy backs.
Half way to a full transition; that’s very hard to get started by existing gun owners. The shift in mentality was brought forth by a natural understanding of life and death. If you didn’t know how to make it real to those opposed to weapons, the virus has made them see their fragile world for what is and how easy they could lose everything if they make the fatal error of relying on others especially a government.
Now that they are half way to a full understanding, it’s the perfect time to take advantage of their open minds by helping them achieve a full transition away from powerless victim to prepared and strong individuals. For their families, for themselves. Education and proper preparedness removes fear. It feels much better to live without fear.
It really should be noted that this all takes place not long after Dicks makes the headlines for destroying large quantities of guns. Not to mention the decision Walmart made to stop selling guns and ammo.
I find it a bit funny that while Biden and O’Rourke are telling everyone that they are taking everyones guns, we then see such a massive gun buying spree all over the country.
Where is the NRA in all of this? America’s panic gun and ammo buying is what’s making the difference here. THAT’s the thing getting noticed. What lawsuit would have had any real teeth if Americans had not done that?
Just like it is liberals that do the most to pay less taxes, most of these hypocrites have a safe full of firearms in a back closet, plus accompanying ammunition, and have had for years. Count on it. Even that slimeball Bill Maher admitted he owns firearms. I guarantee you all of the Hollywood idiots are stocked up.
We must remember the liberal leftists aren’t anti gun. They own guns, and/or have hired guns. They all preach about “keeping guns out of the wrong hands”. Those of us who revere the Constitution and the bill of rights have the wrong hands. No, liberal leftist socialists aren’t against guns, they are against us.
The left doessnt hate guns. Not only do they own guns they support their agents in government be ing tooled up. They only want their enemies disarmed and criminals maybe if They get out of hand.
basically it’s the Carl Rowan syndrome….”I’m ok…it’s the other guy we have to worry about”….
I posted a couple days ago: a husband and wife neighbor of mine who enthusiastically embrace Progressive ideology purchased their first firearms a couple weeks ago “just in case” (society goes to Hell in a hand-basket).
To my surprise they purchased a handgun and an “AK-15” rifle no less! (I have not seen the rifle. My guess is that they purchased an AR-15 rifle and mistakenly called it an “AK-15” rifle.)
I was further surprised to learn that firearms are so taboo in their family that husband and wife dare not let their adult children know about their purchase.
I will train them when their personal schedules settle down.
that is a window for encouragement. we have a street in town called noyes which makes me feel less conflicted than they must justifying there actions with their kids.
i honestly feel that so many were on the fence with what seems like a bombardment of fear pumping and escalating weather diasasters that folks will retain these new purchases- not so much sell them off- and stay prepared for future events.
economy aside (i know…) the possibility remains that this bolsters the incumbent presidency and makes the nation stronger overall.
“I will train them when their personal schedules settle down.”
Big Mistake; no good will come from it. Show some Sense.
If they can’t tell their own grown children, then these are weak minded hypocritical herd sheeple.
Leftism/Feminism is based on double-standards. The rules are for thee and not for me says every Leftist/Feminist. Until women are held to the same standard as men, thereby breaking the feminist power structure, Leftism will continue to gain power.
After the panic passes there will be a hash-tag…# I over reacted or # follow us to the turn-in, because they must now make an amends and virtue-signal their panicked ‘mistake’.
Leftism/Feminism is very much a religion, a cult-ish religion, that will seek to refold these sheeple by extreme social pressure and your neighbors will (as an example), given their weakness, acquiesce.
However, maybe that is just the nature of conservatives, forever being duped by these people again and again.
well most conservatives have a mindset that is hope for and work towards the best but prepare for the worst.
doubt they’ll reveal this to their friends unless pressed…….
“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Beyond This Horizon
“But there is no vaccine to eliminate the very real dangers of bringing an unsecured gun in your home”
Um, perhaps keep it unloaded and locked up when not in use? Seems to work for 10s of millions of gun owners. Just sayin’…
Or, keep it fully loaded and out in the open, it will STILL not shoot you of its own accord. Which I did for several decades without ill effect.
Loaded and ready and available in case your kids need to get to them.
Which is exactly why we teach our kids when they are still kids.
The question is…Where will gun control zealots be should you and yours be cornered by a criminal? The answer is where gun control zealots always are…NOWHERE.
The answer is where gun control zealots always are…
Safely behind their gated communities with their armed security
As gun grabbers are Leftards,they as a majority are uneducated, un American and as the name refers Tarded,so they can’t understand why they lost from the very beginning and just try and fail over and over.
It’s not that they are uneducated or even retarded. It’s that the majority of progressive were educated in a system which taught them to not question anything that they were told.
Anything a teacher tells them must be true or the teacher wouldn’t have said so. Students are not taught critical thinking skills and are taught that the government will take care of there every want and need. Reality normally teaches people differently, but some people are incapable of learning anything new.
My local conservation club has been so busy for the last two years that they stopped accepting new members. I let my membership go because I could not get range time without waiting 3 or more hours in line, despite the fact they imposed time limits on the ranges. Luckily I have woods where I have set up my own range. With all the new gun owners public range time will get even more difficult to get. Government regulations make it a financial nightmare to open a public range , so I don’t forsee many new ranges opening any time soon.
The information of lines waiting to Buy ,say IT, Rifles,shotguns,pistols and ammunition, j.lowry .Give a good bit of proof to the fact that more&more legal citizens believe the 2nd Amendment is ment for their protection. NOT just the local police department.
Our idiot friend Lowy conveniently forgets the much more recent Supreme Court ruling that says the police don’t have a duty to protect the individual only society as a whole. With the jails being emptied, the police not making arrests and the police also having the virus we’re supposed to call them and hope they will help us? Also if society devolves into chaos there will be no police to help us and he’s totally delusional if he thinks that could never happen. He needs to shut the hell up and crawl back into his hole.
Just wait until one of these “new gun owners” is the respondent in a red flag case.
So, when did self-governance become an Overlord caste imposing their preferences on people who disagree (thus the need to impose), vs.a utility profession, codifying the agreements people make to live together sucessfully?
In the US it got traction with Presiodent Wilson, then various other incarnations of “progressives.” Socialists, doctrinaire communists, and others are of similar ilk.
In the US there were plenty of universalist utopian notions before and apart from those, but they were closed communities. Not only could you leave, but in generally they’d try to keep you out for not being good enough. This imposition on the moorlocks is something else.
Gun purchases up, crime rate down. The liberal “anti-gun” folks just can’t wrap their heads around that fact.
Not to be a dick about it but “Americans want to own the tools” isn’t an argument. There’s a laundry list of things that the majority of Americans want at some point in their life and which are still illegal and some of them are felonies to go and procure.
As long as we’re buying into The Harm Principle, which the vast majority of people are then the whole is pretty much moot because it’s an argument about what you like vs what you don’t like with the former falling into the “should be legal” category and the latter being in the “should be illegal” category with no concern for the moral or ethical implications of either placement.
The Harm Principle is the root of nearly every attack on Natural and Civil rights out there and the vast majority of people, even ardent 2A supporters, buy into it on some level. That “buy in” continues right up until the principle gets aimed at something you like and then it goes right back to the argument in my previous paragraph. At best this is a dog chasing it’s tail.
People who only now decided they’d like to have a gun aren’t exactly what I’d consider reliable support for freedom in the future.
Man, by and large Jews love them some gun control.
Which is what killed how many.. wonder why they would like it.
I’m not buying any new firearms. I’d like to sell a few at current prices but I’m afraid to leave my house. If grubhub only did weapons, I’d be in! I wish I had some more hunting ammo, especially for big birds. Maybe a shotgun reloading press…but I’ll wait a year and buy stuff at a discount. Enjoy the panic! Grubhub does delivery alcohol so I’ll be home and happy! Free beer to any uniformed first responders…I’ll just leave it on the fence rail.