This past week, I was having dinner with a couple of friends. As we were discussing the current situation, one, who is a world-renowned orthopedic surgeon, mentioned that he had just bought his first gun — he is 86 years old. Another friend at the dinner, who is a well-regarded attorney and former senior government official, allowed that he also had just purchased his first gun — but he is only 79 years old. (They both gave me permission to write about it.)
A couple of weeks back, a journalist friend told me that his wife was pressuring him to buy a gun (they have two young children and live in the D.C. suburbs). He asked for my recommendation — which he immediately followed — since neither he nor his wife knows anything about guns. There are news reports that gun sales are at record highs. I expect that many, if not most, of these sales are to people who are not “gun people” and actually dislike them — but like my three friends suddenly feel a need for them.
When you have some political activists, elected politicians and members of the news media who advocate defunding the police and at the same time claim that guns are the problem rather than criminals, most thinking people understand the real problem is with those who wish to defund the police. Almost all people — even those who have never read the U.S. Constitution — understand that there is no more basic human right than that of self-defense and will do whatever is necessary to protect their family and themselves.
Some idiot politicians and others advocate seizing guns or draconian gun control measures. No one knows for sure, but most of the estimates indicate there are many more guns than people in the United States. Fewer, law-abiding citizens are going to give up their guns or comply with the restrictions — because they, unlike their political leaders, understand that criminals do not pay attention to gun or other laws, they can no longer depend on the government to protect them and that it is very easy to acquire a gun illegally or even make a simple one. The technology has been around for a very long time and the needed tools are available anywhere, even without a 3D printer.
– Richard W. Rahn in Supporters of Black Lives Matter in denial of real-world consequences