Coronavirus gun buying surge
AP Photo/Keith Srakocic
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Here’s a news snippet that’ll warm your gun-loving heart. According to Fox Business, New Yorkers bought more than twice the number of guns in June, 2020 than they did the same month last year. Specifically, there was a 121 percent increase in gun sales in that one-month stretch.

The exact breakdown was a total of 52,252 background checks. 31,003 of those checks were for New Yorkers looking to buy long guns and 11,585 were for handgun purchases. One store owner, a guy by the name of Cliff Pfleger, said he sold nearly nine months worth of inventory over two months. That’s pretty awesome.

“When the original COVID scare started in the beginning of March and people thought they might get laid off, at that point we saw a huge surge,” Cliff Pfleger, the owner of [Long Island Gun Source], told the paper. “We sold out of almost everything we had in the store.”

“We had lines continuously, even though we didn’t have things to sell. The people who are coming to the store — a lot of them were first-time firearm purchasers, and they obviously did not apply or have a handgun license.”

Here’s where the story they reported goes sideways.

Apparently June was also a particularly bloody month for New York City. Multiple sources reported shootings rocketing to 205 total for the month of June, compared to 89 shootings a year back (that’s a 130.3 percent jump).

Here’s what else Fox Business reported:

The Big Apple saw 205 shootings in June, the bloodiest June in 24 years.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis estimated that an extra 2.1 million guns sold nationwide between March and May this year are linked to 776 gun-related injuries that would not have occurred without the sales spike.

“During the coronavirus pandemic, an acute increase in firearm access is associated with an increase in firearm violence,” the researchers wrote.

Here’s the thing all these super-ethical journalists either flat-out do not understand or choose to ignore: guns are inanimate objects. People control those objects. Violence begets violence. And with all the protests and bored criminals out there since the pandemic went full-tilt and civil unrest and the move move to defund the police began, it’s no surprise whatsoever that crime is on the rise.

The increase in crime has absolutely nothing to do with gun sales and everything to do with everyone and their brother having too much time on their hands. We can find a correlation to this in domestic violence cases increasing…it isn’t because people suddenly became abusive, it’s because people are trapped in houses like never before.

Violent people are acting violently and because their worlds have narrowed down to a smaller focus, smaller victim pool, and higher stress level, hello crime.

gun store sales
(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

As for those gun-related injuries, well, people need training. I’m never for government getting involved in our gun business so no, I do not support mandatory training. But I do believe we as an industry should be pushing harder on the training front and gun stores should do a better job attempting to educate customers.

I have news for you if you’re a new gun owner: just because you were in the military doesn’t make you an expert and “I grew up around guns” also doesn’t mean you know what you’re doing. Your third cousin’s 12 gauge shotgun doesn’t make them an expert, either. Guns take training, so get trained.

It’s great that gun sales are soaring and I hope there’s an increase in people seeking proper training as well (yes, that’s an optimistic thought, but it would be nice). How are sales and training looking in your area?

 

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61 COMMENTS

    • when the pandemic hit people were afraid law enforcement wouldn’t be able to respond because of staff shortages…turns out that’s happening anyway…but for different reasons

    • Can do:

      In NY (state; city is some other thing that I avoid and know nothing of), long guns can be purchased with no permit, etc. Easy to get, with no waiting periods and NICS check.

      No private transfers without NICS check.

      NY has an (asinine) magazine capacity limit of 10rds on all guns, with some exceptions for higher capacity .22LR tube magazines and things like that.

      NY has “assault rifle” restrictions based on pistol grips and other scary features (flash hiders, collapsing stocks, etc.), such that standard stocked AR and AK platforms aren’t really available. These platforms are available in odd stock configurations with minimal extra features. You can also buy same-class weapons in configurations that sidestep these restrictions, like Mini-14 etc.

      NY has a very aggressive pistol permitting regime that is defined and enforced county by county. This means that standards can be stricter or looser, depending on which county you live in. For my permit, I had to apply, get fingerprints, pay a fee, provide a reason for needing a pistol, interview with law enforcement, take a safety course, and provide affidavits from four character references who 1) aren’t family, 2) live in my county, 3) aren’t law enforcement, 4) would be eligible to own a firearm. After all this, a judge rules on whether you can exercise your 2A rights with a pistol or not (sigh). It takes about six months. They will try to make it take longer, but the law requires six months, so if you hassle them right at about 5 months and three weeks, your permit will magically appear.

      The permit is both a CCW and required to own a pistol at all. So you can’t forgo all this if you want to own a pistol but not carry. few people bother with the hassle, which is the point, obviously.

      Odd quirk: you can buy and own an antique type black powder pistol or revolver with no permit, but if you buy the equipment to load and shoot it, you must permit it.

      Some judges (remember the county thing) append “restrictions” to permits, e.g. for range use only, etc. These are not written into NY law, so you can’t be arrested for violating them (FYI, I am not a lawyer!!!!!!!!!) but you could make a judge mad and get your permit revoked if caught.

      No open carry (and be careful about printing, etc. as people here are not cool with guns, and some cops will look for a reason to call an innocent print brandishing).

      Carry restricted in gov’t buildings, state parks (because Proconsul Cuomo says so), and schools (fewer restrictions than some much better 2A states, weirdly).

      Some pistols and rifles aren’t available because they have threaded barrels or other features that are considered “bad” (e.g. fun and good).

      No weird ammunition restrictions like NJ (but there might be some for armor piercing or incendiary that I don’t know about – I’ve never checked).

      No NFA items.

      No need to declare carrying when pulled over.

      Duty to retreat before using pistol in self-defense (no stand your ground here). No written castle doctrine, but generally defensive shootings at home are treated as such (your mileage may vary depending on circumstances, LE, and DA; keeping things vague ensures we proles know our place).

      Summary: once you GET a gun, you are pretty unrestricted about carrying it or using it, but getting it is the thing. Upstate NY is fairly hunter friendly, but quite grudging about most other firearms uses. FUDD territory for sure.

      Someone else can do hunting laws here; I don’t hunt and don’t really know!

      • Oh, forgot one: every pistol you own must be listed by serial number on your permit. So buying a pistol means visiting your county clerk/local sheriff/whatever to get the pistol added. This process varies by county quite considerably.

      • NY Lawyer here – NYS has an actual castle doctrine in Article 35.
        No duty to retreat INSIDE your home.
        In your driveway, on your lawn, etc – you must retreat to INSIDE the house.

    • Even upstate in 2002 , I needed 5 references of good character, 2 sets of fingers cards and 2 passport photos for a pistol permit, for the high honor of being to even buy a pistol. Now for a CCW, I needed a Virgin, a goat, the skull of 1 year old duckbill platypus which could only be sacrificed the alternative leap year on the 29th of February. If the mighty lord aka local judge deemed me unworthy, I could try in another 8 years.

    • In NY, you apply for a State license but the license is issued by each individual country and the process varies by county. Most are either issued by the county PD, sheriff or by a judge. You have to provide notarized affidavits from four non-family members who attend to you are of “good moral character”.

      After submitting your application, and a host of other arbitrarily requested paperwork, you will likely wait at least a year for an interview. Depending on how that goes, you may be approved in about a month. If you’re denied, you may never apply again. Sometimes, if you are likely to be denied, they will tell you in the interview (or before) and allow you to pull the app.

      Most licenses are “restricted” or Sportsmans licenses. You may only CC from your home to a range. That’s it. I think there may be a few counties upstate that will issue unrestricted licenses but I’m not sure.

      That’s about as crash as I can make it.

        • Legally no but there is the thought through people’s minds that they are accepting liability. All designed to discourage applying.
          If denied for a permit do they report it to NCIS? If you leave NY and apply for a permit elsewhere does the denial come back to haunt you?

          Select your county carefully should you move to N.Y..

      • Blammo!!

        Everything that you stated is consistent with what I have heard from New York residents.

        Assuming that your characterization is accurate (and I totally believe that it is), that means none of the New York residents who purchased those handguns were impulse first-time buyers.

        Having just said that, I suppose it is possible that a handful of people obtained their handgun licenses a long time ago “just in case”, never got around to actually purchasing a handgun, and suddenly ran out to purchase their first handgun. And I put that number at the same number of New York City residents who drink straight out of the Hudson River on a daily basis.

        I don’t know about long guns: can New York residents go purchase their first long-gun without any previous vetting, permitting, and/or licensing?

        • No, nobody gets a pistol license “just in case”. Overwhelmingly, most recent sales at LGSs were rifles and shotguns. Except for the 5 boroughs, all you need to buy a long gun is a NICS check. In NYC, you have to apply for a long gun permit and then register it with the NYPD.

      • Cortland County is 2A friendly and issues unrestricted permits. Still a hefty process to get it done though. (No regular old state permit is valid in NYC, FYI)

  1. “…I have news for you if you’re a new gun owner: just because you were in the military doesn’t make you an expert…”

    It certainly doesn’t hurt either..especially combat arms MOSs.
    ~just sayin

  2. Meanwhile, Mayor Groot Beetlejuice Lightfoot in Chi-ka-go is pounding the podium once again, blaming last weekend’s gun deaths on…guns. I guess nobody was holding, aiming, and pew pewing them when the bullets came out the end that goes bang?

  3. Crime up in NYC.
    Clearly the fault of some guy in Buffalo buying a rifle.
    Not the fault of the geniuses who dumped a bunch of felons on the street or who cut back the police presence.
    Nope. Its all that fuckers fault up in Buffalo for buying a gun.

    This is the shit I’ve had my fill of and then some.

    Shit in your shoes all you want. Don’t blame me for it.

      • As long as they stay in their ghetto-dump-zoos, I’m fine with it.
        Burn it down, shoot all the windows out – who cares.
        Urban jungles are hellscapes.

  4. Police and the community have a social contract. We the people (including POPO), need to get these streets back. Many theories, including “broken windows” that can have a huge impact on crime. Robert Peel and others from history had the right idea for community policing, involvement and respect. (Solar, P. 2019).

    • You might want to wait on that prediction until after the Nov. election. Angry people show up and vote, and they are plenty unhappy…

      • Angry people also found a “country” but forget to pack a sandwich for the afternoon or fresh undies for the next day… then they complain about racism from cops and let their “security forces” murder black teens.

      • I was speaking of the current battle and with unprecedented arms sales, you don’t think they have lost the hearts and minds battle, all the new gun owner numbers would say differently.

  5. Hmmmmm….

    New York state announced it will sue the NRA into oblivion. Now gun sales in that same state have more than doubled!

    Clearly, the population is arming-up to defend the NRA.

    As long as the Left is sputtering unsubstantiated correlations, I thought we should do the same.

    Any others?

  6. 776/2,100,000 = 0.000369.

    0.037%

    Assume all of these accidents are in the 40% or so of nubs. 776/840,000 = 0.000923

    0.092%

    Make of that whatever you will.

      • And I bet you too fat fucks believe you will be the tip of the spear. Typical delusional keyboard warriors.

        • It is being brought to a neighborhood near you by the anarchist Left,,unless yo’ve been under your rock or your moms basement.
          Too would be two but what can one expect to come out of government education centers.

        • Oh and “yo’ve” is usually spelled “you’ve.” Okay I am done, I am getting a headache.

        • Yeah us fat fucks are no match for those crack antifa troups.
          Just send them into the burbs. Make sure name, next of kin, organ donor status and address are written on their arms.

  7. Blammo,
    In Republican counties, mostly upstate, you can get a concealed carry permit with no problems, just don’t be in a democratically city upstate. The county judges issues the permit.

    • This. Everyone I know who wants a permit has one. Almost all of those people have unrestricted permits as well. The process in place in New York is stupid but people love to embellish on it, maybe out of anger. I know of jurisdictions where the whole process only takes a few weeks. Even in Erie County, where Buffalo is, it’s apparently been shaved down to only a few months.

  8. Everyone, EVERYONE in NY that’s serious about the Second Amendment, has bought an AR lower and built is as they saw fit since 2013. No compliance. Still ordering live ammo and 30 rounders online from sites that ship with no questions asked. EVERYONE is still doing it. It’s not like it can be enforced.

  9. I get more looks from people when I carry a big boned handled knife then I do carrying a gunm. It seems they’re more intimidated or concerned about the knife. I kinda get a sideways glance, like my pants are unzipped and I’m giving birth to a baby elephant, with the gunm. I did have a little kid the other day say” Look mommy, he’s got a gunm.” She gave me the unzipped pants look.

  10. My part of Ny for a pistol permit you fill out some forms , two, photos , get finger printed, need 4 References ,who they call and ask basic questions .

    I’ve had my carry permit for 35 years or so, wife has hers, our two daughters got theirs,5 and two years ago . Half a day or filling out forms and getting the prints and so, then wait 3-6 months . I’ve been a reference for countless others , get a call from PD or Sheriffs office , shoot the sh!t with them for two minutes , that’s about it . No interview other then a short phone call after they call references .

    No classes to take ,they were good for life , now after the safe act , you do a simple renew every five years .

    No notarized anything, no “ sportsman license “ full concealed carry . Some judges in some counties put those sportsman restrictions on the permit ,but it’s still a full carry license as far the law goes ,its administrative only .

  11. “guns are inanimate objects.” So are Antifa and Burn Loot Murder.

    “Violence begets violence.” Violence ends violence if you do it right.

  12. “Even upstate in 2002 , I needed 5 references of good character, 2 sets of fingers cards and 2 passport photos for a pistol permit, for the high honor of being to even buy a pistol.”

    New York ??????? Hahahahahahaha……what a bunch of nerdy, scared, mentally atrophied group of libtards. Why do people live there anyways (and vote in those shining examples of mediocrity)?

    I LIVE IN A MORE NORMAL STATE, AND CITY, AND COUNTY…
    Usually a 20 to 30 second NICS, and I’m good to go.

    Crappy character? Good to go…..
    Shaved off fingerprints? Good to go…..
    No one will vouch for you? Good to go…..
    No Pisspot photos? Good to go….
    Wanna buy 5 at a time?’ Good to go….

    Some of my neighbors are liberals, but, OH THE HORROR, they ALL have guns…
    When you hear gunshots here (quite often), It doesn’t mean someone is looting, rioting or dying, just having fun in the forest…. 🙂

  13. “Researchers at the University of California, Davis estimated that an extra 2.1 million guns sold nationwide between March and May this year are linked to 776 gun-related injuries that would not have occurred without the sales spike.”

    What does that mean, exactly, to be “linked to” gun injuries? Did these researchers trace the provenance of 776 guns back to specific firearms sold during between March and May of this year, or are they just making a leap from correlation to causation? Are all gun related injuries shootings? Possibly includes people showing up at the walk in clinic with sore wrists from too much range time!

    Either way, I’m impressed. Alternative headline would be: “Less than 0.04% of guns sold from March to May were linked to gun-related injuries.” Or even better: “More than 99.9% of guns sold in record breaking period of March to May have been used completely safely by their new owners.”

  14. My recreational firearm sales are up for the same period. Most new buyers are now getting CC permits and buying hand guns for stress relief.

  15. I live in New York City. I applied for a rifle license in July last year. In November, I touched my finger and I haven’t given it to me until now.

  16. It’s driven by more than non-protection from goblin hordes.

    Pople in N Y might be concerned their gov is gonna send tooled-up guardsman to appropriate their respirators, or force infectious Covid Mary’s into nursing homes.

    If they’re *actually trying to kill u n yours by force*, the calculus of resisting changes.

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