The quote of the day is presented by Guns.com.
Say goodbye to any remaining vestiges of the “Trump slump.” 2019 is on pace to be the biggest firearm sales year in history. And America’s gun manufacturers and retailers have the Democrats running for President to thank for much of the increase in volume.
In September, former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke caused perhaps the biggest stir during a Democratic presidential debate when he called for mandatory buybacks of popular semi-automatic rifles used in some recent attacks, including the El Paso assault. That shooting left 22 dead at a local Walmart.
“Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” O’Rourke said. “We’re not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore.”
O’Rourke’s remarks drew both plaudits and rebukes. And it helped drive record gun sales at a store in Tempe, Arizona.
Matt Boggs, co-owner of Alpha Dog Firearms, said O’Rourke’s comment gave him the idea to slash prices for a weeklong “Beto Special.” He sold more than 400 firearms during the sale; typically he sells about 100 guns in a month.
“We did it because someone had the audacity to come after a U.S. citizen’s rights,” Boggs said in an interview with USA TODAY. “A lot of (military) veterans are our customers. It had a reaction.”
Two months after the gun rush, Boggs said, visitors from New York, Texas, California and other states stop by to express their support.
“We have veterans coming back from Afghanistan and Japan dropping by to say they had heard about what we did,” Boggs said.
O’Rourke is out of the presidential race, but there is no sign that gun politics will leave the stage with him. Michael Bloomberg, who has poured millions of dollars into campaigns advocating for tighter controls on firearms, formally announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination Sunday.
– Kevin Johnson in Black Friday gun deals: Background checks surge as shoppers buy in response to gun control proposals
