President Elect Obama Boosts Firearms Market

I've been doing a lot of shooting at the range the past few months. Even before my career in law enforcement I enjoyed target shooting. I don't cling to my guns, but I do use a modified Weaver stance and grip.

Recently I decided to cut some of my expenses and bought a progressive reloader to manufacture my own ammunition. Last weekend I went on a shopping trip to buy components to manufacture my favorite round, the .45 ACP.

I'd heard that a lot of guns were being sold since the election, but I had no idea that even reloading supplies had been flying off the shelves at an astonishing rate. A trip to multiple gun stores ended in futility as I came away with the last 100 round bag of .45 ACP brass in stock at my local Cabelas. They were completely out of large pistol primers and powder. I did manage to pick up 100 jacketed hollow point bullets, but hard ball target bullets were also not to be found in any of the stores.

Everywhere I went it was the same story. People were buying up handguns, ammunition, and reloading supplies, fearing that the new age of Democrat supremacy in the federal government will soon target the firearms industry with massive tax hikes, or worse, out right bans, including but not limited to the resurrection of the assault weapons ban.

For a life long shooting hobbyist like me, it was frustrating. The stores have raised prices, but the real gouging hasn't started yet.

For the firearms industry, it is a massive windfall. This time of year typically brings an increase in sales because hunting season is beginning for most types of game in North America. I don't hunt. I probably should, since I understand that if it weren't for hunters, we would have whitetail and mule deer in our living rooms (live ones, not the kind hanging over the fireplace) and the back seats of our cars. (Come on, guys/gals, just admit you get a thrill from tracking down and killing an animal or you just like the taste of wild game. It's a primeval manly need, and nothing to be ashamed of. No need to make up excuses).

The fear of an assault on the second amendment has added to the typical hunting season sales increase and created a shortage for the average hobbyist. I spoke with my buddy at a north Dallas gun store who told me the only time he's ever seen more handguns leave his shelves in such a short amount of time was the week after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Of course, it would be a cheap shot to say that the new Democrat victory has had the same effect on portions of American society that the terrorist attacks of September 11 had, so I'll just keep that to myself. Jury, you will disregard the previous sentence and not consider it in any deliberations.

Hopefully the big dogs in the firearms industry are putting some of their windfall profits back for legal contingencies. In the coming four years they will likely need to pay high power attorneys to represent them all the way to the Supreme Court in order to stay in business.

Meanwhile, Bible sales remain fairly flat. If only Obama would threaten to tax or ban Bibles, we could evangelize the entire nation and ensure the profitability of religious bookstores.

It is gratifying to see the President Elect having such a positive impact on this small portion of the economy, even before he's served a single day in the Oval Office!