Tread Carefully

This blog post by Bob Owens has been linked to at several gunblogging sites already, so I may be posting something you've already seen. But I think the conclusions drawn are very important. This is about Bob visiting some of his local guns hops and witnessing how the supply of guns has been wiped out. He noticed most of the local stores were doing little or no business, but then he went into a gun shop:

There were no less than six clerks working feverishly with the dozen or so customers, so I simply stepped to the side and walked the aisles. The cases of ammunition that typically lined the far wall were picked to pieces. There was a 100-round case of .50 BMG, and cases of European shotshells suitable for small game. The .223 Remington, 5.56 NATO, 7.62×39, 7.62 NATO, and 7.62x54R had sold out long ago, along with the bulk 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP.

A few pump shotguns remained along with a smattering of deer rifles, single-shots, and longer double-barreled shotguns suitable only for trap or skeet. Even the semi-automatic .22LR rifles like Ruger 10/22s were gone, along with all but one BX-25 magazine. 

The customers in the shop were picking through what remained; lever-action rifles, oddball shotguns, and the smattering of name-brand centerfire pistols. One man was attempting to trade in an antique double-barrel shotgun for something more current. 

I did speak to one harried clerk, briefly. 

They didn’t know when they’d be getting anything back in stock, from magazines to rifles to pistols. Manufacturers were running full-bore, but couldn’t come close to keeping up with market demand.It wasn’t just the AR-15s, the AK-pattern rifles, the M1As, and the FALs that were sold out. It really hit me when I realized that the World War-era M1 Garands , M1 carbines, and Enfield .303s were gone, along with every last shell. Ubiquitous Mosin-Nagants—of which every gun store always seems to have 10-20—were gone. So was their ammo. Only a dust free space marked their passing. I’ve never seen anything like it. 

Every weapon of military utility designed within the past 100+ years was gone. This isn’t a society stocking up on certain guns because they fear they may be banned. This is a society preparing for war.

snip

Tread carefully.

Of course I recommend reading the whole thing (RTWT). I just don't think a lot of people are actually thinking about what the second amendment really means and what this behavior indicates. It's not just the idea that everyone is afraid that the military style rifles will all be gone and outlawed, so everyone is jumping in to get theirs. I guess the proof, which I hope I never see, would be when our supposed master planners come to take them from us. I just really, really doubt that people think the government will be paying more than the actual value for these firearms or expecting any dividend of any sort. It's just like bread disappearing from grocery store shelves before a blizzard when there is no way that many people need that much bread for the next few days. Just getting prepared, is all.

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