KENOSHA, WI – Reports are now coming in that citizens in and around the city and nationwide are stocking up on firearms to protect themselves and their families. Gun sales are skyrocketing.
A gun shop in Wyoming has seen an increase in sales and has expanded into a bigger location. https://t.co/oNyhDaTsB1
— The Citizens’ Voice (@CitizensVoice) August 28, 2020
The riots that occurred for the first few nights after the Kenosha officer-involved shooting have residents alarmed and uneasy.
And they have good reason to be: historical buildings burned down, businesses destroyed, people getting attacked. Mostly in the names of Black Lives Matter. After all, nothing says racial justice more than burning down a 100-year-old building and stealing items from stores.
According to TMZ, Joseph LaJoy, the owner of LaJoy Precision Inc. in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, says he is sold out of his entire stock, every type of firearm and ammunition. LaJoy said that the majority of people who purchased firearms were those who had never owned a firearm before and were seeking ways to protect their homes.
Other stores also have reportedly had the same situation occur to them in and around Kenosha. People seem to be buying firearms and ammunition out of fear of what the rioters will do if they start attacking residential areas, as they have in Portland, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
And they are not alone.
Fox News reported at the beginning of the month that the number of first-time gun buyers has soared since the onslaught of the riots in May. It reported that 2.5 million people purchased firearms licenses and were waiting for their firearms to be delivered because they had been on backorder due to the increase in purchases.
Jim Curcuruto, the former Director of Research and Market Development for National Shooting Sports Foundation, reported that the first six months of the year were “unlike any other year for firearm purchases – particularly by first-time buyers – as new NSSF research reveals millions of people chose to purchase their first gun during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The law of unintended consequences. Combine a pandemic with riots and talk of defunding the police and you end up with an increase in gun sales of 40% to 1st time buyers. I wonder how this will affect the election? https://t.co/f5cra1PiFk
— Rob Rastetter (@RobRastetter) August 27, 2020
Curcuruto said:
“Approximately 90 percent of retailers reported an increase in firearm and ammunition sales during the first half of 2020 versus the first half of 2019. How big are those increases? Responding retailers noted that they are seeing a 95 percent increase in firearm sales and a 139 percent increase in ammunition sales over the same period in 2019.”
High Point, North Carolina resident Gabrielle Gray told Fox that she had received a gun permit in December, but did not purchase one right away. However, in July, she decided to buy a handgun.
Gray told Fox:
“Times are getting bad right now. Of course, it’s good to make sure that you protect yourself.
“And also, I’ve gotten into politics recently and I learned my rights. Crime is rising, I feel like people are getting more bold to do more things now.”
Another firearm buyer, who did not wish to be named, said that he was buying a gun because he did not want to be “defenseless” because of the ongoing rioting and increased violent crime. He said:
“We also purchased a Taser, pepper spray, and stun gun in hopes that we would never have to use any of them, especially the firearm.”
In addition to increases in the purchasing of guns, there are also increases in the demand for firearm training.
TJ McDermott, a co-owner of a New York City-area training facility, Paladin Center, said that some classes are selling out soon after they are posted. He said:
“[It is] to the point where we’re putting multiple classes on a month – classes that we would normally schedule maybe quarterly or once every four months, we’re now doing multiple times every month.”
One of the company’s firearm instructors, Marilyn Miller, said that she has been instructing people who had never thought of purchasing a firearm before. Miller said:
“I went from a couple of students a week to probably at least a dozen a week. Couples are bringing their kids, ages 14, 15, 16, all the way up to their 20s and want them all to know how to use the same gun that they’re going to keep in the house.”
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Biden and Harris make no mention of gun control in recent speeches – as millions of Americans buy firearms (op-ed)
Over the last several months, Americans across the country have poured into gun stores, setting gun sale and background check records for nearly seven straight months.
What is unusual is that the normally loud and vocal gun-control leftists are suddenly silent.
Hawkins: Leftists Go Silent as Americans Choose Guns over Gun Control https://t.co/vCu1tveVDa
but make NO mistake. IF Democrats get elected, they WILL implement unconstitutional GUN CONTROL!
— Kerr Mckrackin 🇺🇸 (@KMckrackin) September 1, 2020
Award-winning Second Amendment columnist, AWR Hawkins, recently gave an example of leftist Joe Biden and his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
Allegedly, Biden spent months on his campaign trail promising universal background checks, an “assault weapons” ban, and a “high capacity” magazine ban.
Biden even went as far as to support government-mandated buyback programs for certain firearms, however, he did not mention gun control at all during his DNC acceptance speech. Below are some excerpts from his speech:
“No generation ever knows what history will ask of it. All we can ever know is whether we’ll be ready when that moment arrives. And now history has delivered us to one of the most difficult moments American has ever faced.”
“More than 170,000 Americans have died. By far the worst performance of any nation on Earth. More than 50 million people have filed for unemployment this year.
More than 10 million people are going to lose their health insurance this year. Nearly one in six small businesses have closed this year.”
“One of the most powerful voices we hear in the country today is from our young people. They’re speaking to the inequality and injustice that has grown up in America. Economic injustice. Racial injustice. Environmental injustice.”
The Atlantic & “democrats” can take their “new normal” & stick it where the sun never shines. If they want to live in a disarmed country, they can leave the USA.
The Atlantic: Democrats’ Embrace of Gun Control the ‘New Normal’ https://t.co/Afsuvi7HG0
— Michael J. Fell (@MichaelJFell) September 1, 2020
Nothing at all was said about gun-control or about any type of gun-control push, policy, or initiative. Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris also did not mention gun control during her August 19, 2020 DNC acceptance speech. Below are some excerpts from her speech:
“I know a predator when I see one.”
“And while this virus touches us all, let’s be honest, it is not an equal opportunity offender. Black, Latino, and Indigenous people are suffering and dying disproportionately. This is not a coincidence. It is the effect of structural racism.”
“Joe will bring us together to build an economy that doesn’t leave anyone behind. Where a good-paying job is the floor, not the ceiling. Joe will bring us together to end this pandemic and make sure that we are prepared for the next one.”
“Joe will bring us together to squarely face and dismantle racial injustice, furthering the work of generations.”
The fact the rioting, looting, arson, and assault is happening largely in historically Democrat controlled districts and even in some with their gun control is pretty much the opposite of President Trump creating it.
It’s a total Dem collapse and failure across the board.
— Darrin Vernier (@gphxgphx) September 1, 2020
Again, not a single mention of gun control policy or initiatives. The closet Harris came to mentioning anything about gun control was the fact that Biden worked hard to secure the Assault Weapons Ban back in 1994, almost 26 years ago.
When Harris was campaigning she pushed over and over for universal background checks and government-mandated buyback programs. Yet, when she spoke at the DNC she did not share any such message.
According to reports, back on July 14, 2019, Harris pledged to go around Congress to secure gun control via executive action if Congress refused to support her strict gun control agenda.
Biden said Beto would be in charge of gun control in his admin, and:https://t.co/8XDtzhn7Ff
— Eli Levine, already knows how to code (@Eli_A_Levine) September 1, 2020
Then in September 2019, Harris vowed her support for government mandated buybacks of AR-15 rifles. Allegedly, at the time she had’t worked out all the details, but said, “I think it’s a good idea.”
Harris has gone on record voicing support for universal background checks and prohibiting rifle purchases for 18-20-year-olds.
Do you understand that the unconstitutional gun control laws you are proposing will have the direct impact of preventing poor people from defending themselves?
— Masked Avenger (@MaskedAvenger20) August 31, 2020
Harris is also opposed to allowing teachers to be armed for classroom defense. Back in April 2019, Harris said in a tweet:
“We need to give teachers a raise, not guns.”
Oddly enough, a few days later, Harris admitted that she owns a gun to keep herself safe. She said to reporters:
“I own a gun for probably the reason that a lot of people do: for personal safety.”
Back in February 2020, Biden used an entire speech in South Carolina to warn gun manufacturers. He said:
“I’m going to take you down.”
Hawkins also makes mention that in addition to Biden and Harris being quiet on the issue, many once vocal Hollywood elites have also grown more silent on gun control.
It is unclear why many once loud, vocal Democrats have stopped pushing their gun control agenda.
“Harris proclaimed that if she was elected president, she would enact gun control with or without the support of Congress.” https://t.co/hfeMJiDiA5 #Ladsongunshop #summerville #goosecreek #charleston
— Allied Arms (@allied_arms) August 31, 2020
As Hawkins puts it, maybe its the endless videos of riots in Democrat-run cities where violent people are attacking innocent people or maybe it is the seemingly endless violence in Democrat-run Chicago and New York City or the exhausting, relentless war on law enforcement.
Maybe it is a combination of it all, but regardless, with the presidential election practically two months away, some might wonder if gun control is going to be an initiative for the leftists at all.
Running on gun control did not bode well for the Democrat presidential ticket back in 2016.
Maybe this new-found silence of Biden and Harris as well as many other leftists is them indicating that they know gun control is not a winning topic in 2020 either.
Here is another article from Law Enforcement Today about Harris and her alleged gun control policies:
Flashback: Last April, 2020 presidential hopeful Kamala Harris pledged to use an executive order to take swift action on gun control if Congress didn’t ‘get their act together’ in the first 100 days of her presidency.
The California Democrat appeared on a town hall on CNN where she gave her powerful stance on the Second Amendment.
Harris has taken an aggressive stance on gun control. (Flickr)
“Upon being elected, I will give the United States Congress 100 days to get their act together and have the courage to pass reasonable gun safety laws, and if they fail to do it, then I will take executive action.”
The Democrat has been a tough proponent on gun laws during her time in office. Her website for President at the time condemned the current administration and promises universal healthcare, debt-free college, and protection for illegal immigrants in the United States.
“Where reproductive rights are not just protected by the Constitution of the United States but guaranteed in every state,” says Harris’s website.
Evidently certain aspects of the Constitution are to remain protected and untouched while we dig away at another section entirely…
Sen. Kamala Harris says if she is elected President, she will give Congress 100 days “to get their act together and have the courage to pass reasonable gun safety laws, and if they fail to do it, then I will take executive action” https://t.co/KFdn5Viqm1 pic.twitter.com/jVZvDjmVZR
— CNN (@CNN) April 23, 2019
“And specifically, what I will do is put in place a requirement that for anyone who sells more than five guns a year, they are required to do background checks when they sell those guns.
I will require that for any gun dealer that breaks the law, the ATF take their license. … And then, on the third piece, because none of us have been sleeping over the last two years, part of what has happened under the current administration is they took fugitives off the list of prohibited people.
I’d put them back on the list, meaning that fugitives from justice should not be able to purchase a handgun or any kind of weapon.”
Harris said that the gun issue had become overly political, and that lawmakers should be forced to sit behind closed doors and look at photos from the Sandy Hook massacre.
“I think somebody should have required all those members of Congress to go in a room, in a locked room, no press, no one, nobody else, and look at the autopsy photographs of those babies,” Harris said at the time. “And then you can vote your conscience. This has become a political issue.”
Following Trump’s National Emergency declaration at the southern border of the US, prominent lawmakers used the logic as an opportunity to declare how they would use the same tactic to enact strict gun legislation.
Kamala Harris would consider allowing Boston Bomber to vote pic.twitter.com/acIu1JhWMM
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) April 23, 2019
Our government is a system of checks and balances – but when it comes to executive orders – should there be limits to protect the decisions of the people?
One thing is for sure… when Democrats try to unseat President Trump in 2020 they will be met with the voices of millions of Americans who still care about protecting the freedoms that our forefathers died for.
Here’s another question for Harris. Why change all of these laws if they’re not being enforced? We recently published a submission from an officer about his outrage regarding liberal judges releasing dangerous criminals back on the streets.
Did you hear the one about the gangbanger caught with a stolen handgun that got off with writing an essay and an early bedtime as his punishment?
I’d like to say I’m making this up. But when I was scrolling through the news, sure enough – there it was.
The headline read, ‘Judge frees gang member, orders him to write report on gun violence’.
The teen was found with a gun reported stolen in Chicago. (Courtesy Robert Weisskopf)
Admittedly, I almost spit my coffee out. Thought maybe it was a satirical article from The Onion. But nope, totally real.
The article reported that Judge Ellen Edwards from Brooklyn rejected a $25,000 bond request for the 18-year-old after he was caught with a handgun. It was loaded too, and apparently reported stolen back in Chicago.
Instead of approving that request, Edwards gave the teen an 8 p.m. curfew and is making him write a report on gun violence in the community.
Are you sh–ting me? Is this high school? Is Edwards nothing more than a principal trying to instill a lesson on an impressionable youth?
Let me tell you something about this kid. He’s a gangbanger. Member of the “G Stone Crips”. He’s not going to suddenly see reason and change his whole life. We can hope for that… but let’s be honest. Not gonna happen.
The G Stone Crips are a Brooklyn-based gang. (Screenshot – YouTube)
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the best part.
He’s got priors. 4 of them, in fact. They’re all sealed due to his age, but two of the cases involved GUN POSSESSION. Not a red flag or any sort of indicator about whether he learns from experience…
Judges are now so out of touch with what’s really going on in the streets.
One of my brothers catches this kid with a gun, gets him off the street. Good. One less punk to worry about.
Judge frees gang member, orders him to write report on gun violence https://t.co/a9MKA01DnI pic.twitter.com/TXbnQtTAUJ
— New York Post (@nypost) April 21, 2019
But now this kid is gonna be back out there – and when he shoots and kills someone – that’s on you.
You hear me, Judge Edwards?
That blood will be on YOUR hands.
I understand jails are crowded.
I understand that we need to reevaluate certain aspects of the criminal justice system.
But why are we letting dangerous people back into the communities that we protect with nothing more than a slap on the wrist? Let’s maybe start talking about going easier on non-violent offenders… not the ones caught with loaded guns.
Bart Simpson writing lines on the chalkboard was more a punishment than this, and I’m pretty sure he never did anything involving a firearm.
A message for judges across America: stop letting dangerous people back in public. Stop putting me and my fellow officers at risk by handing out ridiculous sentences. Stop allowing our country to fall into lawlessness. Because when things inevitably go wrong… it’s going to be on you.
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