Tuesday, November 20, 2012

It's not just about the guns...

The owner of the Arizona gun store who publicly posted that Obama voters can go ahead and shop elsewhere is within his rights as a private business owner to sell to whom he wishes to sell and to publicly announce this. Places of business do this all the time. 

Restaurants routinely require patrons to dress appropriately: "No shoes, no shirt, no service" is a sign we've all seen. If a testy customer gets too cranky about a returned purchase or some perceived slight at a Target store, he or she can be asked to leave, and any Target store manager can rightfully do this. 

But the underlying issue that the gun store owner is trying to address is the perception that the Obama administration --- which did nothing during its first term to affect the 2nd amendment rights of anyone and in fact increased those rights by allowing gun owners to take their guns into national parks and onto trains --- will probably do something in its second term to affect the 2nd Amendment rights of everyone

But the fact of the matter was that by the time Mr. Obama won in November 2008, the scare was already rampant and rippling right through the gun-owning world, manifesting itself in an ammunition shortage as people were convinced their "cold dead fingers" were about to be pried open by an over-active justice department coming after their guns. 

But nothing even remotely like this occurred. 

What did occur was that for months before and after that election, some calibers of ammunition were in short supply or were simply not available at all simply because people were hoarding ammo. Ammunition manufacturers had to ramp up to meet the demand. Not even home loaders could find empty brass and lead for their hobby. After it became apparent that President Obama wasn't knocking down doors to get the guns, but was, in fact, propping up gun-owners' liberties, much of that hoarded ammo found its way back to the market in the forms of weekly classified ads and gun shows, at least this was the case in New Mexico, where not a week would go by that one wouldn't see ads for hundreds if not thousands of rounds for sale... cheap.

The point is that there is a human tendency to see fire where there isn't even smoke, and the gun world certainly sees fire when they see the name of President Barack Hussein Obama. As we enter his second term, some are talking of another shortage, and folks like the Arizona gun store owner are again seeing fire without even smelling smoke. 

But I would argue this whole business is a canard, coming out of a fantasy, based on a hoax, resulting from a conspiracy, because people are using a ready-fire-aim approach, reacting without stopping to think first. This issue is not just about the guns. 

What this is about is everything else having to do with guns. 

All you have to do is look at just one catalog from any of the many big shooting-supply firms, such as Midway, Midsouth, Natchez, Gamaliel, or  Cheaper Than Dirt, to name just a few, and you'll quickly see why. These catalogs are full to overflowing with all manner of accessories, custom parts, ammunition, and anything and everything having to do with hand-guns, rifles, and shotguns for sport shooters, law enforcement, and the military. It's incredible. The after-market accessories market is enormous. It's gigantic. It's... ginormous

Ignore for the moment the actual gun manufacturers themselves and concentrate instead on the companies that manufacture the myriad after-market items. These companies alone employ tens of thousands of people in the USA. According to a 2010 report by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, this industry represents among the highest concentrations of employed American citizens taking into account all the manufacturing industries currently operating in the USA, employing close to 200,000 people and generating over $30 Billion in industry revenue and taxes paid. Although some of this industry's manufacturing output is certainly generated in other countries, what these numbers represent is that which uniquely takes place here in the USA, as the "Made in America" which is repeated on page after page after catalog page can attest

Any sentient politician (and yes, I do see the oxymoronic nature of this) who yearns for re-election would be insane, therefore, to affect any American employment at a time of such high American unemployment, yes even a Democratic president who does not face re-election, because doing so could affect a subsequent election. This might seem cynical, but it's the reality. 

This just is not going to happen. 

The macro-economics of the entire weapons industry play far too great a role and extend far too deeply into the local micro-economies in which these manufacturers operate. But many would rather demonize and obfuscate rather than see this reality. 

The gun industry is safe. Gun owners can calm down. The Arizona gun store owner can take down his sign, because if he thinks Obama voters are too stupid to own guns, then he might be too stupid to sell them if he believes any of what he fears will happen, will ever happen.

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