Poll confirms the obvious: Americans are buying guns and ammo

If you've been in a gun store or gone to a gun show since last fall, you probably already know that Americans have been in a gun-buying frenzy since roughly the time of the November elections.

I've been working in a gun store since late January and only in the last week or two has there been any sign of the frenzy slowing down a bit, but not terribly much. Say it's gone from frenzy to mild panic. Business is still quite brisk, both in Internet sales on gunbroker.com, where I do the photography, writing and posting of auctions for my shop, and in the shop and at gun shows.

So the results of a Rasmussen poll reported in the latest gunbroker.com newsletter showing Americans are in a gun-buying mood is no surprise.

A new Rasmussen poll reveals that 57 percent of American citizens believe gun sales are up over the past several months because of widespread fears that the government will tighten restrictions on gun ownership.

"The poll results confirm what we've been saying," noted Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. "American citizens are fearful that the Obama administration and a Democrat-controlled Congress will pass new laws to further erode the individual right to own firearms. This concern was further enhanced by [the July 7] ruling in Minnesota that far left anti-gunner Al Franken should be seated as a U.S. Senator representing that state, giving Democrats a 60-member majority."

The Rasmussen telephone survey found that only 23 percent of the respondents believe gun sales have risen due to concerns about rising crime. Twenty-one percent are not sure. The poll also revealed that 63 percent of male Americans and 51 percent of women believe gun sales are linked to concerns about new gun control schemes. Another finding is that 65 percent of Republicans and 66 percent of those not affiliated with either major political party think booming gun sales are connected to fears about increased government restrictions.

"Americans realize that despite all of the campaign rhetoric, Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are waiting for the right moment to spring new gun control measures," Gottlieb stated. "There is little doubt they would like to renew the ban on semiautomatic sport-utility rifles, place limits on the number of firearms someone may purchase, and maybe institute some kind of licensing and registration scheme, as Pelosi hinted during an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America.

"Wherever these measures have been tried on the local level, they have invariably failed to prevent or reduce violent crime. The Clinton gun ban failed. One-gun-a-month schemes have failed.

"How many times do you have to fail at something before you reach the inescapable conclusion that your plan isn't going to work?" he questioned. "The Rasmussen poll affirms that Americans are waking up to the Obama-Pelosi agenda, and they are stocking up for what they think is an inevitable attack on gun rights."

When the Iron Curtain fell, there was much speculation in the media about whether the eastern Europeans would stay where they were for 75 years of Communist rule or migrate to the west. Let's see, which would you choose? Freedom and free enterprise or more of the same slavery they had endured since the end of World War II? No surprise, eastern Europeans voted with their feet, streaming to the west by the millions.

So it should be no big surprise that when the Obama-Pelosi-Reid gun grabbers take power, Americans decide, "Hey, I better go buy a gun before they outlaw them ... again." The people are voting with their wallets and purses as men and women continue to flock to the gun stores.

Maybe there's so many other fish to fry they won't find time to ban guns. But I ain't betting on it and neither are many Americans, many of which are first-time gun buyers, including women.