Monday, December 5, 2011

U.S. Gun Sales Set Black Friday Record

According to Time,  background checks for gun sales surged 32 percent on Black Friday, setting a new sales record:

The agency saw 129,166 requests for the instant background checks required for all firearm buyers. The previous high was Black Friday 2008, which drew 97,848 requests.
That's an interesting coincidence;  while I grew up around firearms, I never owned one until November 2008 when I purchased my first handgun.  That was when I had my first "great awakening" that our society was in for trouble ahead and I began thinking about how I was going to defend myself and my family.

While the article does a decent job of presenting both sides, Time does go out of its way to say gun ownership is somehow decreasing in our country.  Huh?

In 1997, 40% of American households owned guns, and in 2004, the last time a widespread survey was conducted, only 36.5% did. While sellers did report a surge in sales after Obama’s election in 2008, concerned that their gun rights would change, the trend tapered off. Can this latest wave of gun sales blast sellers back into profitability?

This boggles my mind.   Gun sales set records and ownership is decreasing?   At one point in 2009 my local gun dealer told me handgun manufacturer Glock's production lines was tens of thousands behind the demand.

Perhaps folks who had the same worries about stricter gun laws responded to the questions in a negative manner because they thought somehow the survey could be used to track them down if gun confiscations took place in the future.