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Generally, an increase of gun sales will come from a decrease of public trust in the government. Either people distrust the government itself, or far more likel

Generally, an increase of gun sales will come from a decrease of public trust in the government. Either people distrust the government itself, or far more likely, people don’t trust the government to protect them from other Americans. In either case, it’s sort of an aspect of the “Americans losing faith in their leadership and institutions” trend going on right now …or sport shooting at ranges has gone viral due to some influencer trends

starkd 5y ago
Its fear the police can't (or won't) be there in time to defend them. It's entirely reasonable. On the other hand, you better hope they are practicing at those shooting ranges. They are less than worthless for defense, if you are not familiar with how to use them.
- zepto 5y ago
  > practicing at those shooting ranges There are nowhere near enough shooting ranges or ammo for this.
  - TheAdamAndChe 5y ago
    In rural areas, it's normal to just go in the woods and shoot. I grew up with guns, practiced quite frequently, and have never been to an actual range.
    - zepto 5y ago
      For sure, but most of the population is now urban including large numbers of new gun owners. The nearest place to the Bay Area for example, where you can shoot on public land legally is neither easy to find, nor anywhere near where most people live.
      - AdrianB1 5y ago
        In that area it is very difficult to buy a firearm anyway.
        zepto 5y ago
        Only because there aren’t many gun shops. Buying guns in california is not hard. If you have adequate ID and know the most basic elements of gun safety, you can just walk into a gun shop and buy one. You can’t take it home for 10 days, but that’s a different matter.
        panarky 5y ago
        I would bet that 90% of the California population is within one hour of a gun store. Handguns and rifles are legal and easy to buy if you don't have a criminal record.
zepto 5y ago
> sport shooting at ranges has gone viral due to some influencer trends That was happening around 2016, but social media, including YouTube then started to heavily downrank and demonetize viral shooting related content.
88854473 5y ago
The ship is sinking and civil is near. My door is open for you and your family as refugees. Europe welcomes the hungry and the poor, but please keep your extremist culture away from us.
handrous 5y ago
> [...] or far more likely, people don’t trust the government to protect them from other Americans. This is the entire reason several of my liberal friends have bought a gun or two recently, and started practicing at the range. Unlike right-wingers (I gather, anyway), their nightmare scenario (or wet-dream, depending on how generous we're being) isn't needing to shoot at government agents, but at right-wing militia nutters trying to bring their own brand of authoritarianism—for which authoritarianism-supporting purpose private arms are, so far as their political uses go, more suited than for resisting an authoritarian government with firm backing from its military, but as long as the authoritarian movement's active violent arm is restricted to deniable private militias, private arms might suffice for effective resistance.
- secondcoming 5y ago
  But aren't there authoritarians in the gov't that want to confiscate your liberal friends guns?
  - handrous 5y ago
    Not really, no.
- bArray 5y ago
  > Unlike right-wingers (I gather, anyway) You could, like, go speak to them and find out what their actual opinions are, rather than pointlessly speculating about what their opinions are. I'm sure you would be able to catch one in the wild nursing a cold beer at any good American pub. Also you need to take a breath - quite literally - that last paragraph is almost entirely one sentence. > right-wing militia nutters trying to bring their own brand of authoritarianism If this is referring to a certain January 6th incident, for the most part the uproar was caused by a belief that democracy wasn't respected. Don't get me wrong, people who want authoritarianism are out there, they just probably look different from the ideas people have in their heads. If we're completely honest, many people in Urban areas purchased guns around the same time the mostly peaceful BLM protests coincided with random arson events and shootings. Everybody seems to support it right up until the point people are on their streets with pitch forks, at which point it gets real.
kaliali 5y ago
Trust me, people don't trust the government. And when the time comes we will take the law into our own hands.

starkd 5y ago

Its fear the police can't (or won't) be there in time to defend them. It's entirely reasonable. On the other hand, you better hope they are practicing at those shooting ranges. They are less than worthless for defense, if you are not familiar with how to use them.

zepto 5y ago
> practicing at those shooting ranges There are nowhere near enough shooting ranges or ammo for this.
- TheAdamAndChe 5y ago
  In rural areas, it's normal to just go in the woods and shoot. I grew up with guns, practiced quite frequently, and have never been to an actual range.
  - zepto 5y ago
    For sure, but most of the population is now urban including large numbers of new gun owners. The nearest place to the Bay Area for example, where you can shoot on public land legally is neither easy to find, nor anywhere near where most people live.
    - AdrianB1 5y ago
      In that area it is very difficult to buy a firearm anyway.
      - zepto 5y ago
        Only because there aren’t many gun shops. Buying guns in california is not hard. If you have adequate ID and know the most basic elements of gun safety, you can just walk into a gun shop and buy one. You can’t take it home for 10 days, but that’s a different matter.
      - panarky 5y ago
        I would bet that 90% of the California population is within one hour of a gun store. Handguns and rifles are legal and easy to buy if you don't have a criminal record.

zepto 5y ago

> sport shooting at ranges has gone viral due to some influencer trends That was happening around 2016, but social media, including YouTube then started to heavily downrank and demonetize viral shooting related content.

88854473 5y ago

The ship is sinking and civil is near. My door is open for you and your family as refugees. Europe welcomes the hungry and the poor, but please keep your extremist culture away from us.

handrous 5y ago

> [...] or far more likely, people don’t trust the government to protect them from other Americans. This is the entire reason several of my liberal friends have bought a gun or two recently, and started practicing at the range. Unlike right-wingers (I gather, anyway), their nightmare scenario (or wet-dream, depending on how generous we're being) isn't needing to shoot at government agents, but at right-wing militia nutters trying to bring their own brand of authoritarianism—for which authoritarianism-supporting purpose private arms are, so far as their political uses go, more suited than for resisting an authoritarian government with firm backing from its military, but as long as the authoritarian movement's active violent arm is restricted to deniable private militias, private arms might suffice for effective resistance.

secondcoming 5y ago
But aren't there authoritarians in the gov't that want to confiscate your liberal friends guns?
- handrous 5y ago
  Not really, no.
bArray 5y ago
> Unlike right-wingers (I gather, anyway) You could, like, go speak to them and find out what their actual opinions are, rather than pointlessly speculating about what their opinions are. I'm sure you would be able to catch one in the wild nursing a cold beer at any good American pub. Also you need to take a breath - quite literally - that last paragraph is almost entirely one sentence. > right-wing militia nutters trying to bring their own brand of authoritarianism If this is referring to a certain January 6th incident, for the most part the uproar was caused by a belief that democracy wasn't respected. Don't get me wrong, people who want authoritarianism are out there, they just probably look different from the ideas people have in their heads. If we're completely honest, many people in Urban areas purchased guns around the same time the mostly peaceful BLM protests coincided with random arson events and shootings. Everybody seems to support it right up until the point people are on their streets with pitch forks, at which point it gets real.

kaliali 5y ago

Trust me, people don't trust the government. And when the time comes we will take the law into our own hands.