Really?
Really?!
Of course, this comes as a surprise to precisely no-one, but I was surprised that it was being trumpeted so loudly, so soon after the historic cave-in to the NRA in the Senate.
Follow me over the Curling Flames of the GOS.
"Now That Gun Control Has Failed, It’s Time to Buy Gun Stocks" appears (where else?) on that overblown stock "advice" site, Motley Fool. Day after day, this peddler of all things short (-selling, -attention-spans and memories) proudly proclaims that the PC is dead, Apple is going to come back bigger than ever, and Electronic Arts is about to pack up and take an early bath. Each day they tread a perilously close line from stock advice to the rumor-mongering that actually creates stock booms and busts.
Today, however, they let the cat out of the bag in spectacular fashion. The "report", by Salvatore "Sam" Mattera, says pretty bluntly:
No meaningful regulation is coming
Well, that much seems true, given the inability of Senators to break the chains of servitude (imagery intentional) to the NRA.
However, he also opines
The government has created a false sense of scarcity
stating:
Until the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, Obama and the Democrats have made no meaningful attempt at gun control. Yet, the paranoia that it was only a matter of time has fueled the rise in sales.
This much is true. Until Sandy Hook, gun control was not on the radar. However, the events of that day have fueled gun sales to an ever-increasing fever pitch. I contend that the sense of scarcity is not government fueled, but rather NRA and industry fueled, precisely to bring about the results we see today.
In all, it's a fairly even handed piece (inasmuch as it can be), although I am not impressed by its author's claim to be "non-political", but its content is utterly chilling. It abstracts the results of failed gun-control legislation, and simply looks at the bottom line: gun manufacturers' stocks will soar. And (this being Motley Fool) the very act of laying this out will assist this.
It's been diaried extensively before (and in a much better and more in-depth way than my paltry effort here) but let's not take our eye off the ball here.
Gun Control from our perspective is about lives.
We want to save them, prevent misery and heartache, counteract the swelling current of fear that grips the lives of many, especially inner city (disadvantaged and disproportionately male and African-American) youths.
Gun Control from their perspective is about money.
It is about stocks and shares, wealth-building and increasing their political reach and power.
The Second Amendment has simply become yet another avenue for the powerful to increase their wealth. We see this time and again; a given right becomes a path to steam-roller one's own agenda and greed through. Gun manufacturers use the Second, FOX News and others use the First in the same way.
Never forget; this is about money. It's the only thing they care about. They will fight tooth and nail to keep what they have and gain even more. They revealed their hand, now we must rally and fight again.