Friday saw an FBI record number of firearm background check applications. Friday being, of course, the traditional day in which we shop like crazy for more stuff less than 24 hours after giving thanks for what we have. Bless America. Now I have no problem with the concept of firearm ownership. I am not a gun guy but I grew up with hunters and the concept of eating game. I even get target shooting. It can be fun. Anyway, I’m curious about this surge in applications.
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I would love to say that this is just a one year, possibly Trump-related phenomenon. It is not. Black Friday for the last three years has seen the record total surpassed.
In all, the FBI fielded 203,086 requests on Black Friday, up from the previous single-day highs of 185,713 last year and 185,345 in 2015. The two previous records also were recorded on Black Friday.
Gun checks, required for purchases at federally licensed firearm dealers, are not a measure of actual gun sales. The number of firearms sold Friday is likely higher because multiple firearms can be included in one transaction by a single buyer.
At some point you have to ask yourself how many guns does a nation of 323 million people need. You just do. It isn’t like they are perishable. Older guns don’t turn to dust or anything. Hell, they last longer than cars. Some may say that they are investments. They are not. Like cars, the value of a firearm drops precipitously as soon as you take it out of the store.
Again, I’m not necessarily anti gun. I get the concept of the Second Amendment. I get the cncept of hunting. When you are hunting for meat, or even just dedicate yourself to eating what you kill for sport, you are getting in touch with something very human and very primal.
But concealed carry and the uptick in bigger rifles that shoot more bullets more quickly are beyond my understanding. The very fact that they exist makes me feel less safe. And I’m a white guy.
But I digress.
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from susans:
So you can't read your tax bill... by CAJ in Trump promotes another CT site ... must be a bad weekend at Mar-a-Lago
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