It's no coincidence that, with Democrats now in power in Washington, gun sales are booming. The same thing happened in 2009 when Obama moved into the White House.
More people buy guns for the first time, and existing gun owners buy more guns, when the president is a Democrat because, fearing new gun control laws are coming, they give in to the urge to get firearms while they (supposedly) still can.
This fear is good for gun manufacturers, including those who've long made their home in the south central part of Massachusetts, an industrial cluster that owes its birth to George Washington's decision to build the arsenal of the new United States of America in Springfield, far from the reach of the British navy and army.
Springfield-based Smith & Wesson, for example, reported this past Thursday that its gun sale totals more than doubled during the three months ending January 31. Total sales were $257.6 million in that quarter, while during the same period the year before, total sales were $127.4 million.
Massachusetts residents get caught up in the better-get-a-gun-while-I-can frenzy as much as anyone. It doesn't seem to matter that national gun control laws with real bite never get passed.
According to the federal Department of Criminal Justice Information Services, in 2020, there were 135,641 transactions involving the sale and transfer of handguns, rifles, shotguns or machine guns by Massachusetts firearms dealers to individuals who had a valid Massachusetts firearms license. There were 89,277 such transactions in 2019, meaning firearms sales and transfers increased 34% in one year as Massachusetts residents apparently decided there was a good chance Trump would lose the presidency and they would lose a smooth path to gun ownership. (According to a recent article in The [Springfield] Republican newspaper, the National Sports Foundation estimated that between 40% and 60% of persons acquiring firearms in 2020 were first-time buyers.)
It's not inexpensive to acquire a gun legally, and, when you do, you're saddled with the endless legal responsibility of possessing and handling a deadly weapon in a safe manner.
It might feel good to have something you think will protect you in a very bad situation, such as a home invasion, but it comes with (a) the realization you're not living in a Clint Eastwood movie, and, besides, you're no Clint Eastwood, and (b) the constant worry of keeping that weapon and its ammunition away from an innocent party, such as your child or grandchild or some kid from the neighborhood who wanders into your house one day.
You own the gun, and it owns you.
Say you decided tomorrow to get yourself one of Smith & Wesson's most popular handguns, the 9 mm M&P Shield pistol. You'll pay $606 for the pistol, plus $37.87 in sales tax (at rate of 6.25%). Then you'll pay $100 for a the required license to carry a firearm in Massachusetts and $100 for the required Firearms Identification Card, but, even before you get that license and card, you'll pay $125 to take the required Massachusetts Basic Firearms Safety Course, which usually consists of one session of three to four hours. You'll be out $968.87, and you would not yet have purchased any ammo or the locked containers you'll need to store them safely at home. And you would not have purchased a membership in an organization where you can regularly practice shooting so you'll be steady, smart and proficient when the moment comes, God forbid, that you brandish that weapon to protect you and/or your family. (Will you ever really have the time and the dedication to become a good shot?)
My thoughts turn inevitably to the subject of buyer's remorse.
I have to believe there are a lot of people who, months or years after spending a thousand dollars or more on a handgun, look up at that thing on the top shelf of their closet in a calm moment and ask themselves, What was I thinking?
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