Why I'm Part of the Panic Buy

As most people know, since B.O. got elected to be the next President of the United States, there has been a run on guns. Evil Black Guns mostly. There are many opinions on this. Some think the panic buyers are nuts and resent them for driving prices up. Some believe the panic buyers are right and are doing the same thing. Many are kicking themselves for not buying sooner.

I bought my Evil Black Rifle just after midnight on 6 November. The price hadn't gone up yet, and I had been saving for it anyway. I wasn't buying because of fears B.O. would ban them. I do fear that, but that alone didn't drive my decision to purchase. I knew that a lot of people would be driven to buy because of the election, and I knew demand would skyrocket, prices would rise, and it wouldn't be government that would keep me from getting my rifle. It would be the market.

And boy am I glad that I bought when I did. The next day, the online retailer that I ordered from called and asked if delays would cause me to cancel my order. "Of course not!" was my reply. She told me that Stag Arms, the manufacturer of most of my rifle, was already backed by about 6,000 rifles, and my order would already take 4-5 weeks. Four weeks later, I still don't have my gun, and Stag's website says their current backorder is 20 weeks long!

Black Rifles (often wrongly labeled as "Assault Rifles") can't be found anywhere. Many gun dealers have remarked that their inventory flew off the shelves within a week and they're unable to get more. Black Rifles can't be begged, borrowed, or stolen right now. The ones that are still available are only there because some dealers have started price gouging. Pre-election, a simple AR-15 rifle could be had for $800-$1000, and could be built for less than that (mine will be about $750 once I get it and put it all together). Recently, I've been hearing about them marked up to as much as $2000.

Luckily, there are plenty of dealers out there who aren't marking up their EBR's, or any other merchandise, any more than their costs require. The manufacturers haven't been raising their prices either. They don't need to. They have backorders for the next six months. They're doing just fine.

Hopefully, the boom in gun sales will send a message to the congress-weasels and local legis-critters that Americans like our guns, and when our rights are threatened, we don't roll over. We stock up.

Farewell, Kim

My favorite daily blogger, Kim DuToit, has retired. His daily writings included politics, guns, cars, women, and a host of other topics. He wrote about everything, and he wrote it beautifully. His wife, Connie, also retired, and though I didn't read her material very often, it was always very thoughtful and well written. (It is all still available to read, but they're no longer publishing new material. You can read it at www.theothersideofkim.com.) So, farewell in your retirement, Kim and Connie. You've earned it and will be missed.