Are Gun Sales Finally Leveling Off?
May 14th, 2009
Murdoc’s no statistician, but he’s thinking the answer is “no.”
From the NSSF:
Up over 30% over last April
I would suspect that private sales of long guns (which usually don’t require NICS checks) could also be up as buyers unable to find what they want in shops are buying from gun owners who need cash in these tough times.
May 14th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
[...] NICS checks for April are still way up over previous years. [...]
May 14th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
And yet this vicious killer was still able to get a “gun” SNIPER ON THE LOOSE!
I saw this and wondered why I hadn’t hear anything about it. Then I realized it was a damn BB gun cracking windows, not a .308 punching through flesh. Its all the same to the media though. Dumb punk kids with their Red Rider BB guns with the compass in the stock.
May 15th, 2009 at 9:07 am
I saw that story but didn’t get around to posting on it.
FWIW, my son can’t buy BBs in Michigan. An adult needs to.
May 15th, 2009 at 9:24 am
I’ve had three people come up to me and ask where they could get a deal on a gun. Mind you these are regular guys, who have never owned a gun. Most have gone shooting and know the basics of gun safety but these aren’t loose canons, or desperate republicans looking for revolution. Just guys that have a gut feeling that now might be a good time to at least have one in the house. This brings up a question: If you were to recommend only one gun, what would it be? I’ve been telling them to get a shotgun. Simple to use, easy to obtain, only 2 sizes, and very utilitarian for taking out zombies.
May 15th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Oh and they are about half the price of a good pistol.
May 15th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Ryan: Yeah, if I were to recommend one gun for someone for general purpose “to have on hand if needed”, it would be a pump shotgun.
Good for home defense, shooting clays for fun, zombie apocalypse, etc. They’re reliable and easy to use. 12 gauge is the standard, of course, but for younger shooters and the womenfolk (<–joke) maybe consider a 20ga.
One with a shorter barrel is better for home defense, carrying through the wilderness while avoiding zombie hoards, and so on, though you give up a little accuracy.
May 15th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
One of these friends asked if I knew of any carbines that he could also use to hunt. Basically his wife gave him the OK for a hunting rifle but he wanted something like an AR-15. I don’t hunt but have heard that the 223 isn’t so great against deer, so I really didn’t know what to recommend. Stuff that shoot 7.62X39 are cheap but can you hunt with them? Grendel or the 6.8? but I haven’t seen any semi-auto gun in that caliber that I can afford so I doubt he could either.
No joke with the women folk… My wife can’t hardly lift a 12 gauge pump but does pretty good with a single barrel break action 20. Of course I also know a woman that can out shoot me, one eye closed with her custom semi-auto 12. Bell curve and all that…get what fits the person that will be carrying it.
May 15th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I know people who hunt deer with 7.62×39, though not a lot. The .223 is not a great deer round. Grendel or 6.8SPC (or the new .30 Remington AR) is better than either of them, but the guns won’t be cheap.
.30-06 or 7.62×54 would be better tactical rifle rounds for deer, but they won’t generally come in “carbine” guns. (Cheap Mosin-Nagant bolt-actions, I guess).
12ga slug is the most common deer gun in lower Michigan (where rifles are not allowed).
May 15th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Oh, and as for women/kids with 12ga shotguns: If you’re truly thinking about survival-type scenarios, you’ll want something that the wife and kids can handle. They might need to help, they might be the only one who can get to the gun in time, or they might be on their own without you.
This is one of the reasons I think an M1 Carbine would make a decent SHTF gun.
May 16th, 2009 at 2:30 am
aim small, miss small