Those watching things closely may have noticed a trend:

• Gun sales jump (Utah)
• Area gun sales spike (Alabama)
• Gun sales rise in Ohio, stay flat in Ross County (Ohio)
• Gun sales shoot up after Election Day (Colorado)
• Gun sales up, supplies down (Texas)
• S.D. gun shops see rise in sales (South Dakota)
• Gun, ammo sales increase in Churchill, Lyon counties (Nevada)
• Local gun sales increase since election (Arkansas)
• Gun sales shoot way up (Maine)
• Hawaii gun sales shooting up
• Fear Fuels Gun Sales Locally (West Virginia)
• Gun Sales Are Up Since Obama Election (Kentucky)
• Fear of ban increases gun sales (Mississippi)
• Finger on safety as gun sales shoot upward (Idaho)
• Gun sales rise as owners fear stricter controls (North Carolina)
• Gun Sales Boom Ahead of Obama Presidency (Tennessee)
• Gun Sales Booming Since Presidential Election (Nebraska)
• Gun sales, permits climb following election (North Dakota)
• Gun Sales Rise As Buyers Anticipate Political Change (Washington)
• Gun Sales Shoot Upward in Springfield (Missouri)
• Madison gun sales soar (Virginia)
• Some stores see surge in gun sales (Pennsylvania)
• Firearm sales surge following election (Wisconsin)

These are all from the past two or three days and aren’t simply re-runs of AP items in different papers. All of these have considerable, if not exclusively, local content. I could easily have included many, many more.

No doubt, the media coverage is feeding the flames a bit. As is the fact that hunting seasons are kicking off or underway in most states right now. But the trend is unmistakable.

It doesn’t seem to be localized to the bitter, clingy parts of the nation. Or to the red states.

Vienna, Maine:

All Joe Lord needed to halt a pair of theft suspects was patience and a shotgun.

The 66-year-old man blew apart a Ford pickup truck Tuesday morning and scared away the couple he said had stolen $3,000 worth of scrap iron, steel and aluminum from his machine shop over the weekend.

Taking aim after more than two days without sleep, Lord shot holes in the front tires of the 2008 Ford F-250, blew out the windshield and rear window and shot up the radiator.

He said he would have aimed for the suspects if he would have been able to see them. He couldn’t, so he “disabled the truck.” The driver, a girl who was using her father’s truck, and an accomplice will be charged with theft.

Get this:

Sheriff Liberty said he discourages the use of guns to protect property.

“I can understand the frustration that Mr. Lord must have been experiencing,” [Kennebec County Sheriff Randall] Liberty said. But, he added, “We don’t want to see anyone get hurt over property.”

Sheriff Liberty? It sounds like Mr. Liberty is saying it would be better for the thieves to get away with it. That can’t be right. Can it?

Just so everyone’s clear, Murdoc doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt over property, either. So don’t try to take Murdoc’s property. Because Murdoc will shoot you if he can.

We often hear about people criticized for defending themselves, sometimes by shooting and killing robbers, over property. The saying usually goes something like “Is $20 worth killing someone over?”

Significantly, it’s always someone whose $20 wasn’t at risk who is asking this question.

I consider the question to be more along the lines of “Is $20 worth getting killed over?” And if anyone tries to take my $20, I figure they’ve answered “Why, yes. Yes it is.”

Getting your dad’s pickup shot to smithereens and charged with theft is a pretty light consequence when you go against a guy with shotgun and the justification and motivation to use it.