Democrats' Confiscation Threats Backfire as Gun Sales Skyrocket
Democrats’ growing obsession with gun control is backfiring spectacularly as Americans arm themselves in even greater numbers, making any potential mass confiscation an increasingly dangerous prospect.
According to the Washington Examiner, background checks conducted through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System last month resulted in the highest August number on record.
Adjusted for gun sales alone, there were 15.2 percent more background checks than in the previous August.
This increase in gun sales is (at least in part) likely a product of Democratic fear-mongering. Many prominent Democrats have vowed to ban so-called assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, with some states actually pursuing those restrictions to humiliating effect.
In August alone, candidates fighting for the Democratic Party’s nomination have proposed such bans.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, still the frontrunner, wrote in an opinion piece for The New York Times that he would push to ban “assault weapons.”
On Aug. 5, former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke said he was “open” to a “mandatory gun buyback program” along the lines of the Australian model.
At Thursday’s Democratic primary debate, O’Rourke made his position clear, calling for government confiscation of rifles like the AR-15 and AK-47.
But average American citizens are refusing to stand by while rights are trampled on.
“As we’ve seen in the past, the recent publicizing of mass shootings has fueled people’s concerns about their personal safety,” Justin Anderson, the marketing director for Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, North Carolina, said, according to the Examiner. “We are seeing many first-time gun buyers, and our concealed carry classes are booking up quickly.”
“Political figures talking about gun bans and confiscation is also starting to figure into sales. We’ve seen a slight uptick in the sale of tactical rifles as a result.”
While the left is confident that gun confiscation will be a simple matter, the plan may not be so easy to execute.
It seems unlikely that law enforcement officers (or armed service members) would comply with orders to disarm their fellow citizens. Police and other law enforcement officers tend to lean Republican — at least if statistics on political donations from The Washington Post are any indication.
And then there’s the real possibility that civilians themselves will refuse to give up their guns.
With more Americans purchasing firearms, O’Rourke and his fellow Democrats may have made a severe political miscalculation.
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