Explosion in gun sales mostly to first-time buyers

This has been a fantasy of mine for several months now - becoming a 1st time gun owner because the RWNJ’s are armed to the teeth. But I know myself in this respect, anyway. If it comes down to it, I cannot pull the trigger while the gun is aimed at another human.

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Yep. These are older models with the pins as part of the hammer, IIRC. I would rather they had a carriage and pin so I could just remove the danger and keep them pristine.

@anon32019413 that’s a good option as well.

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Or the morgue.

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Oh I don’t mean to imply owning a gun is actually a good idea. Just that this situation has more potential of one actually being useful than a hurricane. One of the biggest flaws in the idea of guns being for “self defence” is that in order for that to work, you need to be willing to shoot first, always. Even trained professionals make errors when deciding whether or not to shoot.

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Funny how gun purchases to protect one from looters during an emergency are typically used by people looting in an emergency.

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Sure, sure - I just meant that I don’t see a potential scenario in which buying a gun becomes “useful,” assuming “useful” includes increased chances of long-term survival. Probably more “useful” in the hurricane, as the likely intention to was to threaten unarmed people who were perceived as potential “looters” with it. Not a good or productive use, but in that case having a gun that you didn’t know how to use would serve that function. In current potential scenarios, the only function it would serve would be to create a false sense of security.

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If guns weren’t so prevalent I’d say give everyone a person-catching stick. https://youtu.be/QuXoNA6DXlc?t=154

Even with guns all over I’m not sure I want my own. They’re super cool mechanically, but instant, focused, hundreds-of-joules of force is so much.

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Only thing that stops a bad guy without a gun is a good guy throwing a gun.

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I admit it crossed my mind in consideration of the upcoming election. But after more thought I am more likely to hurt someone I care about with a gun than is it likely for a Trumper cosplaying The Purge to find me in a downtown high rise.

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Don’t get complacent…

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My cousin and her wife are very liberal and have a decent collection of handguns. On top of that, they have plenty of training and enough years of experience to outshoot anyone at the target range. Several years back (before the Trump administration), I asked her what drives her interest in guns. Without any hesitation,she answered “I want to be ready in case I need to defend myself against any crazy Republicans.”

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I think most of those first-time buyers would be more comfortable going this direction

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Sounds like older service revolvers without transfer bar tech.
(oops, seems like @cannibalpeas already confirmed this)

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I think that you’ve hit the nail on the head here… the context of “if it came down to it”.

Personally I can think of many dark scenarios where I would absolutely pull the trigger, however I live in a country where guns aren’t available to everyone so this wouldn’t be an option for most people.

My understanding of the NRA and other lobbyists is to instill a sense that the “dark scenarios” are always just around the corner. Live in a constant state of fear of the possibility and the natural desire is to arm yourself to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Perhaps if only the bad guys have guns then most of the people you encounter on the street are not a threat waiting to happen. Gotta be a better way of living your life I reckon.

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Same here. Well, maybe not constantly, but regularly. I bet they still blah blah about how responsibly they kept their guns.

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This is the crux of the issue. If it comes down to out and out fighting, we’re screwed in more ways than one. You have one side that’s really fundamentally opposed to the idea of a civil war, and another side who’s been arming up, “training”, and has been having masturbatory fantasies over the idea of shooting fellow americans (whether it’s minorities breaking into their white houses, evil attackers, or those damned socialist libtards) for quite a while now.

If the USA does truly collapse, I figure that it’s a losing fight, and most people will find ways to escape rather than fight. (first time Mexico would be happy about wall construction)…

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That’s a tough one to call, really. The majority of the police might be on Trump’s side but I’d say it’s quite likely the military isn’t. That would leave you with pockets of insurrectionists scattered everywhere clashing with a military trying to quell them, road side bombs, etc. Probably a little more Syria-ish than you might have in mind when you hear the words Civil War.

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I am not a gun person by any means, perhaps because I grew up around them. You have no idea how many Saturday mornings were spent watching Bugs Bunny whilst reloading shotgun shells at the dining room table.

However, my current lifestyle requires me to be out playing Defender Of The Flock seven days a week, which gave me the distinct displeasure of incrementing that first time gun buyer in 2020 stat. I do Pawn Shop Rules here, which means weapons are unloaded and the chamber locked open before entering the building. This means that I quite literally “lock and load” a few times a day, every day. So in only six months, I have already acquired a fair amount of muscle memory.

And yet, the first time I fired at an actual target, or rather, tried to, adrenaline got the better of me and I forgot to chamber a round. (I don’t do so when Rage Pacing, only if I think I may have a target, which is quite rare.) And that was while I was experiencing ZERO fear or personal danger, merely attacking a fleeing coyote with no other considerations, no innocent bystanders of any species downrange or anywhere near, etc.

My point with all this is that unless you intend to practice enough to build up muscle memory strong enough to work reliably when your neocortex is completely locked up, then a firearm might not be your best choice.

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They do their best to sell that fear by making illegal interstate gun smuggling incredibly easy and nigh impossible to detect/prosecute in any meaningful way. They are arming both organized/street level criminals and those in fear of said groups.

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…as is every new gun buyer…

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