Is the skyrocketing sale of firearms driven by fear or is it simply human nature? ... [View all]

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Before I start I wish to point out that this post is not arguing for or against currently proposed gun legislation but merely addresses the reasons for the increased sale of firearms. While I am personally opposed to a new Assault Weapons Ban, I feel we can make much needed improvements to our current gun laws and I do support many of the ideas proposed by Obama and gun control groups such as improving the NICS background check system and requiring it for all sales .

Let's imagine that a movement to ban high performance cars gained popularity in our nation. Perhaps an organization named CARV (Citizens Against Racing Vehicles) would be formed.

CARV would legitimately point out that many tragic accidents occur because of excessive speed and that high performance cars are bad for the environment and wastefully consume gasoline.

Next imagine that the mainstream media decides to support CARV and numerous experts appear on news programs to discuss the level of tragic accidents that have occurred because some drivers with V8 Mustangs and Corvettes were exceeding the speed limits. The news media would show clips of NASCAR sprint race cars with 850 hp engines traveling at 200 mph to illustrate how dangerous high performance cars are.

The real goal of CARV is to ban all V8 and V6 engines but the organization realizes that this is impossible unless accomplished in small steps. So they propose a ban on the future sale, transfer and repair of any car with a V8 engine that has certain cosmetic features. For example a V8 engine that is rated at over 150 hp in a car with only two doors, a spoiler or low profile race tires. CARV also suggests that all new cars have a governor installed to limit the top speed to 90 mph which is 5 mph higher than the highest limit in some rural counties of Texas.

CARV would rightfully point out that there is absolutely no reason to for any civilian to own a car that can exceed the highest speed limit by 30 mph. Of course the military, law enforcement and emergency services would be allowed to own fast vehicles as such organizations do have a legitimate reason for performance vehicles.

A rash of truly tragic traffic accidents occurs which involve Mustangs and Corvettes that have over 400 hp. The news media gives each accident 24/7 coverage for seven days. People are greatly disturbed by these accidents with good reason and support grows for CARV.

A law is proposed in Congress that incorporates the suggestions of CARV. Of course the Sports Car Club of American is strongly opposed to the legislation and starts lobbying Congress. This group points out that many people own high performance cars for sporting purposes and that in a true emergency traveling above the speed limit may save lives. It also mentions that many cars contain V8 engines and would still be available and would go just as fast as a car with a V8 engine, two doors and a spoiler. The membership of the Sports Car Club of America doubles overnight.

I would predict that the sale of Corvettes and Mustangs with powerful V8 engines would skyrocket. People who have little reason to own such cars would suddenly decide to buy one while they still had a chance. Accidents involving such cars might also increase as their new owners have little experience with handling extremely powerful cars.

Some bans work and some fail. Much depends on the culture of the nation where they are proposed. The United States has an extremely strong gun culture and I feel that the increase in gun sales is largely due to this fact. Our nation also has a strong distrust of our government unlike many other nations. Many people truly believe that the civilian ownership of firearms is an effective deterrent to the rise of a future tyrannical government.

It is simple human nature to develop an interest in something that is suddenly banned. The consumption of alcohol increased during the Prohibition Era and more people use illegal drugs today than did prior to our War on Drugs.

I personally find the increase in firearms sales disturbing as I feel that many people who lack basic firearm safety training and some who will have severe mental problems in the future are buying weapons that they have little use for merely because they wish to own one before the sale of such weapons is banned.

Both sides of the gun control issue are suggesting that we live in extremely violent times but this is far from true. In fact violent crime and also gun crime is approaching an all time historical low. Perhaps if both sides would simply admit this and the groups that favor gun bans would stop using the word "ban" we might see the number of firearms manufactured and sold to civilians in our nation decreasing.

When I grew up in the 50s and 60s the only people I knew who owned firearms were hunters, target shooters and collectors. The unintended consequence of the gun control movement is has been the skyrocketing sale of firearms we see today. I personally would like to see firearm ownership decrease to the levels that existed in the 50s and 60s. I see no realistic way to accomplish this but I do feel that the suggestion of banning weapons is detrimental to this goal.

I believe that the majority of gun owners wish to see a further decrease in the level of violent crime. They do largely support laws that will help insure that only honest and responsible people own firearms and the enforcement of existing laws.

The goal of my fictional organization I call CARV should be to reduce the number of accidents caused by drivers in high performance cars. I feel its effort to ban certain cars would backfire as badly as the efforts of our current gun control groups to ban certain firearms.

I remember in the late 60s and early 70s that many more drunken drivers were on our roads than are today. Due to the efforts of groups such as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) we have made headway in addressing this problem but MADD didn't try to ban whiskey but instead worked to improve laws and penalties against those caught driving while intoxicated. While drunken driving is still a problem in our nation, the roads are much safer today.

Perhaps those who favor gun control should learn a lesson from the success of MADD. Our nation would be much better off and see a dramatic drop in gun violence if we merely improved and better enforced existing laws and launched a TV campaign to promote this approach.