Firearm sales hit record levels this holiday season

[Atypical Liberal]

41. Just goes to show gun control is a lost cause.

Do you think this is a healthy thing for democracy?

I think it's a healthy thing for democracy, but most importantly a healthy thing for freedom. Since ancient times arms have been the province of the free. In ancient Rome and Britain bearing arms was a mark of a free man.

A man with a weapon can resist oppression much more easily than a man without one. So an armed society is definitely a good thing.

Do you think people are right to be afraid?
What are they afraid of that is spurring this panic?

Firstly, we need to define what people are supposedly afraid of.

I think more than anything people are afraid of more gun control. Especially if President Obama wins a second term in which he then has nothing to lose anymore and can thus enact unpopular legislation without fear of reprisal for himself at the ballot box. Are they right to be afraid? Well, President Obama does not have a good track record on the second amendment, and he did campaign on re-instating the Assault Weapons Ban. He has been very friendly to second amendment rights so far, but I believe this is because of political expediency not because of a change of heart.

But I don't think fear is really driving sales. I think people just like guns and shooting. I probably own close to 20 firearms. Only one of them did I buy out of fear - fear of civil unrest. All the rest I bought simply because I enjoy hunting and shooting.

In short, nearly all of my firearms were given to me or purchased by me for pleasure. Hunting and shooting is fun!

Do you think everyone should be trained to possess and operate a firearm?

Yes. Kind of like I think everyone ought to know how to drive a stick-shift. You never know when that skill set might come in handy. Personally I think school children should be taught firearm safety in grade school. Even if it does not include any actual safe handling or shooting safety, a program like Eddie Eagle that teaches kids to don't touch, walk away, and tell an adult is crucial in a society where children are likely to come across firearms, either at home or in the home of a friend.

Do you think these due diligence for ensuring that legal firearms purchases are not being diverted for criminal purpose?

I'm not sure what you are asking here. If you are asking do I think these purchases are straw purchases, I'm sure some are. It is trivial to walk into a gun store and lie on the form and simply say you are buying the gun for yourself, and then sell it to someone else privately the next day.

But I don't think straw buying is really that big of an issue. Why? Because if a criminal is willing to pay above retail to buy a firearm (the price of the gun, plus a cut to the straw buyer), and risk breaking the law, why not just open your local Penny Saver or go online to gunbroker.com and find a local private seller of a firearm and buy it legally, cash on the barrel head, no questions asked?

There's really no reason to buy through a straw buyer, unless you just have to have a brand-new firearm. Somehow I doubt this is a big priority for most criminals looking to buy a firearm. Frankly I doubt most criminals are going to buy firearms at market prices anyway. They are going to buy stolen goods on the black market.