Thread: Americans buy record numbers of guns for Christmas

Americans bought record numbers of guns last month amid an apparent surge in popularity for weapons as Christmas presents.

Photo: ALAMY


By Nick Allen, Los Angeles

According to the FBI, over 1.5 million background checks on customers were requested by gun dealers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in December. Nearly 500,000 of those were in the six days before Christmas.

It was the highest number ever in a single month, surpassing the previous record set in November.

On Dec 23 alone there were 102,222 background checks, making it the second busiest single day for buying guns in history.

The actual number of guns bought may have been even higher if individual customers took home more than one each.

Explanations for America's surge in gun buying include that it is a response to the stalled economy with people fearing crime waves. Another theory is that buyers are rushing to gun shops because they believe tighter firearms laws will be introduced in the future.

The National Rifle Association said people were concerned about self defence because police officer numbers were declining.

A spokesman said: "I think there's an increased realisation that when something bad occurs it's going to be between them and the criminal."
But anti-gun campaigners said those who already owned weapons were simply hoarding more of them due to "fear-mongering" by the NRA.
A spokeswoman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said: "The research we've seen indicates fewer and fewer people are owning more and more guns."
Dave LaRue, of Legendary Guns in Phoenix, Arizona, said Christmas sales were up 25 per cent on the previous year and ammunition sales were also "brisk".
He said: "There are a lot of people concerned about pending gun legislation and the sense about the current administration. People think future availability will be limited and there's a feeling of get it while you can."
The record for gun sales in a single day was set in November, on the day after Thanksgiving, when 129,166 background searches were carried out on customers buying weapons.
Since the near-fatal shooting of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords by a deranged gunman in Tucson, Arizona last January there have been increasing calls for tighter gun control. Miss Giffords survived being shot in the head with a semi-automatic handgun, and six other people were killed.

Americans buy record numbers of guns for Christmas - Telegraph

Ah....the season of goodwill to all men.

' Thankyou darling, a pump action shotgun , just what I've always wanted '

Yeehaaaaa Grandma !!!!!!!!

Got to get ready for when Obama repeals the 2nd Amendment, eh?

2011 down from 2010- 420 murders in my hometown, 3 times as deadly as New York City and a crime rate of 57 per 1000 residents??? I never left the house without strapping on a pistol!

And in the UK............

4 party ‘murders’
on New Year’s Evil
Stolen cab crushes PC
Wave of knife attacks

THE New Year got off to a violent start yesterday with four suspected murders and an attempted killing of a cop.
They were the worst in a string of horrific incidents across Britain — just hours into 2012.

A 42-year-old man died after being stabbed in the chest at a New Year house party in LUTON, Beds.

Police believe the victim, who has not been named, died of a heart attack — less than an hour after being wounded at around 3am. Last night a boy of 15 and a 16-year-old girl were being quizzed on suspicion of murder.

Neighbours claimed the victim had been co-hosting the bash with his girlfriend Mandy O'Neill. They said they heard screaming coming from the house and then police and paramedics arrived.

The man is thought to have staggered out of the semi-detached home and collapsed in the front garden. A Bedfordshire Police spokesman said: "Unfortunately everyone at the party was fairly drunk and it has been difficult to try to piece together what led up to the assault."

Mandy is thought to live at the house with two teenage daughters.Neighbours said her boyfriend was German, called Michael and lived nearby, but often stayed with her.

A man celebrating his 22nd birthday was shot dead early yesterday in CLERKENWELL, London. He was blasted twice in the chest in front of two female pals.



Cops launched a murder probe after a man died following a fight at a party in SHEFFIELD city centre.They were called to the Stars and Mayfair Party Suites at 2.47am.

And a man and a woman, both 21, were held on suspicion of murder after a 29-year-old man died of head injuries after being attacked in a car park at CLACTON, Essex, at 4.30am.

A PC was crushed against his own patrol car by thieves in a stolen taxi in MILTON KEYNES, Bucks. The Volkswagen Passat minicab was reversed into the officer shortly after 3am. Thames Valley Police were yesterday treating the incident as attempted murder and were quizzing a 29-year-old man.

Last night the PC was in a "serious but stable" condition in hospital.

A boy of 17 was yesterday being questioned over the rape of a 20-year-old woman as she walked home from a party in SOUTHAMPTON, Hants, at around 4am. In NORFOLK a man in his 20s died after an incident outside a pub in the village of Toft Monks at 3.15am.

A man was killed and a woman injured when struck by a van while walking home from a party in HERNE BAY, Kent — an hour into 2012.

Paramedics dealt with 14 stabbings in GREATER MANCHESTER, ten in MERSEYSIDE and CHESHIRE and six in LANCASHIRE and CUMBRIA.

Two young women were killed when their car crashed into a wall near CAERNARFON, North Wales.Police were yesterday scouring the River Tyne for a man who jumped from the Tyne Bridge in full view of thousands of revellers in NEWCASTLE.

A woman aged 48 died after falling from a balcony in PORTSMOUTH, Hants, around two hours before midnight. Deborah Nash's death is not being treated as suspicious.

In a separate tragedy, a 49-year-old man on holiday with his family died yesterday after falling out of a canoe into the River Fowey at Draynes, CORNWALL.

New Year’s Evil: 4 party suspected murders | The Sun |News

^
And the death toll here is way over 100 last reports - road deaths that is. I was out in traffic yesterday and it was nuts...

Originally Posted by FailSafe

I have to admit that a lot of my countrymen take it way over the top.

Not really.

Just think of additional firearms as another knife in the drawer. Tools is all they are.

I don't mean the ownership of firearms (having several is fine- my wife has a Glock 19) but rather that many make it their #1 political issue, use CCW laws as a determination for which state they'll live in, are against requiring advanced training in order to qualify for a carry permit (you need more training to drive a car), etc.

I've seen SO many idiots at the range (and I bet you have as well).

Originally Posted by chitown

I never left the house without strapping on a pistol!

and I thank all that is mighty that I've NEVER needed nor wanted to do the same .

The report doesn't mention that females purchasing guns right now is at an all time high. There could well be an explosion of incidents of guys arriving at A&E clutching whats left of their nutsack.

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Tools is all they are.

Indeed. Complete tools.

Originally Posted by Mid

Originally Posted by chitown

I never left the house without strapping on a pistol!

and I thank all that is mighty that I've NEVER needed nor wanted to do the same .

Mid, you are on the edge of being a pro gun ownership right winger! It seems you believe in a supreme being!!!!

^

quite an assumption Chi ........................

let me assure you I'm far from being pro gun ownership , and also far from being right wing .

as for supreme beings ................ all that is mighty is very open on purpose

the Americans have really a problem with their guns,

Canada have far more guns, and less killed by gun shots

Americans with guns are like monkeys who found a new toy in their cage

Originally Posted by Butterfly

Canada have far more guns, and less killed by gun shots

interesting , got a ref ?

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Originally Posted by FailSafe

I have to admit that a lot of my countrymen take it way over the top.

Not really.

Just think of additional firearms as another knife in the drawer. Tools is all they are.

I bet you use a chainsaw to cut your baloney sandwiches.

Originally Posted by Mid

interesting , got a ref ?

Don't know about the more guns bit, but certainly way more fatalities. Michael Moore also mentioned it in 'Columbine'

^

but ButterBut claimed less fatalities .....................

Lived in Nevada before retiring in Thailand. Never left my house without my pistol stashed inside my pants. The problem in the USA is not too many guns, but too many f*cking politicians making ridiculously stupid laws.

Originally Posted by Mid

but ButterBut claimed less fatalities .....................

Sorry, I meant less fatalities in Canada, way more in the US.

in '07 the US had 88.8 guns per 100 residents

Cananda had 30.8

List of countries by gun ownership - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and



http://img804.imageshack.us/img804/8...ernational.jpg

^

That statistic is kind of misleading, though, as many people who own guns own more than one- less than 88% of the populace are gun owners (it's something closer to 45% or less).

there is still 88.8 guns per 100 citizens .............................