We\u2019ve had\nseveral cycles of so-called \u201cpanic buying\u201d of firearms and ammunition in the\nlast twenty years. There was Y2K, when\ncredible authorities warned us that the ticking of the clocks into the Year 2000\nwould blast all of the computer-dependent First World back into the Stone Age.\nThere was the election of anti-gun President Barack Obama in 2008, and the 2012\nSandy Hook atrocity that triggered a wave of gun-banning sentiment, and the\npredicted election of Hillary Clinton that had a similar effect in 2016. Now, of course, the root cause is the\ncoronavirus situation and the semi-shutting down of America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The current\ncrisis most closely mimics Y2K in one important respect: motivation for\nfirearms purchases. In the buying surges\nin between these two events, there were certainly first-time buyers who were\ntipped over the edge by fear of impending legislation, but a majority of those\npurchasers were already gun owners who wanted to add an AR15, an 18-shot 9mm,\nor something similar to their gun collection before the opportunity to do so\nwas foreclosed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What Y2K had\nin common with the current situation is this: Credible sources warned the\npublic of an oncoming dystopia in which criminals would run rampant, and\nsomething between the looting and related civil disturbances seen during\nHurricane Katrina and a never-before-seen Mad Max situation would actually\nensue. That\u2019s why, during Y2K and in\ntoday\u2019s situation, we have so many non-gun owners and even anti-gun people who\nbelieve they\u2019re going to need a gun to\ndefend their families, because Society has already told them that they won\u2019t be\nable to count on government to protect them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This time,\nthough, it\u2019s much more dangerous than Y2K. Twenty years ago, if your friend or\nrelative bought a new gun, they could take a gun safety class or ask someone\nlike you to show them the ropes. What\u2019s\ndifferent now is that coronavirus\nresponse has shut down most shooting ranges and prohibited the sort of adult\neducation classes where firearms safety is taught. \u201cSocial distancing\u201d commands make it\ndifficult in some areas to even invite friends out to the farm to learn to\nshoot on the Back Forty.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Just as the\neconomic shutdown has come at a time of peak prosperity, this surge of new gun\nowners comes at a time when accidental firearms fatalities are at their lowest\npoint in recorded history. So, what can\nresponsible current gun owners do under the circumstances?<\/p>\n\n\n\n