White House: No idea why Americans are buying so many guns

[Suzanimal]

President Obama’s spokesman said Thursday that the record number of Americans seeking to buy guns in recent weeks is “a tragedy” that the White House is at a loss to explain.

“The more that we see this kind of violence on our streets, the more people go out and buy guns,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest. “That is both ironic and tragic.”

The FBI conducted 185,345 firearms background checks on Black Friday, the most ever during a single day. The record number of gun sales came two weeks after the Islamic State’s terrorist attacks in Paris, but before the terrorist massacre in San Bernardino, California.

Asked why he thinks so many Americans are buying guns, Mr. Earnest replied, “I don’t know, I really don’t.”

“In some cases these are individuals who believe that they need to buy a gun so that they can better protect themselves,” he said. “In some cases because it’s Black Friday, they probably are going and purchasing a gift for a friend or a loved one who is a gun enthusiast. I’m just pointing out that there are already an astonishing number of guns on the streets of America and far too many innocent Americans who are being killed by them.”

...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/dec/10/wh-no-idea-why-americans-buying-so-many-guns/

[tod evans]

Well let's see here......

Escalated talk about "banning"......

Escalated reporting of domestic terrorist activity.

Escalated reporting of civil unrest.

Escalated engagements of the war machine both foreign and domestic.

And finally an overabundance of White Tailed deer...

That's all I can think of off hand.

[Ronin Truth]

The Whitehouse is clueless about a whole bunch of other things as well.

[presence]

Well let's see here......

[]

That's all I can think of off hand.




I mean really... how hard is it to comprehend?

Let us not forget the ongoing summary execution of suspects on every 5 hours basis and dogs every 90 minutes.

[fisharmor]

I mean really... how hard is it to comprehend?

Well listen to what the grabbers are saying.
They always assert that the vast majority of people want common sense measures, the vast majority of people are in agreement, the vast majority etc etc.
I think Obama really believes this. I think they believe that the people who unequivocally support gun rights might run into the tens of thousands, in a country of 360 million.
So in that context, I can see how he would be stupefied by the numbers he's seeing.

[Ronin Truth]

Widespread populace concern about millions of invading criminal aliens?

[specsaregood]

Asked why he thinks so many Americans are buying guns, Mr. Earnest replied, “I don’t know, I really don’t.”

That'd be easy to remedy. Ask Mr. Earnest why the US govt is buying so many guns.

[Cabal]

What Drives Gun Sales: Terrorism, Politics and Calls for Restrictions (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/10/us/gun-sales-terrorism-obama-restrictions.html?_r=0)


For gun makers, it was a familiar story. On Sunday, President Obama called for making it harder to buy assault weapons after the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif. On Monday, the stock prices of two top gun makers, Smith & Wesson and Ruger, soared.

“President Obama has actually been the best salesman for firearms,” said Brian W. Ruttenbur, an analyst with BB&T Capital Markets, a financial services firm.

Fear of gun-buying restrictions has been the main driver of spikes in gun sales, far surpassing the effects of mass shootings and terrorist attacks alone, according to federal background-check data analyzed by The New York Times.

When a man shot and killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., gun sales did not set records until five days later, after President Obama called for banning assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.

“It would be like you’ve never owned a toaster, you don’t really want a toaster, but the federal government says they’re going to ban toasters,” Mr. Ruttenbur said. “So you go out and buy a toaster.”

...

Gun sales rose in New Jersey in 2013 after Gov. Chris Christie proposed measures that included expanding background checks and banning certain rifles. (Mr. Christie later vetoed one of the most stringent parts of the proposals.)

...

When Maryland approved one of the nation’s strictest gun-control measures in May 2013, gun sales jumped as buyers tried to beat the October deadline specified in the measure, which banned most semiautomatic rifles.

...

As police officers evacuated people from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, legally registered guns were confiscated from civilians.

The confiscations outraged gun owners and prompted an increase in gun sales in the area. Conservatives responded by pushing for a federal law prohibiting the seizure of firearms from civilians during an emergency, and many states followed with similar legislation.

...

[CaptUSA]

I mean really? Why would people want to defend themselves when we have government? They're doing such a bang-up job at it.

[seapilot]

Major Disconnect.

The people realize that the Administration has more contempt for those that want to protect their lives and rights than it does for those that want to take it away.

The saying goes: When the powers want people to give up their arms is when they are most needed. True indeed.

[Brian4Liberty]

That'd be easy to remedy. Ask Mr. Earnest why the US govt is buying so many guns.

Well, since government really uses American's money, it looks like we are buying those too. And the guns the government buys and gives away around the world are so much cooler than the ones that they allow peons in the US to buy. American mundanes are screwed coming and going.

[FunkBuddha]

I though this was an Onion article.... Morons.

[georgiaboy]

supply meet demand.

Incandescent light bulbs are banned - sales skyrocket

bad weather approaching? stock up on your essentials

it's called the market.

[puppetmaster]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/dec/10/wh-no-idea-why-americans-buying-so-many-guns/ because unlike you asshole, we like to be able to defend ourselves. We don't have our own free body guards.

[Suzanimal]

Well, since government really uses American's money, it looks like we are buying those too. And the guns the government buys and gives away around the world are so much cooler than the ones that they allow peons in the US to buy. American mundanes are screwed coming and going.

“That is both ironic and tragic.” `~Josh Earnest

[dannno]

Anybody watch South Park the other night? Everybody went out and bought a gun, including all the kids.

The kids started pulling guns on their parents when they wanted to disobey, but then the parents would pull their gun on them and the kids would obey :D

Ultimately everybody ended up getting along better and settling their differences, even though the way they played it out made it look a bit ridiculous. It played out the way Democrats envision it, but then things ended up the way liberty folks envision it... I love South Park..

[Dr.3D]

because unlike you asshole, we like to be able to defend ourselves. We don't have our own free body guards.
Those aren't free, we're paying for them.

[Anti Federalist]

But yet, to hear MSM tell it, less people than ever own guns.

Yeah, strangers that call you on the phone and ask if you have guns in the house are going to get an honest answer.

:rolleyes:

[Ronin Truth]

Perhaps a bunch of the guns are being bought to give to the Mexican drug cartels.

LOL!

[oyarde]

I only bought one gun last week. No paperwork though .

[TheNewYorker]

I think the white house doesn't realize when they talk about less guns, it makes people want to buy more.

[Dr.3D]

Wow, look what happened when Obama became president...
http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/original-size/images/2015/07/blogs/graphic-detail/20150808_woc357_1.png
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/08/graphics-americas-guns

[Danke]

I think it is due to all the extra discretionary income that people have now with unemployment so low And the economy doing so well. -Zippy

[staerker]

People smell a war coming. Your move.

[ghengis86]

Wow, look what happened when Obama became president...
http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/original-size/images/2015/07/blogs/graphic-detail/20150808_woc357_1.png
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/08/graphics-americas-guns

Interesting that they report the decline in percentage of households with guns, but not the overall trend of households with guns. It leads one to believe that there are more guns in less households, when it could be that the opposite is true, but non-gun households have expanded at a greater rate.

Damn statistics.


Anyhow, it's pretty obvious why gun sales keep spiking and for the WH to claim they know not why, they're just intentionally being obtuse.

[Ronin Truth]

I think the white house doesn't realize when they talk about less guns, it makes people want to buy more.

Beware the further implications of the 'Law of Unintended Consequences'.

[pcosmar]

The Whitehouse is clueless about a whole bunch of other things as well.

And on that point we are on the same page.

[timosman]

Government should allocate a small budget of say $100 million to fund a 12 month long study of this issue.

[Anti Federalist]

Interesting that they report the decline in percentage of households with guns, but not the overall trend of households with guns. It leads one to believe that there are more guns in less households, when it could be that the opposite is true, but non-gun households have expanded at a greater rate.

This statistic is based on phone polling.

If some stranger called and asked: "do you have any guns in your house?", what are you going to say?

[XNavyNuke]

Wow, look what happened when Obama became president...
http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/original-size/images/2015/07/blogs/graphic-detail/20150808_woc357_1.png
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/08/graphics-americas-guns

Looking at the report that The Economist created their graphs from (General Social Survey: Trends in Gun Ownership in the United States, 1972-2014), in 1977 0.1% of respondents refused to answer the question about having a gun in the household. By 2014, that number had risen to 3.2% for respondents refusing to answer the question. What percentage lied in the survey? Why did no one plot that curve?

XNN

[specsaregood]

This statistic is based on phone polling.

If some stranger called and asked: "do you have any guns in your house?", what are you going to say?

TBH, put that way, I would think that people that don't have guns would be inclined to lie and say that they do have them. Whereas people with guns might lie and say they don't since their security isn't threatened either way.

[opal]

This statistic is based on phone polling.

If some stranger called and asked: "do you have any guns in your house?", what are you going to say?

I'm either going to say.. "who is this?" or just hang up the phone

[Anti Federalist]

Looking at the report that The Economist created their graphs from (General Social Survey: Trends in Gun Ownership in the United States, 1972-2014), in 1977 0.1% of respondents refused to answer the question about having a gun in the household. By 2014, that number had risen to 3.2% for respondents refusing to answer the question. What percentage lied in the survey? Why did no one plot that curve?

XNN

My thinking exactly.

The two data sets conflict, unless you want to assume that hundreds of millions of new guns have been sold to an increasingly shrinking minority of owners, which is a much bigger stretch of the imagination than to think 20 to 40 percent of people asked on a cold call poll, if they owned guns, lied about it.

[Dr.3D]

Looking at the report that The Economist created their graphs from (General Social Survey: Trends in Gun Ownership in the United States, 1972-2014), in 1977 0.1% of respondents refused to answer the question about having a gun in the household. By 2014, that number had risen to 3.2% for respondents refusing to answer the question. What percentage lied in the survey? Why did no one plot that curve?

XNN
I was just trying to post the left chart and that one on the right came along with it.

[Ronin Truth]

This statistic is based on phone polling.

If some stranger called and asked: "do you have any guns in your house?", what are you going to say?

"Who is this, and why do you want/need to know?" <Their answer, of whatever> Followed by - "That's really none of your business." <click>

[Pericles]

This statistic is based on phone polling.

If some stranger called and asked: "do you have any guns in your house?", what are you going to say?

No guns here.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt317/Pericles-photo/arsenal_zpshrq5kjnh.jpg