“If the local Walmart can run out of toilet paper, what’s next? Food? Gasoline? Images of The Walking Dead or Mad Max filled people’s heads as they binged on Netflix and drank more than usual. Millions upon millions of American gun owners went into their local store and filled their carts with ammo. Just in case. And as demand outpaced supply, ammo shelves became as barren as an apocalyptic nightmare.”
Historically, when liberal politicians start to give speeches about taking away guns or imposing new gun control laws, sales of guns and ammunition have spiked. Many times, this has followed a recent mass shooting or some other catastrophe. It’s not uncommon to see sales driven by fear, as fear is a powerful motivator, but 2020 has taken that to a whole new level.
When I wrote my book, Mercy Shot, a courtroom drama about a mass shooting event thwarted by a concealed carrier who is then charged with murder, I thought it was pretty edgy. I could not have foreseen the disease laden, city-burning nightmare that has been 2020. The ensuing and pervasive fear running rampant across America has produced a beautiful example of how the free-market economy works. Supply and demand baby…and demand for privately-owned weapons is outpacing supply, big time.
It’s a perfect storm. The pandemic started the purchasing frenzy in April as shelves were emptied of toilet paper and other simple goods. People were terrified and socially locked in their homes as the plague of the modern age was reported to be about to kill us all. The American people felt the fear of a tyrannical government like no other period in my lifetime as state after state forced private businesses to lock down by decree. Businesses closed, many never to reopen. The feeling of powerlessness to do anything about it began to seep into the American psyche. The government was now firmly in control of our lives. Lockdowns, curfews, masks, rules that forced people to get married virtually alone or bury a loved one with almost no funeral. It’s all for the greater good they said, but a sinking feeling of dread had settled in.
