Cause-Effect of Violence: Trump Lies; GOP Revenge Talk; Gun Sales Way Up

 

A 17-year old bought this AR-15

(The Rittenhouse Gun Loophole)

Waiting in line to buy a gun in Utah

(February 2021)

Gun Sales in America – an Introduction: A FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR) for 2020 shows that homicides (i.e., murder) increased by nearly 30% from 2019 to 2020, marking the “largest single-year increase the FBI has reported since it began collecting such data in the 1960s” (Cite: CNN).

There were 21,570 reported homicides in 2020. The homicide rate was 6.5 per 100,000 people in 2020 – still well below the murder rates that peaked around 9.8 per 100,000 in the early 1990s (Cite: FBI data). 

This story from The Hill with this headline adds more to that:

“More gun owners cite crime as reason for owning weapons”

More gun owners in the U.S. say they have their firearms to protect themselves against crime, according to a new survey by Gallup that found that 88% of gun owners said that they own their weapon for crime protection, an increase of more than 20 points from the 67 percent who listed the reason in 2005.

The survey giant also found that the percentages of gun owners who say they use their weapons for purposes like target shooting or hunting have remained relatively static over the years.

In 2021, 70% of gun owners said they had their firearms for target shooting, compared to 66% in 2005, while 56% said they used their guns for hunting in 2021, while 58% cited that same reason in 2005.

Nearly a third of respondents said they own a gun, a result that has remained around 30% since Gallup began measuring that in 2000.

Related Gallup poll in this from NEWSWEEK:

·  Support for stricter gun laws dropped to the lowest level since 2014 when then less than 50% said laws should be stricter.

·  The poll conducted by Gallup now found that 52% of all Americans said firearm sale laws should be stricter.

·  According to the poll, 35% of Americans said they believe that gun laws should remain the same while 11% said they think gun laws should be less strict.

The Gallup poll has been tracking American views on gun laws since 1990 when 78% of people who responded said they supported stricter gun laws, the highest the poll has ever recorded. 

My 2 Cents: Interesting story and numbers for sure especially now as all reports show gun sales up – way up in fact (Cite: Washington Post).

Extract from the article – also very unnerving to say the least:

[America on edge: COVID lockdowns, protests, and 2020 election strife have all led to record gun sales]

Estimated firearm purchases climbed to an unprecedented 2.1 million in March, early in the pandemic when cities and states issued stay-at-home orders to contain the spread of the deadly disease. 

Panic-buying was common with Americans hoarding toilet paper, diapers, and cleaning supplies amid the widespread uncertainty.

The killing of George Floyd also set off a summer of racial-justice protests and prompted retailers in some cities to board up windows. 

Firearms sales went even higher, to 2.8 million in June and 2.5 million in July. Walmart even had to remove gun and ammunition displays from thousands of its stores.

We are in very treacherous times to say the least. 

Related is this which I posted this earlier. It shows how serious this kind of turmoil is that adds gas to an already raging fire in my view.

One word appears to define the GOP theme for the 2022 and 2024 election cycles: Revenge.

Thanks for stopping by.