A run on post-election gun sales?
November 12, 2008 2:57 pm ET by Eric Boehlert
That's what the Los Angeles Times claims in an article today. It reports that some gun owners are terrified that president Obama ("the nation's first black president," the newspaper reminds us in the lead) will outlaw firearms. Either that or they're "preparing to protect themselves in the event of a race war," say the gun buyers.
A provocative news angle, for sure. But the Times' proof of a gun rush seems pretty thin. The paper acknowledges there are no statistics on the number of guns purchased nationwide, or even within individual states, since Nov. 4. Instead, the paper relies on "anecdotal reports," which turns out to be quoting two gun shop owner in Texas, and citing the fact that background checks for new gun owners in Colorado was up dramatically the Saturday before Election Day.
Seems to us the Times needed to corral more proof if it was going to splash such a controversial story (i.e. a possible "race war") in its news pages.
-- The paper acknowledges there are no statistics on the number of guns purchased nationwide, or even within individual states, since Nov. 4. -- county fair
-- In Colorado, state authorities said they set a record for background checks on gun purchasers on the Saturday before the election -- and the requests have been growing ever since. -- LAT