Record Numbers of Americans Try to Buy Guns | Hacker News Reader

Record Numbers of Americans Try to Buy Guns

wsj.com

22 pointsReedx29 comments

Not a surprise when there is rioting and the police do next to nothing. (I say that as a European that is happy we don't have the same gun culture over here).

Yeah, funny how all those anti-2A talking heads evaporated as soon as the country descended into chaos. Almost my entire family has been armed long before COVID so they haven't needed to procure any additional weapons. Although I've been trying to convince my mother to add a shotgun to complement her revolver for a while.

That said, I'm glad I live in Japan and don't have to worry about firearms in addition to the psychos with knives.

> Yeah, funny how all those anti-2A talking heads evaporated as soon as the country descended into chaos

The country didn't descend into chaos and anti-2a people didn't disappear.

The anti-2a people are being very quiet, partly because one of their arguments as to why you do not need a gun is because you can just call the police. But that's not going to work when the large portion of the police force is otherwise occupied with protests or rioting, or after the police department has been defunded.

Bingo. You either trust the police with your security, or you assume that you're responsible for your security -- but no amount of reform is going to make humanity into pliable care-bears.

The country did not, but some cities did. There have been massive near-daily riots in Portland for example, but if you only consume mainstream press, you wouldn't even know.

protests != riots

I'm pretty sure attacking police with hammers and repeatedly trying to set the courthouse on fire qualifies as "riots".

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/07/16/acting-secretary-wolf-co...

That's actually a really interesting link. I see severe escalation that sounds like the result of a poor police response. It started with graffiti and a broken window. More than a week later:

"Portland Police were forced to deploy crowd control spray to disperse a crowd that was throwing animal seed at officers."

Really? They were forced to use pepper spray or tear gas because they were being pelted with animal seed? Poor babies. It must have stung. This is precisely why there are protests to begin with. The police in America only escalate. They do not know how to de-escalate. It did eventually get to fire and hammers, but let's look hard at how it got there. If you escalate a fight, expect to get hit.

> pelted with animal seed

I don't think it was the kind of "seed" you're thinking of. I guess it's the next step up from their usual practice of throwing piss at people. More in line with the spirit of the "summer of love", as it were.

> I don't think it was the kind of "seed" you're thinking of.

That's actually a hilarious interpretation. I hadn't thought of that. :)

But it's a pretty formal report so if they meant feces, they would have said so.

Not feces. "Seed" = "semen". See 6 here: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/seed

But its not really clear if this has that interpretation, or if the protesters were just throwing eg bird seed. Calling it "animal seed" and not meaning the former seems a bit wonky to me.

"Authorities didn't release details about any injuries to the officer. Police on Twitter posted a photo of what appeared to be a 16-inch sledgehammer.

Authorities say that otherwise protests on Friday were generally peaceful"

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/police-arres...

Doesn't sound like a riot to me. But I don't have an agenda to push so I might be biased :)

> I don't have an agenda to push

But you do, my friend, you do. Otherwise you'd go on twitter and check the situation for yourself. It's extensively documented by citizen journalists, including the people participating in the riots.

m0zg: they are attacking police with hammers!

portland police: protests are mostly peaceful

who to believe? hmmm.......

Anything is "peaceful" if you're woke enough: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/05/28/msnbcs_al...

what is it the police say, "dont let a few rotten apples spoil the bunch"?

So in your eyes, was CHOP the "summer of love" the mayor claimed it was?

If you are trying to setup a false dichotomy, you are gonna have to try a little harder.

CHOP wasn't a "summer of love" like the far left claimed and it wasn't a lawless wasteland of thugs like the far right claimed

Plenty of business and home owners in CHOP probably would have something different to say about it entirely.

Edit: Whoops, I forgot. No property ownership in CHOP. All good.

Except for Raz the warlord who has an Airbnb and a Tesla with a trunk full of AR15s that he was giving out to people.

I'm anti 2A for everyone, but that's shouting into a hurricane until we have fewer guns than humans in the US.

The danger of the protesters is overblown in the service of certain people who want to divide Americans. The division, polarization, and people reaching for guns is far more dangerous than the protests themselves.

As someone who had their building lit on fire and had to evacuate for 12 hours, I would disagree.

Aye, our main corporate tech office is in a city with a lot of protesters, and had the windows smashed and the lobby set on fire. This is a Fortune 500 that you have heard of.

Everyone is remote due to COVID, but this isn't a remote office in a podunk city. And even if it was, you can't just handwave it away.

and a hail of bullets would have helped the situation or hindered?

That's what one of my rich, liberal friends used to say until riots and looting started 2 blocks from where he lives. He now has an AR15.

It's worrying how many people are purchasing firearms as first-time buyers who are also dis-incentivized from training due to the pandemic. Sure, many states mandate training before initially purchasing and/or carrying a firearm but that should be an ongoing thing.

At the start of the buying spree, gun ranges near me were all closed down and prevented the sort of practice that any responsible gun owner should have.

I appreciate people like Maj Toure and his organization Black Guns Matter who are going and teaching proper gun safety across the nation. There should be more people like him

It's a valid concern. Even a gun range or concealed carry class won't teach you what you need: Situational awareness, proper draw technique, muzzle discipline, etc.

Sheepdog Response - headed up by Tim Kennedy is another good org. with an aim to prevent responsible (safe) self-defense training. [1]

Tim is an (active) green beret and retired UFC fighter, and their org. is geared entirely towards teaching the average citizen how to safely defend themselves (both armed and unarmed). It's the real deal, and their classes are pretty much 2 full weekend days.

1 - https://sheepdogresponse.com/

edit: I do not represent them in any way. Just believe in their mission.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com