Gun Ownership Soaring in California

As Frederick Douglas once said, “A man’s rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.”  It looks like some liberals are finally embracing all three.

When you think of California, you might think of a bunch of highly taxed, liberal pacifists who want to take your guns.  That’s why I left and made my home the great state of Texas.

However a new study by researchers at the University of California shows more Californians are arming up than ever before. The study’s authors researched results from the California Safety and Wellbeing Survey, a survey given to 2,870 Californians selected to serve as a representative sample of the state’s adult population. The results were staggering.

By mid July, over 110,000 firearms were purchased — 47,000 of these guns were bought by first time owners. The report identified several reasons for the increase in home protection:

“The most common reason given for firearm acquisition in response to the pandemic was worry about lawlessness…, followed by worry about prisoner releases…, the government going too far…, government collapse…, and gun stores closing,” the researchers wrote. “Reasons for ammunition purchases in response to the pandemic were similar.”

The massive demand for ammunition has created problems for some manufacturers. The Arizona based, AMMO, Inc. has a record breaking $80.1 million backlog as of August. They are reportedly working seven days a week to supply Americans with the ammunition needed. 

Interesting that one of the bluest states in America is waking up to the second amendment. I often wondered what it would take for the left to warm up to the idea of buying guns. Turns out all it takes is nationwide riots and a global pandemic. 

At least that’s one positive aspect of the chaos: more Americans are learning to appreciate the 2nd Amendment, self-governance, and self-reliance.

Hat Tip: California Safety and Wellbeing Survey, The Daily Wire, MedRxiv