There have been record-breaking gun sales this year as worried Republicans feared a possible Hillary Clinton presidency could spell an infringement on their Second Amendment rights. But then when Donald Trump was elected, gun manufacturers noticed a near 20% drop in shares as those fears subsided. And then there was Black Friday, which saw an astonishing 185,713 FBI background checks breaking the record for a single day. Though most of these guns were purchased by more conservative consumers as would be expected, the uptick is also being credited to a more unlikely group: liberals.
Fearing a Trump presidency, liberals and minority groups are darkening the doors of gun shops across America, many for the first time. Some are even joining organizations to learn how to use their new weapons. Lara Smith of the Liberal Gun Club told the BBC membership has risen by 10% since the election and she’s being flooded with curious callers. Smith said most new members are very reluctant to being gun owners. The club is in all 50 states and has nine chapters.
Smith voted for Clinton and described herself as a “moderate Democrat.” She said, “There is definitely a feeling that liberals hate guns.”
"If you go into [more conservative] gun forums and discuss your politics, you are very clearly not welcome,” Smith added. “‘Libtard’ is one of the nicer things they say. It can get pretty nasty very quickly."
However, she says members in her forums catch the irony and joke about sipping their herbal tea and doing a bit of yoga before hitting the range.
Polling suggests that in the late 1970s, over half of American households had guns. Now only 35% do — 55% are Republicans, and 32% are Democrats. Those numbers could be on the rise, especially among minorities.
TruthRevolt previously reported about Pink Pistols, an LGBT pro-gun club, who has also seen more interest than ever. Its transgender spokesperson Nicki Stallard takes a strong, 2A approach for new members:
This is a call to L.G.B.T. people to take their own defense seriously, and to question the left-leaning institutions that tell them guns are bad, and should be left to the professionals. Become a professional. You’re allowed. That’s what the Second Amendment is for. We can fight back when our lives depend on it.
Pink Pistol’s slogan reads, “Armed gays don’t get bashed.”
Another Pink Pistol leader, Gwendolyn Patton, said many of their new members fear getting “harassed by the gun nuts at the range” but she says that’s mostly unfounded.
"There are people who have professed to carrying a gun now because Trump made them feel unsafe," she said. "I think their fears are groundless, but I can't make them not be afraid, so whatever they need to do to feel safer, I don't have a problem with that as long as they do it responsibly."
But it’s not just guns that liberals are buying up, they’re also stockpiling emergency supplies in anticipation of a coming apocalypse. There’s a Facebook group for them, too: the Liberal Prepper. One member said, “A lot of people are worried that not only will [a Trump presidency] fail but that it will fail spectacularly to the point that we are going to end up on in one or more critical situations that we are just not prepared for.”
And just as prepping suddenly became chic for liberals, The Economic Collapse blog noticed a small decrease in supplies sold since the election:
“Now that everyone is feeling so good about things, very few people still seem interested in prepping for hard times ahead. In fact, it is like a nuclear bomb went off in the prepping community."
But those who have been stockpiling are already prepared for the worst case scenario and it's about time liberals got on board. Because in the end, the Second Amendment is for all Americans. It doesn’t matter what your reason is to buy a gun; personal protection is your right. So, come one, come all. The more the merrier.
