A friend of mine who used to work at the Department of Homeland Security told me something over the weekend that really stunned me: Americans are buying guns and ammunition at previously unheard of rates. People who had never even considered owning a weapon before are now eager to get armed and stockpile ammo. The first thing I did after my friend told me this was go home and do a search of recent news reports on the topic. Not that I doubted my friend’s veracity. He had a long and distinguished career in the U.S. military and then served in senior positions in the federal government. I trust his judgment. I simply hadn’t noticed any of this news before. But sure enough, his report is accurate. Consider some recent headlines:
- “Gun sales explode as election looms” (March 22, 2012)
- “U.S. gun sales up after theatre shooting” (July 25, 2012)
- “Growth Industry: Ruger Approaching Record Gun Sales” (August 21, 2012)
Consider, too, some of the specifics reported in a recent article in the Dayton Daily News: “GUN SALES AT RECORD HIGH.” (Sept. 22, 2012):
- “Smith & Wesson reported record net sales of $136 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2013, up 48.3 percent from a year ago. The company recently raised its full-year sales forecast from between $485-$505 million to $530-$540 million because of consumer demand.
- “We are under serving the market at this moment, we all know that, and that’s a great opportunity going forward for us,” Smith & Wesson CEO James Debney said during a recent conference call with analysts.
- “Since Obama has gotten elected, concealed carry’s been huge,” said Shannon Campbell of Campbell’s Firearms Training and Gun Accessories in Miamisburg. “People ask me all the time, it’s like, ‘So, who you like? You like Obama? I say yeah, I love him. He’s helped my business a lot.” Ohio is on pace to reach unprecedented numbers on issued conceal and carry permits and federal background checks. Through June, 35,022 new conceal carry licenses were approved. In all of 2011, the total was 49,828.
- Nationally, 11.7 million National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) checks have been made through August. That’s well above the 10.4 million at this time in 2011, which ended with 16.4 million checks, a record.
So this is a real phenomenon. Sobering.
The second thing I began asking myself is, “Why are gun and ammo sales surging?” Do people fear this country is going to implode? Do they fear a wave of criminal violence? Are they anticipating a civil war? What exactly is motivating this record surge in firearms? Guns & Ammo published an article in February headlined, “Why Gun Sales are on the Rise in 2012.” The article included some interesting details and theories. But I’m not sure it fully captured the dynamic.
The core reason, I believe, is that Americans are growing scared. They know our country is in serious trouble. But they fear things things could completely spin out of control. Where ever I travel and speak these days, I hear Americans worrying that our country is so far off track morally, spiritually and economically that people aren’t sure we can actually get back on the right track. As I write about in Implosion and discussed recently on the “Implosion Radio Special”, more and more Americans fear the ice is cracking under our feet. They’re worried we’re not just in a period of decline, but that America might actually collapse. With that collapse could come chaos. I’m not saying it will. I’m saying people fear it will. Movies, TV shows, books and articles about doomsday scenarios and preparing for such scenarios is on the rise.
More than ever, we need to be praying and fasting for the Lord God Almighty to have mercy on our country. We need to pray for revival — for a Third Great Awakening. Before it’s too late.
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