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(AP Photo/Dan Sewell)
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By Larry Keane

National groups began the year with the high hopes of further restricting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. To them, it wasn’t about God-given rights enshrined in the Constitution or even about personal and community safety. To them it’s all about control.

But those hopes were decidedly dashed every step of the way throughout 2021 as law-abiding Americans fully embraced the Second Amendment, including millions who jumped off the fence and purchased a gun for the first time.

Americans handed gun control a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year.

White House Woes

For gun control groups and their biggest backers, like billionaire and failed presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, expectations were sky high that President Joe Biden could deliver. After all, he outsourced his Veepstakes to Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action and promised former Rep. Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke he’d be his gun confiscation sheriff and help him “take care of the gun problem with me.”

coronavirus gun sales store
People wait in a line to enter a gun store in Culver City, Calif., (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

As millions of law-abiding Americans continued buying firearms at near-record high numbers continuing the 2020 trend, political realities took hold and the White House and Pres. Biden faltered on their many promises. Gun control activists noticed and are feeling dispirited.

“He hasn’t really been a leader,” a policy director of March for Our Lives remarked. “We were really hopeful and he made a lot of promises.” A Giffords gun control representative added, “We would like to see more from the Biden administration.”

Joe Biden
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

A senior advisor for Brady PAC stated, “It’s not enough.”

The White House failures to please gun control schemers were big and the changing demographics of the American gun owner were on full and public display as even U.S. Senate Democrats couldn’t be corralled into rubber-stamping the president’s gun control agenda.

The withdrawal of David Chipman to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) happened after a handful of Democratic senators voiced opposition to him, including Sen. Angus King (I-Maine).

Giffords David Chipman ATF

Giffords Law Center Senior Policy Advisor David Chipman (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)That was followed up with the withdrawal of Saule Omarova as nominee for Comptroller of the Currency after she refused to rule out another Operation Choke Point. Even Senate Democrats on the banking committee voiced concerns about her.

In Congress, Second Amendment supporters have held strong and prevented any significant restrictions from passing, forcing the White House to rely on executive actions on the margins. Even those announcements have left gun control disappointed.

Fred Guttenberg
Fred Guttenberg (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

“They’ve done probably, through executive action, not everything they can do but a lot,” gun control activist Fred Guttenberg said.

Who’s Buying, Anyways?

The resistance to gun control restrictions isn’t coming from “the gun industry” or boogeymen within the gun lobby as gun control so often repeat. It’s come from law-abiding Americans who are making their voices heard at the ballot box and at the firearm retailer counter.

Coronavirus gun sales surge boom
Brian Xia, 44, picks up his gun at a gun store in Arcadia, Calif. Sunday, March 15, 2020. Xia who is a first-time gun buyer, says he buys the gun for protecting himself and his family. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

When billionaire gun control funder Michael Bloomberg spent $1 billion to buy more gun control elections, he was roundly rejected by voters. Instead, more than 21 million law-abiding Americans went to the community firearm retailer last year, passed a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verification and walked out with a new gun. 8.4 million were first-time buyers in 2020 and more than 3.4 million did so during the first half of this year.

virus America gun sales store
(AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

The remarkable changing demographics of the diverse gun owning community in America are demonstrated by who purchased a gun. Firearm industry data showed more than 40 percent of first-time buyers in 2020 were women. African-Americans bought firearms at a pace 58 percent higher in 2020 than they did in 2019. For Hispanic-Americans the rate was 49 percent higher; Asian-Americans at 42 percent higher.

coronavirus gun sales
Stephanie Miller, of Atlanta, places shotgun in her shopping cart as she checks out Adventure Outdoors Monday, March 16, 2020, in Smyrna, Ga. Miller said she had been on the fence about guns but with recent events she decided to buy guns. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

If elected officials weren’t paying attention before, their voting constituencies might look a little different as Second Amendment support has reached high marks and polling support for more gun control has cratered.

Gun control politicians should take note as the buying trend continues and Americans keep choosing to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms. Californian and Latino Rifle Association founder P.J. Gomez put it bluntly. “I don’t believe self-defense… should be exclusive to people on the right politically.”

The new year means Election Day 2021 is closer. NSSF launched #GUNVOTE to help inform and educate Second Amendment supporters to know where candidates stand on the issue. If politicians from the White House or Congress down to local town boards don’t pay attention, their voters will send them packing.

 

Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

 

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51 COMMENTS

  1. POTG, there are people working for us too. Strongly recommend joining GOA and 2nd Amendment Foundation. Now. Make it a resolution.

  2. Biden has had more federal judges confirmed his first year than Trump did. Things will get worse. We can thank Lindsey Graham for it too since he approved almost every single one.

    • Graham pretty much has to allow Democrats to be appointed, but he should at least hold the line on the radicals. What good is he if he’s nothing more than a rubber stamp of approval? Remember all the things he said he was going to do when he took control of the Judiciary Committee? He’s a typical FOS politician.

  3. May slow Joe and the ho continue being disappointed! Let’s go Brandon! Happy New Year TTAG🎉

  4. I hope they hire dacian & push gun control harder than ever in 2022. They’re probably not that stupid, but a boy can dream….

  5. The Left only has themselves to blame because of their radical agenda and disregard for the Constitutiion. When people feel threatened they do things they might not normally do and in this case with rising crime and dictatorial policies they are buying firearms to fight back. Smart people would heed the subtle warning but the Left is too entrenched in its own agenda to realize how they have failed and alienated even many of their own FORMER supporters. Most folks in this Country are not interested in Socialism or being dominated by people who are obviously totally incompetent. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!!!!!

  6. Just bought myself a late Christmas present: Ruger Mini Tactical (5888). Guns.com says it will show up at my FFL Jan 2-3.

    That rounds out my home defense arsenal: 4 pistols, a shotgun, and a rifle.

    Now, time to start arming my wife. She has finally agreed. Thanks to those of you who made suggestions for revolvers and pistols (a few months ago) that might be suitable.

  7. “I don’t believe self-defense… should be exclusive to people on the right politically.”

    I believe that the right to self defense should be exclusive to the people who vote for it.

  8. The Far Rights gloating over none as of yet sane gun laws being past is a bit premature. It must be remembered that when Obama first was elected he faced a serious global recession that was cased by the irresponsibility of the Bush administration and that took priority.

    Fast forward to Biden coming to office when the pandemic which Trump fked up from start to the disastrous finish of his fake presidency took priority for Biden. He has 3 more years to go.

    If the current crime rate continues to climb or there are more dramatic and horrific mass murders that take place by assault rifle and ghost guns even the Republican’s will be voting for more gun control.

        • He sees himself as the heroic Commissar bringing The People’s Righteous Social Justice to the masses. He hopes to be seen as the savior of the downtrodden masses bringing them into utopian prosperity, while there is enough loot to redistribute.

      • I responded to Void’s comment, comment. Awaiting review, then it disappeared. I didn’t curse, or even say anything offensive. Unless maybe you’re a pencil neck.

        • Certain words and phrases trigger the robo moderation. I’ve occasionally edited some comments and discovered the trigger. It won’t let me say [place where people gamble] or Jesus was a [another word for Bernie bro]. Why that needs moderation, I have no idea.

          Your comment probably “disappeared” because you left the page and came back. If you make another comment, your previous comment will probably reappear.

    • Not so fast sneaky darcydodo…It was no mistake you failed to insert “Control” between your more acceptable sounding, “Gun Laws.” Shame on you playing a word game to sell your sugarcoated Gun Control poop.

      Next you attempt to elevate Jim Crow Gun Control joe by slandering and libeling POTUS DJT for a pandemic that began in China along with assistance from the quack doctor fauci. Jim Crow Gun Control joe and democRats like you contribution to any vaccine research from the pandemic start and to date? Absolute minus ZERO.

      The finger pointing Jim Crow Gun Control joe said himself, “Any POTUS who allowed that many to persish during the pandemic should not be POTUS.” And less than a year later the number of pandemic deaths under Jim Crow Gun Control joe has far, far surpassed any deaths while POTUS DJT was at the helm.

      Frankly darcydodo you better enjoy basking in your Rat poop because polls show lots and lots of America’s morons who voted for or fake voted for Jim Crow Gun Control joe are fed up and no longer buying your sleazy democRat slander and libel.

    • Dacian, I’m curious about how you think Trump messed up his response to the coronavirus. With the hindsight we have now, what would have been the best way to manage the pandemic? I have my own ideas but it would require a totalitarian government control to a level I don’t think exists.

      I see comments on here blaming Trump for 600000 deaths. If that’s true, is Biden personally responsible for the Covid deaths since assuming office?

      I personally blame humans fascination of playing with things that can destroy us and probably lax safety protocols at a lab in Wuhan, China that was at least partially funded by US dollars.

      • Remember when Biden said anyone who’s responsible for 220,000 dead Americans should not remain President? Why hasn’t he stepped down yet? It’s almost like he’s FOS, and doesn’t believe a word that comes out of mouth. I remember how he kept saying on the campaign trail that he had a plan to shut down the virus. Wouldn’t it be immoral to keep that plan to yourself until you became President?? No one asked him that. Then he came in, and gave us his plan: 100 days of masking up! LOL! He was going to follow the science! I’d love to see the scientific evaluation that came up with an even 100 days. It was completely arbitrary. Even if some idiot believed Joe back then, like you said, we have hindsight now. They don’t have a clue.

      • From China, I would expect a combination of greed, incompetence, buck passing, laziness, petty cost cutting, and delayed reporting. In China you do not want to be the bearer of bad news or make a decision without approval from above.

    • dacian, All of your proposals are far from sane.
      1st, the “Great Recession” was caused by the housing market crash precipitated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac forcing banks to issue mortgages that the borrowers could not possibly repay. That caused the crash of AIG which wrote the insurance on these loans. For your edification, Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank, two DEMONcRAT Lefties authored the bills that established Fannie and Freddie. Nice try at blaming Bush, but educated people know better.
      Trump “f’ed” up the pandemic? Again, for your edification, 1st, your Red Chinese allies released the Red Chinese Virus and then failed to notify the world and tried to cover it up.
      2nd there have been MORE DEATHS since Sleepy Joe took over than happened when Trump was president.
      Most of the so called “mass shootings” (a definition which has been changed by your Left leaning media) are done with handguns. Not “assault rifles”. You Lefties don’t even know what an “assault rifle”. Another definition you have changed to fit your anti-gun agenda.
      I’m still waiting for your answer to my question about the firing sequence of a cartridge. But I won’t hold my breath. I will say this. You are a fraud!

      • quote—————-Trump “f’ed” up the pandemic? Again, for your edification, 1st, your Red Chinese allies released the Red Chinese Virus and then failed to notify the world and tried to cover it up.———-quote

        Walter your stupidity and or lying is infinite. Trump admitted he knew about the coming crisis in November of 2019 and he said he did not want to panic the public and of course affect the economy which would have affected his election. In reality by trying to hide the coming pandemic he destroyed any chance of himself being reelected, especially after he murdered 400,000 people. Trump did not even shut down air travel until way after the pandemic came to the U.S. but he knew it was coming months before it ever got here.

        Nice try you Dotard trying to blame China and giving Trump a free pass for doing nothing until it was way too late.

        And it was Busch and the Republicans that corrupted Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac into something it was never designed to be. They deliberately enticed people to buy homes they knew could not afford the payments so they could reposes the homes after they had paid on them and then resold them making money on the deal. The Democrats warned them what would happen but Bush let the Greed Monger Gangster Criminal Republican Bankers keep doing it until everything crashed just as the Republicans did in their corruption of the Stock Market back in 1929. Sorry Walter you know as much about the crash as you do about rocket science and that is zero.

        Quote—————–You Lefties don’t even know what an “assault rifle”———Quote

        Hey Walt you should have learned by now (since you know so little about firearms) not to tangle with me. You can use your usual games of semantics but they cut no ice as you can empty an AR15 in only about 1 second more than a full auto M16. All the people in a bar room still end up slaughtered so what is your point????? Except of course to prove you are a complete moron when it comes to firearms or if not a complete abject liar.

        • dacian, You know as people much smarter than both of us once said, “Foresight is near sighted while hind sight is 20/20. Trump’s statement you attribute to him is taken so far out of context as to change it’s meaning. But that is what you Lefties do to the extreme.
          Do you deny that your Red Chinese allies released the Red Chinese Virus and then tried to conceal it from the world? Even the vaulted WHO now admits that is the case. Why would the Reds do that? The explanation is as clear as the nose on your face. The Red Chinese have the goal of world domination in retribution for what they perceive as what Western Nations did to China in the 1700’s through the mid 1900’s. As to Trump’s reasoning of not wanting to panic people that is a solid reason. But if you read what he said in its entirety, you would not that no one could have foreseen the consequences. Trump murdered no one. But your Red Chinese allies sure as hell have and you give them a pass.
          Your contention that it was “greedy Republican bankers” that caused the “Great Recession” is pure unadulterated poppy cock. Again it was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac forcing banks to grant mortgages that should never have been granted. Bush had nothing to do with it. Nice try though. Each time one of your dumbass programs fails you try blaming someone else.
          Again, you try to pass yourself off as a “gun expert”. For some reason though you can’t even tell us the firing sequence of a cartridge. Again, you don’t know squat about the AR-15. To do what you allege, you would have to illegally modify the AR’s, which is not as easy as you anti-gun radicals claim. Speaking of morons, you are the poster child of morons and imbeciles. You would make an excellent parrot. All you need is the feathers.

        • dacian, It looks like your buddies at TTAG deleted my response. so here it goes again.
          Again, you deny that your Red Chinese allies introduced the Red Chinese Virus and try to put it off on Trump by taking his comment out of context, but that is what you Lefties do all the time to try to make a point. Trump’s point of not wanting to set off a panic seems to be spot on as you Lefties have done just that.
          Then you again, try to blame Republicans and Bush for the Great Depression without addressing that it was two Lefties, Sen Chris Dodd (D-Conn) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) who established the two government agencies that forced the banks to grant mortgages that never should have been granted to people with no ability to repay. It is the typical Left’s tactic to pawn off their errors on others. Nice try. And yet again, you make a statement about the AR-15 which is as bogus as the rest of your diatribe. While it isn’t impossible to make an AR-15 into a “machine gun” it is very difficult unless you are a skilled gunsmith. So again, you are not telling the truth. But then you Lefties have a problem with speaking the truth.

    • This guy has to be gag so the at we have someone to laugh at right? He can’t really believe all this crap. I’ve known Alzheimer’s patients with more upstairs.

      He has to be trolling.

  9. I am a voting NRA Life Member and the NRA or any other group will not see another dime until a change comes from within and that change includes a campaign to define Gun Control as History Defines Gun Control.

    Face it…Gun Control puts money in the pockets of those who play tit for tat games with Gun Control zealots in courtrooms, etc. The Second Amendment is always the accused and Gun Control is always the prosecutor. And it all flies right over the heads of history illiterate gullible gun owners fixated on such courtroom drama…pathetic.

    Gun Control not only paved the way for racism and genocide on as large scale it also paves the way for a lone criminal to take ownership of you and yours and all your hard earned possessions if you are a defenseless sitting duck thanks to a Gun Control government and perverts like mike bloomberg, beto, schumer et al. Gun Control? No and Hell No.

  10. Already a member.

    Also, I’m signed up under the Amazon Smile program to give a fraction of my purchase price, to the Second Amendment Foundation.

    Painless, easy to set up, and it’s a little nudge at anti-gun Bezos every time I buy something from Amazon.

  11. Good for the American people; not so good for dacian, Miner49er and “Your Betters”. They don’t seem to understand the 2nd Amendment.

    • You’re a damn liar, man. That’s not true. And no one has ever said that.

      • Said what? What specifically did I lie about in my comment? So the Russian ammo import ban didn’t happen by executive fiat, kicking AK owners especially in the nuts. Over 1/5th of all ammunition supplies in the United States cut off. It may not be in full effect now but the pain will come later. And that is not a lie.

        You don’t have to pass gun control, just make it more and more expensive.

        • Let’s do push-ups together, man, let’s run, let’s do whatever you want to do. Let’s take an IQ test, all right?

        • Joe “Corn Pop was a bad dude” Biden Nice try but you avoided what Shawn said. Why don’t you give it another try but this time address what he said?
          Please don’t take an IQ test. The results would not show you having and IQ higher than you shoe size.

        • Get your words straight Jack. I‘m supposed to stop and walk out of the room.

        • Joe “Clap for that, you stupid bastards” Biden, Changing your name does not help. His words are spot on. Yours? Not so much, Lefty.

        • Has anyone noticed that Joe quote unquote Biden speaks in Joe Biden quotes? Try copying one of his sentences or quotes and searching it.

  12. Gun control, by whatever name is nothing but a failure on every level. No law, restriction, ban, confiscation scheme, regestration scheme, back ground check, or other foolisness will ever do what the fools want to claim they desire. None of the above will prevent a criminal, or nut case from getting a firearm, commiting a crime, nor prevent suicides or keep a gun away from a kid. Gun control has very little to do with guns and everything to do with control of the populace. Even if the gun grabbers could wave their magic gavel and outlaw guns, and remove every gun on the North American Continent, some enterprising soul would be on the phone or internet and figuring out how to get a shipping container in from the former Eastern Blok, the Phillipines, China, Brazil, Pakistan, or Sub Saharan Africa loaded with weapons and ammunition.
    Then we have the crap about the Assault Weapons. do these fools not read the FBI crime stats? About 2% of firearm related crimes are committed with long guns in general. Of which Semi automatic rifles are only a portion of. Also, self loading firearms have been on the civilian market for close to a century now. I believe the first Browning Semi Auto’s came on the market in the late 1920’s. Someone please explaine how a 1940’s vintage Garand, or a 1950’s designed Springfield, or a 1960’s vintage Ruger is any less effective, if needs be, than a 1970’s vintage AR15, or a 1940’s designed AK47. As for rate of fire, check into what the British Army would do with their 1917 Lee Enfields. What they called the mad minute. 100 rounds through a bolt action rifle in 1 minute. Then we have the magazine crap. Even my Garand can be reloaded with the 8 round enblock clip in under a second if needed. Even something like an old M 1894 Winchester can be loaded on the fly and lay down a fairly impressive field of fire. So the premise of assault weapon or magazine size is nothing but a smoke screen to cover the intent of disarmament.
    Gun control is nothing but a scheme to disarm the civilian populace and have the only firearms in the hands of the government or the crimials. Which seldom benefit the people, but does benefit the wannabe dictators and the criminals. Who usually are the same people.

  13. …Californian and Latino Rifle Association founder P.J. Gomez put it bluntly. “I don’t believe self-defense… should be exclusive to people on the right politically.”

    Yep. But did Gomez vote for Biden?

  14. I suspect a substantial percentage of the “first time buyers” were BLM, AntiFa and other left funded groups gearing up for their long sought violent revolution.

    I predict democrats (communist party USA) will steal the 2022 mid term elections.

    Be Prepared !!!

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