What Does it Mean, Then?

Sebastian links this story on Black Friday:

Gun dealers flooded the FBI with background check requests for prospective buyers last Friday, smashing the single-day, all-time high by 32%, according to bureau records….The actual number of firearms sold last Friday is likely higher because multiple firearms can be included in a transaction by a single buyer. And the FBI does not track actual gun sales.

Awesome. But even more awesome was they got an opposition statement from Dennis Hennigan:

Dennis Henigan, acting president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said he was “skeptical” of the Black Friday gun surge.

“I think there may be no real signifcance at all,” Henigan said. “It’s possible that gun companies are just catching on to creating a Black Friday frenzy for themselves.”

Well with most of his lies, there is a grain of truth. Its no coincidence that this surge in NICS checks was on Black Friday. There were lots of good deals to be had, and most people had the day off work, why not buy a new gun?

But what exactly are you “Skeptical” of? Are you saying people were wandering into gun shops and filling out Form 4473s and then walking out without a gun? Are you saying FFLs are crank-calling NICS with fake 4473? Are you claiming that most of those people were denied their transfer because they were criminals? (BTW if that was true you’d think the FBI would mention it).

The bottom line was a HUGE number of people had a NICS check on Black Friday, and with each NICS at LEAST one firearm (tho with a day like that I’d imagine the number of multiple transfers is also up) was released into civilian hands.

As far as sales and deals on Black Friday, let’s look at the significance of that: This Christmas (December 25th…Which is the last Sunday in 2011) a bunch of people will receive as gifts their first firearm. Because it was the END of the year rather than the BEGINNING or MIDDLE how does this change the number of new gun owners in America?

Oh BTW one of the common arguments to the insignificance of NICS numbers is that that these are not “new gun owners” just gun owners buying MORE guns. Well that’s partly true, I’m always buying new guns, and just because I add another Mosin Nagant to my collection doesn’t really mean anything to the position of Anti-Rights people.

Still look concealed carry course. Look at club memberships. Look at the new faces at clubs. Hang out in a gun shop and listen to the shop keeper answering newbie questions. In Massachusetts where you need a permit to BUY a gun, look at those numbers.

One other anecdote. Look at your own collection. I used to buy a TON of guns every year. Why? Well I started out with NOTHING. I wanted to fill niches I didn’t have. Home Defense Gun, Carry gun, Backup Gun, Defensive Rifle, Long-Range rifle, Collector guns, .22 trainers. After a while you see a new gun on the market that doesn’t do anything better than guns you already have in the safe, you decide to just buy more ammo, take classes and log time on the range.

Nope, there are a lot of people joining the cause…and abandoning your cause, Dennis.