BELLEVUE, WA – -(AmmoLand.com)- The recent gun-buying surge that began with the COVID-19 pandemic panic and continued through the civil unrest and riots following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody has created millions of new gun owners who will now eagerly protect their right to protect themselves and their loved ones, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms predicts.
“Look at all of the new people who suddenly decided to exercise their Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms,” observed CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “We’ve witnessed something that is nothing short of a sea change, and in some cases might approach the level of epiphany, about gun ownership. We’ve heard anecdotal reports from all over the country about people flocking to gun shops who had never before owned a firearm. Now that they are gun owners, we expect them to be very protective of their rights.”
March, April and May saw record numbers of background checks, according to FBI data and information from industry sources. June data should be out within days, and CCRKBA expects the trend to continue.
“As we’ve said before,” Gottlieb recalled, “we welcome all of these new gun owners to the firearms community. We know many of them are minorities, especially Black and female citizens from literally all age groups, and they will find gun owners have a big tent with lots of room for newcomers. They can take advantage of training opportunities, meet new friends who share more interests than they might have suspected, and gain a new understanding of our efforts to protect the one fundamental right that actually protects all of the other rights.
“We’re not surprised to hear about new first-time gun buyers who have discovered how much enjoyment they get out of shooting,” he added. “We’ve seen this with generations of new gun owners who may never have had any previous experience with firearms. Many of them discover a sense of empowerment that allows them, maybe for the first time, to understand they can take care of themselves, and that they are responsible for their own safety.
“This new wave of gun owners could become a formidable force during this year’s election,” Gottlieb noted. “From now on, we expect millions of new gun owners to pay closer attention to candidates, and reject those who would trample on their Second Amendment rights. With legions of new gun owners ready to protect these newly-discovered rights, it could be a pretty scrappy election year with lots of surprises.”
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.
There may be some new gun owners who are conservatives and believe in the 2nd Amendment but I suspect most are like the buyers of toilet paper, in fear of a monster. They will never get proper safety training and the gun and box of bullets will go in the drawer or closet. Then theres the insurgents who are loading up on AR and AK pattern long arms and cases of ammunition. These rifles may be funded by dark groups, as most of the vermin on the streets have no jobs or steady income. Protesters cannot be gainfully employed if… Read more »
“Now that they are gun owners, we expect them to be very protective of their rights.”
If they even understand their rights.
Government education centers haven’t educated children for many decades in subjects such as US history and civics.
Much as the Appleseed project has, gun rights organizations should take a active role in education of the subjects to be productive responsible citizens of this nation.
I would believe easy come, easy go. Those new gun owners may have a few newcomers that fall in love with firearms. Most of them, though, will throw it in their back closet (if they haven’t already) and pretty much forget that it exists until one of their kids shoot someone with it. Then, they will be more anti-gun than ever.
“This new wave of gun owners could become a formidable force during this year’s election,” Gottlieb noted Um… NO. The “new wave” of gun owners are more a novelty than anything else. Keyboard commandos like to dream about the perfect scenario where the 2A right dominates our government and our country. This will not happen anytime soon and it will definitely not happen this year. For those that have been paying attention these past 6 months, the Left Socialist/Democrats are clearly in charge. What the 2A crowd needs to do is prepare like hell for the post Trump years. I… Read more »
With all due respect Mr. Gottlieb, wishing and hoping doesn’t make something so. Like being a first time car buyer doesn’t make you a “car guy/gal”, neither does being a first time gun buyer make you a Second Amendment supporter. But then I bought my first gun 52 years ago so I have been in this “thing of ours” for a while.
Just because someone buys a gun doesn’t mean they understand, much less support, the 2A. The vast majority of these people will keep voting for people who infringe on our rights. The number of butters and Fudds has increased and that’s about it.