Yeah, right. OK, I'm old. So, here's my take. Keeping in mind I've been hunting since age 12, legally, in 1957. Yes, I'm what you classify as a Redneck. There are an estimated 60 million of us now.
In 1957 you could buy a Mauser for about $13, mail order, or a Springfield or a Garand for a bit more. Or any pistol, mail order. A LOT were sold. These were very competent rifles and pistols (such as 44 Mag, 38 Sp, 375 etc). This was true for decades. How many guns were sold is a good question.
Fwd, early 1980s, CA decided they would outlaw 'assault rifles'. In Silicon Valley, where I worked, within a week of the announcement, there were no assault rifles in any gun store: all had been purchased. I got the last one in my local shop, an expensive HK91 (the civilian version of the G3 MBR, Germany army). The array had been everything from ARs to European battle rifles. All gone, tens of thousands only in SV.
Fwd to Clinton's 'ban on assault weapons.' Since we knew it was coming, there was another run. Nationwide, most gun shops were bereft of same.
Fwd, 2001. Another run, this one lasted years.
Fwd, obama. The best gun salesman in history. From 2009, more guns were sold than Carter had pills, with the legal checks approaching 1 million/month, continuing to present, except since 2017, most months exceeded 1 million. Add those numbers to the previous batch that were never checked.
From 2009 on, the AR/AK series were the vast majority of sales. At several points, such as Sandy Hook, backorders were humongous. Some shops just got whatever they could by way of parts. That continued for a few years.
Fwd 2017, Trump relaxed regs. Sales were through the roof, and ammo was being produced and imported at astounding rates. 7.62x51 (308 Win), 7.62x39 AK, 5.56x45 and 223 were being sold by the case, mil surplus, at decent prices. God only knows how much was bought. Rifles of the AR style dropped in price, such as the AR-10, were then at similar prices as the AR-15, and the demand was so great it was hard to find even parts, let alone complete rifles of the type.
Back to 2001. Since production was high, those who cast lowers for the AR were busy as heck. Some started selling blank lowers, which do not carry a serial. Then the drill index for same. Then came the composite versions. Eight years ago, you could go through a catalog and find a complete upper AR10 or 15, a lower parts kit (including trig, safe, buffer, stock etc), and a few pages later, the blank lower, all legal, none registered. Any idea how many of those were sold? The companies were out of stock a lot, sold however many they could produce. Same thing true for the Glock pistols.
When someone says '415 million', that's a dramatic understatement. If they say 13 trillion rounds, so is that. And, the majority of these things are in the hands of people that know how to use them. In MO, for instance, kids as young as 8 get news coverage on their 'first deer', killed using an AR-15.
And that, my friends, is what "they" are really afraid of. 'Cause out of the cities, it's an entirely different ball game. Incidentally, of those Rednecks, around 15 million are veterans who are giving mil instruction to others in tactics. Not really necessary, but done anyway.
Yeah, right. OK, I'm old. So, here's my take. Keeping in mind I've been hunting since age 12, legally, in 1957. Yes, I'm what you classify as a Redneck. There are an estimated 60 million of us now.
In 1957 you could buy a Mauser for about $13, mail order, or a Springfield or a Garand for a bit more. Or any pistol, mail order. A LOT were sold. These were very competent rifles and pistols (such as 44 Mag, 38 Sp, 375 etc). This was true for decades. How many guns were sold is a good question.
Fwd, early 1980s, CA decided they would outlaw 'assault rifles'. In Silicon Valley, where I worked, within a week of the announcement, there were no assault rifles in any gun store: all had been purchased. I got the last one in my local shop, an expensive HK91 (the civilian version of the G3 MBR, Germany army). The array had been everything from ARs to European battle rifles. All gone, tens of thousands only in SV.
Fwd to Clinton's 'ban on assault weapons.' Since we knew it was coming, there was another run. Nationwide, most gun shops were bereft of same.
Fwd, 2001. Another run, this one lasted years.
Fwd, obama. The best gun salesman in history. From 2009, more guns were sold than Carter had pills, with the legal checks approaching 1 million/month, continuing to present, except since 2017, most months exceeded 1 million. Add those numbers to the previous batch that were never checked. From 2009 on, the AR/AK series were the vast majority of sales. At several points, such as Sandy Hook, backorders were humongous. Some shops just got whatever they could by way of parts. That continued for a few years.
Fwd 2017, Trump relaxed regs. Sales were through the roof, and ammo was being produced and imported at astounding rates. 7.62x51 (308 Win), 7.62x39 AK, 5.56x45 and 223 were being sold by the case, mil surplus, at decent prices. God only knows how much was bought. Rifles of the AR style dropped in price, such as the AR-10, were then at similar prices as the AR-15, and the demand was so great it was hard to find even parts, let alone complete rifles of the type.
Back to 2001. Since production was high, those who cast lowers for the AR were busy as heck. Some started selling blank lowers, which do not carry a serial. Then the drill index for same. Then came the composite versions. Eight years ago, you could go through a catalog and find a complete upper AR10 or 15, a lower parts kit (including trig, safe, buffer, stock etc), and a few pages later, the blank lower, all legal, none registered. Any idea how many of those were sold? The companies were out of stock a lot, sold however many they could produce. Same thing true for the Glock pistols.
When someone says '415 million', that's a dramatic understatement. If they say 13 trillion rounds, so is that. And, the majority of these things are in the hands of people that know how to use them. In MO, for instance, kids as young as 8 get news coverage on their 'first deer', killed using an AR-15.
And that, my friends, is what "they" are really afraid of. 'Cause out of the cities, it's an entirely different ball game. Incidentally, of those Rednecks, around 15 million are veterans who are giving mil instruction to others in tactics. Not really necessary, but done anyway.