National Survey Says Leave Our Guns Alone
With Christmas just over the horizon, Santa Claus recently dropped a lump of coal into the stockings of gun prohibitionists. The Rasmussen polling firm found 51 percent of likely U.S. voters “believe that, if the federal government had a list of gun owners in the United States, it is likely the government would eventually confiscate all guns.”
The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Nov. 14-15, with a margin of sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points.
Gun registration by the federal government is not allowed, though many states require it in one form or another. California and New York are notorious for this. It’s a privacy issue that perhaps one day will land in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. There can be only two reasons the government would want to register firearms: to tax them or to take them.
Rasmussen reported that 49 percent of voters either own a gun or live with someone who does. It is estimated there are more than 100 million gun owners and they own somewhere north of 350-400 million firearms. Fifty-eight percent of those voters think the federal government would eventually move to confiscate guns if a national list of gun owners existed.
“That includes 36% who think confiscation would be ‘Very Likely,’” Rasmussen’s poll confirmed.
There is an alarming revelation in the survey. The split is even between those who think the federal government should keep track of who owns guns in this country (44%) and those who don’t want the government knowing who owns guns or how many (44%). The remaining 12 percent aren’t sure one way or the other.
Most gun owners of my acquaintance hold fast to the belief it is nobody’s business if they own a gun or how many guns they own, and it is certainly none of the government’s business.
Another Trip Around the Sun
We’ve just about made it through another year, and it has been an eventful one, but it’s wrapping up on a high note.
Not only is there a Second Amendment right-to-carry case before the Supreme Court, but in addition to the Rasmussen survey discussed above, a recent Gallup Poll shows support for stricter gun control laws has declined to its lowest point since 2014. I reported on this a couple of weeks ago.
This is the kind of thing that makes gun prohibitionists crazy, because it runs counter to their narrative. There are some fairly well-financed anti-gun lobbying organizations across the country, but the establishment media dislikes talking about them since it also runs counter to the narrative of a rich, bullying “gun lobby.” These organizations have more money than the NRA, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Second Amendment Foundation and Gun Owners of America combined. Keep them on your radar screens because your rights are on their radar screens.
The lineup includes Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety and its subsidiary, Moms Demand Action. Bloomberg has also provided some support to the billionaire-backed and Seattle-based Alliance for Gun Responsibility, which has gotten money from Bill Gates, the late Paul Allen and another Microsoft alumni Steve Ballmer.
I know people who will never purchase any product remotely connected to Microsoft because of this.
Ammo Update from Vista's Vanderbrink
Jason Vanderbrink, president of ammunition for Vista Outdoors, recently provided an update on ammunition production that might bring some smiles around holiday trees all over the map.
In his four-minute video message, Vanderbrink reports Federal, CCI and Speer are churning out “about 40 percent more ammunition,” and with last year’s acquisition of Remington, there is “substantially more.”
“We’ve added about 1,500 new employees” over the past 18 months, he detailed. Of course, they had to be trained, which has taken time, but the result is increased production. Vista has acquired two new plants rather than constructing new ones, and “That is helping us added hundreds of millions of new rounds to the market,” he said.
Vanderbrink noted Vista ammunition manufacturing facilities “face supply chain shortages,” specifically brass and propellants. Combine that with the demand for more ammunition from an estimated 12 million new users, and the problem continues.
The companies are producing about 40 percent more pistol ammunition and 15 percent more shotgun shells.
He responded to complaints/rumors that ammunition companies are selling all of their product to the government. It’s just not true, but he added strongly, “I do think it’s extremely important to say, with all the rhetoric around defunding the police, we defend the police. Some of our ammunition goes to law enforcement, and it is our obligation to keep supporting law enforcement. We are steadfast supporters; we will always back the blue.”
Merry Christmas
Since Christmas is almost here, I hope the season brings you and your families the best. Let’s hope Santa leaves a couple of boxes of your favorite ammunition, along with a few gallons of free gasoline!
Many of you know I was born on Christmas. It was definitely not my idea, since my older sister was also born on Christmas, three years ahead of me. How’s that for timing? It sure made for some interesting celebrations at our house when I was a youngster.
It’s a special time of year when we can share a smile with a friend, a warm handshake, cold drink and maybe some quiet time reflecting on what we have and what we’ve accomplished over the past 12 tumultuous months Let’s remember all the good friends who are no longer at the campfire, make the tales about them more colorful, and raise a glass in their memory. By and by, we’ll see them again, just in time for a morning hunt, an afternoon at the range, or an evening sharing a sunset.
As you read this, I hope to be staring at the warm glow of an evening fire through the glass door of the wood stove. I use such experiences to justify cutting, splitting and stacking all of that firewood every spring, and spending time at the workbench sharpening my chainsaw teeth.
Take time to call your hunting and shooting buddies, wish them well and start planning new adventures.
Be good to yourself first. The rest will fall into place.
