It appears that Bernd Debusmann ( http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=276020 ) is back; and this time he wonders whether the uptick in firearms sales is a precursor to civil unrest -- while leaving doubt as to exactly where he stands.
SOURCE
SOURCE
March 19th, 2009
In American crisis, anger and guns
By: Bernd Debusmann
– Bernd Debusmann is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own. —
In the first two months of this year, around 2.5 million Americans bought guns, a 26 percent increase over the same period in 2008. It was great news for gun makers and a sign of a dark mood in the country.
Gun sales shot up almost immediately after Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential elections on November 4 and firearm enthusiasts rushed to stores, fearing he would tighten gun controls despite campaign pledges to the contrary.
After the November spike, gun dealers say, a second motive has helped drive sales: fear of social unrest as the ailing economy pushes the newly destitute deeper into misery. Many of the newly poor come from the relentlessly rising ranks of the unemployed. In February alone, an average of 23,000 people a day lost their jobs.
...
“What is really remarkable about all this is that there hasn’t been social unrest,” remarked an executive with business interests in Latin American countries where riots and street demonstrations in response to economic squeezes are routine. “The conditions for it are all there.”
You can contact the author at Debusmann@Reuters.com.
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